lvflini^g History News

Newsletter of the Mining History Association

June,2002 Volume 13, Number 2

President's Column

The conference this year in the Coeurd'Alenes will be the second time thatthe Mining History Association has metin Idaho. Ten years ago, I drove downto Boise from British Columbia in or-der to attend that earlier conference.On the way home, I remember thinkingthat I ought to stop and explore thenorthern part of Idaho. But I was in arush to return to the archives to com-plete research on a project, and so Inever made it east dlong the South Forkof the Coeur d'Alene River. I am de-lighted that this year I'll finally get achance to make that trip into the Coeurd'Alenes, to see a place that I've readabout for many years.

The strip that runs from Kellogg andthe Bunker Hill east to Wallace, andthen up to Burke, is rich in mining his-tory. Like so many other places wherewe've met, the Coeur d'Alenes offers usdiverse perspectives on mining. JohnFahey, in particular, has written a num-ber of books that deal with the region'sbusiness, social and labor history.More recently, Katherine Aiken--who'llbe our banquet speaker Friday night inWallace--has produced a series of articles on the dominant company of theregion, "Uncle Bunkef', and the latestMining History Journal includes KeithLong's article on tailings and litigationin the Coeur d'Alenes. Anthony Lu-kas's blockbuster Big Trouble proba-bly reached the largest audience ofanyof the numerous publications about theregion.

There's no question of the significanceof the Coeur d'Alenes. From the start, anumber of famous mining folk weredrawn there. John Hays Hammond, forexample, was involved in the early daysof the Bunker Hill, and he recruitedFred Bradley in the early 1890s to man-age the company. Bradley would serveas president from 1897 until he died in1933, although he was also busy withventures in Alaska, Nevada, California,and other places; one leading journalistdescribed him in 1916 as one of thefour "generals" of the mining engineer-ing profession (along with Hammond,Hoover, and Jackling). Speaking ofleading journalists: T. A. Rickard, aclose associate of Bradley's, also wroteextensively about Bunker Hill.

The clashes between labor and manage-ment captured the most attention, al-though in retrospect the first major dis-pute in 1892 was relatively minor com-pared to the events of 1899, when theBunker Hill concentrator was blown up.In the wake of that explosion, manyunion miners were either blacklisted orthrown into a bullpen. As Vernon Jen-sen concluded in Heitage of Conflict,"Conflict bears bitter seeds which carryfar." Six years later, Frank Steunen-berg, Idaho's Governor during the 1899strike, was murdered, leading to thefamous trial of Haywood, Moyer andPettibone described in Lukas's book.

These events in Idaho had a consider-able impact on Canada, the focus of myown research. Men who had helped todevelop the Coeur d'Alenes quickly

realised the potential of neighboringsoutheast British Columbia, one rea-son why the majority of theKootenay's leading mines were openedup by American entrepreneurs in thelate 1880s and early 1890s. The labortroubles in Idaho also influenced laborrelations in the mining towns of Brit-ish Columbia. When the first majorstrike began in the Kootenays, shortlyafter the 1899 strike in ldaho, mineowners were quick to warn the gov-emment of possible anarchy, pointingto events in the Coeur d'Alenes. Thegovernment hired a Pinkerton agent togauge the threat of violence in theKootenays, although the agent con-cluded that his errand had been point-less and that additional security wasunnecessary. It seems to have been anaccurate analysis: little or no violenceaccompanied the bitter strikes in theKootenays, despite the dire predictionsof mine managers.

Inside this issue;

President's Column I

Organization Notes 2

Call for Papers 3

Wallace Meeting 4

BookNotes 6

Drill Bits 7

Mining History News

The most lasting legacy of the long his-tory of mining in the Coeur d'Alenesappears to be its environmental impact.As Keith Long explained in his articlein last year's Mining History Journal, iImight all be water under the bridge butthe tailings that accompanied that wateris still creating problems. Regulationand lawsuits, the tangles of federal andstate jurisdictions, and the ability oftoday's companies to pay for yester-day's polluters have combined to createan incredibly complex problem. Per-haps the one bright side is that therewill likely be plenty of challengingwork for future mining historians.

The program for the Wallace confer-ence includes a number of presenta-tions that will explore the mining his-tory of Shoshone County. It promisesto be a fascinating couple ofdays and Iam looking forward to it very much.

Jeremy Mouat

Organization Notes

2002 Dues Are Due

Please check the mailing label on thisissue. Your name should be followedby "2002" if you are up to date. Ifnot,please send your renewal check for $25($35 international) to remain on theactive list of MHA. If you have al-ready paid your 2002 dues, but this isnot reflected on your label, please con-tact Robert Sorgenfrei at the address

below.

Membership Directory

The new 2002 membership directoryshould be in the mail by the time youreceive this newsletter. If you have notreceived it by the end ofJuly, or youhave address corrections, please contactRobert Sorgenfrei, Membership Chair-man, Mining History Association, PostOffice Box 150300, Denver, Colorado802 I 5, or email: Rsorgenf@mines.edu.

Western History Association

The Mining History Association willhold its annual breakfast during the42nd Annual Western History Associa-tion Conference, at 7:00 am, October17, 2002 at the Sheraton ColoradoSprings Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colo-rado.

MHABoard Meeting

The MHA Board meeting was held at 2pm on Friday, June 2l at the BestWestern Inn, Wallace, Idaho. Jay Fell,Treasurer, reported that the Associa-tion's finances are in good shape, andthat approximately $18,000 will be inthe treasury after the Wallace meeting.Newsletter editors Mark and KarenVendl reported that annual newslettercosts will be less than expected, around$1,600. An OK was given to investi-gate ways to upgrade future newslet-ters. The Board asked Robert Sorgen-frei to print and distribute an updatedmembership list to all MHA members.The board approved a proposal putfonh by Duane Smith regarding theestablishment of the Clark C. SpenceAward for the outstanding mining his-tory book. The award will be givenevery other year. If you would like tocontribute to the fund for this award,please send a check to the MHA Den-ver mailing address, stating that it is forthe Clark C. Spence Award. More in-formation on this award is forthcoming.Mark Vendl was appointed Secretary of

MHA to replace Bob Spude.

Cripple CreeWictor, Colorado will bethe site of the 2003 MHA AnnualMeeting. Ed Hunter will head the localplanning committee for the meeting,which will be held June 5-8. EricClements offered Southeast Missouri(lead mining district) as a site for the2004 meeting, and the Board agreedthat he should submit a formal pro-posal. The Board meeting was ad-joumed in time for the 4 pm Businessmeeting at the Wallace Elks Club.

Cripple Creek/Victor, June 5-8, 2003

The Cripple Creek/Victor District,Colorado, "The World's Greatest GoldCamp", will be the location of the l4thAnnual Meeting of the Mining HistoryAssociation, June 5-8, 2003. Mostevents will occur in the Cify of CrippleCreek. Possible field trips includetours of the district, the current opera-tions at the Cresson mine, and theWestern Museum of Mining and Indus-try. For those who want to get a headsfarf on reading abuut this aea, twobooks are highly recommended: Ma-shall Sprague's Money Mountain: TheStory of Cripple Creek Gold, andFrank Water's Midas of the Rockies, a

biography of Winfield Scott Stratton.On the internet, log on to the SouthemTeller County Focus Group's site at:www.wbb-xpress.com/stcfg.htm. Foraccommodations, check out: www.cripple-creek.co.us.

Cipple Creek, Colorado, July I, 1904

CALLFOR PAPERS

FOURTEENTH AI\NUAL MEETINGOFTHE

MINING HISTORY ASSOCIATION

CRIPPTE CREEK/VICTOR, COLORADOJUNE 5.9, 2003

The program committee for the Cripple Creek/Victor meeting of the MiningHistory Association invites proposals for individual papers or completesessions (including chair) on any topic or aspect of mining history. Sessionsnormally include three papes of twenty minutes each. There are no temporalor geographic limits.

Proposals should include an abstract (one paragraph) for each paper, plusbiographical information about each presenter and session participant. Pleasesend the written proposals to tre program committee chair byDecember 31,2002.

2A03 Program Chair:

Duane Smith288 SW Center

Fort Lewis CollegeDurango, CO 81301

Mining History News

Wallace MHA N{eeting

Downtown Wallace, Idaho

As attendees discovered, Wallace,Idaho and the fabulous Coeur d'Alenedistrict is a grand place for our annualMHA meeting. The approximately 110people who registered for the eventwere treated to a great meeting. Quaintshops, friendly people, and lots of min-ing history in the area made everyone'sstay special. Tours of the Wallace Dis-trict Mining Museum and the town it-self were also in the agenda. The win-ning combination of fascinating talksand great field trips made this meetingone to remember.

Reception qt Wallsce Yisitor Center

Underground tours at the Lucky Fridayand Galena mines were interesting (if a

little hot and dirty). This was followedby a bus tour ofBurke Canyon, whichincluded a stop at the Hecla mine.

Hecla mine, Burke, Idaho

The awards banquet, which was heldFriday night at the Elks Club in Wal-lace, was highlighted by keynotespeaker Katherine Aiken, who gave apresentation on tle Bunker Hill mine.Award recipients included Keith Long,who received the John Townley Awardfor best article in the 2001 Journal. Hisarticle is entitled: "Tailings Under theBridge: Causes and Consequences ofRiver Disposal of Tailings, Coeurd'Alene Mining Region, 1886-1968".The Rodman Paul Award for 20A2went to Roger Burt. An HonoraryAward of Appreciation was presented

Tour group at the Galena mine.

to Bob Spude by Richard Francaviglia,for his extra-long service as Secretaryof MHA. The award consisted ofeleven Lower Saxony mining buttonswith crossed hammers, which HomerMilford purchased in Germany anddonated to the cause. Congratulationsto all the award winners.

Keith Long (right) receiving theTovmley Awardfrom Eic Clements.

Roger Burt (left) receiving the RodmqnPaul Award from President JeremyMouat.

Bob Spude (left) receiving Award fromRichard Francaigila.

The Sunday field trip included stops atthe Gold Hunter, Lucky Friday, Ga-lena, Bunker Hill (Kellogg Tururel),and Sunshine mines, the towns ofWardner and Murray, and lunch at theSnake Pit.

The Bunker Hill mine

The Kellogg Tunnel

The Sunshine mine

Statue commernorating the SunshinemineJire.

MIIA owes a debt of gratitude to thelocal committee who put in long hoursto make the meeting a success. At thetop of the list are John Amonson andBob and Lola Weldin, who put the en-tire meeting together. Other individu-als who assisted include Bill Calhoun,Geri Bair, Sue Halley, Rick Shaffer,Dick Caron, Jim See, Ivan Linscott,Sharon Firpick, Mary Faraca, BobHopper, and Fred Brackenbush. BobChavez and his staff at the WallaceElks Club worked hard to feed and ac-commodate a near-capacity crowd.

The committee of Jeremy Mouat, Car-los Swantes, and Bob Weldin organ-ized a great program. Mike Dexter andGuy Sande at the Lucky Friday mine,and Harry Cougher, Joe Luchini, FrankMaciosek, and Guy Sandee at the Ga-lena mine, put forth a great deal of ef-fort to make the underground tourshappen. Thanks to all.

Archeology

During the summer of 2002, the Dead-wood Historic Preservation Commis-sion is conducting an archeological digin the old Chinatown area on lowerMain Street in Deadwood, South Da-

Archeological dig in doywttown Dead-wood.

kota. Chinese artifacts were first un-covered there during a city excavationin 2001. The artifacts recovered willbe prepared for eventual exhibition.

Chinese began to arrive in Deadwoodshortly after the gold rush in 1876, andbegan leaving in the 1900s. Chineselaborers worked placer deposits in andaround Deadwood Gulch; the Chinesealso owned many businesses such as

laundries, restaurants and grocerystores.

For more information, contact theDeadwood Historic Preservation Com-mission, Deadwood City Hall, 108Sherman Street, Deadwood, SD 57732;phone 605/578-2082; emailj im@cityofrleadwood.com.

I Latest fnds are shown to the interestedpublic.

Book Notes

The Lost Joumals of Charles S. Arm-strong, by Christian J. Buys, 2002,272 pages, 87 illustrations, soft-bound, Western ReflectionsPublishing Company, P.O. Box 1647,Montrose, Colorado 81402-1647,800-993-4490, www.westernreflectionspub.com, emailwestref@montrose.net, $16.95, shipping free. The newly{iscovered jour-nals of Charles Armstrong offer thereader a rare opportunity to glimpse thenever-before-revealed details of thedaily life of an ordinary man in an ex-traordinary place and time. Armstrongfirst went to Denver, then Leadville andfinally ended up visiting Aspen soonafter it was founded. It was here thatArmstrong stayed, built a cabin,searched for valuable minerals, workedas a surveyor, fished, trapped, and en-joyed an active social life for a pros-pector. Nothing like his journals,which span over five decades of hislife, has been seen in Colorado mininghistory.

***

Coul Miner's Holiday, by Kiki De-Lancey, 2002, 240 pages, paper,Sarabande Books, 2234 DundeeRoad, Suite 200, Louisville, I(Y40205, 502-458-4028, www.SarabandeBooks.org, $13.95, shipping $3.50. In the pages of CoqlMiner's Holiday (mining jargon for

forced layoff), Delancey introduces usto the culture and characters of coal-mining towns bordering the OhioRiver. This fictional account tells thestories of unseen American immi-grants-Polish, Greek, Irish, and oth-ers- who worked in the coal mines ofthe Midwest.

:t**

San Juan Gold: A Mining Engineer'sAdventures, 1879-1881, by Duane A.Smith, 2002, 144 pages, 19 illustra-tions, softbound, Western ReflectionsPublishing Company, P.O. Box 1647,Montrose, Colorado 81402-1647,800-993-4490, www.westernreflectionspub.com, emailwestref@montrose.net, $12.95, shipping free. It is always especially excit-ing when newly-discovered material ismade available on the Old West; butwell-written letters of Eben Olcott alsoreveal a very difierent side ofthe roughand rowdy mining &ontier that domi-nated Colorado in the 1880s. San JuqnGold illuminates the details of daily lifeduring that age from the perspective ofan educated, successful mining engi-neef.

Olcott's adventures are amplified bythe observations of Duane Smith whohelps the reader to understand the his-torical context within which Olcott wasworking. Much of Olcott's time wasspent at the famous Ute-Ulay mine and

mill near Lake City as well as theNorth Star mine, which was locatedhigh above the town of Silverton. As amining engineer, Olcott was engagednot only to help with the technical as-pects of mining, but also the promotionof stock in the mines. He also exam-ined mines for wealthy Eastern inves-tors who were thinking of investing inthe rich Colorado silver mines.

***

Riches to Rust, A Guide to Mining inthe OId West, by Eric Twitty, 2002,390 pages, over 250 illustrations,softbound, Western Reflections Pub.lishing Company, P.O. Box 1647,Montrose, Colorado 81402-1647,800-993-4490, www.westernreflectionspub.com, emailwestref@montrose.net, $19.95, shipping free. Eric Twitfy's new book canbe used as a field guide for exploringthe many old mine sites across theWest and understanding the relicsstre\iln around an abandoned mine, or itcan be useful in understanding theprocesses involved in mining in thenineteenth century in the United States.Riches to Rust includes chapters onmine development and organization as

well as details on prospecting, mining,milling, and transporting the ore. Italso haces the evolution of miningtechnology from its crudest forms, tothe changes due to the discovery ofelectricity, to the times when an exten-

a!

sive engineering structure was builtaround a potential mine. The extensiveappendices and hundreds of photo-graphs and illustrations of the book willallow the reader to identify any miningartifact that might be discovered in thebackcountry of the West.

***

The Glory Days in Goldfield Nevada,by Sally Zaniani,2002, 176 pages,167 blw photos, 16 illustrations, Imap, cloth, University of NevadaPress, Mail Stop 166, Reno, NV89557-0076, 1-877-N\IBOOKS, www.nvbooks.nevada.edu, $31.95, shipping $4.50. Goldfield, Nevada wasone of the West's last mining boom-towns, centered on a fabulously richgold deposit discovered in 1902 andexhausted by 1920. In this book, SallyZanjan tells the colorful history of thetown, enhancing her story with thepersonal accounts of many of its resi-dents. Today's Goldfield is a mereshadow of its halcyon self, but Zan-jani's engaging recounting of its storybrings this last western gold-rush townto life again as the town celebrates thecentennial of its founding.

*x*

The Ballad of Baby Doe, by Duane A.Smith with John Moriarty,2002,l28pages,36 blw photographs, Univer-sity Press ofColorado,5589 Arapa-hoe Ave., Suite 206C, Boulder, CO80303, l-800-627-7377, www.upcolorado.com, $35.00 hardcover,$14.95 softcover, $4.50 shipping and[31dling. First produced at the CentralCity Opera House in 1956, "The BalladofBaby Doe" is now widely consid-ered a classic and is the second-most-produced American opera. In The Bal-lad of Baby Doe, Duane Smith tells thetale ofthe complicated birth of themost American ofoperas. Based onthe tnre story, this opera highlights thecourtship and marriage of silver mil-lionaire Horace Tabor, to the sought-after beauty, Baby Doe. Smithsketches the details srrounding theaftir: from gold fever, silver devalua-

tion, and the Populist movement inColorado to the melodrama of gossipedrumors and the couple's undying questto meet o"ttttt'

* * *

High Altitude Energy, A History ofFossil Fuels in Colorado, by LeeScamhorn, 2002,232 pages, 15 b/wphotographs, l0 line drawings, 5maps, 3 tables, hardcover, UniversityPress of Colorado, 5589 ArapahoeAve., Suite 206C, Boulder, CO80303, 1-800-627-7377, w\ilw.upcolorado.com, $27.50, $4.50 shipping and handling. High Altitude En-ergt is a timely, articulate history ofcoal, coke, oil, gas, and oil shale ex-traction and production in Colorado.Scamehorn examines the origin, evolu-tion, and aspects ofthe social and eco-nomic impact of these industries inColorado. He treats each of the fuelsources separately, from their discover-ies and initial production in the nine-teenth century, to the energy crisis ofthe 1970s, through the 1980s, and up tothe present energy concerns.

This new book is part of the 'Miningthe American West" series edited byDuane Smith, Robert Trennert, andLiping Zhu. Defined broadly, the se-ries will explore the genesis and variedhistory of mining, mines, districts,mining communities, technologies, andpeople. The range of the series is notlimited to mining for precious metals,but all projects will deal in a substantialway with the history of mining in theAmerican West. For more informationregarding the submission of a manu-script, visit the University Press ofColorado at www.upcolorado.com.

***

Staking a Aaim in History, The Evo-lution of Homestuke Mining Com-pany, 2001, 215 pages, illustrated,glossary, index, Homestake MiningCompany, Walnut Creek, California,hardcover. Duane Smith's corporatehistory of the Homestake Mining Com-

pany can only be purchased by contact-i.tg Melanie Tollefson, HomestakeVisitor Center, 160 W. Main St., Box887, Lead, South Dakota, 57754-0887,Toll Free l-888-701-0164, 605-584-3l 10, Fax 605-584-2522, email:hvc@mato.com. Cost for the book is$29.95 plus $6.50. South Dakota resi-dents should include 7% sales tax-

Drill Bits

The National Mining Hall of Fameand Museum, Leadville, Colorado, hasannounced a gift of $100,000 fromRalph L. Hennebach in support of itsefforts to renovate and develop the EastWing portion of its facility in Lead-ville. The funds put the Mining Mu-seum half-way toward the project's to-tal goal of$200,000 for creating a dra-matic location for large interactive dis-plays and exhibits, possibly through anaffiliation with the Smithsonian Institu-tion.

The 6th International Mining His-tory Congress will be held September26-29,2002 in Akabira Hokkaido, Ja-pan. The goal of the International Min-ing History Congress has always beento gather specialists from private, gov-ernment, and academic sectors in-volved in mining history to present anddiscuss their latest research. A widerange of topics will be discussed, in-cluding problems related to the socialand economic history of mining devel-opment in different countries and re-gions. The official languages of theCongress will be English and Japanese.Those wishing to present research pa-pers at the Congress are requested toprepare an abstract, and complete theregistration procedures no later thanNovember 3A, 2002, on the website ofthe Congress (http://www.imhc2003.com).'(t n

!"

MiningHistory News

Mining History AssociationPost Office Box 150300Denver, Colorado 80215

www. lib.mtu. edu/mha/mha. htm

Membership in the Mining History As-sociation is open to all interested in thehistory of mining. Dues are $25 ($35international). Membership includesthe Mining History News quarterlynewsletter and the Mining HistoryJournal. As in the past, MHA will hostan annual conference, which includestours, symposiums, and social events.

Officers 2001

Jeremy Mouat, PresidentEd Hunter, Vice-President

Mark Vendl, SecretaryJames Fell, Treasurer

Council

Richard Francaviglia, Past PresidentGlen Cook, 2000-2002

Homer Milford, 2000-2002Eleanor Swent, 200 I -2003Chris Huggard, 2001-2003

Ruth Ann Gardner 2002-2004James McBride 2002 -2004

James Sell2002-2004

Membership Chair

Robert Sorgenfrei

Denver Office Coordina tor

Lysa Wegman-French

Mining History NewsPublished quarterly

Editors

Mark and Karen VendlI136 Kemman Ave.

LaGrange Park, IL 60526mkvendl@earthlink.net

nEF E 5n snsilsilS SnEn E 5n E E E S E5n5n 5nEEH Deadline for submissions H

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ENSeptember 1, 2002

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Mining History AssociationPost Office Box 150300Denver, Colorado 80215

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