The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1922-02-09
MAYFLOWER MINE
FREAK PRODUCER
DISCOVERED BY GRUBSTAKE
MINER NEAR WHITEHALL;
SOLD TO w. A. CLARK
.Locators Got Quarter of aNIillion Out
of it; Made ST, 5O6,O 600 for Butte
Millionaire; Carload of Float Ore
Returned $4,000 to Owners.
BY Frank Trainor.

lion and a half dollars to Senator w
A. Clark's wealth, was unique among
quartz mines of the west. 1t was a
source of wonder to old-time pros.
p~ectors and a puzzle to mining en-
g%ineers as well as an exemplification
of the h~ackneyed adage that gold is
where you find it.
Perhaps the Mayflower's chief dis
tinction was that it produced more
wealth at a lower initial cost than
any quartz mine in the country. 1t
not only paid from the grass roots
down but from the grass roots up,
for scattered over the hillside were
merely had to be broken up to be
shipped to the smelter. Another
feature of the mine was that the ore
was contained in a chimney in a dolo-
mite or lime formation, and that be-
yond 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 l~iver-colored rock which
constituted the rich values of the
chimney, and this similarity was ac-
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 it 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
~intregated 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 a piece of his old grindstone and
tested it 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 ION in the barren reef of
the rocks above?
1t 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, a former Jefferson val
ley rancher. Preuitt staked some
claims in the gulch above where the
million-dollar Gaylord smelter had
nncfr11nfn hu thn DorT,nf MINI
ing Co., a smelter which, by the way,
never treated a pound Of ore or turn
ed a wheel. The showing on Preuitt's
claims was very poor. The Butte
were out a few hundred dollars
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
he claims and on Sunday walked up
he side of the gulch under the lime
bluff. Under his feet we're
hundreds of tons of liver-colored
'ock which had apparently been
from the ledge above. He
picked up a small piece and put it
his pocket. He was an assayer,
he thought that some time when
lie was not busy he would test the
,ock, but not with any idea that it
contained values. 1t was a week or
later when he found time to make
he assay and judge of his surprise
When it gave values of about 5000
gold to the ton. Believing that
lie had made a mistake he made a
ID a sack of samples which, when
ssayed, gave even greater values. In
orming his partners he again sought
he gulch, and with Preuitt, staked
'ut the claim which later became the
amous producer.
The first work on the mine was
he breaking up and sacking of the
ich boulders on the surface. For
ONE time the locators kept their
.perations secret. The ore was be-
ng shipped to the Helena smelter
nd one car load netted the owners
yer $4,000. The Helena people
rendered where the rich ore was
oming from and sent a man over
D investigate. The news of the rich
trike soon became public property
the usual stampede followed.
Whitehall became the Mecca of
ordes of ~prospectors, mining engin-
ers and shoe-string capitalists, with
ne usual quota of plain curiosity
sekers. Mine-jumping became the
rider of the day and it was a mighty
DOR prospect that had not been plas-
cred with two or three location no.
ces. Even the M%ayflower mine did
OF escape and it was overlapped at
5 many angles as the locator could
nd an opening. The hills we're alive
18th both amateur and seasoned
rospectors and many women Joined
lie mad chase for gold. So great
the rush and so intense the quest
lat many t~enderfeet narrowly es-
sped drowning while attempting to
,rd the Jefferson river at dangerous
)ints.
The Mayflower locators had ship
I'd about 100000 worth of ore
hen Dave Bricker, a well known
inc operator of Butte, made them
l offer of $350,000 for the mine.
ut Dave did not have the cash and
deal fell through. Joe Clark
ade an examination of the mine for
c brOthnr SonatOr CLARK op5 +Lo