Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-02-08


placer claim at the junction Of Mia.
soula gulch and Gimlet gulch. ill.,
north Of where the old CentennEa
brewery stands. I suppose IL we wen
out there we could stiII see some d.
the dirt we WindIassed out Of thml
claim, at least 1t was there when I wa
there about 10 years ago. The clairr
wasn't much good and we only GO
around S700 out Of 1t in SIX weeks
with the two Of US working. The long.
| er we worked, the less we thought 81
| that claim, and when we heard thas
mail contract had been let to Wells
Fargo from Salt Lake to Butte We
made up our minds that Il was easier
to skin a four-horse team than It was
TO work a placer mine, and we ulflt.
First Mail to Butte
Il went TO Ryan's canyon, where
Barrett Is now, about 10 miles south
Of Dillon, and found that Governor
Pollinger was division superintend-
ent for the Wells-Fargo. and went
TO work for him. The first mail for
Butte came In to Sim Estes place
at the mouth Of Ryan's canyon on the
morning Of July 4, 1856, and I was
waiting there for It. My end Of the
route was to pick up the mail and
the passengers at Sim Estes place and
bring them through to Butte, about
80 miles.
IT started from there with J. X
Biedler as shotgun messenger about
2 o'clock on the morning OF July 4
and the first mail landed In Butte at
$50 in the evening Of that day. we
changed horses at a station where
Dillon Is now; al Bill divers on
Birch creek, Just north Of the Apex
pass, down by the Frenchwoman's
Hole; Charley Wunderlich's station,
where Divide is now; Feely's at the
foot of Feely hill; and made the last
change at Silver Bow The trip took
us about 10 hours and we would come
up one day and go back the next.
"Humpy Ford was the first post |
master in Butte and his office was IN |
a cabin just north Of Park street, on
the west side Of Main. We kept the |
mail route going for three months |
and then they discontinued the serv- |
Ice and didn't put another mail wagon /
on until 1871, but don't know who
drove it then"
Making a Stake
Following the discontinuance of the
mail service into Butte, Hogan
botham, still accompanied by his
partner, removed his activities TO
Helena, where he was employed on
the stage line from the capital city TO
Deer Lodge, in the meantime Bob
finding employment in a livery stable
1T Helena. The route Of the old line,
the pioneer said, was over Priests
-anch to the Blackfoot, where a fellow
named Stearns kept the station, then
)ver Dog Greek hill into Deer Lodge"
The employment there was merely a
means to an end, however, for the
partners were accommodating a grub
take" for a prospecting trip.
Then the Buffalo River excitement ,
)roke out and Bob and took our grub
take and started for there but we ,
never got to the strike We landed on
he south side of the Highlands and
lid a little prospecting and finally ,
,amped there and started a placer ,
nine. We struck some good dust and
ook out $4,000 there that summer,
hen we made up our minds we would ,
70 back east for a visit. The end of I
he steel on the Union Pacific was at /
Cheyenne and we made it that far I
With the stake, but when we left ,
cheyenne we were broke again. !
The Unbeatable System
when we were working the placer
nine, we figured out system to beat {
he faro bank and we started to OPP S
= abC VA q Do1lk Ii OklCyGAAllC. Lie
ystem was a winner but we didn't
lave money enough to give 1t a good !
ryout and get it working right so we Z
our trip east and went to
work. From Cheyenne we went to
omaha and then to Texas, looking for
mother stake. lost Bob in Texas"
Then came a trip which still lives
-reen in the memory of the old-timer I
Aimless wanderings led him from
Texas to Salt Lake City and back to S
Montana, where he drove the over
and stage from Spring Hill to Ryan's S
anyon, then back to Salt Lake and
hence to Boise, Idaho. Here he met ]
hree men who were planning a pros {
,ecting trip to Canada and he i'm /
nediately threw in his lot with theirs
enroute and wandering at !
7ill, they penetrated deeper and deep G
r into the comparatively unknown {
1ilds of western Canada, until finally S
he great Peace river country was y
cached; then they retraced their S
tops to Fort Benton, 400 miles, ira
cling the entire distance on foot. t
Won the Proceeds g
Practically three years time was c
onsumed in the Canadian trip, the t
otal proceeds Of which amounted TO
SO worth Of gold dust to show for I
he work of the entire party. I'VE