Glacier County chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1931-1940, 1940-02-02

smelter ran for 100 days. Some $40
tons of silver-lead bullion was sold for
sos 900, but the cost of coke and trans
portation destroyed all profits.
After 1886 a number of attempts
were made to infuse new activity into
the camp, and more than 100000 tons
of ore were put on mine dumps over
| the years. Some of the ores were good
under average conditions, but isolation
rendered them worthless.
For 40 years there were periodic at
| temptS to get a railroad into Cooke;
! for with rails, believed claim owners
and spectators, Cooke would become
! a bonanza. Bills were frequently intro
duced in congress to secure a railroad
! right-of-way through Yellowstone park,
! or to remove from the park the area
north OF the Lamar river and east OF
! the Yellowstone. Could this area be
returned to the public domain there
might be other bonanza opportunities
in now forbidden land
One of the few comedies connected
with the Cooke story occurred in 1885,
when a bill was in congress to remove
/ the area in question from the park.
! Spectators at Gardiner and Living
ston we're watching the legislation. One
day a telegram came to Livingston
that the bill had passed the house
, The recipient of the wire became flus-
tered and thought it had become law.
He passed the information to associ-
ates in Gardiner, giving the signal for
an intendedly quiet safari in late win
ter into the Soda butte region to stake
mining claims.
Outsiders found out something was
happening, and set a watch upon the
When the insiders" greeted daylight
on Soda butte after a hurried night
ride, they found the camp followers
were numerous. and coveted claims
were snapped up before the original
CLIQUE could get their stakes down. :.
Then came the sad news thaL II
Meantime, many Of the 1882 pioneers
settled down on their Cooke claims to
await the million dollar" deals that
were to come pretty soon. Despite $50
lation which destroyed questionable
values they we're sure that q miracle
would come to pass and release to
them the wealth to which they Claimed
title
Some of Them Stayed
Within recent years old men have
6ied who spent their mature lives on
the slopes of Henderson mountain or
in other parts of the mountains around
Cooke Mostly, they eked out pre-
cariouS existence. Occasionally one or
more of them would decide that a
coin in the pocket was worth more
than gold in the mountain. They sold
their claims for what might be offered,
and found better living elsewhere. But
not all of them.
Fresh in the minds of Park county
people is the memory OF one old couple
who wasted their lives waiting for that
million dollar sale of their claim.
They were at various times offered
as much as $4,000 by someone who
wanted to take a flier in mining
But
mo sir! This mine is worth million
dollars. Why! Just look at that ore;
see the gold running through it. We're
going to have million dollars out OF
this claim"
The couple, foreigners, had gone to
the Horr-Aldridge coal and coke prop
critics north OF Gardiner. They were
not in the 1882 vanguard, but several
years later they took their stake OF
81 200, bought a claim at Cooke and
settled down to develop their fortune.
The man grew old before his time.
/ He kept drilling away at tunnel. A
man-sized tunnel meant lot OF work;
A small tunnel would move forward
faster and reveal quicker the mother
lode he was sure was there. The years
went by and the STOPPING in his rat
hole tunnel bent his body until he
was hopelessly deformed. In this con-
dition he kept peck1ng away at the
face of his tunnel.
County charges in their last years,
the old man died one day, and it was
not long until his wife was taken to
the state hospital, a veil of mercy en-
shrouding her memory in her last days.
This is, of course, an extreme case
But it emphasizes the poker instinct
which makes mining men certain that
the next stroke of the pick will find
the lode
Remained in Hills % Years
William Nichols went to Cooke In
1882 with all the other young hopefuls.
He was called to Livingston in No
vember, 1917. as witness in case in
district court 1t was the first time he
| had been away from Cooke in 81 years.
It was the first time he had ever seen
motion pictures or a roller skating
rink.
! Many of these people were for years
grubstaked by Livingston and Gardiner
business men who had small interests
| at Cooke or merely liked and felt
sorry for the individuals.
Jack Allen and the late Nels E.
Soderholm were the two 1882 pioneers
who followed the theory of men in
many a camp that he who served the
miners would profit more.
Soderholm operated a grocery and
general store at Cooke for most of
his life there. His widow still runs the
store, serving today q large tourist