Show THE FA FAMOUS CAMP OF OSCEOLA EDITORIAL correspondence the gold placers of osceola white pine bounty nevada were first discovered by seph joseph 0 watson and frank hicks in 1872 nd and the district was organized in the same rear ear the town of osceola was founded in 1877 by george G blair who discovered he noted cumberland quartz mine near tho lead ead of dry gulch which is the main canyon of the camp placer operations were begun in the year 1876 and from that period until 1885 there were about 1800 souls in the camp most of whom were engaged in placer mining in dry and grub gulches the methods of gold recovery being by means of rockers and panning water for this purpose being sold to the miners at r from twenty five to fifty cents a barrel from froin 1876 to 1885 the recorded go gold id pro from these gulches was in the near neighborhood of in 1885 the osceola gravel mining company was formed by benjamin hampton henry lawrence et al who bought 1100 acres of ground covering dry and grub gulches which ground was afterwards patented the company also purchased the williams ranch and water rights sixteen miles south of osceola on the west side of wheelers peak and constructed a ditch and flume to its placer diggings finding this water supply insufficient for hydraulic operations the company then secured the water rights on the east side of the mountain and in 1890 built eighteen miles of ditch and flume bringing the two water systems together at a point above the diggings in dry gulch the company continued operations until 1894 when the recovery of gold was discontinued on account of the scarcity of water caused by successive dry seasons it is not known how much gold was taken out by the company but it was con sid erable probably three or four millions at a conservative estimate the placer gold is very coarse and the diggings abound in nuggets one of which weighed twenty five pounds and which was valued in the near neighborhood of A large number of nuggets have been taken out that were worth 1000 each and hundreds have been found going from down to 20 while the recovery of 1 and 2 nuggets is so common in occurrence as to cause little or no comment all over the diggings the gold is coarse the hodum hogum placers the hogain hogum placers were found in 1892 by abe Sh ellenberger and T B tilford hogum is three and a half miles south of osceola on the west slope of osceola mountain these diggings occupy an area ot of half a mile wide from north to south and I 1 abow u ORS W MOOS 1 10 hap the whitney mill osceola nevada southern queen milt mill osceola nevada four miles east and west the strike of the channels being east and west throughout the bar the hogum placers have been worked in a desultory manner since their discovery the method of gold recovery is usually by drifting on the pay gravel from the bottom of shallow shafts hoisting the dirt and sluicing the gravel in sluice boxes or running the gold bearing material through dry washers the bedrock gravel often carrying values ranging from twenty five cents to 5 a pan while the upper stratas of several feet in thickness will go from a quarter of a cent to a cent to the pan all of which will pay well to hoist and sluice the stalwart is the most noted producer on the hogain hogum bar this claim of twenty acres is owned by T B tilford and although it has only been partially worked has a reported production of other noted producers are the mazeppa owned by joe humes and which has a production of to its credit the flagstaff and the bliss which have produced or more and the henderson with about an equal amount to its credit adjoining the stalwart on the west and carrying five well known channels the th eGold gold bar placer mining company owns eight claims or acres of ground that is known to be valuable for its placer gold contents one of these claims the badger has produced or more and only a limited amount of work would be needed to place the property on the list as a regular and prolific producer in the development of its ground the company has sunk a shaft seventy five feet to bedrock from the bottom of which a drift has been run to the south for a distance of twenty five feet this drift at the time of the writers visit to hogum was just entering the edge of a pay channel and a small panning made in his presence weighed twenty five cents in coarse gold the gold bar is being worked under the direction and management of C W gaby of osceola an experienced placer miner assayer and metallurgist the west ditch of the osceola gravel company passes above the hogum placers to a large extent and water from this ditch is used by hogum claim owners for sluicing operations the gold placer belt of osceola extends from hogum on the south to a point called the willow patch on the north and even as far north as black horse district a distance of from fifteen to sixteen miles or more and ranges from one to four miles in width in this area every gulch and its tributaries tributa ries carry gold the only obstacle in the way of successful and profitable operation being the scarcity and even the absolute lack of water it is the prevailing opinion that the quartz veins of the osceola country are the feeders for these great placer deposits and this belief is strengthened by the fact that no placer gold is found beyond the confines of the watershed of osceola mountain on the mountain itself a number of quartz ledges and veins have been found some of which have been quite extensively developed while some of these have been productive of much good ore included in the list being the butterfield the southern queen the pilot knob the new moon the gold demand and the mulligan those working at the present time are the new moon the pilot knob and the gold demand in addition to these main companies a number of small properties are being worked by individuals viz the white pine by lars arnoldson the pea ridge by T B D tilford the columbia by R A and T B tilford the golden reef by C W gaby and abe Sh ellenberger the spring city by alex justison and one or more mines by dr H A whitney the quartz ledges of osceola are generally fissure veins in quartzite with a strike northeasterly and southwesterly and it is now the general belief that the new and popular camp ot black horse seven miles north of osceola is the northern extension of the osceola mineral zone both as to quartz and placers all that osceola needs to resume its former position as a wonderful producer of gold is a shaking up of dry bones the camp needs a new infusion of life and vigor the gold is there and in abundance and it will be taken out when the ground hog is squelched when the dog in the manger is muzzled and when there is a general transfer of property into capable and determined hands for a few thousand well expended should return to the enterprising owner with a million or more as legitimate profit capital and push are needed at osceola for no section of the west presents more enticing opportunities osceola notes and personals the writer is under obligation to 0 W gaby of osceola for courtesies extended during his visit to this great gold camp osceola can be reached either from ely nevada or from newhouse utah by stage the dearden stage line running from either place every other day osceola at the present time boasts of five business institutions a store a restaurant tau rant lodging house an assay office and two saloons A year from now there should be twenty five or more george doyle of osceola has a nicely equipped assay office and laboratory and is the assayer for the district he is also assistant postmaster and is the owner of valuable interests in osceola and black horse districts james H marriott is one of the veterans of osceola and its leading business man mr marriott conducts a well stocked store of general merchandise is postmaster and has large realty and mining interests throughout the camp below the town he has a most comfortable and attractive home which is embowered empowered ered by trees and foliage during his stay in osceola the writer in payment for a subscription to the mining review received from orson hudson some fine gold nuggets nuggets and placer gold are as good as currency in osceola and the saloons and stores have their scales handy for the convenience of their patrons twelve miles south of osceola is a tungsten mine owned by james H marriott this is the largest tungsten deposit in the known world the ore is a and carries 70 per cent in acid on the dumps at the mine there are fifty tons of ore that could be concentrated down to 70 per cent tungsten this deposit has attracted attention all aver over the world there are thirty two claims in the group and the two main veins can be traced on the surface for a distance of feet the formation is true fissures in granite dr H A whitney of osceola so well and favorably known in salt lake city and who is a director in the eureka hill com pany operating at eureka utah is the owner of some valuable and promising claims on the main osceola range which are now under course of development the group is called the gold demand and the ore carries gold values the doctor is the owner of the butterfield mill at Osee 11 and through this plant a trial lot of tons of gold demand ore has been run a recovery of 90 per cent of the gold contents being recorded the san pedro company of black horse has arranged to test its ores at the whitney mill twenty miles south of osceola on mt Wao washington hington near shoshone whitt white pine county is the property of the st lawrence mining company of which F C williams is manager this is a big lead silver deposit the vein is sixteen feet wide and all pay ore that will assay 70 per cent lead GO 60 ounces silver and a little gold to the ton some of the ore going 80 per cent in its lead contents this big ledge crops on the surface for a mile and a half and is fully cov WM M re al 1 wr k 7 me P glod bar placer osceola nevada C W gaby manager new moon mine and hoist osceola nevada ered by the holdings of the company which is now working a force of seven men which number will soon be increased to thirty there is an abundance of water and heavy timber on the ground the company which is a rochester N Y corporation may build reduction works in the near future orson hudson of osceola is superintendent for the company fj WILL C HIGGINS i A |