Show THE FIRST REAL MINING DEAL THAT STARTED CAREER recently in the sunset magazine john L considine has described tile the birth of old pioche in a vivid recital some of the very first deals and discoveries are related the following is taken from that article it tells how the burke brothers and their partners sold out for and started a camp that h has as a record of having produced millions and right now is gotting getting a new start here is the story william raymond five feet six fifty five Y years ears old a hunchback with brains had a five stamp mill that had failed down in the valley john ely six foot three stood in with tile the Morn cormons mormons ions of salt lake for lie he had a mormon oil wife charley gracey was a machinist lie he knew his business and lie he was willing to work and raymond ely and gracey brains brawn and mechanical ch cli ability made their fortune out of old pioche the burke brothers with pony duncan dunca n and bob winans had failed with the burke mine they were disgusted sore sofe and ready to sell raymond who had thought long and hard at last broke the silence of depression that had settled over the little he addressed pat burke group 1 I have a proposition to make to you boys that own the burke mine I 1 have a five stamp mill in the valley I 1 am willing to pay you for tile the mine provided you will wait for your money until I 1 can get the mill here and take out the ore his auditors were very quiet cj for a while 1 ii I am willing to agree to that finally said pony duncan im with assen assented ted bob winans you but the burke brothers who owned half hal f the mine remained for full ten minutes after silent 9 M all th that at while are doing to eat you we going how alewe are it well be spoke up tip pat burke somewhat sarcastically may inay believed the grub answered john ely will see to 9 getting ra raymond arnond burke all right agreed then it is turned to raymond handed him his silv silver er watch gracey arley and said witness th that at I 1 have bought this a charley hr ley you are to bind the bargain him this watch w atch mine ine and that I 1 give dollars boys you are ar e all rth sixty worth the wat watches chig wo li nesses esses charley let us start at once for we can make Bulli bushonville bullionville onville tonight and so provisioned with a piece of boiled beef and a loaf from the ely provided larder raymond and gracey set out at at raymond persuaded the mormon farmers to lend their teanis teams to the transportation of the mill to Bulli bushonville bullionville onville nearly miles away the miners of pioche volunteered to grade for the mill and made a road from there here to Pio pioche clie P putting bitting up tip the mill was slow work and it was january of 1870 before gracey had the plant ready for the first run on which occasion lie he remained up all night we drew off the charge b from the pans palls into the settler said gracey and then drew w off the quicksilver through tile the settler and strained it through a sack when Rayni raymond ond appeared about four in the morning I 1 had a sack full of arnal amalgam b am 4 how goes it lie he asked I 1 showed him the sack of amalgam he pinched it that is good said raymond it squeaks gold and silver amalgam is the only kind that will squeak the ore from which that run was made assayed a ton and the recovery of the values was about 78 per cent it was tile the prelude to a production of from the properties ties of raymond and ely alone pioche y yielded fielded altogether more inore than of which about came from the meadow valley so tile the big producer its purchase secured by the tender of an old silver watch was acquired on the basis of an abandoned rickety five stamp mill miles away in the wilderness merely that plus the nerve and vision brain and will odthe of the little huncl hunchback back william Til liani raymond backed up tip by the credit of bi big john ely with the mormon farmers |