The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-03-09
M TIER LODE MINE
AND SLAB OF GOLD
lContlnued from Page ID

bedding was white quartz and densely
covered with rusty gold. as if poured
from huge ladle in a melted state on
the quartz. Later in the season the
writer again visited the bonanza and
found that the supposed slab" was
five feet wide and eight feet long. uni
form in studded gold, and. after study
ing the sides and bedding of quartz.
concluded that the slab was the outcrop
+ of a regular ledge formation. This was
confirmed several years later. but
strenuously controverted by local geol-
ogists when the writer published his
opinion.
The Mother Lode.
The discoveries were VIM. King,
Lewis. Clark and Harris. four men who
had no particular knowledge of min
ing but y ere kindred spirits in
thought action and desires; in fact.
they lived as members of one family
1t is doubted if they ever had a dis
pute among themselves King was the
dominating head of the syndicate. He
was an old English sea dog" and had
served in the northern army during
the Civil war. He also served two
terms in the legislature when Idaho
vas still territory. The men covered
the slab with claim and called il the
Mother Lode" built log cabin close
enough to guard it. and sat there for
several years enjoying their leisure
dignity and awaiting a purchaser. or
course they had a lot of visitors. who |
were always welcomed with refresh |
ments. Finally British capitalist |
happened along He examined the |
Mother Lode, thought very favorably /
of it and took an option This was
Sir Rose Price He was on his way to
London from Australia, had heard of
the gold belt of the Occur dAlenes and
had come here to see if any good prop
erty could be had He also examined
other properties. which might be en-
braced later. on arriving in London
the great Barring Brothers banking
house failure was announced which
shook the entire British empire finan
rially Sir Rose Immediately notified
he Mother Lode owners that he could
not see his way clear to take up the ,
option. as the big failure had inter
'erred with all English investments for
he time being. The writer had an eX-
ended interview with Sir Rose. much
Of which was published at the time
md if adverse circumstances had not
arisen it is quite probable that the
North Side would have had a different
gold mining history The visit of Sir
Rose occurred in the summer of 1856
when gold mining was really at its
)est
Occdent and Treasure Box
The Mother Lode claim, with its only I
lnown flat vein, was cut off on tho 6
.ast by the Occident, the owners of ,
which were Robert and Frank Stevens. :
Iugh Tinker and Pat McEntee, but
he latter disposed of his one-fourth ;
interest to o. d. Jones. now living at
Wallace. The little company con- ,
tructed double arrastre. and ran
10Th with water power very success J
ully. until the ribbon vein became too Z
,ase for adequate returns No con- +
entration was attempted. Hence the =
rrastres stopped grinding They pen q
trated the mountain with ! tunnel \
bout 700 feet, and cut into i large n
ross ledge, which was determined 10 a
e the Goldback. now known rs the 4
reat mother lode of Prichard creek, q
rossing Prichard creek from the =,
orthwest and cOursing through Ophir
fountain in a southeasterly direction
utting the Mother Lode claim, the
Dccident and Treasure Box on the east
f the Occident, beyond which claim
has not vet been traced. being prac :
caIy obliterated by Ophir canyon
asst of the Treasure Box When the
ig lead was struck by the Occident l
wners it revealed a solid mass of low
rade quartz, consisting mainly of cop
er galena and iron. Subsequently, n
My a few years ago. the big ledge was u
-ossed by the present owners, and a t.
aise of some 80 feet struck the Occi CO
ent vein again AS working 'cOndi- OF
ons were very unfavOrable and dan vi
arous further operations ceased at q
lat point. he DIOSpttiinbs icNNNNif Il
as of great value. as some very good al
rade of copper and galena ore were ~
,und. Development work has been
,rried on continuously as assessment m
Dor in other parts of the property, D
hich has changed hands repeatedly. III
ne pocket in an upper claim on the 70
ountain yielded $4,000 in a small n
pace years ago. -
The Treasure Box. which was the tn
ghest claim on the rich vein, prac- e
cally apexing the Occident and Moth e
Lode claims gained local promi- &,
ance by contributing a number OF
rye pockets, one of them yielding
1000. It had only ITO feet in length
the main vein. and was very diff m
ut of access and to work being on III
lie extreme northeastern point of Ophir ", W
ountain and projecting to the point r.