Show the greed mineal wealth of central icho CLARENCE IN PROSPECT E EDDY 3 J y R 1 ai P NM TM RM TM cwm T mm TM TM it is a fact not generally known to the outside world that secluded here in the vast x mountains 0 u wt W ia t t a i i i s 0 of f central idaho lies one of the richest treasure preisur e fields of the west a field t the salmon river and comprising the western portion of custer and lemhi leahi counties including the old famous camps or custer bayhorse badhorse Bay horse and bonanza despite its riches thrive e als country has a history which though little known would read like romance if but truly written drove out the indians W M Z az k 4 v 4 Vs x ea W t wa X 0 M 47 M AA U 11 da ka EM custer caster city idaho which by competent authority has already produced within a radius of miles this is the great mountainous country tributary to the upper portion of this has remained one of the most isolated portions of the west especially in the matter of transportation a land where the primitive stage coach and freight team still 15 PA it was in the later or little more than a score of years ago that inen men first thronged thron ged these mountains and in their quest for gold drove out the red skinned savages and founded settlements though at earlier periods there hr ardeen deen been some placer mining and Rob RV bar stanley Stan jey basin loon creek and adan crea crek tat tots 1 yielded millions of the yellow ye bow metal at al in the form of placer and old timers still recall memories of the immense nuggets found in these diggings it was in the memorable season of 1878 that a 4 party of prospectors wending their way ap up the salmon river met a lone prospector mounted upon a bay horse and making his exit down the canyon he informed them he had struck a good prospect above but had been run out by the indians barely escaping with his scalp for it was then that the sheep eater indians were on the war path had massacred some whites and given battle on the big lost river however the newcomers went to the locality in question found f 0 u n dp fit t cropping with rich ores and named allks A 4 aw 1 aw W lucky boy mine and hoist custer Cv ister idaho it bayhorse badhorse Bay horse in honor of its discoverer whose name was not known and who never returned returned bayhorse badhorse Bay horse had a boom and at one time boasted of alf fifteen teen saloons the mines yielded millions of dollars mostly in silver but passed early into the hands of capitalists who have held for a raise in the white metal tim coopers strike notable among the first discoveries of bayhorse badhorse Bay horse was that made by tim cooper an old timer who one day in 1878 shot a mountain sheep that fell dead upon the outcrop pings of a ledge which he sold for 50 two suits of clothes and five bottles of whisky this was the famous mine which has produced millions and is today a veritable treasury of silver but meanwhile ascending the salmon S a I 1 mon river some forty miles to what is known as the yana fa vork the early prospectors found fabulo fabulo aj J 0 0 of free gold t camps of bonanza and oo gaeb 00 th e batt leof the big horn in mon fah frey freSH freshen ln 1 the memories of men and it was in honor of ouster custer the fallen hero that ouster custer camp and afterwards cus ouster county was named the general ouster custer claim discovered disco verea and located in 1876 by dodge baxter and mckim was so rich in free gold that many thousand dollars were obtained by the crudest methods and it was finally sold for to a company which has since taken for it and the adjoining claim known as the lucky boy where 75 men work constantly and a mill of 25 stamps thunders night and day with no prospects of ceasing for want of ore above on the property of the hartford mining company is a 10 stamp mill of 30 tons capacity supplied constantly by 35 men at work in the old mcfadden mine on the easterly slope of estes mountain it was from this mountain that the ores aflame with free gold were carried down by pack pach mule in the early days on the westerly slope is the montana first owned by felkner hooper cameron varney and franklin and said to have yielded 1000 per foot for a depth of 73 feet in the prospect shaft with nearly from the first shipment of 90 tons but dwindling of the pay streak and differences of the partners nave kept the montana idle to the present day from poverty to affluence it was also in the eventful year of 1876 that william norton an old time prospector made his discovery and location locati oil what is known as the charles dickens near which afterwards arose the boom town of bonanza for years norton had been going in debt for grubba grub but from his new find he in a few days knocked out with a hand mortar prom promptly paid his bill of and gave to the merchant fredrick phillips of salmon city a third interest for having befriended him norton was a gentleman of the old school and went on protracted celebrations between the successive rich cleanups clean ups from the on his claim he would stake all the gamblers in a camp and then join them at cards he finally died in salt lake city leaving to parties in that place a deed to his mine which was contested until recently when a compromise was effected and the famous charles dickens is expected to again become a producer meanwhile the town of bonanza has in most part become the abandoned habitation of bats and owls though once it was rife with revelry and proud as babylon it had been an aspirant for the county seat and in the bitterness of the contest refused to bury its dead in the same graveyard ds as did custer its neighboring rival which in consequence voted for challis and in 1881 five years from date of founding that town became the county seat of custer frank martins luc oh deep pathos and intermingling coin comedy e dy of life and death truth is said to be stranger than fiction in the palmy pioneer days there were men who would britter their last shirt for booze and then under stress of circumstances would go ou out t and strike rike bonanzas many an old timer of this locality re aebers the romance of frank fra martin an early eary prospector who for a long time plays in hard luck was characterized as ornery and finally driven from the premises by a woman for whom he had failed to provide firewood he obtained a bottle of whisky and started for the town of halley hailey but becoming weary he sat down on some rocks by the wayside to contemplate the faery and to relieve the bottle of a portion of its contents while thus engaged he discovered that the rocks on which he sat were almost pure horn silver he procured a wagon and had them hauled to halley hailey where with a few further shipments they netted him one day while partially intoxicated he sold the horn silver mine for he made the town of halley hailey a wonder and a terror to tenderfeet tender feet while filled with bug juice be dragged a sack of 20 gold down the flourishing a six shooter and inviting the tenderfeet tender feet to dance for him finds himself married unduly protracting protract ing his spree he woke up one morning and found himself married or in close proximity a female companion and upon asking what the damages were was informed that he had been joined in wedlock the night before he was not tee man to go back on bargains made when drunk so he retained the lady as his law a ir ful fui spouse although he did not live happy ever after for she fleeced him of his thousands and he finally died of a broken heart in baker city oregon |