Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/758

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fellow mine tested. The first specimens assayed by Tracy and King of Port land showed $1,3CO in gold and $20 in silver to the ton. /(/., May 17, 1864. In the spring of 1864 Rockfellow took J. S. Ruckel of the 0. S. N. Co. into partnership, and two arastras were put at work on the ore from this mine. A little village sprang up near by, of miners and artisans, dependent upon the employment afforded by it. In July $1,250 was obtained out of 1,500 pounds of rock. The gold was of unusual fineness, and worth $19.50 per ounce. Id., July 21, 1864. A tunnel was run into the hill, intended to tap the several ledges at a depth of 300 to 500 feet, and a mill was erected on Powder River, seven miles from the mine, on the travelled road to Boise". It had a capacity of 20 stamps, but ran only 12. It began crushing in October, and shut down in November, the trial being entirely satisfactory. In May 1865 it started up again, crushing rock, the poorest of which yielded $30 to $40 to the ton, and the best $10,000. Up to this time about $75,000 had been expended on the mine and mill. A large but unknown quantity of gold was taken out of the mine. Rockfellow & Ruckel sold out, and about 1871-2 a company, of which Hill Beachy was one and James W. Virtue another, owned and worked the mine. It took the name of the Virtue Gold Mining Company. In the mean time Baker City grew up in the immediate vicinity of the mill, where Virtue followed assaying and banking, dependent largely upon the mine, and which became the county seat. In 1872 the new company erected a steam mill with 20 stamps, and other buildings, and employed a much larger force, extending tunnels and shafts. In 1876 a shaft was down 600 feet, connecting with the various levels, and the vein had been worked along the line of the lead 1,200 feet. The quartz is of a milky whiteness, hard, but not difficult to crush. It yields from $20 to $25 per ton, with a cost of $5 for mining and milling. All the expenses of improvements have been paid out of the pro ceeds of the mine, which is making money for its owners. A foundery was es tablished at Baker City in connection with the mine, which besides keeping it in repair has plenty of custom-work.

The Emmet mine, 500 feet above the Virtue, had its rock crushed in the Virtue mill, and yielded $22. 50 per ton. Baker City B^d Rock Democrat, Feb. 14, 1872; Silver City Avalanche, Jan. 8 and Nov. 11, 1876.

Among the many veins of gold-bearing quartz discovered simultaneously in the early part of 1860, that found by the Hicks brothers returned thirty ounces of gold to a common mortarful of the rock. On the 13th of January George Ish discovered a vein in an isolated butte lying twelve miles from Jacksonville, in a bend of Rogue River, which yielded on the first tests twelve dollars to every pound of rock. Two bowlders taken from the surface, weigh ing forty and sixty pounds respectively, contained one pound of gold to every five pounds of rock. No part of the rock near the surface contained less than ten dollars to the pound, and from a portion of the quartz fifteen dollars to the pound was obtained. The first four hundred pounds contained 404 ounces of gold. From a piece weighing four pounds, twelve and a half ounces of gold were obtained; 800 pounds of rock produced 60 pounds of amalgam. John E. Ross, who had a claim on this butte called Gold Hill, realized an average of $10 to the pound of rock. One piece weighing 14 pounds gave up 36 ounces of gold. Sac. Union, Feb. 16 and 27, 1860; North ern Yreka Journal, Feb. 9, 1860; Siskiyou County A/airs, MS., 24. The rock in the Ish vein was very hard and white, with fine veins of gold cours ing through it, filling and wedging every crevice. It appeared to be a mine of almost solid gold. Thomas Cavanaugh, one of the owners, refused $80,- 000 for a fifth interest. Ish and his partners went east to purchase machinery to crush the quartz. In the mean time the casing rock was being crushed in an arastra, and yielded $700 a week, while the miners were taking out quartz preparatory to setting up the steam mill which had been purchased. When less than 600 tons of quartz had been mined it was found that the vein was detached, and to this day the main body of the ore has not been found. The expenses incurred ruined the company, and Gold Hill was abandoned after $130,000 had been taken out and expended. Surveyor-general s rept, in \n