Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-07-09
SAW DUST TO
GOLD DUST
AN ACCOUNT OF FIRST DISCOv-
cry OF GOLD IN PAYING
QUANTITIES IN STATE

The following story Is an account
Of the first discovery Of gold In pay
ing quantities In Montana as copied
from the original manuscript writ
ten by the late Judge M. H. Lott
and in possession Of Mr.. Lott, Of
Twin Bridges.
we reached our discovery, as near
as I can %recollect, at about noon OF
July u, 1862.
We found some nice prospects, SUI
ficient to encourage us to work II we
had not already located. On crossing
over a low range from the GraSShopper
to the Big Hole basin we found part
of an old wagon, showing that We were
not the first white people in that part
of the country.
II had brought a whip-saw with me
and that afternoon Mr.. Dunkleburg
and myself erected a sawmill and put
a log on the carriage ready for work
the next morning. He worked in the
pit forming the lower part OF the saw
frame and I formed the upper part Of
the frame and worked On top of the
log. BY hard work and long hours we
sawed 200 feet Of lumber a day. After
We sawed what we needed, We sold
some for $50 per hundred feet, making
$50 per day. Only July 10th we were
sluicing gold.
THE parties that mined the Pioneer
gulch were Charles and William Wood,
j. McCabe. George Mccormick, Fred
Miller, Dave Dunkleburg, H. Conley
and James Kennedy. The latter and
/ vert partners in the discovery claim.
When sluicing We took out from SOS
to SIS per day. We had to strip the
ground and could not sluice every day.
We worked the claim out, taking out
several hundred dollars apiece.
Among the amusing incidents that
occurred was that in connection with
a Mr.. Farlen and his partner. They
were Mormons and had come on with
us from Fort Lemhi- Their larder
was very meager, especially as to to-
bacco. When they got to taking out
gold they we're overheard making out
a list of supplies. First was tobacco,
and each alternate item was tobacco
and the last item was some more to-
bacco.'
Our sawmill was near an Indian
trail and in passing they would stop
and watch us for hours and were
struck with wonder. Some Indians,
camped near the claims. used to watch
us mine and see the cleanup. They
were past middle age and could speak
q little English. One said: Indian
heap big fool 1t seems that this was
the first mining they had ever seen
or heard of in this part of the country.
The news of strike spread far and
near and in the latter part of August
a farmer from the Bitter Root packed
in some potatoes and vegetables for
sale at 30 cents a pound and sold out
Immediately.
"EmigrantS on the road to the Flor
ence mines heard of our discovery and
turned in our direction instead In
trying to find III locality after crossing
the Beaverhead river they found good
prospects at the mouth of GrasShopper
creek and going up stream discovered
Whites bar, and farther up Walsh
Stapleton discovered Stapleton's bar,
where Bannack now stands, which
proved a good mining camp. This
information Of the discovery Of the
mines on Grasshopper I received from
the discoveries themselves.
THE weather got 50 cold and snowy
in October that we went to Bannack
for the winter of 1925. Robert
Dempsey, a well-known mountaineer
and Indian trader, who with Granville
Stuart and others lived below Deer
Lodge on what wa then known as
Dublin creek and later known as Gold
creek, came to Bannack that winter
with some COWS. He congratulated me
on sluicing the first gold in this coun-
try. He seemed not TO have heard
Of any other mining for gold.
II bought two mining claims in Ban
mack. The party owning them wanted
to go back to the states and as he
would have to wait until spring for the
ground to thaw out before he could
work the claims, he offered to sell at
a very reasonable price. I worked them
out the next spring and summer and
made $40, My brother, John, came
on from Fort Kearney, where he had
worked at building the fort. We now
decided to go into partnership and &c
into the mercantile business at Me-
vada City. Soon after, we located and
pro-oroptod 1opd of Tujp ridOecn