| Show lei dehol lei M wool wit eliel j J brief history of owyhee owahee mines V 0 1101 is I 1 lei lot if lei 1 1 too lei lot wilet lot W lot lei lei lei is I 1 lei lei 1 I let lot joel I 1 OHE E chief mining operations of owyhee owahee 0 county are centered about silver city and dela delamar mar nine miles apart near silver city are located the florida and war eale eagle mountains mountain st towering to an altitude of feet where present operations are chi chiefly efly mountain in 1863 during that same year other placer finds were made around delamar and florida mountain during the first two years after the discovery the placer mines only were worked jordan creek and especially that tributary PM city idaho located both these mountains have pro deuced millions of dollars in gold and silver in the past and are capable of adding many times their former production to the wealth of 0 the world in fact it is believed by persons who have made a careful study of these districts that the camp is yet only in the early stages of development celop ment the formations are principally granite the trend of war eagle veins are chiefly northerly and southerly these are the principal producers but there are numerous cross veins not so large perhaps but which carry values of no small importance gold cold was first discovered on war eagle from florida mountain blue creek were extensively ten worked rich pay ore was also found in the gulches leading to war eagle mountain but after awhile the placers became exhausted and attention was turned toward vein mining As aa the richest placers usually lead up to the outcrops of the veins their discovery was easily made the oro fino vein one of the astonishing producers of the early days of the camp was found in 1863 the golden chariot another very rich vein was found two years later and about the sometime same time the famous poorman mae ledge t was discovered the first period in the development of vein mining extends from 1865 to 1874 and the deposits exploited were those on war eagle mountain on florida mountain and near delamar or wagontown Wagon town the developments at that time were not so encouraging towns were built up at booneville bonneville Boo neville now dewey and at silver city which gained a population ranging from to inhabitants fairview was another place of importance built well up towards the summit of lofty war eagle near the principal producing I 1 mines this place once had a population af 2500 souls soula at the beginning of the it iti dwindled down to and today it is entirely abandoned some old ruins of the once prosperous camp are still visible A graveyard marks the burying place of a good many who gave up their lives there in the early and even before the principal mines operated in those times were the oro fino golden chariot char i ot poorman ida elmore allison red jacket and Mabo mahogany crany in 1871 1874 and 1875 most of the producing mines were shut shutdown down and a period of general depression followed this was due principally to the financial panic in san francisco and the failure of the bank of california san francisco capital had been largely interested in the mines stock jobbing on a large scale was indulged in and finally a collapse came which was apparently complete investors became so thoroughly frightened and skeptical about the merits of the district that nothing could persuade them to give the camp a thorough investigation the result was years of idleness and depression and it is only ofte of recent cent date that the camp seems like getting back to its old self again the district however has been recovering gradually from the setback set back it received in 1880 silver city had a population of there being considerable mining going on in a small way some prospecting 0 was done on war eagle mountain in 1882 about that time work was performed on the now famous black jack mine and more or less activity was found around booneville bonneville Boo neville and wagon town in 1889 a great change in conditions became apparent the yearly production aa 4 maia 1 l inker vannel der ciar idaho increased from to A year lat later er it was these changes were due mainly to the new discoveries on florida mountain and at delamar on florida mountain the black jack mine began its career as an important producer in 1889 and the trade dollar located on the same vein became prominent two years later during 1897 the war eagle mines were non active but the black jack and trade dollar mines were strong producers and have been ever since each year increasing materially the volume of production in 1898 a revival was noticed on war eagle mountain the cumberland property property 9 was worked again abrain but for some reason failed of success probably on account of unwise management the poorman mine also resumed operations and is now one of the most active and important mines in the camp the poorman mill is also running and turning out a valuable product how the poorman mine acquired its present title is not definitely known to the writer but when the history of it is related pretty strong conclusions can be reached as to how the christening came about soon after the discovery of the mine in 1864 some very rich ore was found right on the surface and many of the trenches remain today where the ore was taken out shoveled into wagons and hauled away a long distance to market it was indeed a poor mans mine and in all probability that is how the name was thought I 1 of and finally adopted the ore was chloride and antice nial with great quantities of one of the remarkable features about the poorman is the record of having produced a solid block of weighing pounds which was forwarded to france and placed on jon exhibition at the paris exposition of 1868 at that time a government geologist reported the poorman as being probably the richest mine of its size in the world in the and the mine was exploited by various companies much money was spent in an effort to find the old ore chute at a depth of between and feet in 1895 the property was sold to its present owners the poorman gold mines co limited L in this company has shown unparalleled pluck in developing the mine to a depth of 1100 feet under the management of mr B R H britt who is at present in charge ore has been extracted as rich as the richest found in the old bonanza the mill is running on high grade ore orel and as depth has been attained in the mine the value of the bullion has increased the character of the ore has changed to an easy concentration concentre con centre proposition in the mill c canvass tables used exclusively with the addition are 6 gold plates designed to save the values of in coper co free THE ADDIE MINE among the companies operating on war eagle mountain which has done its aha share towards demonstrating the permanency S the veins is the addle addie consolidated minin mini 01 company which owns the eureka Calava rJ a josephine addle addie fraction and omega minin min claims this company comparatively a anew n ew one in the district is composed of bf men en dowed with plenty of enterprise and puh p they are competent to judge the merits of mining property having made that a study and their standing in the community com is of th the highest within the present year this company has made in addition to open opening 1139 up ulf new and important ore bodies many improvements of a permanent character including a well equipped milling plant which is ready to 0 go o into commission and would have been running g today but for an accident to the transformer which distributes the electric power from the trade dollar co s lines from swan tails falls the companas comp anys works are located up webfoot gulch about three quarters of a mile from the town of silver city the first four claims of the addle addie coyer cover feet on the eureka calavaras canavaras lode about a quarter of a mile east of silver city the josephine has a southeasterly course and adjoins the canavaras lavaras Ca at an angle of about 60 degrees the addle addie claim was was known and worked as the eureka in the early days its early production is a question of some doubt but it is creditably asserted that at one time two cornish miners extracted worth of ore in six weeks the lavaras calavaras Ca is another of the early day bonanzas its deepest workings not exceeding sixty feet there is a record of at least two profitable crush ings one of them being about tons which gave mill returns of per ton the josephine claim has a shaft down something over feet from this ground old timers say ore has been extracted carrying a value of 1 per pound the omega is a new location and little work has been done upon it the properties are operated through a tunnel the entrance of which is just the new mill building the mine is under the management of mr A F stevens the other officers are S D mclain president 0 S wigglesworth secretary and treasurer and A F stevens general superintendent |
