The Washington times., 1921-08-07


darkness. A town was built and
finally q railroad was constructed TO
connect with the Southern Pacific at
Sodaville. sixty-five miles away.
Honor System Used.
The conduct Of the great business
that sprung UP around the Mizpah
mine was unique. Butler let the leases.
which were verbal contracts running
from date of the lease until midnight
Of December 81, 1900. The boundaries
were marked by piles of rock and de-
termined by stepping Off" allowing
three feet to the step. lessees being
permitted to select the block Of ground
they desired to work. There was no
paper talk" Butler simply entered
in q little notebook the names of the
lessees and the number of the lease.
which he reported to Oddie.
Stories Of fabulously rich ore being
shipped from Tonopah, the name be-
| slowed upon the camp, were not long
In reaching the adventures OF the
West and they nocked to the scene.
heterogeneous crowd of men and wom-
en-, all looking for the main chance.
There were merchandise stores, rude
hotels" eating houses, saloons In
great number and dance halls without
Limit. There was an unending process
sion of vehicles of all sorts across the
sandy plain from Sodaville to Tono-
pah and hundreds Of ore teams from
Tonopah to Sodaville. By day and
night a pillar of dust assembled to the
heavens marking the devious course
of the trail. With the crowd came
smooth talking promoters. and ere the
end Of the Indian Summer OF 1900 the
Mtzpah mine was sold for &35, 900.
The story of how Jim Butler found
the Mixpah has ben written and told
until It has become legendary. The
accepted version 10 that he had camp
ed nearby while en- route to klondike.
In the pursuit the following morning
of his strayed and perverse burros
he is said to have picked up loose
rock to hurl at them along with the
cus.moary anathemas, and that, at
tracted by it's weight. he inspected II
and found 1t to be silver ore. Oddie
pronounces this as pure bunk. and
says that Butler was wonderfully
sagacious prospector with an almost
uncanny instinct for finding ore. He
had noticed from afar indications of
mineral on this range OF hills years
before and went there with the pur-
pose Of prosecuting the valley with
"a very refinite and fixed object in
view.
Great Mining Boom.
Oddie was opposed to selling the
mine, which had attained bonanza
proportions, but acquiesced in the
wishes of his partners. He then
turned his attention to the develop
nient Of the Belmont, an adjoining
property, but remained as manager
for the Tonopah Mining Company.
the corporation to Which the Mizpan
was sold. II. c. c.Cal'0 BOUCHER
and eddie owned most Of the loca-
tons that finally were taken over
by the Tonopah Belmont Develop
ment & Mining Company, which
Oddie financed in Philadelphia, the
home of the new owners of the
Mizpah mine. A great fault crosses
the mountain between the two mines
and some engineers expressed the
belief that 1t ''cut OFF, the ore. The
Belmont subsequently became the
largest mine of the district.
Then came Hannapah, Silver Bow,
Reveille, Manhattan and a score of
new camps. Oddie remained for five
years as manager Of the Tonapah
Mining and the Belmont Development
and operated in Goldfield and other
camps where he had secured interests.
He bought the Pine Creek ranch and
introduced into Southern Nevada the
first herd Of white-faced Hereford
cattle. He had made a close study
of agricultural and live stock matters. |
In 1910 he was nominated for gov
ernor on the Republican ticket and
elected, serving four years. This was
about the stiffest fight he ever had
and was wased under difficulties that
would have discouraged most men
from making the race. To begin with, |
he was pitted against an experienced |
and popular politician, In a State that |
was normally Democratic. Financial |
reverses had practically swept away |
his fortupne. Unskilled in politics and |
with a poor organization. he went out |
and appealed to the voters and won.
A Battler From Youth:
Probably the most striking feature |
Of Oddie's life has been the struggle |
against odds In the big undertakings. |
He studied law in New York at night |
for three years, while working az q |
clerk for $40 a week. battling sleep In |
the pursuit of knowledge. He re-
ceived his degree and was admitted |
to the New York bar. His first expert |
ence In big business there brought him |
into conflict with powerful real estate |
interests and his victory inspired |
Stokes to send him to Nevada, where |
he stirred up veritable hornets nest. |
Young, vigorous. undaunted, he tack |
led mining, equipped only with main |
strength and awkwardness," in a re- |
gion where dollars were as scarce as |
hens teeth, and finally, temporarily |
broken in fortune, he entered the polit- |
ical arena and achieved victory. being |
elected governor. Last year he again |
entered the lists, first for nomination, |
then for election as United States Sem |
ator. 1t may safely be assumed that |
the mining industry will have a |
staunch friend in the person of the |
new Junior Senator.
Senator Oddie Ia a Republican, and |
the son of the late Henry Meigs and
Ellen Gibson Prout) Oddie. His
father was native of New York and
his mother a native of Washington
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