The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-12-07
BUNKER HILL 8 SULLIVAN SHELTER WILL
SECURE LIME FROM OLDEVOLUT|ON MINE.
LEASES LARGE GROUND FROM coEUR DALENE cREs
CENT coMPANY-LEAsE RECALLS INTERESTING
TORY OF LOCATION EVOLUTION

D During the summer 1t was known
that representative of the Bunker
Hill & Sullivan company was giving
much attention to examining and sam
pling the Coeur dAlene Crescent,
Which is familiarly known as the Ev-
Iolution located a short distance below
0sburn. AS a sequel to these investi-
cations it is now learned that the Bum
ker Hill & Sullivan company has TAX
en- a lease on a block of ground 500 feet
along the vein, beginning at the point
where the vein is intersected by the
lower crosscut, and extending to the
surface, being a depth of about 500
feet The vein Is a large one, said to
be 80 feet wide at the West end, and
carries more or less values IN lead,
zinc, copper, gold and silver. But
these are not the elements that inter-
est the Bunker Hill & Sullivan. The
vein Is 81 " per cent lime, and in or
der to get this for use in the smelter
now being constructed, the company
has taken a lease on the ground de-
scribed and in return for which will
pay the Coeur d'Alene Crescent COM
pany 25 per cent of all metal values In
the ores removed. The Bunker Hill &
Sullivan company will begin work un-
der the lease soon after the first OF
the year. A compressor and all ne
cessary equipment will be installed,
spur will be put in by the railroad
company and all necessary facilities
provided for loading the ore.
A Mine With a History.
/ The Evolution, now the Occur
Id'Alene Crescent, was the first quartz
location made in the Coeur d'Alene
district The location was made by
the late Andrew ]. Prichard, the dis
coVerer of gold on the creek that bears
his name and which marked the be-
ginning of mining in the Coeur
IdAlene district. The location of the
Evolution was out of the ordinary. In
1878 General w. r. Sherman came
over the Mullan road, having a troop
Iof cavalry for an escort, his purpose
being to select sites for military posts
in the northwest and it may be stated
in passing that it was upon General
Shermans recommendation that Fort
Coeur dAlene was established on the
beautiful spot overlooking the lake
that Is now a part of the city of Occur
Id'Alene. The name of the post was
afterwards changed to Fort Sherman,
and it should be Fort Sherman today
but this is a diversion. Accompany
ing the Sherman expedition were An
drew j. Prichard and William Gerard,
another respected pioneer who has
gone to his reward. While camped be-
low the present town Of Osburn, Mr..
Prichard followed his native instinct
and prospected the neighboring hills.
He soon found float that bore evil
dence of gold, and right there he quit
the service of Uncle Sam. The float
led to the discovery Of the Evolution
lead, but the exact date of its location
is not known. The location notice
was sent to Pierce City, then the
county seat of Shoshone county, for
record, and when few years later
Evolution mining district was organ
lied, the Evolution notice of location
was again recorded. 1t was from his
camp at Evolution that Prichard wan
dered to the North Side and in 1888
discovered gold on Prichard creek,
the news of which created one of the
famous stampedes of the west and
which was the beginning of the great
district of today. William Gerard
remained with the Sherman expedition
only little longer than Prichard. AS
gold was the magnet that held Pri-
chard, so Gerard found a beautiful
meadow irresistible. When he reach
ed Mud Prairie, just below Kellogg,
Gerard also abandoned Uncle Sam
and took possession, and that was his
home until about Is years ago, when
he moved to the shore of Lake Fernan,
in the suburbs of Coeur d'Alene
where he died a few years ago.
Little did Prichard dream that his
gold mine was destined to furnish
lime for lead smelter nearly fifty
years after its discovery, nor did the
vision of Bill Gerard see the tower
ing stack of a smelter overlooking the
broad acres he selected for home.