The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-02-24
BY Frank Trainor.

for scattered over the hillside were
hundreds of tons Of rich ore that
merely had to be broken up to be
shipped to the smelter. Another
feature of the mine was that the ore
was contained in q chimney in a dolo-
mite or lime formation, and that be.
You'd the limits of that chimney not
another pound of shipping ore was
found within miles Of the vicinity.
] Towering above this chimney of
rich ore was a massive reef of dark
red dolomite, which extended to the
Jefferson river, three miles away. In
appearance this reef was exactly SINH
lar to the liver-colored rock which
constituted the rich values of the
chimney, and this similarity was &C
countable for the fact that the dis
covery of the rich ore shoot was not
made at an earlier period. The big
reef was absolutely barren of values
but chunks of 1t placed side by side
with the Mayflower ore could not be
distinguished apart, even by experts.
Experienced prospectors had tramped
over and around that hillside for
years. Their trained eyes discerned
the limestone bluff and they surmis-
ed that the float below had been dis
fntregated from the reef above. To
the old-time prospector in Montana,
limestone and ore bodies did not mix
and he would have as readily Clipped
off piece of his old grindstone and
tested 1t for cOlOrs as to bother pros
pecting around that limestone forma-
ton. Whence came these boulders
of rich ore which covered the hillside
and which resembled so much the
millions of tons in the barren reef of
the rocks above?
It was purely by accident that the
Mayflower ore shoot was discovered
and, most humiliating of all, by a
tenderfoot from Butte. A few months
prior to the discovery, S. r. Fair, a
Butte druggist, Edward Clark, and
HIS brother Edwin had grubstaked
G. W. Preuitt, former jefferson val
ley rancher. Preuitt staked some
claims in the gulch above where the
million-dollar Gaylord smelter had
been constructed by the Parrot Min
ing Co., a smelter which. by the way,
never treated a pound of ore or turn
ed wheel. The showing on Preuitt's
claims was very poor. The Butte
men were out a few hundred dollars
on the grubstake and were deliber-
ating whether to cease operations or
continue a little longer. One week.
end Edwin Clark went out to look at
the claims and on Sunday walked up
the side of the gulch under the lime
stone bluff. Under his feet were
hundreds of tons of liver-colored
rock which had apparently been
broken from the ledge above. He
picked up small piece and put it
in his pocket. He was an assayer,
and he thought that some time when
he was not busy he would test the
rock, but not with any idea that it
contained values. It was a week or
so later when he found time to make
the assay and judge of his surprise
when It gave values of about 5000
in gold to the ton. Believing that
he had made a mistake he made a
hurried trip to the gulch and select
ed q sack of samples which, when
assayed, gave even greater values. In
forming his partners he again sought
the gulch, and with Preuitt, staked
out the claim which later became the
famous producer.
The first work on the mine was
the breaking up and sacking of the
rich boulders ON the surface. For
some time the locators kept their
operations secret. The ore was be-
ing shipped to the Helena smelter
and one car load Melted the owners
over $4,000. The Helena people
wondered where the rich ore was
coming from and sent a man over
to investigate. The news of the rich
strike soon became public property
and the usual stampede followed.
Whitehall became the Mecca of
hordes of prospectors, mining engin-
GERS and shoe-string capitalists, with
the usual quota of plain curiosity
seekers. Mine-jumping became the
order OF the day and 1t was a mighty
poor prospect that had not been plas-
Tered with two or three location no.
tees. Even the Mayflower mine did
rot escape and it was overlapped at
as many angles as the locator could
find an opening The hills were alive
with both amateur and seasoned
prOspectOrs and many women Joined
the mad chase for gold. So great
was the rush and SO intense the quest
that many tenderfeet narrowly es-
capped drowning. while attempting t.
ford the Jefferson river at dangerous
points.
The Mayflower locators had ship
ped about 100000 worth of ore
when Dave Bricker. a well known
mine operator of Butte, made them
an offer of $350,000 for the mine.
But Dave did not have the cash and
the deal fell through. Joe Clark
made an examination of the mine for
his brother, Senator Clark, and the
latter made an offer of $25O,000
which was accepted. The terms of
purchase were $4,000 down and