Weekly journal-miner., 1915-11-03
OATMAN ONE OF BEST
 KNOWN CAMPS IN U. S.
(Bv William P. DeWolf.l

known 10 that COHSlQtIdDle pOTllOA of the American public residing be- yond the boundaries of Arizona.
 Today it 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, oi innumerable mining opportunities and of strenuous mining effort In fact it is the most aggressively active gold camp in the West.
 The story of it's transition from a camp of circumscribed mining effort to one of general mining activity reads like a page from fction-the sort of fiction the late Jaques Futrellc once referred to as being, More req sonable than truth
 About a year ago George Long and James McIver, two practical miners, who have obtained their knowledge of ore and ore occurrencies from the rock-bound Book of Nature at first hand, conceived the idea there were ore bodies of values here other than those contained within the boundar- ies of the property of the Tom Reed Gold Mines Company. Most of the people living here at that time thought otherwise, or thought they thought otherwise; being encour. aged in their contrariwise belief by the then moulders of local public opinion.
 It is a conviction generally held that a person who impinges an idea against the current of prevailing opinion is more or less of "bug. After an idea has become demon strated fact the general public arro- gates unto itself most of the credit and no inconsiderable share of the benefit. And this appropriating of another's materialized thought is quite applicable to mining as to other communities.
 Long and McIver did not escape the fate of those who rise above the mush of concession. And as they are men of tender sensibilities the slings and arrows of local wit and criticism anent the saneness of their idea must have rankled and hurt
 Ultimately, however, they put their idea across-thereby proving it's san ity, and their own-and the local pub lie with iconoclastic zeal herled the Tom Reed from its pedestal, reared the United Eastern in its place and proceeded to reap where it had not sown. Here is the way of it.
 The Tom Reed Gold Mines Com pany, reconstructed from the fallen financial timber of the old Blue Ridge Mining Company, struck pay grade milling orc in large tonnage in 1909, and in September 1910 became dis tributor of monthly dividends
 As the ore bodies were developed the company's payroll grew in pro- portions and the population increas- ed proportionatcly herewith until quite a settlement had been estab- lished in the vicinity of the mine workings. This settlement was christ cned Oatman, and in due course was added by Uncle Sam to his postal collection.
 In those days single auto stage served capably the transportation de- mand between the camp and railway, and full mail bag was an event To day there are at least a half-dozen auto stage lines plying regularly be- tween the camp and railway debark ation points at Needles, Topock and Kingman, and at least like number plying between here and Gold Road and throughout the Tom Reed-Gold Road District in general. From fiji teen to twenty bags of mail now ar rive here daily and not infrcquently the number is in excess of thirty bags.
 The officials of the Santa Fc rail road, aroused to the growing import ance and possibilities of the mines of this section, are making ready to build branch line from Topock to Oatman. Topock is located south cast of Needles on the main line of the Santa Fc and is almost due south of Oatman. The branch line will be located just cast of the National Old Trails highway and will cover about 5 miles. II will afford rapid transit intcrurban facilities to the Pioneer. Black Range ard Kraus Canon sec tions, will connect Old Trails town site with the camp of Oatman and ultimately will link all sections of the district in much the same manner as the railroads of the Cripple Creek District bring its remote sections in- to touch with its business center. I am informed that the Santa Fc will begin construction work in the inn mediate future.
 Under the efficient management of Mir. S. S. Jones, the Tom Reed mine was developed into a bonanza and eventually became the most valuable gold mine in Arizona. It has paid dividends in excess of $2.70 per share within the past five years, and is to- day the premier gold producer of the Southwest. Ore has been opened along the main Tom Reed contact,