INTERNATIONAL PRESS PAGE FOUR PRESS THE INTERNATIONAL Johnson ~of Chicago and Ole Sether UTTLE AMERICAN of Scandinavia, Wis., were pioneers arid- owners of Bushyhead island that AND BORDER BUDGET had a tujgnel pjear through the center. W. B. Holman of Grand Rapids INTERNATIONAL FALLS PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY Minn., was interested early in the GEO. P. WATSON, Editor and Mauser ,- %. rush. C. P. Frank acquired property History of Minnesota's Only Bullion Producer —Discovered by^ Prospector Davis in Fall of Entered at the.Poat Oflee at Biteraattoaal Falls. Mian., Sec—d-claaa Matter that never made him wealthy. C. O. mm 1893—Situated on Small Ulakid in Rainy. Lake—Jeff Hildreth Interests Dulutli Capitalists Baldwin, Judge C. L. Lewis, Joseph SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $2.00 FOREIGN, $2.50 PER YEAR —Rainy Lake City Is Platted in Janbarv 1894, and Big Boom Follows—Operations Lyold, Sr., H. T. Abbott, Fred Smith, Hampered by Mine's Inaccessibility—Story of Development and Equipment—How Bandits the late Joseph Sattler, A. M. Beiver, Everybody is going to:get out their flags and bunting today W. C. Weld and others had property Robbed Butler's Bank—Other* Wild West Features of Frontier Camp That Exists No and give the boys a good rs%h3-off." interests and many of them do yet, More near mine and where Rainy Lake City BY JOHN L. MORRISON once stood Bandits Broke the Bank We all take off our hats to the "Dagos" since their magnificent I have told about the establishment Minnesota has on^ mine that actually River, 160 miles. From Ft. Frances Little American island, making it unnecessary victory over the Austrians, last Monday. t. has produced gold bullion it was only a dozen miles by boat and of a bank at Rainy Lake City. to- expensively barge ore commercial quantities.. This is- th"? canoe in lummer and sled road in After the boom had burst and only a to the inadequate little mill on the handful of people remained in the Little American gold mine, situated winter to Rainy Lake City, the remote island. Every flag should be raised and our city given its best patriotic metropolis of the Minnesota:El Dorado, on Little American island, in Rainy metropolis of the new El Dorado. W. W. Butler came rushing appearance today in honor of the ninety-four "boys" who are here lake, about a mile from the mamland. Others went by Tower, Vermillion Mr.-Watzge was backed by German The property is in Koochiching into the big hotel and, in excited accents, Lake arid Lake Kabetogoma.. capitalists and manufacturers in and will leave tonight, Thursday, for camp Grant.. told how two men came' out county, about 12 miles east of International Milwaukee and Northern Iowa. When of the nearby woods, entered the Fstlls, and not very far from Rainy, Lake. City Booms they first took hold, aln incompetent bank with drawn revolvesr, cleaned the International boundary. Considerable amalgamator was credited with letting .. JRauiy Lake City certainly boomed. Good luck and "God Bless iyou" to all the soldier boys who? human interest is connected tip all the cash in the bank and then $10,000 in gold run 'through the Ail- kindsof businesses were. started. fled to the.cover of the: deep, dark leave tonight for the« training camps. May ttiey all retkirn covered: withi the history of this property :anc mill into the lake. Later the company A^thffee-istory hotel was. erected. timber-hard byi I remember when although it stands idle and aba succeeded in hiring John Eventually a bank was opened. Fjr.ed with honor and glory for the valorous deeds they have done and the cashier Butler arrived iif Duluth and, doned today many believe that it Sutherland a most»' siictessful mill J. Bowman came:on from South Dakota limit of sacrifices the are making for the preservation of democracy would be a profitable producer if man a/nd amalgamator on "Rainy Lake as a reporter, I interviewed him and and started a paper, the Rainy and a universal peace properly 'worked. squeoced out of him an -unwilling ores, who succeeded in mfjii:kihg: a satisfactory Lake Journal. Buildings were, not In 1893 Charles: A. Moore, grubstaked narration-of his terrible experience saving. sufficient to shelter the gold seekers with bank robbers, Mr. Butler's wild George W. Davis, a mprer, or and boomers during, the summer of At the time of my^rs^'vislt, the tale was taken with a grain of salt less experienced Rocky Mountain i&4, therefore a considerable tent management assurect. me? 'that0 tire by many and he was looked on with prospector, to 'search the Ramy L^ce city,, .sprang into existence. When Little American ore.^unsortetl, 'as" it WHEN THE FLAG GOES BY considerable suspicion. There was a region for minerals, particular!)' Rainy Lake City was at the apex of came from the stopes, yielded from belief that he saw that the end had gold. Mr. Moore, who now resides Prepared by the National Committee of Patriotic Societies, its power and importance, 300 votes $10 to $15 a ton, fr^e ^jiiing. The come for Rainy Lake City, therefore at Kinney, Minn., was one of the were cast at an election held there. mineralization other tha^ Jiative gold ,Washington, D. C. cooked up the wild1 tale as a original owners of the famous: iSultana thousand peojple celebrated a was light, as I remember itf'consistinf proper foundation for closing the mine at Rat Portage Kenofa) Fourth of July celebration there in of iron pyrite. If also was stated When the colors are passing the spectator, if a man, should 1 bank and quitting the wilderness. Ontario. That property was discovered that some of ther. ore ran as high, as 185C As intimated, Rainy Lake City for halt if walking, arise if sitting, and uncover, holding the headdress nearly forty years ago. and, before '1ft the meantime the Little American $40 and even $50 a ton 'in gold but some months possessed many Wild it closed down for good* yielded nine was having the ups and I cannot prove tlie truth of that information. opposite the left .shoulder with the. righi. hand if bareheaded, West features. There were plenty:of $1,250,000. Supt. Menges also stated downs that so often characterize, a he shoud salute with the right hand. A woman sfiiould saloons anfl enough strong drink to bohanza, as well as properties without that the ore-body ranged from 12-ft stand at attention as "the flag passes by. go around. There were gamblers, Gold Bug Bites Moore. wi^e on the first level' to 46-ft wi icm ample merit Hildreth's associates, gunmen, and redlight ladies frbm far Chase, Bevier, and Kendal^ the second. 1 1 When the flag is waving from a stationary flagstaff or pole A victim of bites by the gold !tmg: and near. Salted claims and sales of failedto come forward with ample it is not saluted with the hand. rarelyf recovers, and that was the worthless property were 'Aot- unknown. .. ^|iaraic|er ||lic Qj,e working capital, therefore work'toas ^^^etorating, the flag should never be festooned or draped, case with Moore. Through rumor, y.f., shut down. .tt jt The ore, by the way, aside from a information and some personal always hung flat. If hung with stripes horizontal, union small vein or streak of solid qua.t7 knowledge,- he believed that :the rer "Boston" O'Brien Joins Rusk should be in upper left corner. If hung perpendiciilarly1, union on Stamp Mill is Erected" 26 inches wide the surface, where gion tributary to Rainy Lakevc6ii-? "Boston" O'Brien, somewhat noted corner. should be in upper right The Rainy Lake City townsite company discovered by prospector DaVU,' was tained valuable minerals, hence his, as a professional sprinter in his day, had given a bonus of $1,000 to mixed with slate. Little Americ When the flag is carried in parade, or when crossed with willingness to grubstake an experienced joined the rush At that time, old have a stampniill built on the toiwnr island is of slat||'^formditioh. The prospector and explorer.: other flags, the Stars and Stripes should always be at the right. John Barleycorn had the underhold quartz, where massive and unmixed,with site on the mainland. That required Late in the season of 1893, Davis on the former athlete. *The law specifically forbids the use of Representation transportation of the ore by barge: the slate, was very hard, vitreous any made camp on Little American V. hi'e at Rainy Lake Cit»', "Boston" arid coarsely crystalline. It w-!s across a mile of water and several^ of the flag in any manner or in any connection with merchandise island,. By some chance, he noted O'Brien found it necessary to handling before it reached the bins not unlike much of thfe ore that I an outcrop of quartz, 26 inches wide, for sale. niaVe a raise. Taking some ric'i 1 have seen on the. East. Belt of at the top of the mill and over the the that carried native gold. ipocirhens from the Sultana mine at The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. Mother Lode in California. My in:.-? "rock crusher. The mill was built in In the West, Davis had known Pat Portage, he salted a vam on the pression is too, that' the walls of June, 1894. It had only five stamps, th It should not be displayed on stormy days or, except when under Jeff Hildreth, a prospector, miner! Canadian side of the line, not far capable of treating eight or ten tons ore-body wefe not at Sail free nor fire of the enemy, left out over'night. Although there is and explorer. After testing the' from Rainy Lake City. well defined. "a'day of that hard ore. About $6,000 island discovery to his satisfaction,! no authoritative ruling which compels civilians to lower the A Koosier named Ma*:i.i car.ie Eventually, the Lyle Mining Xloripany bullion^ was recovered, under the Davis wired Hildreth. as follows*' I and, in a careless wti »r nt, exrosld flag at sundown,'good taste should impel the& to the ceased its work and the lea .Hildreth regime. 1 "Come at. once. I've struck it. a certificate of depos't in the traditions of the army and navy in this sundown Ceremonial.. In the fall of 1894, the property was abandoned, thereby letting 'the rich" .sum of ..$580, O'Brien, with similar possession of the mine revert to the was leased, by the fee owners, then Hildreth came promptly and with carelessness, exposed some of the fee-owners. I have been told that an reduced to Chase, Beiver and Kendall, him, came Charley Moore Negotiations Sultana samples that he had not to J. B. Weimer. Ht lacked cap-: English company at one time offered by Moore and Davis resulted m[ planted in the Canadian quartz vein. a large sum for the property bi-t. ital and failed to raise any, therefore CONCERNING COUNTY AFFAIRS the sale of the propertly to Jeff Hildreth .sold out to F. A. Bates ... Son, Mes-aba because the fee-owners, refused' to for $10,000. Hoosier Martin Gets Excited grant certain conditions, the deal feii iron range operators. Bates & Martin was much excited and through. Later on the 10-stamp mill Son sent the late Arthur W. B. Gold Discovered in Minnesota. After carefully examining the election returns from all the I begged O'Brien to show him the was bought and taken to the Oliye Whitely to take charge but they property. He finally consented and, In December, 1893, the location of precincts in the1 county, it is plain that the people of this county mine, near Mine Centre and all other failed to follow him with mdney to of course, Martin found free gold the island wes entered in the Duluth machinery and buildings disappeared have been doing some sober thinking. They will do some more jjay the bills, therefore the mine specimens indentical to those he had land office. About at the same time, ..one way or another. Today, nothing again was shut down. hard thinking before the election in November. It is quite apparent .seen, in O'Brien's hands. the fact leaked out that gold had stands on the island but the gapping .. that no one can fool all the people of this county even by stirring "I, want to buy this property," declared been discovered in Minnesota, on the mouth of shaft No. 2. The old dump Watzke Leties Little American .. the Hoosier sucker. up class or factional hatred. The average homesteader and business southern shore of Rainy Lake, and of gold-bearing rock was used some In June/: 1896 O A. Watzlce, a "Well I'll sell it," O'Brien admitted. wild excitement followed. The Big man is very much alike in this north country, and takes his years ago to ballast the streets pf Int£rnataional real estate operator in West Superior, Panic was pinching many men of Falls. politics as a matter of civic duty based on sound business judgment. lealed th^Little American mine -IKIT 4 "What will you take for it?" venturesome* inclinations and a large for t^eiity yeaife, .in behalf of the When the average man examines the bills Mr. Arnold has queried Martin. number was ready and willing to Opinions of the Experts Lyle ilining Company."" This comibf been putting in and getting allowed by the County Board he commences "It will cost you just $600.00, replied follow\a boom of any sort. Appli^ Some engineers have told me that claims .and "even erected a 10stamp "Boston." to take a slant at the situation with a, view to finding out cations for other locations in that they thought the property had good mHl' on ,-Dry Weed island, "I've got only $580.00, ruefully vicinity followed rapidly. There whose getting anyhing out of Arnold's work. The last bunch of possibilities, while others have ex- where inexpe^iericed men expected moaned the victim. were a number of land office tontests items submitted by Arnold, and allowed by the board, are mostly to reooyer gol^y the amalgamation' pressed the firm opinion that it was "Oh, well, I'll not let $20 spoil a and, owing to the fact that the without merit as a gold producer. proc.e^ from ore so base that the for coming from his home in Duluth to board meetings, expenses deal," was O'Brien's mangnanimous U. S. mineral laws did not apply to Fred J. Bowman, who was at Rainy a^dsvfrom it actually attacked the reply. "Hand over your dough." and per diem in preparing matters for the board to consider and Minnesota, titles were doubtful and Lake City during the boom and who am^lfeamatrng plates. V. The transaction was closed. Later, then some more per diem and expense staying around visiting after slow to complete, especially by acquirement stuck until the owls and ijWolv^s almost .-XlySfirst.visit to the Little Ameri^nvmine when Martin found that he had been under homestead entry or the board adjourned. No one can. find any resolution asking his reclaimed the townsite^, always was made one^rainy Sunoay skinned, he unsuccessfully tried to timber and stone entry. Use of scrijj held a favorable opinion of vthe mine, alternoon in May,1897. At "that attendance at these board meetings, or authorizing him to prepare get even by force of fists. was the quickest, safest, but not the but he was one of nature's greatest ^Ime Theo. Menges, an electrical fen^l^e^r^troin anything for the board to consider. He takes it upon himself to cheapest means of acquiring title. optimists. Milyif|ijakeeV was superintendent. Tom Corrigan Shoots O'BrienBefore do these things and knows that the county board as at present Hildreth organized a company, and I cannot prove the real cause of Rainy Lake City and declosed leaving Rainy Lake Citj, started work. He soon sold .a twothirds controled will not fail him in his effort to secure about five hundred the final shutdown. V^ry expensive to a population of about 500 "Boston" O'Brien became involved interest to A. S. Chase, Hutch transportation costs and extreme inaccessibility dollars a month during dull times. There is a limit to this souls. We covered the mile between in a row over the drinks with Tom Beiver and H. C. Kendell, prominent must have been an important mainland and island in a small row kind of business. The voters have very emphatically stated their Corrigan. The saloon keeper shot Duluthiahs. His confidence in the cause Lack of real money boat, across a sea that made pulling O'Brien iri the face and neck and, opinion of Arnold where they have had a chance, even after a drive property was so great that he accepted and cold feet ori the part of the operators very hard and that well drenched for a time, it was feared that the was made to stampede them along the Arnold pathway. Evenwhere stock for his one-third interest. must have contributed to the us before we landed at the island trouble* maker would not survive. He The deal provided that the majority the question is being asked: When will this investigation abandonment. I suspect, too, that dock.. eventually got well but went through owners. should provide certain lack of practical experience in goM end? Arnold told Judge Wright that the investigation was all life with a stiff neck and his head a working capital. mining was a very important factor Substantial Improvements Are Made over three months after it was started. And yet he went out into bit on one side after that. in the failure. I also have no figures At that: time, the light ,5-stamp. Corrigan, was brought to Duluth the county and asked for a county board that would continue the Rainy Lake City ^Laid Out as to how much bullion actually ,/nill still was being used-on the main and then jailed in Grated Rapids, investigation. The voters hung Ulvedahl's political shirt on the was recovered. It is certain that one In January, 1894, William C. Sherwood A land. shaft house, air drills and that-being the county seat of Itasca back fence and Abe Olson will find that the district he is in has too management saveji $6,000. I saw, and John B. Weimer, two venturesome air compressor had been provided county. Koochic:vig court »*. had not considerable amalgam in the hands much respect for the American flag to have him represent them on real estate men of Duluth the mine and sinking was under way. yet le?n organized and cut oft of of Supt. Menges Undoubtedlylieavy laid out the townsite of*Rainy* Lake Shaft No. 2 then was down 120 feet. Itasca county Corrigan es -aped a the county board. Bursack's defeat was largely du to Arnold's losses were due to incompetent amalgamators, City. The survey was made with ^Eventually, it reached a depth of 250 conviction but the lawyers took every double crossing him for two others and then he must have double the lake receiving what snow deeply on the ground and the or 300 feet, if ijiy information is correct. dollar he had for their legal fees. crossed each of the others for he furnished them each with different should have been saved and sent to thermometer around 40._tdegrees below If the Little American-, mine had not Drifting had been done on two the mint.. typewritten statements regarding the investigation. Before November zero. The actual work was' done 50-ft. levels. The tipper level showed been opened up until after the railroad,, by C. P. Frank, a local engineer, for a is reached there will be a much better understanding of drift 105 feet long, with a reached Ft. Frances and International La Tour's Dock Breaks Down many years associated with W- B. Falls,. there's, a possibility winze sunk 60 feet at an angle of the Arnold method-and those who have been his honest defenders in Patton, but now living in Florida. 45 degrees. The lower, drift showed A season's production .of ore was that its history. would have the past will find him unwbrthy of the confidenc of honest men. There was a brisk scramble for lots 60 feet of drifting. been different. With cheap and easy lost in 30 feet of water by the collapse and the townsite treasury ^soon was They will find that he has not played fair with them. They will Shaft No. 1 had been sunk 9 feet of a timber dock built by Mose. haul in the winter season and quick. on velvet.. LaTour. 1 success by boat over a route only 12 by Hildreth but heavy blasting had find that he has abused their confidence. They will find that when With the opening of w-spring:/ the so opened up the walls of tlje ore»body "That dock is going to break down miles long, cost of transportation he went before them with the claim that He had not-received a cent big rush started. Several routes machinery and operation might have that waters of the lake leaked and lose all tliat ore," editor Bowman were used and all of them either made the mine a profitable and per-. in considerably. The ore on the surface, one day told LaTour. from this county since a year ago last March, that it was only a were expensive or very "'difficult to 'manent producer. Doubtful and tributary to the shaft, was "No dat* dock she all right I partial truth, the kind he decieves with* for the fact is' that Arnold travel. At one time, Grand Rapids, fragmentary data as to its actual production, stoned out. That shaft was abandoned jb.uild dat dock, me!" proudly declared capital of Itasca county, had great the noted wood butcher. But character, richness and has assigned every bill that the county board has allowed and has after shaft No. 2 was started. hopes o£ being the outfitting point quantity of ore, make a positive Little American island h^s an area of ithe dock went down, just the same, left it with the parties to whom the assignments were made to for the new gold fields? Men with expression of opinion impossible— about two acres. ?i.r .Among the pioneers at Rainy Lake look after their owny interests. He has gotten the money on his Duluth Rip Saw. plenty pi money and time and City were Ed, and Bill Ward. John Up to the time of my first visit, eschewing real hardship, went to the Lyle Mining company had expended H. Hill, now of Ironton, Minn., was bills, not from the county, but because the county board allowed Winnipeg and thence, to Rat Pbrjtage, about, $45,000 in improvements there at the height of the boom. J. Save the QUARTERS his bills he was able to realize from innocent parties. 630 miles by rail from Duluth. From F. Tilson was over there for awhile. and labor. A little later, the and Rat Portage they went to Ft Frances Capt. Dent of West Duluth had property 10-stamp mill was brough over from ^See the DOLLARS Gnw^ I A A E via Lake of the Woods and RSiny neat Rainy Lake City. Charles Dry Weed island and installed on Buy War-Savings Stamps!