The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-04-23
Horses Stampeded by Flies Led to Discovery
OF States Richest Lead Mines in BeaVerhead

Sb61lpCOCu ny 1ACS uU4A416 ShO y
weather Of 1872 was responsible for
the discovery of the rich n ia
nous lead mines which long Oper-
ated in Beaverhead county, and .
lost white mule was the u of
the mountain upon which some of
the richest of the veins. were To-
Gated, being called Lion mountain.
The mines on Lion mountain, II 1000
feet high, were eventually all operated
by the Hecla Mining Co. of which
Henry K%nippenberg was manager and
n of the principal owners The camps
which grew up at the foot Of the hill
were Glendale, Lion City and Trapper,
now ghost towns, if not entirely OBJ
liberated. The Hecla was for q long
time the only exclusive lead mining
company in Montana.
It was in the summer of 1872 that
Jerry G%rotovant, Joe McCreary, Charles
DeLorimer and James Bryant left the
Vipond mining district, where they
were mining and prospecting, to make
2 hunting and prospecting trip into
cinity of Lion mountain, then I'M
named. The year before they had Wis
tied the head of Trapper creek and
knew that the country abounded in
game for they had been most success
full in killing sheep, deer and noun
tain lions and in trapping beaver.
n 4C" 1ll1lcS 1IOu1 W1l0IG Ull0 COW11
of Glendale was later located they
were camped when they lost their
horses, stampeded by flies, which were
unusually bad. There was only one of
them in camp when the horses, grazing
nearby, tormented beyond endurance
by the flies, broke into a run, kicking
and snorting, and headed for the brush
selves momentarily from the insects.
When the others of the party re-
turned, all started hunting the ami
mails, going in different directions.
Bryant headed up the creek toward the
mountain. He walked for a time, then
ting there his attention was attracted
to fragments of rock on the ground
which to him appeared to be good sill
yer ore. Further investigation revealed
that n rock upon which he was sit
ting was the ~outcropping of the ledge
from which the ore fragments >had
there and fastened back to camp to tell
his partners of his find. It was a long
way to the nearest aSSayer and it was
weeks before they got their sample to
one and obtained a report on it. When
they did get it, the specimen showed
high values, in lead, not silver.
The men in the meantime had staked
claims and started development work.
They were mining in rough country
in which there were no wagon roads.
The ore had to be packed out. The
four gave a contract for packing to
Bill Hamilton who had a mule pack
train. The ore was packed from the
mountain down the creek to a point
where a wagon road had been con- !
structed. From there it was freighted
to Corinne, Utah, the nearest railroad
station, and shipped to Denver, where
it was smelted. They took out $4,000
worth of ore in a short time.
News Of Strike Spread Rapidly
The news of the strike spread and
Immediately there was a rush of miners
from Bannack and other sections and
numerous other profitable properties
were located. Among the first men on
h ground was Noah Armstrong,
prominent as a mining man in the
mountain region at that time, and
later at Seattle. He had been engaged
in mining development work about the
old camp of Diamond, and had a COM