The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1920-03-20

{ reduction of sluicing, quicksilver
, being employed in gathering the dust
{ which was retorted preparatory to
market. The merchants took the
dust in lieu of coin and measured its
worth by weight. They, in turn,
passed it on to the L. S. mint at
San Francisco. The Wells-Fargo
express guaranteed the safe trans
portation Of the metal to its destina-
ton, and business was thus establish
ed on safe basis.
The names of the camps were des-
ignated as bars. From the mouth of
the Columbia from what is now
Pasco, to the British line, they were,
in the order of location: Ringlow
Bar near Rock Island; Rogers Bar,
near the town of Hunters; White
. stone Bar, Leo Bar, near Hickey;
Half Mile Bar, below Marcus Six
Mile Bar, near Evans; Twelve Mile
Bar, above Bossburg; Fifteen Mile
Bar and China Bar, near Marble;
Sheep Creek Bar, near Northport
There were many other workings
that enjoyed a short spell of pros
perity but their names disappeared
with their abandonment.
Twenty acres were considered a
claim, and property rights were regu-
lated by local customs and rules
promulgated by miners at meetings
called to settle disputes These or
ganizations had a tentative basis in
the general laws of the United States
which were remotely referred to as
source of authority, but there was
little occasion for their observance
over local customs. Where partner
ships engaged in the operation of Il
claim, each individual owned a divis-
ible portion of the property, but all
was worked in common. Each or
ganized miners district had its re-
corder and location notices were post
ed and recorded, and in many in
stances where the district was dis
banded the records We're buried in the
ground within the boundaries of the
district. When a transfer of property
was made the written instrument Of
conveyance was recorded by the re-
corder of the district. While most
of the claims were worked for what
they had in them, few transfers
were at first made excepting by
physical delivery of possession; later
the tendency to profit by bargain and
sale. .nry,hv goGo--' pegan to fan the
Cinnamon came into the country.
They, being aliens, were not allowed
to locate claims, but We're made the
instruments of those inclined to
speculation and were permitted to
purchase the right to mine claims
already located by citizens. These
privileges were frequently sold on
lease. The claim near the town OF
Daisy which the whites eventually
could not work at profit was sold
to Cinnamon for $4,000 and was
known as the Five Thousand Dollar
claim. The Cinnamon, being patient
plodders, made good money on their
investment and worked it for nearly
30 years. Two factions in the camp
clashed and one Chinaman murdered
another in 1893, the assailant slash
ing his victim in a horrible manner
with a cIeaver. The claim was then
abandoned. In 1863 the firm OF
Smith G. Pipes sold the bar at
Boundary, where gold was first dis
covered by the Frenchman, Wau-kc,
to Cinnamon for $1,000. Excepting by
the Cinnamon in the Columbia river
region, about the last placer mining
of importance was done at Marcus
by Henry Sudbrink who took the
waters of Pingston creek by ditch and
flume to Half Mile Bar, the original
steamboat landing.
In the beginning of mining opera
tions prices of provisions and sup
plies were high. The axe, pick and
shovel formed the first equipment.
Panning for gold was too slow and
with the saw and hammer came the
manufacture of lumber by whipsaw-
ing for the sluices. The gold dust
was very fine and having been cast
up by the food of the river in the
process of forming the gravel benches
was soon exhausted. Only the richer
deposits were sought and worked and
when pay dirt became too thin to
interest his tense disposition, the
miner shouldered his pack and treck-
ed across the range to the newer DIS
covery. Some went to the Slmllka-
meen, some to Frazer river and 10
Montana, Idaho and Eastern Oregon
camps. These, with the first quartz
mining in the country, will be the
subject for another story.