The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1920-10-07
RED MOUNTAIN CITY, ONCE A P0PUl0US RIVAL OF BUTTE CAMP,
AMID SCENE OF RICH PLACER STRIKES, is NOW BUT A MEMORY

/ chief mine, the "Only Chance" for
it proved to be the only chance for
anyone to make anything in quartz
in Highland Gulch.
BalIarat Mine
The Ballarat mine was a typical
wildcat proposition, and it is surpris-
ing how men of discernment and
knowledge of mining could be so de-
ceived. There were four men who
discovered this mine. They had
great hopes for it and really thought
they had a good thing. These men
were William Smith, William Bald
win, Daniel McKiever and e. B.
Watson. They lived in a cabin close
to their prospect. 1t stands today,
but in a fallen condition.
They worked for some months
taking out ore and storing it until
they could have a cleanup. They
built an araStra near their cabin,
which also stands today. 1t was a
crushing machine run by horsepower.
The men, whenever they came down
into the town, would tell of the rich
ness of the ore and predict a great
cleanup. Everyone was telling of the
l1NilnCoO VI LILO Dalai ct hilhOs thO
Deer Lodge and Virginia City news
papers had much to say about it, and
all visitors to the camp went back
home with glowing tales of this mine
which promised to make a perman-
ent thing of Red Mountain City.
One day they started to crush the
ore and after it was all pulverized
they PANIED it out. Great was their
chagrin to find that there was scarce
ly any gold in it. They dreaded to
face the ridicule of their fellows, and
so they gathered together what dust
there was and melted it into a piece
of gold about the size of an assay
er's button. This they took to town
and displayed as a sample of their
ore. The people of Red Mountain
City were amazed at this wonderful
product of their mine. Everyone
was talking of it. Professor Swallow
of Deer Lodge heard of it, and he at
once saw that such a rich property
should be developed, and he succeed
ed in interesting two ST. Louis CAPT
talists in the property. They bought
it and some adjoining claims for
$4,000 and proceeded to build a
GI-OSoh1P 4iOlCopOA ondilOW
was put in charge of the whole plant.
Cabins for the men employed were
built not far from the mill, and n
fine one with an up-to-date fireplace
was occupied by Professor Swallow
and his family. Everything was
booming. Ore was brought to the
mill from all the neighboring quartz
claims to be crushed. They had a
whistle that could be heard in Butte.
Bubble Bursts
After a while the st. Louis men
began to wonder why there were no
reports of dividends. They waited a
while then they sent Professor Philip
Knabe out to investigate the proper
ty. He stayed a year, and not only
investigated the Ballarat Claims. but
every n in the Highlands. He sent
back his report, saying that in his
judgment the whole gulch was not
worth two bits. Everything was
shut down at once. The mill ma
chinery was sold to Jim Talbot of
Butte, who installed it In the old
Silver Bow mill. The whistle did
service at the Parrot smelter. The
foundation of the old mill still stands
in a fine state of preservation, but
the cabins have all been taken away
There was little of the wild west
ern life in Red Mountain City. In
fact, there was very little of it in
any of the Montana camps as COM
pared with the camps in California
and Nevada. One man, Charles De
Lorimer, who was 35 or 40 years of
age, had been west since he was a
young man. He used to entertain
the crowd with tales of his wild west
ern experiences. He often declared
that 'the glitter of the bowie knife
and the click of the pistol were as
music to his ear"
Little Trouble
There was a vigilance committee
in Highland Gulch, but there was
very little to do. There were a few
unruly characters, but they had no
trouble in keeping them in check.
They had n hanging, but it did not
have the sanction of the whole body
of v~igilantes. The victim was a
young fellow by the name Of Douglas
who had been accused of stealing
cattle and the evidence proved con-
c~lusiveiy that he was guilty. How
ever, he had made his peace with the
committee in Helena and they had
let him go free. When he appeared
in Red Mountain City soon after, he
was told by some of the committee
to leave town, and he replied that he
did not have to, that that affair had
all been settled, and he had been set
free, and he did not propose to get
out of town.
There were still those who thought
that he ought not to be at large, but
n day when he was riding down to-
ward Divide, he was met by one of
the anxious ones, and escorted back
to town. A few men we're collected
and a short trial given him, but it
was not a complete trial, and the exc
cution was hurried through, and be-
fore the more level-headed men of
the town knew of it he was hanging
from a tree In Wood gulch.
This created quite a furore in the
town, for they felt that the young
fellow had been hanged without hav-