Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1940-07-20
Nv 7. ]. KERTTULA

The famous PenobscOt gold brick
was cast Ia Helena, April IA, 1878.
This brick, valued at $50, 262.62,
was the net product of the mine
Of the same name for period Of
30 DAYS during February and
March, 1878, and the incident
uroved again how fast a down and
ont prOspect0r can rise to fame
and fortune.
Possibly some would CONSIDER NathaIi
s. Vestel q prospector, because he do
not actually discover the PenobScot
rhine. which was later 70 create sucn
a sensation throughout the mining
world. At the time 1t had had no
rarallel since the great bonanza
strikes In the consolidated Virginia
and California mines, better known as
tne twin silver wonders OF Wasnoe.
whether it was a lucky hunch or ms
confidence in the property which leo
MIN to gamble everything he had IN
purchasing it, is not certain, but during
the late seventies, as result OF TINS
deal. he became one OF the leadlng
mining men Of the state.
while little is known of his activities
in the mining field prior to his ptIr-
chase of the Penobscot property, It Is
safe to presume that like countess
Others he roamed the. hills In searcn
OF gold, taking hard luck, prospSSr1, 10y
and poverty which we're the usual 10Y
Of nrospectors everywhere. In the light
OF hfs later actions it Is also safe 70
presume that at least part, If not
All OF the money which he used 70
purchase the property with was Dor
rowed.
In the fall of 1876 he bought out
the entire Stemple district holdings OF
Murphy, William RAIDER and Bert Mash
who were the original locaters OF the
Penobscot mine, and who IN spite OF
all the work they had done In sinking
seaafts on Discovery and NO. / Easg
claims did not seem to have any con-
fidence in the future OF the mine.
The Stemple district Is located about
40 miles northwest Of Helena. Later
the mining camp Of Marysviile sprung
llp In the locality, supported IN It's
early years at least partly by some
of these old mines.
VesEeI Erects AfiH
Immediately upon taking possession,
Vestel erected small stamp mill ana
started to work the ore from Inc
dumps. which paid sufficient profits
Ia convince him that, were he able
10 obtain sufficient money to develop
his claim, he would strike 1t rich. The
mill ran steadily with a small crew
until winter forced him to discontinue
work on the dumps. He started 1t up
again early In the spring OF 1877 and
continued until the dumps were COM
pletely worked over late IN August.
After the dumps were exhausted men
were laid off and q division of prop |
ertv was agreed upon, a man by the |
name of Captain Sears taking the |
Emma mine and Vestel retaining the
Penobscot.
Although nothing was said about it |
at the time of the original purchase |
Of the mine, 1t seems that Captain |
Sears must have been silent partner +
Ia the venture. It Is probable that most |
of the purchase price was put up by
Sears and as long as the mill was
bringing small but steady returns he
was satisfied. But when the dumps
ave out he would not risk any money
"a development work on the Penob-
cot, which was Vestel's main hope, so
he property was divided.
Now VeSteI was on his own. With
very limited finances and small crew
" men he started in, In the spring Of
B78 to take ore from the Discovery
md No. 2 shafts, crushing it In an
Nd arastra which he had secured from
bankrupt mining company. He got
BOOST up the ladder with q find OF
bout 100 tons of good ore in the Snow
lIIt Slldlbt dllA CtcO CAtLAAoAOAA Va eAAS
'enobscot This supplied him with
nough cash to keep going for while.
To say the least the road was rough
nd he was kept on the jump to sup
lly enough money to keep things go :
ng. To keep his arastra working stead /
" he needed continuous power, but |
" as he would he couldn't quite make {
be mine pay enough to raise the price
{ an engine. Finally a friend, John
Whitehead, came to the rescue by en-
orsing q note for him at the bank,
there he obtained sufficient money !
Or a 10-horsepower steam engine He !
ad his engine, but to keep 1t going :
e had to put more men on the pay !
OIL to cut and haul cordwood for :
1el. It was a vicious circle. The more :
quipment he managed to buy in an !
tempt to put the mine on a paying r
asis, the larger his expenses became. :
Men Continue to Work +
He must have been a man TO inspire C
Onfidence, in his workmen at least,
ecause at the end Of the year, prac- n
cally broke with several months e
ages owing to his men he started,
it'll a small crew, to sink another Il
Taft on his claim. His men, although "