The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1921-03-18

Living in . small but comfortable
cabin On the shore Of Lake Union in
the city Of Seattle. the proprietor Of
. thriving boating establishment
which h largely patronised BY the
wealthy fishermen Of the Country
Club, - old Jake Hoover. who dis
covered more rich mines IN Montana
than any other man, and who was
called the best hunter In Montana In
the old fur traffic and hunting days.
At the age Of a he 70 still hale,
hearty and active. and II considered
the best fisherman Of the Seattle In
land lakes. He knows the fish of
those waters % he knew the Wild
animals Of Montana, their habits and
how best to capture them. and the
men Of wealth In the city on the
sound who are amateur fishermen
know that tip from Hoover on fish
Ing matters IL piscatorial gospel.
Jake Hoover 10 famous for several
things. Back In the eos when Jake
came to Montana - boy Of sixteen.
from his home In Iowa. ne was
known % the "lucky boy" on &C
count Of his luck" in finding rich
bars on the gold creeks. As q mat
ter Of fact, there was no luck about
It for Jake had an innate genius for
prospecting, and It was In infallible
instinct for locating gold that kept
any camp Of which he happened to
be resident in q fever of excitement
over his frequent discoveries of the
yellow metal in new and unexpected
localities.
Founded Many Fortunes
Jake was q youngster and he was
unsophisticated. He could find gold
and always had q supply Of dust. but
he was Just about ~ unfortunate II
holding possession Of good property
% he was In discovering It. Mel
more worldly wise usually became in
terested with him In . strike and thu
ending OF each business alliance wal
the same. The other man got thu
property and Jake started forth II
search Of . new BONANZA. In 1885,
he discovered Tenderfoot bar, one o
tho richest placer workings in tn
Gold creek district. but he did no
profit much from the discovery. 4
number Of the men Of western Mon
tana who founded great fortunes
made their first stakes" from jake
discoveries, and It II said that w. A
Clark, himself, bought for . triflinl
sum from Hoover the first mintnl
property that was the foundation o
his wealth and mining.
In the early 70's Jake forsook tn
gold camps and went over into tn
then unexplored Judith Basin, wher'
he was one Of the earliest of tn
white hunters. trappers and pros
pectors. With Bill Buchanan ant
one or two others he discovered gol'
on Yogo creek, and In 1879 whel
the stampede to Yogo gulch came AM
hundreds of miners were scattere'
up and down the gulch, Yogo an
Hoover Cities, located only q fe,
hundred yards apart. were rivals 1
the claim to the distinction Of bein
called metropolis Of Yog0 gulch. Jak
gulch.
How Jake Prospected
Jake differed from most prospect
ors in that geological formations ha
no Significance for him and he be
lieved-and does today-that gold
where you find It, and that, Will
contacts in the presence Of certat
rock formations point In a genera
way to the presence or absence q
metals, there are SO often unseen an
unexpected faults in formations tha
are not visible on the surface this
wealth in mineral form may be foun
almost anywhere.
Once Jake was talking with
prospector-0ne Rich-who had
few claims staked out in the yicinit
of Pixies Peak gulch in the wester
Montana gold fields. and who ha
found q small quantity Of gold in b
workings, but he knew little ab0l
prospecting. It was midwinter an
Jake and Rich were Willing away q
evening in q saloon In Deer Lodg'
Rich knew Of Hoover's "luck"
finding gold and he begged him
60 to his claims with him and offere
Jake q half interest in any strike
he made. Jake finally consented an