The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1925-11-27
EDITOR OF MONTANAS OLDEST NEWSPAPER RECALLS BALMY
PLACER DAYS OF DIAMOND CITY AND CONFEDERATE GULCH

ion the only monument that remains
Of what was once n OF the most
f%lOurishing and hopeful Of MOntana's
boom gold camps.
Today the list Of MOntana's post
offices does not contain the name Of
Diamond City, but that was the
proud appellation Of the hustling
/ and prosperous mining center that
half a century ago was as well known
as Helena, Virginia City and Ban
mack, and was then considered a
7 much better camp than Butte.
/ Confederate Gulch and Montana Bar.
Neither does the list OF Montana
I mining districts now include the
1 name of Confederate Gulch. Yet, |
for the area that was worked by the
miners, that almost forgotten gulch J
was the richest gold producing dis
trict in what is now known as Mon
tana state.
Confederate Gulch, which was the
nucleus for the existence Of Diamond
City, was discovered in 1864, and,
during the fall Of that year and the
spring of 1865, p%rOspectors thrOnged
there, and the vicinity was extern
sively mined BY men who had come
up from Idaho and from the CalifOr-
mia fields. The richness Of the pay
dirt in Confederate gulch was the
sensation Of Montana TerritOry's
mining camps. Miners are said to
! have ordinarily obtained as high as
$3.50 to the pan, and at Of the
~diggings in the gulch, pans a as
high as $1,000.
A story has been told by J. X.
. Beidler to the effect that in the late
l'6Os a heavily laden freight outfit
- pulled away from Diamond City's
streets with gold dust valued at
$500, 900, the cleanup Of n short
I seasons work by three or four men
on a rich bar. This shipment, Beid-
Her says, was hauled to Fort Benton
for transportation down the river. 1t
was transported from Benton to the
States in mackinaW boats as no
steamers were. operating when they
arrived there.
Montana Bar Richest I'm World.
Montana Bar was situated above
Confederate gulch, and consisted OF
"a foOthill about One-half mile long
and from two to 800 feet deep, be-
ing much richer in yield than the
main gulch. Up to the time of the
discovery of the famous Ruby sands
near Nome, Alaska, Montana Ban
was the richest placer diggings the
world had ever known. When the
first cleanup was made on the bal
the fumes were found to be LITERAL!
clogged with gold by the hundred
weight. When the bedrock of thil
bar was reached the enormous yield
of $3.50 to the pan was forgotten a
H. ---G~.n.1 -g~TE - 81 ma 70 III,
pan.
Editor Sutherlin states that P. P
Thomas, a %prospectOr operating jus
across from Montana Bar secured
S1,140 from n pan.
In its issue Of June 16, 1865, tn,
Montana Post, published at Virgins
City, carried the following item:
81. Despeck, who has come owe
2 from Helena, Informs us that $500
was washed from the claim Of Johl
& Metcalf on Montana Bar in seve,
days, and that he saw $4,000 carrie
laway in a bucket from Smith & BuI
lchett's claim after 3 q of te
hours"
Confederate GuIch was not S
d large as Alder, Last Chance, or Or
Elmo gulches, but it vas the riches
by far Of all the Montana placer die
gings.
Diamond an Important Center.
Diamond City in the $685." say
Editor S~utherlin, was not only til
trading center for Confederate gulcl
but also for some IA other gulchG
in that vicinity. AmOng these We
New York gulch whose riches wei
discovered in 1865, and a townsil
platted there the following summC
nc by men who had high hopes of a eli
he springing up there. Another tow
of Brooklyn was plated in this are
Try These camps in the midst of tt
in mountains lived their little hour an
passed like mist before the sun whe
- the yellow metal failed to come.
SIC Whites gulch, three miles Ov'
the mountains from Diamond CT
u was another famous producer whis
- lasted a little longer than did Co,
federate, being mined as late
1885. Cave guIch, another tributar
was also a famed producer"
Diamond a Boom Town
len In describing Diamond City as ]
lde