Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-09-04
MRS. STEWART
TELLS OF FIRST
GOLD DISCOVERY
WIDOW OF EARLY MONTANAN
READS PAPER AT PIONEER
SOCIETY MEETING

man CreOlteQ Win the discovery OF
gold in Montana, gave a paper at a
recent meeting Of the Bitter Root
Valley Pioneer society, dealing extern
sively with the gold topic. She said in
part:
along in the early eighties when
the membership Of the Montana Pho
neer society numbered around 1000,
at each meeting questions came up
with regard to historical incidents"
Mrs. Stuart said. Foremost among
these discussions was-'Who was the
first discoverer Of gold in Montana
Granville Stuart claimed that
James Stuart, ReeZin Anderson,
Thomas Adams and himself were the
first to discover gold and the first
to do real prospecting. They set the
first sluice boxes and proclaimed to
the world that this was a rich gold
country. Their letters to friends and
especially to brother, Thomas Stuart,
then in Pixies peak as Colorado was
called, started the rush TO this coun-
try. On this they based their claim
as discoveries of gold in Montana.
I'm the year, 1876, centennial year,
certain men in the territory were
called upon to write centennial ad-
dresses. Judge Frank Woody's was
published in the New Northwest at
Deer Lodge, Sept. l6. Senator w. A.
Clark's address was published in a
Butte paper. This is the Stuart story:
LAS the discovery Of gold was the
cause of our territory being created
it is proper to give a brief sketch Of
that, to us, important event. In 1852
. Scotch half-breed from the Red
River Of the North, named Francois
Findlay, but known as Benetse to his
associates, and who had first returned
from California to the Rocky noun
tains, began to prospect on what is
now Gold creek in Deer Lodge county
and found light float gold. But he
found no mines that would pay as his
prospecting was necessarily Of super
ficial character. The fact of gold be-
ing found there, however, became
noiSed about among the few mountain
men still in the country and in the
spring of 1856 a party among whom
was Robert Hereford, John Sanders
Gong john, Bill Madison and one or
two others who were passing Benetse
creek on their way to Salt Lake City
from the Bitter Root valley where they
had spent the winter trading with the
Indians, found a piece of gold that
weighed about 10 cents. This Hereford
gave to Captain Grant who used to
show it to his friends as the first
gold found in the country.
The matter rested here until the
spring of 1858 when Thomas Adams,
Reese Anderson, James and Granville
Stuart searched for gold in that
vicinity and found as high as 10 cents
in fine gold to the pan OF gravel. But
as they had neither tools nor pro-
visions they were living on wild game
without salt, and creek water) they
could not accomplish much more, es-
pecially as the Blackfeet Indians stole
four of their horses and SO harassed
them that they decided to return to
the Enigrant road, trade and try Tor
provisions and tools. In the meantime,
during the summer of 1860 a mining
enthusiast named Henry Thomas came
up by way of Pend Oreille lake and
began to prospect where Pioneer City
now stands. Almost unaided, he sunk
a shaft 30 feet deep in the glacial
detritus along the creek, getting
little gold all the way down.
HE also washed some of the sur
face at this point during this and the
following summer but only made about
$1.5O a day owing to the disadvantages
under which he worked. In the fall
of 1860 and the spring of 1861 An
derson and the Stuarts prospected in
dry gulches, putting into Benetse creek
and found what they considered pay
ing mines.
what the Stuarts claimed and
what the Society of Pioneers and the
Montana historical society has accept
ed as the truth, is the article written
by Granville Stuart in 1876. That
claim is that because of their intelli-
gent prospecting and their letters to
the outside world proclaiming this
rich mining country, the personality
of the men attracted the best type OF
citizen to them and held them in
Montana and it was perseverance that
made mining reality in Montana. l
claim and the Society of Pioneers
claims that they are entitled to be
called the discoveries OF gold In
Montana"