The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-06-28
CLARKGAMET TO MONTANA
DRIVING AY0KE OF OXEN
REMARKABLE CAREER OF ONE
or WORLDS RICHEST MEN
-oWNs SUNSET MINE.

from SoioIauo, anu Tie Trip Ildu tdkel
SIS days. A slender young man wa.
lin charge of the OK team. He wore
soldiers blue overcoat, of the kline
that the defenders affected in the six.
ties. One end of the coat had beer
burned away in a camp fire, other.
wise the coat was all wool, and 6
yard too wide for the youth who wore
it
in later years to be United States
senator for Montana, and one of the
richest men in America. 1t is said OF
him that he has since won seven for
tunes, each Of them many times a
million dollars. in seven different and
distinct fields of MISUNDERSTANDING
finance, sugar, coffee, manufacturing
cattle raising and railroading. The
other day he subscribed for $4,000 900
worth of Liberty bonds, and his in
terests are so nation- wide that he
stipulated that $1,0OO,O0O of his pur-
chase be credited to the Montana
subscription, the remainder being dis
tributed among various states where
he has holdings
He had been attracted to Bannack
by the stories of fabulous fortunes
that were being made in the newly
discovered placer diggings. Prior to
his coming he had worked as min
err in the quartz mines of Central City
and before that he had been fledg-
ling school teacher in Iowa, to which
state his family had removed from
Pennsylvania while he Vas boy. He
was youth of vision and when the
great west beckoned to him he came.
Start of His Fortune.
1t had been a weary trek from Col
orado to Bannack. He thought he
would turn his oxen out to Craze and
give himself and them a few days
rest. But on the evening of his ar
rival the camp was thrilled with the
story of new rich diggings that had
been found on Horse Prairie creek. A
stampede was on. Clark caught the
fever. In the morning he yoked up
his tired and galled~oxen, slipped into
the soldiers overcoat with the char
red tail, and drove away to the new
discovery.
1t was the start of his fortune. He
arrived at the new diggings in time
to locate fairly good placer claim,
and went to work. That summer he
washed out $4,000 in gold dust above
his expenses He did .his own cook
ing and saved his money.
He mined for two years with mod
crate success, and then went into
merchandising His first achievement
of note was when he cornered all the
tobacco there was between the nouns
tains and civilization. Tobacco was
very scarce in the gold camps Of. the
territory. He took quantity of gold
dust and rode horseback from Ban
mack to Boise. In Boise he found a
fair quantity of tobacco, and immedi-
ately proceeded to buy up all that
was in stock. His first few purchases
were made at a reasonable figure,
but by the time he had accumulated
several thousand pounds of the weed
the price had been forced up to $3.50
per pound.
He bought wagon and team, load
ed his tobacco, and in the middle of
December, in a blizzard, started on
the back trail with his precious car
go, for Helena. Arriving in Helena
he sold his tobacco at prices ranging
from IS to Sc per pound. The ex-
plot netted him a handsome sum.
His Start in Butte.
In 1869 he went into wholesale mer-
chandising and banking in Helena. A
year later the headquarters of the
business were removed to Deer Lodge,
and Samuel e. Larabie was taken in
as a partner in the banking end of
the business. His brother, ]. Ross
Clark, became associated with him
about that time and the Butte bank
was opened. Butte was then a plac-
err mining camp. andsthe silver quartz
deposits were just beginning to at
tract little attention Clark, vision
ing quartz development, acquired, in
whole OF in part, the Colusa, Origin
al, Mountain Chief, Gambetta and
other claims, which, in the fullness
. of time, developed into producing
mines. This was in 1872. Clarks
experience in quartz mining was at
that time limited to winters work
in the Clear Creek mines. He decid-
ed to qualify himself as a mining OPP
orator, went back to New York and
took a special course in metallurgy
and geology at Columbia university.
Builds First Mill.
A few years later he completed and
began the operation of the first STAMP
mill in the new camp. His mines had
developed The ore from them was
being treated at his own mill. Money
was flowing his way in a steady
stream. Certain ores that he encouns
tered were refractory, and necessitat.
ed smelling.
He made trip to Denver and in.
terested Senator Nathaniel Hill, theI
the first smelterman of Colorado, II
Butte, and the two, with Professor
Pearce, organized the first smelling
company Of any pretentions to oper