Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1936-07-18

4 school teacher in Missouri and q miner
I in Colorado before he drove an OK team
into Bannack in July, 1863. On the very
night of his arrival in Bannack he
joined a stampede to Horse Prairie
There he secured claim which ne
operated quite successfully, canning
his first thousand dollars-the thou
sand dollars which was destined TO
become the foundation of the vast Clark
/ fortune. Upon the approach Of win
ter Clark bought a mule team and
went to Salt Lake City where he bought
a supply of provisions, selling them at
twice their cost on his return to Ban
mack. Spring found him mining again.
That fall he sold his claims, travelled
once more to Salt Lake City, and
freighted large supply Of foodStuffs
to Virginia City, when in its best days.
Food was scarce In Virginia City that
winter and as q merchant Clark was
able to name his own price for his
groceries He went into the general
store business at Blackfoot, then q
new mining camp. near the present
route to Blackfoot he crossed the
Rockies through the Mullan Pass, in
the first Stagecoach TO traverse the
new Mullan military road.
In the fall of 1865, ever on the alert
to turn good deal, William A., Clark /
discovered that the markets of Mon /
tana were short Of tobacco supplies He
sold his Blackfoot store, rode horse |
back to Boise, Idaho, and purchased
several thousand pounds Of tobacco. |
The tobacco supply he took back to
Montana, selling 1t in Helena at from
four to six dollars pound. Thus the
Clark fortune grew as the young busi- /
ness man continued to buy cheap and I
sell at boom prices. In 1853 Clark
formed partnership with ID. W. Dom /
nell, a pioneer merchant Of Deer Lodge
prospered. In 1859 they opened q bank
in Deer Lodge and moved their stocks
there. A few months later S. e. Larabie
entered the firm.
It was in 1872 that CLARK turned his
attention to Butte. He opened branch
bank there and purchased an interest
in the Original, ColuSa, Mountain Chief
and Gambetta mines. The following
winter he spent studying at the
School Of Mines, Columbia University,
learning how to assay. What he learned
at Columbia gave him faith in Butte's
future and in 1873 and 1874 he began
the exploration Of the Colusa and
Gambetta, shipping his ore by freight
trains to Corrine, Utah, thence by rail
to San Francisco and Baltimore. When
William Farlin discovered silver in
Butte Hill in 1874 William A. Clark
was in on the ground floor and his
career as a mining magnate began in
earnest. He completed the first sue
cessful silver mill in the district-the
Dexter, which began operations in the
spring of 1876. In 1877 he received a
commission from Governor Potts, Ter
ritorial executive, and rode the 40
miles to Deer Lodge on horseback in
three hours to recruit $50 men to
helm General CSihhnr1 fYfrn hank fha
Nez Perces in the Big Hole country.
One of Clark's fellow workers in the
Big Hole slIirmish was Marcus DAILY,
who was destined to become Clark,s
chief rival for industrial and political
supremacy in Butte.
Clark continued as a banker in Butte
and his firm successfully weathered the
panic Of 1898, for every dollar Of the
millions he had made in the mines and
smelters of Butte was behind that
private bank in city of less than
80 900 people. One financial writer has
written: ut is doubtful whether any
bank in this country, not excluding the
firm of j. p. Morgan & Co., has such
immense resources behind it,"
Marcus DAILY, Clark's great rival. ar
rived In Butte in 1875 as a representa-
i've Of Salt Lake banking firm. He
1ad earned a reputation as a shrewd
Lake City bankers wished to make
What they could from the silver ex-
,itement In Butte. DAILY was a former
.mpIoye OF the Hearst interests In the
fabulous Coustock Lode country OF
Nevada. Upon his arrival in Butte hel
1ptioned the Alice mine for 5000. re-
ewing q Small interest In the prop
atty for hlExaBeAx. He built q milf ana
'0on the AIiee was such q booming