The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1919-09-11

the fertile valley OF Medicine creek
Is the chose of an erstwhile, bust
ling village of some 500 souls
Those people, who toiled over tn,
rocks and burrowed into the Wichi
ia hills before the "S9er" maze hi.
debut in "the Land of the Fai
God" formed a veritable ant-hilI
of activity. They hoped, they toll
ed and. after frultless years, the,
left, cursing their luck and the work
OF an INSCRIPTIONS assayer whose
promising reports were resaensible
for keeping pick and shovel busy for
many weary months after the cause
was a lost one
And so, Meers today, the once
thriving mining town, boasts only six
inhabitants. They are AL McMas.
ters, postmaster storekeeper, dis.
penser of gas and oil to wandering
autos; T. j. Goss, one time promot.
er, miner and merchant of Meers,
now retired; Miss Tennie. Goss. sis.
ter of the former prospector; Her
bert Hodge, Mrs. Herbert Hodge and
their son Paul Mr. Hodge, having
laid aside the pick and shovel of the
miner for the plow, is now a pros
porous farmer and his dwelling.
comfortable, honey structure, stands
within stones throw of the one
mercantile establishment of the
town.
Shaft Marks Place.
About 100 yards to the southwest
OF the post office stands the relic
OF what was once busy mine, be-
ing one Of the most pretentious tests
OF the entire district. Time and the
elements have made practical
wrecks of the engine house and
smart. There are to be seen evi-
dences of steam hoist above the
shaft which was cribbed with tim
bers that have now practically rot
ted away. The ties of the track toI
the dump are there, but every SCRAP
of iron has long since found its way
to the junk pile. The shaft is some
So feet deep.
This mine, according to old pros
pectors, was first known as the
Grindstone mine and, they state,
much work was done on the strength
of the assay reports showing that
the hole was producing copper ore
averaging from top to bottom, $72
per ton. Later, they say, when the
truth became known and it was
found the mines product was worth
less, the name of the shaft was
changed to the Lost Horse" mine.
Other Famous Mines.
According to traditions of the
hills, the test of the Shawnee Min
ing company, located Several miles
south of Meers and the Hale mine,
some 20 miles to the west, were
among the most pretentious tests in
the entire community.
Stories of erstwhile miners who
having been stranded when the
mining fever died out, settled on
rocky farms in the neighborhood,
are that the Shawnee Mining com
pany headed by DR.. Harmed, worked
a big force of men, installed al
steam hoist, pumps, compressed air
drills and other modern mining MAJ
chinery, spending something like
$4,000 in their fruitless hunt for
paying copper ore.
The story of the Hale mine is that
an old prospector Of that name had
located a vein of pay ore from
which had been taken from time to
time, chunks of pure copper. II was
reputed to be the richest mine in
the entire district, because OF which
fact a company purchased an inter-
est from the prospector Hale, after
thinking the matter over, so the sto-
ny goes, decided that the company
would beat him out of his wealth if
he allowed them to operate, hence,
armed with a Winchester rifle, he
took up his watch at the mouth of
the shaft and kept the representa-
tives of the company at bay, with
the result that no extensive opera
tions were ever launched The af-
fair found its way into the courts
where it remained a heated topic for
argument for years, but the outcome
of the case is a lost item to the re-
maining members of the old guard
around Meers.
Society Was Good"
There are scores Of prospect-holes
yet to be found over the hills, mark
ing the places where with pick,
shovel, drill and powder, hopeful
miners toiled away. The work start
ed before the opening of Oklahoma,
gained in volume as some strikes