Glacier County chief., 1939-07-21
By EDWARD b. REYNOLDS

TN 1894 GRANITE was a hust-
ling mining camp of more than
q 5000 persons, teeming with
life and excitement. Today Gran
lite is a ghost town on top of
Granite mountain, four miles from
Philipsburg. Its past is recorded in
a few tumbledown shacks, the
Miners union hall and the grass
grown foundations where build
ings once stood.
The story of Granite is typical Of
many of Montana ghost towns in the
mining districts. 1t is packed with
drama, romance, comedy and much
pathos. The end of Granite came over
In 1880, Charles D. Mcclure was
superintendent of the Hope Mining
Co.'S mines and mill at Philipsburg
There were rumors Of silver float on
top of Granite mountain and he be-
came interested is,TS,s The following year
G. Blaine claim on the mountain. Nc
Lure purchased it for $1,000. Later it
was the richest of the 20 claims To-
Gated in that vicinity.
Mcclure interested the capitalists
backing the Hope mines. They were
Granite Mountain Co., putting Mcclure
to work investigating the silver posi-
bilities of the mountain. Mcclure un-
earthed silver float and started tun-
mel. The company sent Prof. Joshua
E. Clayton. an expert on mining. to
on April 81, 1881 Clayton wired the
st. Louis financiers, Granite noun
tain true fissure. Vein four to six feet
wide . Worth $4,000"
Last Shot Uncovers Fortune
Mcclure pushed work on the develop
ment of the mine, but ran into bar
rem spot. After travelling through lis
able amount of silver, he received a
wire from the company to stop work.
The last charge Of dynamite was fired.
AS the smoke of the blast cleared
away, Mcclure investigated. A fortune
blast.
From then on Granite mountain
started to boom. In May, 1886, Mcclure,
Paul A. Fusz and Charles Clark or
ganized the Bi-Metallic Mining Co:
Granite City came into being and
miners flocked in from. all over Mon
tana. Mills we're constructed at the
base of the mountain to reduce the ore
and claim the silver.
From Philipsburg to Granite one of
the finest roads in the northwest was
constructed It wound Ioo up the the noun Sard
packed. Day and night huge freight
trains of l6 and 10 mules or horses
numbered up the hill. Stage coaches
rolled into Granite at regular inter-
walls. A cable car system for trans
porting the ore from the mines to the
mills was constructed.
Stores were built in Granite and
baseball field was marked out on top
of the mountain. Churches were con-
structed and the Episcopal church at
Granite was one Of the finest in the
and the fixtures were of the best.
Bricks were hauled to the top Of the
mountain and the Miners Union hall
was built. 1t was the only brick build
ing in the camp and would be credit
to any community today.
Fine Miners Union Hall
The Miners Union hall was used as
a community meeting place: Socials
and parties were held there. Its stage
is said to have been equipped with
$4,000 worth of scenery. The best OF
vaudeville and stage shows were pro-
duced on its stage. Such actors as Nat
Goodwin, Mrs. Minnie Madden Fiske,
Daniel Bandmann and others trod its
boards.
The men of Granite were paid. at
the mines in silver dollars which they
brought home in their lunch buckets.
perity and the people of Granite dealt
only in silver Silver dollars were the
recognized medium of exchange and
paper money was looked upon with
Scorn.
The prosperity of Granite was such
that in 1890 the stockholders of the BIZ
Metallic Co. received 2,500, 900 in divi-
dends. This huge sum of money Is
made even more remarkable in the
light Of Professor Clayton's telegram
in 1881 which valued the properties at
$75. 1000.
Granite ran wide open with saloons
aplenty. According to Henry DUANE, now
fire chief in Anaconda and one-time
stagecoach driver to Granite, the
hurdy-gurdy girls worked four days
in Granite and three days in Butte.
In the early days the number of
daughters Of Joy who flocked to a
mining camp was reliable barometer
of that camps prosperity.
There are still tales extant of high
graders attempting to steal rich silver
ore and bars of silver from the mines
and mills. One man is said to have
carried q small fortune out in hay
wagon and buried it somewhere. It has
never been rediScovered.
Bank Withstands Run
A favorite tale Of old-timers concerns
an attempt to break the bank by start
ing run. The attempt ended in fall