The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-03-04
new KLONDIKE UP
In NORTH COUNTRY
MISS X. M. MURPHY VISITS SEQ
BEY, LEARNS FACTS OF
GOLD DISCOVERY q
FOUND 3 YEARS AGO
Strike Believed Genuine - Home
steader Finds Strata of Rich
Sand in a Well

Miss Katherine M. Murphy, who
made a business trip to Scobey the
first part of the week, returning
Wednesday morning, brings very in
teresting frst-hand reports of the
gold strike near that city. Miss
Murphy has brother, P. B. Muir
ply, one of the officers of the First
National Bank of Scobey, who has
been out to the scene of the sensa-
tional discovery and has filed claim
in very promising location. From
all the information gathered through
her brother and others, Miss Murphy
is convinced that the find is genuine,
but of course no one can tell at this
time how extensive the pay dirt may
prove to be.
Discovered Three Years Ago
The discovery of gold on the land
of the old French homesteader,
Emanuel Hofferlin, was not made
just recently but three years ago
when he had couple of men sink a
hole for him at the bottom of dry
creek or coulee in earnest quest for
water which is rather scarce in that
vicinity. On certain day the we'll
digger came to the old man and said,
I'VE have not found any water, but
we have found gold for you." This
was probably said in the spirit of
part joking and part earnestness.
What they had dug into was not rock
but bed of sand that contained
something that so strongly resem-
bled gold that the old Frenchman
sent sample away to an assayer
who made decidedly favorable re-
port.
Instead of circulating the news,
Hofferlin did all be could to keep it
quiet. He didn't want rush of
people overrunning his land and
stalking mining claims. He was too
poor to do any developing himself,
but hoped to do something toward
testing the richness of the vein after
he had raised a crop or two.
The Secret Out
Crops since then have been rather
lean, and so the matter rested until
a short time ago when man who
had worked for Hofferlin let the Sc
cret out and it became known in
Scobey. Now many claims have
been staked out and filed, and it is
said that stranger cannot approach
the location of the find nearer than
about three miles. There is a settle
nent of French people in the neigh
oorhood of the strike and they have
all staked out all the claims they can.
Besides this many people from
Scobey have staked claims. 1t is not
that anything will be done
'oward developing the claims, except
such work as is required by the min
ng laws, until warm weather arrives.
sinking shafts eighty feet into the
earth and then drifting and timber
ng the tunnels is expensive business,
in the winter time.
May be Extensive
In the absence of expert opinion
'r geological knowledge of the coun-
ry, the Importance of the discovery
S matter of conjecture, but the
discovery is said to be in a broken
:ountry on a creek that is tributary
o Poplar Creek, and it is possible
hat the sand may represent the bed
# an ancient stream or lake in which
ase there may be an extensive de-
'osit of this sand, which the first
est indicates as yielding $420 to
he ton.
The location of the strike is sew
cen miles northwest of Scobey. The
rst reports referred to it as twelve
niles west of Scobey and as "be-
ween Scobey and Kahle P. o." This
onfusion arose from the fact that a
omesteader in the vicinity of the
old strike bears the name of Kahle.