Bisbee daily review., 1915-11-21
The Transition From Neglected District to Treasure Hive
 Transforms Oatman

pIutlN.III NNkNOWu TO Nldl CONslutI- able portion of the American public residing beyond the boundaries Of Ari zona
 Today 1t is one Of the best known camps in the United States and seems destined to develop into the greatest gold camp ever recorded in the his tory of American mining.
 Yesterday a "one mine" camp it is today a camp Of several mines. of inc nunerahle mining opportunities and of strenuous mining effort. In fact it is the most aggressive active gold mining camp in the West
 The story 0f it's transition from camp e. ....uuscr.bed mining effort 70 one al ral mining activity reads anaze from ficuon-the sort of fiction that the late Jaques Fut- treIe once referred to as being more reasonable than truth"
 About year ago George Long and James NcIyer. two practical miners. who have obtained their knowledge of oie and ore occurrences from the rock bound Book of Nature at first hand. conceived the idea that there were ore bodies Of value here other than those contained within the boundaries of the pro. rty of the Tom Reed Gold I1ir 1mpany Most Of the people livl .Ic at that time thought other vi-a OF thought they thought other wise; being encouraged in their con trarwise belief by the then mouideIs Of local public opinion.
 It Is conviction generally held that person who impinees am idea acainsr the current of prevailing opin- ion is more or less of a bug" After al Ilea has become a demonstrated fact the general public arrogates unto itself most of the credit and no in- considerable share Of the benefit And this apnropriating Of another's materi- alized thought is quite as applicable 10 mining as to other communities.
 Long and McIver did not escape the fate of those who rise superior to the uush Of concession. And as they are men of tender sensibilites the slings and arrows of local wit and criticism aneut the saneness of their idea must have ranked and hurt
 Ultimately, they have put their idea across-thereby proving its sanity. and their 0wu-and the local public wth inoclastic zeal hurled the Tom Reed from its pedestal. reared the United Foetern in its place and pro. ceeded Go reap where it has not sown Here is the way Of it:
 The Tom Reed Gold Mines com. pany reconstructed from the fallen financial timbers of the Old Blue Ridge Mining company, struck pay grade milling ore in large tonnage in 1909. and in September 1910 became reg uIar distributor of monthly dividends.
 As the ore bodies were developed the company pay roll grew in propor- uons and the population increased propOrHarat ately herewith, until quite a settlement had been established in inc vicinity of the mine workings This settlement was christened Oat man and in due course was added by Uncle sam to his postal collection
 Tn those days a single auto stage served capably the transportation de- -.'-lAlA Ht' N|'.hlI NllN ANtIU anu IdI|NtiN and full mail bag was an event To day there at least a halfdozen auto stage lines plying regularly between the camp and railway debarkatior points at Needles, Kingman and Top ock. and al least a like number plying between here and Gold Road and throughout the Tom Reed-Gold Road IHf.srfaH twenty aa mail now arrive hero daily ar nfrequenuy their nun Der tc..l yfve bags
 The cTeials of the Santa Fe rail road, arou ed to the growing import ance and possibilities of the mines Of this section, are making ready to build a branch line from Topock 10 Oat man, the first mentioned being on th, main line Of the Santa Fe southeast Of Needles and almost due south o Oaman The branch line will be lo cated just east of the National OlC Trails highway and cover about 3t mile It will afford rapid transit fla cilit 10 the Pioneer. Blank Raus, and us Canon sections. will con meet the Old Trails townsite with th, camp Of Oatman and will ultimately link an sections of the district m mucf the same manner as the railroads o Che Cripple Greek District bring its re mote sections into touch with th, business center ! am informed that tho Santa Fe will begin. construction H the branch line in the immediate future.
 Under the efficient management o Mr. s s Jones he Tom Reed min, was developed into bonanza an, eventually became the most vamabl, gold mine in Arizona. It has paid ii excess of 827O per share in diyidend within the past five years. and is todal the premier gold producer of th, Southwest Ore has been opened along The main Tom Reed contact within the confines of the Tom Reer company property. for a distance O more than a mile and ia being minel at a depth of l075 feet The gol bullion output of the property has al