Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1921-11-19
BOOM IN GOLD
Mining COMING
IN SOUTHERN IDAHO
More Activity in Mineral
Development Than Fl a S
Been Seen Since Bi o.
Boom Of '70's.

A leyiathan gold mining boom
that may equal in size any the
West has seen in incubating in
Central and Western Idaho. Gold
mining camps, from which a food OF
wealth poured in the early days
when the far West was in its swad-
ding clothes, may be expected to
respond to the touch of modern min
ing methods. Camps that in the
days of their glory were hundred OF
miles from railroad have been
searched out. and the golden op-
portunity, long lying dormant in
them although railroads have long
since approached, will soon be busy
with mine activity.
Through Central Idaho there are
a number of old gold camps that in
early days yielded gold in stagger-
ing volumn, such as always at
tracts the fortune-hunters and the
hell-roarers. These camps were on
a par with the famous Mother lode
districts of California both in color
of life and wealth of gold produc-
tion There was no Bret Harte to
weave the spell os romance around
them, and the passing of years dim
med their glory.
AS these old camps have been
searched out along the Yankee Fork
of the Salmon River at Bonanza,
Custer and Robinson Bar; to the
north of the Stanley Basin, in the
Loon creek district, and into the
Rocky Bar district, northeast of
Mountain Home, the weed-coyered
cemeteries in them, with the stories
they hold of men dying with their
boots on, tell of colorful life in their
hey-dey.
More to the interest of the min
ing man though is the tale told by
the geological formations and the
old mine workings that reveal where
fabously rich ore bodies were mined
to only shallow depths, with the
work stopped at points that every
modern geological indications now
shows was the start of what should
be the richest area of gold deposits.
When the nearest points were
Ogden and Walla Walla, miners at
Rocky Bar and vicinity, now go
miles from railroad trunk line,
were digging ore SO rich that, al
though only half of the metal con-
tents of the ore was recovered, they
built UP a production record of $780,
100000 Ito 40,000,000. Most of it
assayed 800 per ton and upward
The camp of Rocky Bar has been
searched out, and the picture it
gives "a geologist brings visions Oh
Midas wealth yet to be taken from
the ground. The ore channels that
already have produced the huge
total the camp is credited with, have
been traced into a common inter
section That spells to the geologist
the richest point of gold deposition,
and it lis yet untouched, passed by
the old timers and left as virgin
ground for the miners of today.
Twelve miles from the Rocky Bar
camp, the note Hammon interests
who have specialized in dredging
California gold areas are at work
They have just shipped fifteen car
loads of equipment into THE field tc
build two mammoth dredges. Their
engineers are said on excellent au-
thority to have extimated fifteen
years Of work ahead of them to
clean up their placer field.
AT the ROCKY Bar camp proper
the old VusIhnu and Mountain Goat
mines, neighbored by the Ida and
Ada Elmore properties, which in
early 70's are said to have produced
over $15,000,0O0 of spectacularly
rich gold ore from shallow levels
will be working within a fortnight
The newly formed Idaho Gold Cor
poration, headed by Earl Mcintyre
of the famous Mammoth mine Of
Utah, producer of $15,000,000 has
just purchased the Vishnu ant
Mountain Goat. A 60-mile power
line is now building from Mountain
Home ito supply electricity to the dis
trict. Big happenings are predic
ted here.
In the Yankee and Loon Creel
country, THE Famous old Charlie,
Dickens, Lucky Boy and Custet
mines are to be made active again
and the twenty millions they hav,