Nuggets to Neutrinos
The Homestake Story
by
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A week after consummating the deal on the Homestake claim and bonding the south end of the Golden Terry claim, Hearst wrote a long letter to J. B. Haggin and Lloyd Tevis updating them of his activities in the Black Hills and the investment potential along the entire Homestake Belt. The “easterners” Hearst refers to were Cyrus Enos’s partners in the Davenport and Black Hills Milling and Mining Company, who resided in Davenport, Iowa. H. B. Young was the one who now owned the 100-foot interest. The letter was written in Deadwood City on November 1, 1877, as follows: "We arrived here in good shape and in due time. Found the mines as good as we expected. Janin and I are getting along first rate since our settlement and it was lucky for them that they settled. We have secured only the interest we had under the bond, owing to the fact that other parties had bought the balance, except about 100 feet, before we got here. The purchasers live east and the owners of the one hundred feet referred to above, are here, but have agreed to act with them. We have been in communication with these eastern people and they are now on their way out to see us. We have offered them the same price for their interest that we paid for what we have got and have proposed that if that is not satisfactory they come into the corporation with us. The owner of the 100 feet is in favor of accepting the money and will recommend the others to do so when they arrive. As a mine always appears to best advantage when being actively worked, we have shut down all operations and will keep the mine closed until these people are settled with in some way. We hope they will all take the money instead of stock. In regard to the “Star” mine, we have as yet accomplished nothing. We offered them $50,000 for a quit claim deed to all their interest. They want to reserve a portion of the north end to which we object and in this way the matter now stands. The Star people contend that they are entitled to all the ground next to us and outside of our surface side lines, while we maintain that our title being the oldest, we are entitled to the full width of our vein without any regard to the surface lines. I want to settle this dispute before I leave and do whatever else is necessary to give us a good, clear title. I want also to secure an eligible millsite. I know you will think it strange that 75 feet in surface width does not cover our vein, but it is nevertheless true. The “Homestake” pay vein is more than 100 feet wide at the point where we came in conflict with the “Star” and I am certain it will average from one end of the Homestake to the other, thirty (30) feet. By milling several hundred tons and other thorough investigations the ore has been found to average $14.00 to $15.00 per ton. The ore is easily mined and being very free is easily saved. Labor, supplies, and everything necessary are as cheap as in Colorado and I think the entire expense per ton for mining and milling will not exceed $4.00 certainly not $5.00. Sixty to 70 percent of the assay value of the ore can be saved. The amount of dividends would depend, of course, upon the size of the mill. We should not have less than one-hundred stamps and that number of stamps cannot work out the mine in 25 years. Figure it yourselves, how many tons of ore are there in a pile 1,500 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 100 feet deep? These figures are inside of the facts and safe to rely on. The vein lies between the quartzite and laminated slate, dipping about 70 degrees east with every indication favorable to its continuing to great depth. I think the vein is safe from any disturbances for at least 1,000 feet and probably for 2,000 feet. This big vein on which our claim is located travels the country north of us for about a mile and a half; next to us on that side is the “Homestake No. 2,” an 800 feet claim. Near our line they have run a tunnel which goes through one vein being hard rock. The rock in these two veins worked in the mills yields from $9.00 to $17.00 per ton, all of which is corroborated by the sampling we have done. Next north of us and adjoining the “Homestake No. 2” is our part of the “Golden Terry,” or rather the 500 feet of that claim on which we hold a bond. Work on this mine has proven that the vein is about 100 feet wide and that the pay streaks are three in number and ranging from 12 to 20 feet in width. The ore has not yielded as much per ton as that from the “Homestake,” but I am satisfied the reason is that the men who did the sorting did not know the difference between the pay and barren rock. The workings under our administration have gone to prove this and I think the mine will come up to the mark and that we will take it. North of the “Golden Terry” is the “Golden Terry #2,” a small ravine separating the two claims. The vein in the ‘Golden Terry #2’ is enormous being over one hundred feet in width and they are running a mill and working about thirty tons per day, which amount of ore is extracted by four or five men. Their ore is paying $15.00 per ton, some more and some less. This location runs north in and through the mountain 1,000 feet. Next to, adjoining the “Golden Terry #2” on the north, is the “Father DeSmet” mine, which is opened on the north slope of the bluff of Deadwood Creek. This mine, over 400 feet wide, has but little waste or worthless material in it. This mine had been, for sometime, and is now having ore worked at the “Elliots Mill” and an old acquaintance of mine informs me that it pays $20.00 per ton. This mine can be opened at a depth of 400 feet by a tunnel from Deadwood Creek ravine. In this lode, all other veins to the south seem to have come together and the result is such a deposit of ore as I never saw or dreamt of before. Deadwood Creek is where so much placer gold is found and I think this lode has furnished the supply. This mine, the “Father DeSmet” is, I am sorry to say, a high priced mine and I fear out of our reach as I am informed the owners have refused $700,000 for it. The claim continues down the bluff and across the creek up and on to the foot of the north bluff, facing to the south. At the foot of the North bluff, the veins again separate and but one pay streak has been opened, say 15 feet. It yields $14.00 per ton. Beyond this point the vein can be seen, but it has not been opened and it is said not to prospect so well on the surface. I have an arrangement with the superintendent for the “Homestake #2” to get for us three-fourths or at least one-half of the mine at the rate of $50,000 for the whole mine. Neither Janin or anyone else except Kellogg knows. I am also using other means to secure a good trade. I want to close up Homestake matters before I leave as I am afraid some blunder might be made by those that I should have to leave in charge, which would cost us a large sum of money."
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About the Book
Very few mines in the world ever produced gold continuously for more than one hundred years. The Homestake Mine was one that did, producing 40 million ounces of gold from 1876 through 2001, when the quest for the yellow metal was brought to an end for good. Over the next few years after the mine was shut down, tens of thousands of ounces in additional gold were recovered as mine facilities were systematically decommissioned, and the mill site was reclaimed and converted to an open-air museum. For more than 125 years, the Homestake Mine helped support the livelihoods of countless numbers of people who were directly or indirectly affiliated with the mine. Sadly, some of these people lost their lives or were physically impaired while working at the mine or in support of the mine. Fortunately, a lasting legacy evolved from the dedication, loyalty, and perseverance of each of these people and every other person who was ever associated with the mine. This living legacy continues to evolve with the transformation of the mine into a deep underground science and engineering laboratory. The Homestake legacy began to unfold in August and September 1875 when the Bryant, Blanchard, Smith, Gay, and Lardner parties discovered rich gold placers in Deadwood Gulch. What they found was mostly Homestake gold, weathered and worn to “nuggets” and “dust.” Fred and Moses Manuel, along with their partners, Henry C. “Hank” Harney and Alexander “Alf ” Engh, were latecomers to Deadwood Gulch, arriving in February 1876. For the most part, these four men were more interested in finding the source of the placer gold or the “lode gold.” Their prowess and diligence paid off. On April 9, 1876, Moses Manuel and Hank Harney discovered a rich quartz outcrop upon which all four men located the Homestake lode claim. The Black Hills was still a part of the Great Sioux Reservation then, pursuant to the Fort Laramie treaties of 1851 and 1868. The Teton Sioux, also known as the Lakota, probably weren’t the first American Indians to have a presence in and around the Black Hills. Notwithstanding, the Fort Laramie treaties specified the boundaries for the Great Sioux Reservation and the Black Hills were included within that description. It wasn’t until the Manypenny Agreement was signed on September 26, 1876, and ratified by Congress on February 28, 1877, that the boundaries of the Great Sioux Reservation were modified, thereby excluding the Black Hills from the reservation and allowing the miners to have a “legal” presence in the Black Hills. Toward the latter part of 1877, the California capitalists George Hearst, J. B. Haggin, and Lloyd Tevis acquired the Homestake and Golden Terry mining claims from the Manuel brothers, Harney, and Engh. From that point forward, the California capitalists and their various other investment partners engaged themselves to try and acquire most all of the mining claims along the Homestake Belt, providing there was good ore and the price was right. Their acquisition strategies included such methods as outright force, costly court battles litigated by the best lawyers, acquisition and control of precious water rights through separate companies, fair land purchases, creation or consolidation of mining companies, and acquisition and control of competing companies through accumulation of company stock. In other cases, the Homestake capitalists prevailed by simply waiting until the other operators went broke or some other opportunity presented itself to allow acquisition at a bargain price. Aided by their money, skill, and shrewdness, the Homestake capitalists were very successful in fulfilling their passions and paving the roadway for future generations at the Homestake Mine.
About the Author
Steven T. Mitchell is a native and lifelong resident of the Black Hills of South Dakota. He is a graduate of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with BS and MS degrees in mining engineering. Mitchell’s mining career was with Homestake Mining Company at the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, where he held various engineering and management positions. He and his wife, Cindy, have two grown children, Brian and Sheryl.