Placer mine

“ An account of the discovery was soon known at Walla Walla. From there it was passed to The Dalles and on to Portland and San Francisco. Thousands rushed to the new mines and soon prospectors were to be found on every tributary of the Clear- water and Salmon rivers. Rich mines were discovered at places afterwards known as Pierce City, Elk City, Florence and Warren. The miners crossed over the mountains to the south and the famous placer mines of the Boise Basin were soon yielding up their millions, to the miner's pan, the rocker, the "Long Tom" and the sluice box. ”

“ One says, "a placer is a surface accumulation of minerals in the wash of streams and seas," while another writes that a placer is "a place where surface depositions are washed for valuable minerals, such as gold, tin, tungsten, gems, etc." One definition conveys no notion of the operations of mining, but is merely geological, while the other involves the thought of the recovery of values. ”

“ According to the mining laws as they had been construed by every Court in the land up to that time, no placer mining location could be made validly unless the entry was based upon an actual discovery of mineral, while the Scrippers, so called, were required to set forth in their affidavits that the land was "vacant and unoccupied" at the date of selection. Naturally, a question not only of law. ”

“ By the term 'placer claim,' as here used, is meant ground within defined boundaries which contains mineral in its earth, sand, or gravel; ground that includes valuable deposits not in place, that is, not fixed in rock, but which are in a loose state, and may in most cases be collected by washing or amalgamation without milling. By 'veins or lodes,' as here used, are meant lines or aggregations of metal embedded in quartz or other rock in place. ”

“ Under this definition, we properly think of the rather unusual operations of marketing coal right from the surface of the earth, in eastern Kansas, as mining. There is, in this case, no covering of earth above the workmen; neither are the operations necessarily carried on at night to avoid the illumination of the sun.
So, also, placers are now correctly spoken of as mines, although but a few years ago there was drawn a strict line, eliminating such worked deposits from the category of mines. One may still run across a few men who are sticklers upon the point that a placer is not a mine. ”

“ No wonder it was enough to inflame the imagination and cause men to do all sorts of things in order to obtain a foothold where the returns were so certain and phenomenal.
Titles to the various vacant tracts were sought in two ways: First, by applicants through the placer mining laws of the United States, in claims of twenty acres each, and almost simultaneously by claimants under the forest reserve lieu land Act of June 4, 1897. The latter were called "Scrippers," while the others were commonly known as "Mineral Locators." ”

“ The mining upon the hillside claims bears no resemblance in appearance to ordinary placer mining. Horizontal tunnels are driven into the White Channel from the face of the hill, and shafts are sunk into it from the surface in a manner that more nearly resembles the working in ordinary metalliferous lodes. In one such mine which I visited, a horizontal tunnel 700 feet in length had been driven into the gravel, and at right angles to this, and at intervals of about 60 feet, lateral tunnels were being driven to a distance of 70 feet on either side ”

“ Defendants also set out another defense in the following language: 'That at the time of the survey, entry, and patenting of the said Wells and Moyer placer claim, a certain lode, vein, or deposit of quartz or other rock in place, carrying carbonates of lead and silver-bearing ore, and of great value, called the 'Pinnacle Lode,' and a certain lode, vein, or deposit carrying like minerals of great value, were known and claimed to exist within the boundaries and underneath the surface of said placer claim, survey lot No. ”

“ The official survey was approved by the United States Surveyor General March 21, 18SS, and contains a note to the effect that "Deputy Surveyor D. C. Hall states in the general description of this township that placer mining is carried on quite extensively in the same." midst of the forest where fallen trees interfered with locomotion away from the roads to such an extent that it was practically impossible to make any progress with a vehicle. ”

“ These mines, with their prolonged subterranean workings, their stamping and crushing mills, and the smelting works which have been established near them, fill the district with noise, hubbub, and smoke by night and day; but I had turned altogether aside from them into a still region, where each miner in solitude was grubbing for himself, and confiding to none his finds or disappointments. Agriculture restores and beautifies, mining destroys and devastates; turning the earth inside out, making it hideous, and blighting every green thing, as it usually blights man's heart and soul. ”

“ In the vicinity of the main shaft of the mine, indeed, the incessant action of the huge chain of pumps, produces a constant but not very loud noise, while the occasional rattling of the metallic buckets for raising the ore, against the walls of the shaft, as they ascend and descend, relieves, in some degree, the monotony of the scene. Still every thing is dreary, dull, and cheerless; and one can be with difficulty persuaded, even when in the richest and most populous mines, that he is in the centre of such extensive and important operations. ”

“ Imagine the descent into a mine through the sea, the miners working at the depth of 12 fathoms below the waves; the rod of a steam engine extending from the shore to the shaft, a distance of nearly 120 fathoms; and a great number of men momentarily menaced with an inundation of the sea, which continually drains in no small quantity through the roof of the mine, and roars loud enough to be distinctly heard in it.” Tin is the principal produce of this mine, and the ore is extremely rich. ”

“ Sometimes, when the mining is done by shaft or slope, there is a separate entrance for men and mules, a narrow tunnel or slope, not too steep, and in this case, though his duties lie entirely in the mine, the driver boy must take the mule in from the outside stable in the morning and bring him back at night. ”

“ All around us, above and below, on mountain side and stream, the rain falling fast upon them, are the miners at work—not for gold, but for bread. Lawyers, doctors, clergymen, farmers, soldiers, deserters, good and bad, from England, from America, from China, from the Islands, from every country but Russia and Japan—all, all at work at their cradles. From morning to night is heard the incessant rock, rock, rock! Over the whole mines, in streamlet, in creek, and in river, down torrent and through the valley, ever rushes on the muddy sediment from ten thousand busy rockers. ”

“ A similar sacrifice in the shape of pillars is often necessary to support the surface, either to avoid injury to valuable structures or to prevent a flooding of the mine. As already noted large pillars must always be left to protect shafts, adits and the more important mine-passages necessary for drainage, ventilation and the haulage of mineral. In the early history of mining there was but little attempt at systematic development and working, and the mines were often irregular and tortuous. ”

“ Miners—hundreds of them—were brought from neighboring mines, and they worked night and day on two-hour shifts, clinging to the sides of the shaft as thick as bees in a hive. Others, risking their lives with every stroke of the pick, dug away at the earth and rock that had fallen on the big chunk of machinery. With all the speed that human effort could compass, it was six days and nights before a hole had been made through the obstruction big enough for a man to pass. ”

“ In the systematic mining of larger deposits, the simplest plan consists in mining large areas by means of numerous working-places under the protection of pillars of mineral left for the purpose, and later mining these pillars systematically, allowing the overlying rock beds to fall and fill the abandoned workings. In shallow mines the pillars are small and the saving of the mineral of minor importance. ”

“ Indeed, this system of mining partakes of the nature of quarrying rather than that of mining in the ordinary sense, the ore being scooped from the surface of the ground. One naturally thinks of a mine as being subterranean; but in the great open-pit mines in the Lake Superior region, which are the largest mines in the world, all the mining is done at the surface of the earth. ”

“ When a mine is first begun, it is always left open to the sky, and the mineral is extracted by following the vein that contains it; but, as the mine gets deeper, two obstacles present themselves: the extraction of the ore becomes more costly, and the workmen are not long in meeting with hidden springs, the waters of which, unless removed, would drown the mine and stop the works. To provide against this danger, shafts are sunk, at the bottom of which a working gallery runs, that follows the vein of metal. ”

“ Swallows have built beneath the rafters of the miners' sheds, at evening bats fly in and out at the open doors, and a pair of screech-owls that have taken up their abode declare the place as desolate. There is only one person in the country-side who has yet any lingering faith in the railway, the mine, or the mountain. This is an old miner, himself like a nugget of iron ore. He has infinite faith in a deep compensating future, and bides his time. When mellowed by ale and the soothing fumes of a short black pipe, he assures you that he will stand by the mountain through fair weather or foul. ”

“ In deep mines, as has already been said, it is customary to build stables not far from the foot of the shaft, and to keep the mules there except when for any reason there is a long suspension of work. ”

“ Some of the mines are in the sides of the mountains, where no hoisting is required, and the ore is brought directly to the open air without the necessity of climbing. Such mines are more profitable than the others, as they can be readily drained, and the expense of carrying the ore upwards is saved. ”

“ Here is how the tribunals ruled in several well-known cases:
"A placer location, even though taken by legal subdivisions, is required by law to be staked or marked on the ground."—Gregory vs. Pershbaker; 73, Cal., 109.
"The location of placer claims, using the names of persons as co-locators who are not intended to have any real interest, but who are to convey the rights after location (commonly called dummy locators) is a fraud upon the Government."—Mitchell vs. Cline; 84, Cal.. 409. ”

“ I could see, too, that politics actuated the law officer in his conclusions more than any sense of justice, because the Scrippers were decidedly unpopular in the community, and the voting element was strongly in favor of the alleged "poor man's method" of taking up these oil lands through mineral locations. As a wealthy syndicate afterwards secured control of nearly all the tracts embraced in the placer mining locations, it is obvious that the scheme to arouse public sentiment against the Scrippers was part of a well-laid plot to use the local residents as catspaws. ”

“ Here is their gold mine, and their silver mine, and their copper mine. In another shed, is a mill-stone on edge, revolving with the post to which it is fixed, to crush the material which is to be calcined. In the yard, we see heaps of scoriæ—the shining, heavy, glassy-looking fragments, which tell tales of the prodigious heat to which they have been subjected. We see picks, and more ladles, and lanterns, and a most sordid-looking bonfire. A heap of refuse is burning on the stones; old rags, fragments of shoes, cinders, dust, and nails—the veriest sweepings that can be imagined. ”

“ Rough washing boxes, rough troughs through which we turned water, shapeless holes in the ground partly filled with water, great heaps of worthless gravel, the dismal sucking sound of the old hand pump, and a clutter of boards, pans, shovels, and picks.
Yet we had one of the few good mines down there. The “pork knockers” have no mines; they journey from place to place up [Pg 133] and down the river with pick and shovel and sieve, with a small quantity of food on their backs, and make shelter wherever they happen to be. ”

“ MINERS DESCENDING SHAFT IN OWEN’S SAFETY CAGE.
In many mines the workmen climb up and down the shafts on fixed ladders, with landing-stages for resting; and it may easily be imagined how severely their strength must be taxed when, after their hard day’s labour, they have still to ascend step by step a thousand or even two thousand feet, before they can return to their families. ”

“ Some are sent to the mines, where they will kindly lead the miner to the richest lode, or maliciously, by noises imitating the stroke of the hammer, and by false fires, draw him on to where the worst ore in the mine lies, and then laugh at his disappointment. ”

“ The mine is about a mile and a half from the smelting-works, on the side of a mountain; an admirable road leads to it by a gentle ascent, down which waggons drawn by mules bring the ore to be smelted. On reaching the summit I rested on a level plateau, on which the upper works are built; I am to descend presently into the depths of the mine to see how the ore is deposited, and trace, step by step, the various processes it has to go through before it is marketable. ”