Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-03-06

In Granite county, IS miles from
Anaconda, stands the famed Granite
mountain. the hill which In the eight
ies and nineties made q number Of
millionaires and which Is responsible
for much Of the wealth Of st. Louis,
where Il was chiefly owned.
At the foot of this hill lies the town
Of Philipsburg. which was a prosperous
camp long before the wealth of Gran
lite mountain became known. Fourteen
or Is feet above the town, clinging to
the steep, bare hill, were erected the
buildings marking the surface of the
Granite Mountain and Bi-Metallic
mines.
Neither beautiful nor picturesque,
they proved intensely practical, and
they added vastly to the worlds store
Of wealth and have brought riches to
many comparatively poor men.
The chief story Of the hill clusters
about Granite Mountain mine, for it
Is the oldest. 1t had been discovered
In the early seventies and in 1880 had
been acquired by Charles D. Mcclure,
one OF the officers of the Hope Min
ing Co.. then operating not very prof.
itably at Philipsburg. The wealth Of
the mountain was not then fully real
lied.
After acquiring the property. Nc
Lure went to st. Louis, first granting
his brother -in-law, Charles Clark, at
PhilipSburg, the right to sell all his
interest. In December, 1880, Clark, hav-
ing satisfied himself of the probable
richness Of the mine, went to st. Louis
to interest capital. The disgruntled
stockholders of the Hope refused to
sink any money and only few took
stock Before the new year, however,
q syndicate was formed and money
provided for the working.
For two years the hackers did moth
ing but produce money for develop
ment and receive the jeers of the wise
acres of the old Hope company.
In November. 1882, the work had
passed through chute of 406 feet OF
ore averaging so ounces in silver to
the ton, and then through lis feet Of
barren ground before making the
strike. Then prosperity began.
During the following year the bo-
nanza realized the investors s274,000.
In July, 1886. the product of the mine
as sold and credited in a bank at St.
Louis was $2,l70,OOO. From Oct. 8, 1880,
when the first tools were sent into
the mine, to April 8, 1885, the syndi-
cate had paid assessments. In April,
1885, the mine began to pay dividends
on its capital stock of slo,0o000o, d.
vtded into 100000 shares of par value
of SIS each. By October, 1886, the
mine had paid dividends aggregating
81, 500 900. after paying all indebted
ness.
The first dividend declared was 10
cents q share. This amount was paid
for several months, and then increased
to Is cents a share. This continued for
a year or two, and then so cents a
share was paid every month for
number of years. Thus man holding
$4,000 shareS-and there were such
received $4,000 a month in dividends.
Once or twice the dividend was rs
cents a share. This condition made
Monte Cristos of men who had been
comparatively poor.
From 10 cents a share to the outset
the stock was sold as high as $50 per
share in the market in 1889.
Granite Mountain silver was the
foundation of the first real estate boom
in st. Louis With but one exception
the fortunes reaped from this mine
we're employed to foster the interests
of that city. The Merchants bridge
and the Terminal railway of st. Louis
are living monuments Of Granite
mountain and into the famous Plant
ers hotel went considerable of the
profits of the mine. Several Of the
original directors built magnificent
homes in Vandeventer Place and other
fashionable St. Louis districts.
There has often been told an in
teresting little story to the effect that
back in 1875 Eli D. Holland, while
hunting, followed a deer high up on
the mountainside and finally came
upon a bit of rock which had been
scraped by the hoof of the deer in its
flight so that the mineral content was
exposed, Holland carrying the speci-
men with him and upon having it
assayed found high values which led
to the stalking out of the Granite
claim.
Paul A. FUSE, who was later presi-
dent of the Granite Bi-Metallic Co..
denied this story. He said:
1.-THE Granite fissure had an ex-
posed outcrop and consequently had
no aid from the deer which the dis
coverer was alleged to be following at
the time. Its discovery was a very
ordinary occurrence. There were no
surface indications of value and the
act Of locating was merely perfume
tory on the part of Holland, he DEEM
ing that someday something might be
realized by so doing.
THE following year he and his as
sociates contracted to give a quarter