Show CAMP OF PIOCHE AND ITS GREAT MINES EDITORIAL correspondence just at the present time and more so than for many years past the wonderful old camps of nevada camps which have produced their millions in the past and camps which have made bonanza kings by the score are receiving marked attention at the hands of keen progressive and experienced mining men and investors and among these famous camps of now in the early stages of its history the hill sides of the camp presented presente d a perfect beehive of industry hoisting plants sprang up on almost every dump and every day by wells fargo express hundreds of pounds of silver bullion cast into great bars found their way to the commercial and financial centers of the world while for a quarter of a century eminent geologists and men ot of T F all to nevada raymond ely no 1 hoist to the right pioche nevada meadow valley no 5 hoist pioche prehistoric fame for thirty years seems almost like a decade in these days of stirring events when modern happenings pass into ancient history within a comparatively short time pioche next to virginia city was perhaps the most noted camp in its vday I 1 day and age As a matter of fact pioche stands in all probability without a parallel lel in mining annals in the west for al j most within a day it became immensely productive of the precious and baser metals scientific attainments have studied with wonder pleasure and amazement the perfect formation of pioche mountain with its quart its lime zones and its now famous dyke and last but not least the profound fissure of the meadow valley mine the like of which is rarely ever seen in any of the mining camps of the world the first discovery on pioche mountain was the burke mine this was in the year 1868 the credit of the find being attributed to indians who it is claimed conducted to the spot a number of general connors soldiers then stationed at panaca a little mexican settlement twelve miles south of the new discovery these soldiers according to unverified history made numerous locations in the district which were later abandoned because of the removal of the command to another portion of the west in 1869 according to the chronicles of the camp the news of the rich finds began to attract the attention of prospectors and mining men and it was not long before all roads led to this new eldorado among the newcomers being A W raymond who at the time was engaged in successful mining operations at irish mountain also in lincoln county another of the old time camps now so justly popular and within the en viron ments of which a number of salt lakers are engaged at the present time in the resurrection of once famous bonanzas raymond bought the burke mine and also located the raymond ely which has since produced its millions in silver lead and gold associated with raymond in these enterprises was john ely and these hardy and experienced mining men lost no time in the extensive development and op aeration of their valuable holdings with thousands of tons of rich ore at the surface it was not long before reduction works became a necessity and at the eari earliest lest possible moment a five stamp mill was erected at bullionville Bulli onville a mile or so north of panaca within a month after its installation the mill had turned out in bullion the purchase price of the burke mine and it made big money for its owners from the day it went into commission until it was closed down four months later when the plant was enlarged to stamps about this time a big hoist costing about was installed at the mine and a narrow guage road was built to connect the mines with the mill and before the final closing down of the property it had produced its millions when afen the raymond ely was in the zenith of its productiveness the star of the meadow valley mine appeared upon the horizon of the mining world and it was at this period in the history of this now far famed camp that dob bob morrow of san francisco purchased the meadow valley group adjoining the raymond ely on the east and within the boundary lines of which is the truly wonderful meadow valley fissure on this mine a fine hoisting plant was soon after installed at a cost of and a thirty stamp mill was erected in dry valley ten miles east cast of pioche before the date of the closing flown down of the meadow valley in 1873 4 the mine had produced a fortune worthy of the ransom of a king va estimated at from to 20 while its deepest workings had not attained a depth exceeding 1000 feet and its near neighbor and rival the raymond ely had sunk its shaft about feet deep erand it is stated in the deepest workings of both properties there exists today large volumes of a splendid grade of ore accounts differ as to the real cause of the final suspension of operations at the raymond ely and the meadow valley mines long and bitter litigation and costly to a degree between the two compan companies les probably had something to do with the dasas berous event by some it is claimed that the appearance of water at depth led to the abandonment of these mines but this reason is now believed to be a subterfuge advanced and maintained for ulterior purposes as it has been long ago demonstrated that the water problem was in no way a serious one however whatever may have been the causes of the closing down of the leading mines of the camp the fact remains that the degradation of silver in 1873 came as a death blow to the mining industry of the camp as well as to that of the mining camps of the entire west and after this deplorable event no excuse was necessary to explain the decadence of pioche and surrounding mining districts with the practical abandonment of the raymond ely and the meadow valley the camp began its retrograde movement other mine owners dropped into the mournful line and followed suit included in the number r being the creole american flag mazeppa pioche no 1 the poorman the newark and other marvelous producers and in due course of time the whistles of twenty one hoisting plants on pioche mountain ceased their cali performances at morning noon and night and it has only been within a period of a few fleeing months that there has been good reason to believe that the era of res erection of rejuvenation has arrived and to even hope that this once great though ancient mining camp will ere long duplicate if not excell its almost miraculous record of the past covering a production variously estimated at from to in the year 1890 the outlook seemed good for pioche and it was then the general impression that the immediate future would bring to the camp the long looked for pe of renewed life and activity I 1 it t was 00 in this year that the utah central railroad constructed a roadbed south from milford utah the intention being to extend the road on down to los angeles and at the same time the roadbed for a stub line was constructed from caliente to pioche pi fi lancial inability or competitive reasons however interfered with construction and for years no further work was done but the building of the san pedro road again inspired hope in the breasts of pioche mine owners and the advent into the camp of late of the nevada utah mines smelters shelters Sm elters incorporation clearly points to the complete restoration of the camp to a plane which it enjoyed in its palmy days of 1872 the yuba porphyry dyke during the period of the production of the raymond ely the meadow valley and other noted mines of pioche mountain on the wonderful fissures in quartzite the great porphyry dyke or belt paralleling the quartzite veins was ignored and it was only during recent years that its vast min x n t A L ell lie 11 UN 2 old atlas mine aine and hoist pioche nevada droppings Crop pings on the yuba east pioche nevada eral wealth has been demonstrated and ap precia predated ted extensive operations in the yuba mine on the dyke and in the pacific tunnel showing three distinct veins one on both sides and one in the center of the dyke these ore bodies forming a conjunction on the of the yuba where great bodies of pay mineral have been blocked out this j porphyry dyke has been prospected to a J limited extent only along its entire length i showing for a mile and half a strong min mini i erali zed lode carrying good smelting smelling sm elting and shipping values at its western end the zone carries ore rich in its silver and lead 14 contents a peculiarity of the dyke being abeln that along its eastern strike it is now nowa known to produce free milling gold ore as well as silver and lead and during the writers visit to the camp he saw some ot of the ore panned the concentrates showing a long string of the yellow metal in th ahr pan native gold was also visible in th taj quartz this in ore from the yuba tuba easa aas group and it is believed that the gold I 1 in austry will form an important feature future operations in this portion of the camp in the eastern extension of the porphyry dyke the vein has split on one of these is located the atlas and other noted producers while on the other there are many promising and valuable properties nearly all of the mines of ely mining district are located on pioche mountain in a chain of mountains segregated from the main range cutting through the country in a northerly and southerly direction the formation of pioche mountain consists of true fissures in quartzite and it is on these anat the principles mines of the camp are located the most prominent fissures are the raymond ely meadow valley and deer foot on the raymond ely ledge are located the mines of this name the creole and the burke on the meadow valley fissure are the meadow valley nos 3 5 7 and 9 mines while paralleling the deer foot and meadow valley is what is the porphyry dyke fissure the porphyry dyke being about midway between the two quartzite fissures and it is on this dyke that the yuba mine and the pacific tunnel are situated the mountain being cut by a network of cross veins intersecting the porphyry zone and on these there are numerous properties of merit such as the king queen uinta greenback vesta and treasure and others which have added their thousands to the worl worlds Ts circulating medium the east side of pioche mountain being fairly covered with dumps and honeycombed with shafts tunnels and all of which bear silent testimony to the wonderful activity which prevailed in this locality twenty five years ago the nevada utah mines smelters shelters Sm elters incorporation About five years ago some little activity prevailed at pioche following the incorporation of the manhattan mining smelting smelling Sm elting company having a bond and lease on the raymond haymond ely the meadow valley and other properties on pioche mountain and at jack rabbit the company however fail ed to fulfill its obligations under the terms of the lease and bond and the camp again sunk back into a condition of nothing doing and remained in a practically dormant state until less than two years ago when hope was again revived by the advent of the nevada utah mines smelters shelters Sm elters In corpora tion a company that is not only inhere interested sted in nevada but is also engaged in the operation of the last chance mine at bingham utah and in the development of mines in other portions of the west the nevada utah headed by col weir from all indications will be the moses that will lead pioche out of the wilderness no great hurrah attends the operations of the company but still a great deal of substantial work is now being quietly done first of all the company reconstructed the road to jack rabbit fifteen miles northwest of pioche and built a stub line to the mines on pioche mountain so that lumber machinery wood and supplies can be now hauled in from the valley by rail A fine bungalo bangalo office and residence has been constructed ted for the manager and his staff and work is being pushed in timbering re the shafts at meadow valley no 5 and the raymond ely no 1 this time bering is of a most substantial nature the being timbers and lagging all of oregon pine the shafts are three compart ment and at the time of the visit of the writer to the mines july the meadow valley shaft had been timbered to a depth of feet and the raymond ely feet superintendent mcneill being authority for the statement that progress in both shafts was being made at the rate of sixty feet a week with the re timbering finished the company will be in position to begin ore extraction on a large scale from its pioche properties at the day mine in jack rabbit district the company has constructed a 1000 foot aerial tramway to connect the mine with the railroad ore bins have been built considerable sid erable underground development work has been done and an immense tonnage of marketable ore is blocked out in the mine workings ready for extraction and the market at both its pioche and jack rabbit properties the company is employing all the men that can be used to advantage and this force will be increased as rapidly ass as possible E F freudenthal so well and favorably known throughout nevada and utah is general superintendent the nevada utah mines smelters shelters Sm elters incorporation is in possession of some of the most valuable properties at pioche and jack rabbit its holdings at the former camp including the raymond ely meadow valley yuba and half moon mines the old smelting smelling sm elting plant in the valley the floral and connor springs and a half interest in the pioche waterworks water works system it also owns the jack ack J rabbit railroad and the great day mine and five or six other claims at jack rabbit As soon as possible an electric generating plant will be installed in the valley below pioche and all of the machin 77 P J af pf off court house pioche nevada view of pioche to the north ery equipment at both pioche and jack rabbit will be electrically operated to further increase its water supply the company has sunk a number of wells in the valley and by this means an abundance of water has been secured that i is ample for all purposes railroad facilities As before stated a railroad was at one time projected to run from Cal caliente lente on the san pedro line to pioche fortais For this purpose a roadbed was constructed when the project was abandoned this roadbed is in ill prime condition for the greater part of its length and but little work would be required to place it in shape for the ties and rails it is the one great desire of the people of pioche to be connected with the outside world by ties of steel and as the dista distance nce to caliente is only twenty five miles and as a large amount or of construction work has already been accomplished there seeing seems to be good reason to believe that the road will soon be a reality and especially so when the enterprise will have the backing and support of the nevada utah company dom pany which it is stated could build the road itself should occasion require in any event the railroad project is gradually taking on shape and form and that its building will be a condition of the near future is strengthened by the fact that senator H dark clark with his staff of engineers and mine experts recently visited pioche and carefully examined into all conditions upon which might depend the feasibility of railroad construction what his decision will be will soon be known in the pioche section the pioche section is divided into six mining districts all of which are noted as prolific producers of mineral wealth they are designated as the elk district lone mountain highland comet jack rabbit and bristol the chief of these is pioche or ely district which is the main central and commercial point of this region the main producing mines of ely district in the early days were the raymoni raymond ely the meadow valley mazeppa yuba burke bowery pea vine and alps a number of which ar are e now known by other names or are owned by mining companies of somewhat recent or origin these |