|
Mines in
& Around Broadwater played an important part in the settlement of the
area. The following are some histories of some of the mines & areas,
combined with a list of all the known mines in the county. There are 2
major types of mines in this area. Placer mines are mines that are close
to the surface & lodes are mines which you have to use some type of
equipment to get to & actually "mine" it.
Gulches
where many of these mines are found go northward from Confederate Gulch
which runs from the north side of Diamond City, through said ghost town
& SW down to the Missouri River. After Confederate, going north up
the Missouri River, you'd come to White, then Hellgate. Some of the gulches
coming off the Confederate Gulch north of Diamond City were: Montana Gulch,
Greenhorn Gulch, Gold Hill & Diamond Bar.
If you can add anything to these
pages, please e-mail me!
Also, see links at the bottom of the page for
other Montana Mine & Ghost Town links
AJAX MINE, Hassel area
Often believed in the past to be an extension of the Diamond
Hill lead mine because of the striking similarities between the two ores
found in both places.
ADA MINE, Giant Hill area
ANTELOPE CREEK MINE, Casey Peek area
ARGO MINE, Hellgate Gulch area
Operated before 1918 & produced about 3 million pounds
of copper worth about a half a million dollars in this lode mine.
BC No. 2 MINE, Giant Hill area
BADGER GULCH MINE, Giant Hill area
BAKER MINE, Diamond City area
BEAUTY MINE, Radersburg area
BIG CHIEF MINE, Winston area
BIG HILL MINE, Hassel area
One of the Park Mines
BLACK FRIDAY MINE, Radersburg area
One of the mines that kept producing later than most. In 1910
it was still producing.
BLACK HAWK MINE, Radersburg SW area
BLACKSMITH MINE, Giant Hill area
BLUEBIRD MINE, Radersburg & Giant Hill areas
BONANZA MINE, Radersburg & Crow Creek Falls areas
BONANZA CHIEF MINE, Radersburg area
One of the late mines in the Radersburg area. Discovered by
Boyd & Rader after most of the other mines in the area had played out.
BOOM MINE, Diamond City area
BOULDER BAR (an area where gold was discovered)
Approximately 2 million dollars worth of gold was found here.
It was discovered in 1865 & was at the junction of Montana Gulch &
Confederate Gulch.
BUCKEYE MINE, Giant Hill area
BULLION KING MINE, Giant Hill area
BUNKER HILL MINE, Hassel area
One of the Park Mines.
CENTRAL MINE, Giant Hill area
CONFEDERATE GULCH (area with mines in it)
The rich gold deposits of this area were supposedly discovered
by some prisoners of Sterling Price's Confederate troops after being given
the choice by their Union captors of surrendering & going home or being
released in Montana Territory. The ones who chose Montana were released
in the territory close to the headwaters of the Missouri River. The released
prisoners left Fort Benton on foot & headed off for the Last Chance
area where they had heard gold was being found in large amounts. Three
of the men reached the mouth of the gulch in 1864. These were Pomp Dennis,
Jack Thompson & Washington Baker. They found a small amount of gold
in the sand, but it was further up that they really struck pay-dirt. Needless
to say, this discovery brought a lot of others to the area. This led to
the mining camp called Diamond City, with hundreds of miners there within
a couple of weeks of the initial discovery. The name, Confederate Gulch,
either came from these Confederate soldiers who discovered it or from Jack
Thompson (one of them) who believed that the Confederacy would win &
hence named it such. Throughout 1865, many other discoveries were made
along this area: Boulder bar, Gold Hill, Diamond Bar, Greenhorn Gulch,
Montana Bar, at the foot of Gold Hill, were all upstream from Diamond City.
Montana & Cement Gulch's gold was orignially found by a group of Germans
which caused a rush into those areas. A few of the many miners in these
areas were Thomas M. Brown, Worcester Fox & 4 Germans: John Shonneman,
Alex Campbell, Charles Fredericks & Judson.
CONGRESS MINE, Radersburg area
Opened by James A. Keating & his partners, Blacker &
Oldham, after their success with the original Keating mine.
COPPER CITY I MINE, Butte South area
COPPER CITY II MINE, Three Forks area
COPPER QUEEN MINE, Radersburg area
COPPER QUEEN MINE, Hellgate Gulch area
CRASS MINE, Giant Hill area
CROW CREEK PIT MINE, Giant Hill area
CUSTER / HYANATHA MINE, Winston area
DANDY MINE, Radersburg area
DEVIL'S BOTTOM MINE, Toston area
DEER LODE MINE, Radersburg area
One of the late mines in the Radersburg area. Discovered by
Boyd & Rader after most of the other mines in the area had played out.
DIAMOND BAR (an area where gold was found)
A part of Confederate Gulch, directly above & north of
Diamond City. Boulder Ditch Co. built a long ditch to supply this area
with water to work the claims.
DIAMOND HILL MINE, Giant Hill area
About 1/2 mile above Hassel, was considered the "Mother Lode"
because of the enormous amount of ore found there.
DIAMOND CITY (a mining camp in Confederate Gulch)
Diamond City today is a ghost town, but it has an interesting
past. It was originally the county seat of Meagher Co. The town was considered
a "boom-town" from 1865-68 while the large amounts of gold were being pulled
out of the ground. It was named Diamond City because the layout of the
first 4 counties formed a diamond. It was originally built in the bed of
Confederate Gulch, but because of the mining & constant diversions
of water & piling up of gravel & mud from mining, the buildings
had to be raised on stilts, many several times. The buildings were finally
moved to higher ground. The town had one long street & there was a
daily coach service running from Last Chance to Diamond City when the weather
wasn't too bad. At one point the city was reported to have 10,000 people
in it. They had a masonic lodge where the members were also members of
the Vigilantes. The Good Templars Lodge in 1870 showed a membership of
70 people. The Rocky Mountain Husbandman Newspaper was in business here
in 1875. Then the gold started running out. By 1880, the population had
dropped to 60 & by 1883 there were only 4 families left.Some of the
known people in the area during the boom-time were Jack Howard (hung by
the Vigilantes for robbing in 1865), Mulk, Dick Richardson (from the Recorder),
R.N.Sutherlin (of the Rocky Mountain Husbandman newspaper), Thomas H. Brown,
T. Collins, Charley Smith, W.C.Landers (Collins, Smith & Landers fell
down a 20' shaft in 1869 but all survived), Mr. Kelley (a school teacher)
& Hanson H. Barnes, who came around the Horn (later postmaster in White
Sulphur Springs). Frank Grouard also passed through here at one point,
although he was less than impressed with the area & ran the pony express
route from here to Fort Hall. The Germans were prominent in the population
here & hence caused many to think this area was more industrious than
most. The Chinese came in after the rush was over & reworked the tailings.
DOLCOATH MINE, Giant Hill area
DOOLITTLE GULCH MINE, Helgate Gulch area
EAST PACIFIC MINE, Winston area
This mine was approximately 6 miles SW from Winston & was
owned by Robert A. Bell in the 1890s. It produced some great veins of lead
& silver, along with a small amount of gold. The mine lasted 12 years
& made Mr. Bell a very wealthy man, although he lost it all in Texas
gambling on oil wells.
ELDORADO MINE, Radersburg area
GOLD BRICK MINE, Radersburg area
GOLD BUG MINE, Giant Hill area
GOLD DUST MINE, Radersburg area
GOLD HILL, Confederate Gulch area
At the foot of this hill was Montana Bar which contained 2
acres of a fabulous gold vein. Worchester Fox worked here for 35 years.
Even when most of the bar was gone, men were still getting thousand dollar
pans. The strike only lasted a few months in 1866, but over 1 million dollars
was pulled out of it in that time. 4 Germans: John Shonneman, Alex Campbell,
Charles Fredericks & Judson pulled between 900,000 - a million dollars
worth out of here in one season which at that time amounted to 2 1/2 tons
of gold.
GOLDEN AGE MINE, Winston area
GOPHER MINE, Radersburg area
GREENHORN MINE, Radersburg area
HARD CASH MINE, Radersburg area
HARDMORE MINE, Crow Creek Falls area
HASSEL (area with mines in it)
Originally called St. Louis, Hassel sits on upper Indian Creek.
Gold was first discovered here in 1866 & in 1875 35-40 men worked there.
The mines continued to produce for about 20 years & over the years
over 5 million dollars worth of ore was found here. A man called John Murray
had a boarding house in Cheatem, 2 miles above the town, at one time which
fed more than half the camp. In 1875 the St. Louis Lodge # 49 IOGT was
chartered & had 18 members originally & there were anywhere from
100-300 people throughout the area. Others who mined this area were: Joseph
"Joe" Hassel (who the town was named for), William Rick, Charlie Moffit,
George Weston & Frank Lewery. The mines around this area were revived
as quartz mines in the late 1890s.
HELLGATE CANYON (an area that contained several mines)
Some placer gold was found early on at the head of this canyon.
In 1874, pay gravel was being worked by 2 companies here.
HOG HOLLOW MINE, Crow Creek Falls area
HUMMINGBIRD MINE, Whites City area
IRON CROSS / R & S IRON MINE, Radersburg area
IRON MASK MINE, Giant Hill area
JANUARY MINE, Winston area
JAWBONE MINE, Hassel area
Near the Hassel mine, on Indian Creek, this was a quartz mine,
owned by Tom Reece in 1870. He also had a gold mine here which he bought
a stamp mill for (from a freighter, Henry Sieben). Gold from this mill
netted him $50,000 in gold. Reece became very wealthy from this mine &
supposedly loaned F. Augustus Heinze 1 million dollars.
JO DANDY MINE, Radersburg area
JOHN L. MINE, Giant Hill area
JOHNNY GULCH MINE, Radersburg area
JUNIPER MINE, Radersburg area
KAHOKA MINE, Radersburg area
KEATING MINE, Radersburg area
A quartz mine was opened here in 1866 by James A. Keating &
his partners, Blacker & Oldham, & continued very successfully until
1877. Later, George G. Griswold of Butte reopened the mine & continued
to run it with newer technology.
KEATING TAILINGS, Radersburg area
KEATINGSVILLE (a mining camp)
A small short-lived camp that was set up approximately 1/2
mile from the original Keating mine to supply shelter & food for the
miners there.
KELLY GULCH MINE, Winston area
KEYSTONE MINE, Radersburg area
KIMBER GULCH MINE, Winston area
KLEINSCHMIDT MINE, Winston area
LEVIATHAN MINE, Radersburg area
Opened by James A. Keating & his partners, Blacker &
Oldham, after their success with the original Keating mine.
LITTLE ANNIE MINE, Giant Hill area
LITTLE BONANZA MINE, Winston area
LITTLE GIANT MINE, Giant Hill area
Owned & operated by William Roberts. He worked it alone
& in 6 months had made $2500 in that short amount of time.
LITTLE HOGBACK MINE, Townsend area
LONE STAR MINE, Hassel area
One of the Park Mines.
LOOKOUT MINE, Giant Hill area
LOOMIS MINE, Crow Creek Falls area
LUCKY FRIDAY MINE, Radersburg area
MABEL MINE, Radersburg area
MAINE MINE, Winston area
MAMOUTH MINE, Giant Hill area
MARION MINE, Winston area
MILLER MINE, Diamond City area
MONARCH MINE, Radersburg area
MONTANA BAR, Gold Hill area
see Gold Hill
MONTANA REGENT MINE, Diamond City area
MONTANA SILVER STAR MINE, Radersburg SW area
MONTE CRISTO MINE, Winston area
MOUNTAIN VIEW MINE, Winston area
MUD SPRING GULCH MINE, Three Forks area
NE NE SECT. 14 MINE, Giant Hill area
NE NE SECT. 17 MINE, Radersburg SW area
NE NE SECT. 21 MINE, Radersburg area
NE NE SECT. 35 MINE, Giant Hill area
NE NW SECT. 25 MINE, Diamond City area
NE NW SECT. 3 MINE, Wnston area
NE NW SECT. 33 MINE, Radersburg area
NE NW SECT 5 MINE, Gurnett Creek West area
NE NW SECT. 6 MINE, Giant Hill area
NE SE SECT. 17 MINE, Radersburg area
NE SE SECT. 8 MINE, Radersburg SW area
NE SW SECT. 26 MINE, Diamond City area
NE SW SECT. 4 MINE, Radersburg area
NW NW SECT. 14 MINE, Radersburg area
NW NW SECT. 26 MINE, Winston area
NW SE SECT. 28 MINE, Winston area
NW SE SECT. 5 MINE, Gurnett Creek area
NW SE SECT. 6 MINE, Gurnett Creek West area
NW SW SECT. 4 MINE, Radersburg area
NW SW SECT. 6 MINE, Giant Hill area
NEW ERA MINE, Hassel area
Was sold to F. Longmaid of Marysville for $25,000. It was a
quartz mine in the Park Mining District.
One of what's commonly called the Park Mines.
OHIO MINES, Radersburg area
OHIO / KEATING MINE, Radersburg area
Opened by James A. Keating & his partners, Blacker &
Oldham, after their success with the original Keating mine.
ORPHAN BOY MINE, Winston area
PARK MINE, Giant Hill area
PARK MINES (area with several mines)
Located 6 miles to the northwest of Hassel. Included the mines:
New Era, Lone Star, Bunker Hill & Big Hill.
PARKER MINE, Giant Hill area
PARKER (a mining camp by Toston)
This area is 8 miles west of Toston on Johnny Creek. It was
named for John Parker who operated 8 mines and a mill here.
PHOENIX MINE, Giant Hill area
POE LEAD MINE, Radersburg area
POWERLINE MINE, Radersburg area
QUARTZITE MINE, Radersburg area
QUEEN BEE MINE, Giant Hill area
RADERSBURG (an area that had several mines)
Radersburg was named for Ruben Rader who donated the land for
the town. At one time Radersburg was the county seat for Jefferson Co.
(the courthouse was moved to Boulder in 1883). It boasts of being the home
of Myrna Loy, although that was her stage name. She was originally Myrna
Williams. James Waters made the first gold discovery in this area in the
early 1860s. A quartz mine was opened here in 1866 by James A. Keating
& continued very successfully until 1877. In 1868 the population was
approximately 600 & had 2 1st class hotels, the Tremont House &
the Planters House, along with the Quartz Hotel. Quartz mining began in
1870 here. William Quinn came through this area & dug ditches to divert
water through the various mines surrounding this area. Payton & Co.
dug ditches in other areas around the Crow Creek mines in the Faith, Hope
& Charity Gulches which provided for the various bars in the area including
Rabbit, Badger, Greyhound & Bay Horse. The Charity & Hope Gulches
were the best paying in the district in 1868. Bay Horse & other bars
were also turning out ore in this year. Joe Poe was a water hauler in the
camp during the winter. Thomas R. Moore who lived there as a small child
said there were more women there than in most other camps. T.F.Bramhall,
D.R.W. for the IOGT organized a lodge there which in 1868 had 36 charter
members. It was reorganized in 1869 with 12 members, H.C.Powell as lodge
deputy. Most of the mines had shut down by 1878 & the town reported
a total population of 69 this year (down from 250 the year before). About
$6,130,000 was pulled from the Radersburg mines through 1928. For a short
time in 1933 there was a revival of the mines in the area due to high metal
prices. Miss Mary Gilman was the first school teacher in the area &
when the new school building was built in 1872, there were 62 children
enrolled. Charity Jane Dillon ran an inn outside of town at Crow Creek
Crossing & was found dead under mysterious causes in her bed. She's
buried there.
RALLS MINES, Radersburg area
RENA MINE, Radersburg area
RIBEDEAU MINE, Giant Hill area
RUBY MINE, Radersburg area
S & S MINE, Giant Hill area
SE NE SECT. 18 MINE, Devils Face area
SE NE SECT. 31 MINE, Devils Face area
SE SE SECT. 26 MINE, Whites City area
SE SE SECT. 31 MINE, Devils Face area
SE SE SECT. 7 MINE, Giant Hill area
SE SW SECT. 33 MINE, Radersburg area
SW NE SECT. 16 MINE, Winston area
SW NE SECT. 27 MINE, Giant Hill area
SW NW SECT. 13 MINE, Giant Hill area
SW NW SECT. 3 MINE, Winston area
SW SE SECT. 21 MINE, Radersburg area
SW SE SECT. 9 MINE, Radersburg area
SW SW SECT. 27 MINE, Winston area
SAINT LOUIS (the area where several mines were located)
This area was renamed Hassel - see info under that listing.
SAINT LOUIS MINE, Giant Hill area
SAN ANITA MINE, Radersburg area
SCHABERT MINE, Whites City area
SHAFT NEAR LOMBARD MINE, Lombard area
SHEP MINE, Giant Hill area
SHINNEMAN MINE, Montana & Cement gulch area
Employed nearly 100 men as shovelers. Thomas Brown was one
of the employees. The mine owners would set the gold every Sunday for the
workers to see. $25-50,000 worth of gold was recovered. This mine was operating
in 1866.
SILVER SNOWFLAKE MINE, Diamond City area
SILVER STAR MINE, Radersburg SW area
SILVER WAVE MINE, Giant Hill area
A quartz mine that was located in the Park Mining District
which was sold to an Omaha company.
SMALL ADIT MINE, Lombard area
SPRING HILL MINE, Giant Hill area
STAUBACH TRAIL MINE, Winston area
STRAY HORSE MINE, Winston area
Billy Slater, Dave & Charlie Cona worked this mine in 1896
& eventually sold it for over $70,000, after working it for several
years. Dave Cona moved to Boulder Valley & started raising stock, whereas
Charlie Cona kept prospecting.
SUMMITT / LODE STAR MINE, Radersburg area
SUNRISE MINE, Radersburg area
THOMPSON CREEK MINE, Radersburg area
TIDAL WAVE MINE, Radersburg area
TOSTON (an area around where mines were)
Had a blast furnace back in the boom days that was used to
treat the ores from Radersburg. It's now a small agricultural town.
TOSTON MINE, Toston area
TOWNSEND (area with several mines in it)
The present county seat of Broadwater Co.
UPPER NO. 2 GULCH MINE, Diamond City area
VERMONT MARBLE QUARRY, Radersburg area
VOSBURG MINE, Winston area
VULTURE MINE, Giant Hill area
W. A. CLARK MINE, Giant Hill area
WHITE'S GULCH (an area where mines were found)
White's Gulch is between Hellgate Canyon & Confederate
Gulch. It was discovered by a Mr. White who it was named for on May 2,
1865. The streambed of this gulch was once one of the best placer fields
in Montana which continued to produce results for about 20 years after
its discovery. A store in the area was owned by S.E.Stager. Capt. Stafford
built a wagon road in 1873 for the 6 families & other miners in the
area. In 1878 there were only 30 voters here & by 1882 that number
was down to 19.
WHITEHEAD RANCH MINE, Winston area
WILD TURKEY MINE, Townsend area
WINSTON (area with several mines in it)
Named for P.B.Winston Brothers, RR contractors & owners
of the East Pacific Mine. Most of the mines for this area were in the mountains,
6-8 miles to the west. There was once a newspaper here, The Prospector.
Some of the miners from this area are: Billy Slater, Dave & Charlie
Cona (Strayhorse mine in 1896), Robert A. Bell (1890s). Winston is now
a ranching area. Most of the mines here were not discovered until the 1890s
& the total amount pulled out of this area amounted to about 3 million
dollars worth.
Montana Bureau of Mines
Mining History
& Ghost Towns (all over US)
Ghost Towns - Montana
(a few links here)
|
