The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-01-29
EARLY, hlsToRv or THE
MuMcEY COAL BANKS

~. .f.--y - '~'-I
Los Angeles, Calf, Jan. 81, 1920.
Mr.. Editor:
"Hark from the tomb, hear =
doleful sound" l saw = report some
time ago that the Muncey Coal lands
In Gunnison county have been sold to
. Mr.. Raddiz Of Salt IAis, Utah.
These lands are located near tfs hsad
waters Of Anthracite crssk, At the|
base of Mt. McCllsn. ten miles west
Of Irwin. Mr. Ra<lditx was at one|
time mining In Gunnison county, went
to Utah and has made fortune out
Of the Tntic Standard Mine.
In the decade from 1850 to 1870
Nevada had the great Comstoek boom
At Virginia City. From 1870 to 1850
Nevada had mining booms at Picche,
Tuscarora, Eureka, White Pine and
Austin. Also the DeAdwood excite
ment. where the Homestake mine Is
located in South Dakota, broke out in
1875. About 1873 excitement and
mining booms In Nevada began to
subside. Times got dull and quiet,
and the class Of people who follow
up these excitements had to, find new
fields of. venture It was about this
time that the great Leadville and Gun
nison county booma in Colorado broke
out and created world wide attention.
Great hordes Of people rushed over
from Nevada to Coloeado.
Among those who arrived from that
region. into Irwin in 1880 wss
William J. Muncsy. It was not long
before we all got, to know him. and
call him Billy Mupcey. He mus have
been Of some Importance In Nevada,
as thsre IL canp and . creek IN
White Pine county. Nevada, taat 10
called Auncsy creek to this day. Hs
found the whole country stalpsd and
he pushsd further ost from thseamp
to find : ,pBepfstings sspSpd free
from stsles thAt he 1T hsws .
out on. tas thsp .Uts tsdien Ressrv.-
chencs b loeaks = boGnqe4 He rot
tfon Whsrs b found tlsss anthr.eits
coal veins and .ha and his associates
located them Al that tims h ceald
| IT no tits. :sbut tbsy stuck 70 Il sd
wsxhsd ltta, ,isisinsiSiat, HAA;$ae Uts
Indian .r,epEntion not, beee opened
for ssttlssHenk unfil tbs period
Clifford Nnehstt possibly would not
have allowed It TO b op6esdz for sst-
ts5is;jis,s IN h BY tths whitss. 10 wu;ald livs
k us ali wisrkkv sibai 8 lsislig
aviGaSnl piying : fu5SMy o. a6Sl,
fsAels asid svssy othSr fA1asesy 10
chjk Oarsy, Coadfow. SeaxfSes CHR
ny and all of ths' backs md 'squaWs
of their dsscindankh. Think o6 II,
GRIND Junction. Delta, Noutruss.
Glenwocd Springs and all ok til wsst-
srn part of COLORADO. which II now a|
vast empire of wealth. paying tribute
to the rcd man, and yst that 10 what
the ConsefvAtion Of The Public Do
main mean& that has besn fostsred
and promulgated By Pinchott snd his
ada,erents. Thanks to ths late Sem
ator Teller, who was At that time
United States Senator, the Ute rseer-
vation was declared open for settle
ment by Congress in the fall Of 1880.
and Billy Muncey could make his coal
locations legal, being entitled to To-
cate 100 acres. He was 30 delighted
over his discovery that when he came
into Irwin after supplies for his camp
he brought along great chunks Of
coal, and snnounced that he had ;
coal vein $50 fest wide. The Pilot
said he had made q mistake, that he
had measured the length instead Of
the width. Billy told AhAt It was go
wide 80 often while the Pilot claimed
it was $50 feet long instead. by the
time he got another hot Scotch Or two
he was 30 ratified and really did not
know whether it was the length,
width, breadth or height. but he was
quite sure 1t was $50 fest in some
direction.
These lands were unsurveyed. He
succeeded in getting the Interior De
partment in Washington to order two
sections surveyed and sectionized SO
that he might apply for a patent, Sc
cure title by paying the government
price for coal land, SO per acre when
located more than ten miles from a
railroad. In 1881, Billy Muncey de-
cided that he wanted to visit his old
homo at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and
once more see his parents. Now he
had been away from the parental roof
for number Of years, and felt that
he wanted to take present back,
that was out of the ordinary and sug-
gestive of the west; SO he hit upon
the idea of taking a cub bear. right
Young black cub. Well do l remem-