| Show HE SEVEN TROUGHS DISTRICT of HuMBOLDT COUNTY BY T C PARKER SPECIAL representative f of central interest in the great gold old fields of nevada at present is the new and promising district of seven troughs to those following the trend of events in mining activity a brief resume of the series of sensational discoveries and rapid growth of this new famous district should not be without interest the evolution of a mining minin camp through the various stages from the first finding of bf the precious metal by the lone prospector in the projecting ledge on the mountain or in the desert sands where it has been long concealed by jealous nature to the development of great mines and the building of a populous community is often replete with incidents that are stronger than fiction and if recorded would read like a romance beginning with the few scattered tents seen in the distance dotting in white the fastened securely on the back of the patient burro their trusted friend and companion they set out for the new bonanza in the neighboring town business men leave their business lawyers their practice doctors their patients and all rush to the scene of the excitement eager to secure a portion of the sifts gifts of nature distributed in the ried into effect with the utmost decision decicio n and promptness the light of hopefulness general in the countenance of all and the man who went hungry yesterday becomes a millionaire tomorrow typical of this have been many of the nevada camps discovered in recent months anion among which seven brou trou troughs hs at present stands prominent in wa S W 4 r wi va r 4 seven troughs canyon seven troughs district gently inclining base of a precipitous hill the pioneer prospector is busily engaged in rearing monuments in stone on the small areas of the earths surface under which he expects to find the hidden treasure the reward of long and perhaps unrequited search soon the news of rich finds is s spread pread abroad reaching prospectors in other fields who shoulder their pick and 13 shovel hovel and with their few worldly effects ground soon the scene changes and the transition from the isolated tents to the nv my reads of larger and more commodious structures a city in embryo is the world work of a few weeks here mingle together regardless 0 gard less of cost or previous condition of servitude the confusion of hordes gathered from all the walks of life stupendous business opportunities attract enormous capital gigantic enterprises are fostered and car interest scarcely more than a year ago this territory ly lying ing in the midst of a vast desolate range was hardly known and was utilized only for the razing grazing of sheep seven troughs of gold in a small stream ani of limpid water flowing down from the mountains ab a b ove 0 v e where it is fed by the eternal snows seven wooden troughs had been placed for foi the of affording purpose 1 I the sheep a place to come to drink hence t the 11 e name seven troughs A queer name indeed but had the seven troughs themselves been of as pure gold as the seven golden candlesticks they would hardly have excited reater greater interest or turned from the re regular ular haunts of men greater numbers than haaf haac rushed here to avail themselves of via the coveted treasure when the d discovery is covery of gold became well known to bill St butts a prospector and one of thefil the followers ol lowers of the paths belongs the credit of if the first discovery while wandering through the hills in the immediate vicinity of the present site of the town of seven troughs he made a panning that yielded generously in the yellow metal proving the presence of a rich lead returns from assays essays from specimens secured revealed sensational values soon a report of his find was published in a reno paper a copy of which fell into the hands of ed hawk then in fairview cutting out the article to prevent it being seen by other prospectors in the the camp and in company with bill kavanagh Iavan agh and john mackedon he set out for the deiv new field arriving in the territory in march llarch 1906 after prospecting for some time kavanagh and mackedon located the fairview claim afterwards purchased by the seven Tro troughs mining alining company and hawk located the climax just as they were on the point of abandoning their locations further prospecting having led them to be 41 11 za W C camp of seven troughs as it looked march 10 1907 lieve they were valueless they uncovered a ledge on the fairview claim from which they secured liberal specimens of free gold carefully covering their discovery they immediately left for Love locks where they gave out unfavorable reports report on the country aiming if possible to check the flow of incoming prospectors already it seems the ground adjoining the fairview had been located by a prospector by the name of scott groo and the kavanagh party knowing the value of the ground desired to dislodge him and so determined to wait until his locations expired and relocate them with this end in view they returned to the district in about thirty days over a circuitous route via reno prospected in the neighborhood of stonehouse for some time and then malting making their way back to their former locations on the 3rd ard day of july the day before the locations made by groo would expire they cast anchor and proceeded to wait until midnight when on the very turn of the hour they began erecting monuments each locating lo catin a separate group of claims three towns in en the district since this time three towns have sprung up in the district almost as if by magic many rich finda and have been made and ore bearing ledges opened u up that carry exceptionally tio nally high values A great porphyry belt richly mineral mineralized bozed lias has been found to pervade the district northeasterly and southwesterly a distance of more than seven miles showing plainly several metamorphic stages the formation is described by mr air george D james a well known m mining i ning engineer of vernon as being generally with andesite rhy rhyolite alite diorite and lime hine while the lore of the range is classed by him ns as granite quartz abounds in great quantities and is well oxidized surface prospecting indicates that the whole country is mineralized and wherever sufficient work has been done there is evidence in abundance of an enrichment rich ment of a permanent character so rich in fact are the surface showings that the enormous wealth that must be beneath 1 is s apparent even to the layman the writer who spent several days in the district making a careful tour of the entire country has yet to hear the first word of disparagement spoken by any of the vast numbers who were constan constantly fly pouring in but all who came and saw seemed to be convinced men of big successes it is noteworthy that attention is being directed to the district by many of the men who have made big successes in mining I 1 not only in nevada but in other states of the west and who are best able to judge of the future of a mining district even in its incipiency already unlimited capital is represented and mining men are pouring in from all parts of the state securing hold hol ings wherever possible the splendid automobile and stage fa f cili ties operating from Love locks to verclo a distance of about twenty eight miles taxed to their utmost capacity in hauling haulin the crowds the e humboldt auto company runs five 35 horse power cars three leav ing Love locks in the morning and two in the afternoon making the trip in an hou hot and forty minutes which consia considering ering t tin of the road is newness doing pretty well wel t the charges are reasonable and the trans tran por tation as a whole is made i a matter ol of as little difficulty as c could be expected even by the tenderfoot malting making his first trip good accommodations in all three of the towns of the district very good accommodations are to be had and in the camps of seven troughs and mazuma azuma modern hotels are in course ol of construction in vernon a commodious hoj hoi delry is soon to be erected that will cost in the neighborhood of it will b bi built of granite quarried from the heart hills and will have all of the modern ai ap point ments A water company has NJ beai formed in vernon for the purpose of su sup plying ZI the town with water which will 1 piped from the mountains a distance ol of about three miles trenches are being dug flu for the mains and the company hopes I 1 ti have an abundance of pure water flowing g into the town in a very short time of course it is needless to say that al this growth and activity is the result 0 f the firm belief on the part of those wh 0 have chave staked their fortunes there in tb value and permanency of the mines raa however as this growth has been it ta been conspicuously lacking the ethereal na ture of a boom and is therefore more su sut in fact the boom cannot yet tt I 1 said to have arrived but that there w m be be a a boom no one seems to doubt and tha tb it will be very soon every one seem equally certain and when it does come ia i it will not be of that meteoric character tha booms some times aimes possess when premi prem aurely induced by fictitious inflation mone monette tte truett there it is significant that some of the mos mc successful leasing companies of the stat sta have secured ground and are operating 0 a number of the properties pr pro minei online among whom are monette truett of A MI hawk fame and the detch harris lea le ing company of goldfield the latter co con pany has very encouraging assays essays from tn sixty foot shaft by which they are cevelo develop ing and they expect to cut the rich fal fail view vein at a depth of about dept depta I 1 mr detch is president of the chamber commerce of goldfield and has extensive interests in that district mr harris t th junior member of the firm who has ba bee in nevada about three years during whick time he has visited most of the camps j note says lie he considers the future ok of seve sev troughs as promising as that of any district in the state J the vernon miner the official news of the flie district is keenly alive to the situation and is doing much to acquaint the outside public with true conditions here the seven troughs investment company has recently been formed with pitr new york and san francisco connections for the purpose of dealing in local securities financing enterprises for the development of properties and doing a general investment and brok brokerage business among who played a winning game in the early contest for the best holdings was H W knickerbocker through whose hands hand s it is said more properties haven have passed than an any y other one man in nevada representing his prowess in this instance are the seven troughs vernon and seven troughs knickerbocker counted easily among the favorites development work is being pushed rapidly on both groups with very satisfactory results mr knickerbocker is interested more or less extensively in a number of the various camps of the state but says in his opinion the conditions in seven troughs point to a future that is promising beyond compare and justifies the belief that the district will prove to be one of the richest of an equal area in the tha state if not the entire west |
