Montana oil and mining journal., 1937-11-27

~ Gated in Park county just north
IA Of Yellowstone national PARK;
gold seekers who did fairly well for
several seasons, as = BONANZA field It
proved a flop. The highest estimate ever
made of the gold that was taken out
of the placer diggings there, was from
SIOO.O 900 to gIg0, 900, those being the
figures prOffered by Professor Hayden
OF the United States geological survey
I'm 1872. David B. Weaver, one Of the
three original discOverers OF the first
nay dirt in the gulch, in discussing the
matter afterwards, said he thought
that figure too high. He was quite sure
that during the three years that he
worked there, 1864, 1865 and 1866,
Che total would not have amounted TO
more than from $4,000 to $4,000, and
in a paper contributed by him TO the
Montana historical society, entitled,
early Days in Emigrant Gulch," he
cites returns Of the various claims to
prove his statement.
Strangely enough, the discovery
claim in Emigrant gulch was not
worked at all during the three years
that Weaver mentions. The tlrSt pan
of sand washed from it yielded gold
dust valued at about dollar. nuggets /
worth as much as Is cents were also
washed from it. During the first year
discovererS turned their attention to
other parts of the gulch above the
discovery. In the spring Of 1865 snow
slide buried the discovery claim be-
meath 40 or so feet of snow so that 1t
could not be worked that year: In
the spring of 1866, three men, William
Lowe, George Gibboney and Richard
Skinner, started to work II, ana nau
their sluice boxes SET
They were fearful of snowslide, so
Lowe was posted on the opposite side
of the gilch from where ne could view
the terrain above the claim and give
the alarm to Gibboney and Skinner,
who were to do the work, II q slide
should start. The slide came and Lowe,
acrlss the creek from it, barely es-
caped with his life Gibboney and Skin
ner were both killed. The miners sue ,
ceeded in recovering SINNERS body
within a short time, but Gibboney was
not found for several months.
Gold Discovered In 1864
Gold in paying quantities was first
found in Emigrant gulch on Aug. So, {
1864, by Weaver, Frank Garrett and
David r. Shorthill. Two of these men,
Weaver and Shorthill had been mem
bers of an original party Of five that /
started from Huntington county, Pa. |
Others in the original party were Alex
ander Norris, Richard Owens and
George Travis. They had one wagon, ]
one yoke Of COWS and two yoke OF I
oxen. |
They crossed the Missouri river at S
Omaha on May 81, 1854 and reached
Fort Kearney on the Platte river on {
June 2. June 25 they reached Fort G
Laramie. BY this time they were part
of a group of 20 wagons all bound for |
the gold fields of Montana, but as they /
had had word that the Indians in the i
country were hostile, they &
decided to wait until they could get s
a larger train together before starting I
on the final leg Of their journey. q
Consequently at the toll bridge over i
the Platte river, which was the start
of the Bozeman trail, they went into t
camp. That was on July 6. BY July II 9
there were So wagons In readiness for +
the trip and the start was made. The S
train reached Powder river on July %, t
Tongue river on July 20 and camped C
on the Big Horn river on Aug. 4. At Y
the latter place a number of the men o
who washed some of the sand in the D
Big Horn got traces, or 'colors" OF S
gold, but not enough to justify working
Yellowstone river and followed it west. Il
At about where Livingston now
stands, the wagon train encountered
q number Of prospectors who told OF t!
diggingS which they were working to G
the south, and the wagon train split s.
some continuing on to Virginia City v
and others going with the proSpectors n
into what was known as the Curry min e.
ing district near where Emigrant gulch n
later was developed. Norris, Shorthill v
and Weaver decided to remain east Of n
the mountains. Owens and Travis con- Il
tinued on to Virginia City. Each group G
took one COW and one yoke Of oxen. Il
Weaver and his companion then :
went to what was at that time known <
as Currys gulch, where about two miles u
Of ground up and down the creek had e
been staked into 100-foot placer claims.
This ground, however, proved a failure. n
It was called Currys gulch after Tom n
Curry. Curry with two companions had a
been prospecting there during the 81
winter of 1863 when the Crow Indians n
entered their camp and robbed them K
Of everything they had. They were