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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1902)
VOL. IV. WILL DEVELOP THE Qcavcr Brothers Sell to Major Bonta That and Will Cleaver Groups Largest Mineral Estates in Oregon. Positively, thin in the moat gigantic mining deal ever "turned" in Oregon, and in doubtless den tilled to rank with the big oni'H in all the xvorld's history of precious metal mining. Major .1. W. Honta and associates, of Philadelphia, have taught from Cleaver Hrothers the great Oregon Wonder and the Will Cleaver groups. The former constats of thirty-seven and the latter twenty-one claims, the two largest mineral estates in the northwest. Major Honta, A. Arthur Ilebbs, also of Philadelphia, Lou Cleaver and Attorney W. G. Drowley, of Baker City, passed through Sumpter Sunday after noon, from these properties, where tlley hud Iteen for a week, examining ore bodies and titles. To u Minkh represen tative both Messers. Honta and Cleaver confirmed the reported sale. They did not at that time care to give any details of the transaction ; further than that it wuh cloned at Prairie City Friday ; that the title to the properties had passed from one party to the other through deeds, not by bond or option, hh 1h the usual custom. It wus also learned from these gentle men that the deal has been landing for two years, one thing and another have ing intervened to postonu its con summation until the present time. Two weeks ago Major Honta and Mr. Ilebbs arrived at HukerCity from Philadelphia, quite uuexiectedly to the Messers. Cleaver, there having lecu no cor respoudeuee for several mouths, and the latter considered the incident closed. It appears, however, that the Philadelphia syndicate, the head of which is Major Honta, had had representatives on the ground for several months, who had not revealed their Identity or the object of their "camping trip." Major Honta is a man, pcrhaps,seveuly years of age, vigorous of body and intellect, Qrui but courteous in his man ner, which at once conveyed to Tub Minsk mau the information that he was not taking newspapers and the public into his confidence regarding his private business affairs, and the writer made uoefort to secure uy information that he'did not freely divulge; which, in brief, was that he had bought the two groups for himself and business associ ates for Uie purpose of developing them into misfit, for the r gold 'add copper in SUMPTER, OREGON, OREGON WONDER the ground. Work has already been commenced on the Will Cleaver group and will bo on the Oregon Wonder as soon as iossible. These gentlenen have undertaken one of the. most stupendous industries of modern times. The Oregon Wonder is the biggest gold bearing ledge yet dis covered on the globe. It is proper! v named. Lust September, two years ago, the writer inspected the Wonder. He met there a mining expert of world wide experience and repute whom he had known in other ramps. The gentleman had been on the ground a week mid had decided to abandon the intention of ex torting the property. He said : "The people I represent didn't know the sixe of the proiosition they were steering me against. It cost Mr. Hearst (30,000 to sample the now famous Home stake mine in the Hlack Hills. 1 am authorixed to xiend no suchumount of money, and if I weru, 1 would tell my people to materially increase the ap propriation. The only way any intelli gent idea of the value of that mountain of ore can be secured would be to erect a 20- stamp mill and pound out the rock for a year. I have made from 50 to 100 assay s, taken from us many different places on the surface in a distance, of a mile, and find varying gold values in all of them. I couldn't get uny more accurate or satisfactory information by makinu 1000 assuys, and I am going to quit and go home. I believe it is the biggest thing on earth." And that is what it is. The ledtta is iu the Strawberry mountains, seven or eight miles south of Prairie City, at an elavation of OiOO feet. At one isiiut the outcropping stands up fully ISO feet, which can be plainly seen throuuh Held glasses from Prairie City. It is one of the land marks which is shown to visitors. The writer took a snan shot at it with 4 kodak, at a distance of 1000 feet, and in so imperfect a picture the "Wonder" is revealed. Rome idea of the magnitude of the ore body can be gained, if the reader will believe the statement, that the ledira isflflft ft In tvl.lt ! It can be .plainly traced along the munn- tain lor a distance of several miles. At one place, it to stated, that one can walk on gold bearing sock s distance of 0000 ttt flll- fltll nlal-lta Maltnuk . I.l .,., .v... ..... uxui-p WMHIV IIB icug-J IB exposed above the wash., The ore it NOVEMBER 19, 190: harder than the country rock and has keen observer it is very apparent that endured longer Time's t Racing hand. t we are fast approaching a period of gold So far as values are concerned, those I production such as the world has never who have hud assays made and whose known or dreamed of. word the writer believes, informs him . Recent statistics show the enormous that they run sll the wny from u trace to development of our gold mines and the ltd, with never a blank. W. I). Johnson Ig'eat increase in the production of this owner of the Hlue Mountain Hot springs, t precious metal. Especially is this the who first discovered that the formation e.kseiu H.tkcr and Grant counties wlie.ru contained gold values, saxs he had the ore sampled by amalgamation in ISH.'i, securing an average of fit At) it ton. Alsmt eight years ago he had another test uiadit, with litis result; eighty samples f 12.50; ISO i-amples fH, forty samples 4.50 It was tliough Mr. Thompson the Cleaver Hrothers tlrst heard of the Wonder. They located it in ISlKt. They have had hundreds of assays made, some going us low as fit utid others as high as (00. Dr. I .on Cleaver says he has also sampled the Trcadwcll mine u ml that the surface showing on the Wouder double discounts that famous gold producing dividend payer. If the ore will average two dollars, with suillcieiit capital to oerate ' it, the Oregon Wonder will be the greatest mon ey maker on earth today ; for tliuoro can be quarried like building stone, the values cheaply extracted by amalgama tion, and there is already enough of the stuff in sight to supply 1000 stamps for many years. There need be no de.id development work Kvery shot from own tons of ledge the start will tear d matter. It is the biggest thing on earth, all right. The Will Cleaver group is in the same range, several miles away. This is a copier ami gold projHisilion, also of largo prosirtious. Theru are said to Ik- eight parallel veins running through the twenty-omi claims, xurylng in width from 3 to 10 feet. These mineral forma tions are very clearly defined ami can 1st traced for miles. Cleaver Hrothers have done considerable development work on this property ; fully demonstrat ing thut it is the making of a great mine. One long tunnel has been driven which cuts all these ledges, giving "all kinds" of backs. Thirty asstvs made some time ago guvo an average of $7. Hit in gold and 4 ierceiit ropier, close on to $20 in values. The highest a may was $140 iu gold and 22 -rcent copicr. ror years mining men have known that these proierties were of great value, hut they have ulso recognised the fact that large capital, up in the millions, was necessary to open upunil work them profitably, owing largely to lack of transportation. It looks now as if men with the money aud business acumen to know a good thing when they see it had taken hold of the proposition. Of course, other large enterprises are allied inseparably with this one; the nature of which Tim Minkii has heard tin authenticated rumors only, which are scarcely worth repeating at this time. Regarding the deal, this paper has received Uie following coiuinuidcation, which will be read with interest : Editor of Th Sunns Minkh : To the NO. 11 the discovery of new and unheard of gold distriels is reported almost dally, attracting the attention ol the world to this region. I have just returned from a pilgrimage m Grunt county and learned that Major .1. W. Honta aud associates lone com pleted the purchase of the world famed proper! ie known as the Oicgou Won der and Will Cleaver groups, com posed of lifly-eight claims. I have spent years rambling over this country, mining and prospecting, and of all discoveries yet made, these proper ties cap the climax. I have many times attempted to estimate the value of the Oregon Wonder aud I now desire to give you my last estimate, which certainly is u long way inside of the true facts. On this great ledge of free milling quiirlx, the largest ledge of free milling quarts in the world (hero are over three hundred millions of tons of gold Is-aring quart, rising alsive the surface of the mountain side, showing gold values by assay from t hi ee dollars per too up to 'sixty dollars per ton. This ledge is over three hundred feet high, averag ing more than 1MI0 feet wide, and over -HKH.I ft et long. These ligures give us oxer 7.'0,tHKI.(MK) cubic feel, or over CO.tKXI.illH) tuns of gold Is-ariug quartz. A low axerage on this will lie live dol lars per ton, or (::ltl,(KXI,l)(Kl, all of it alsive the surface. Mr. Editor, will you 1st kind enough to publish this aud tell the public if 1 haxe oxer-estimated this famous prop erty. W. I,. llllltNIIAM. Kitty years a piiucr. linker City, November 17, ItHl'J. Thrte Ft of Eighty Dollar Rock. Tom CosMlo, of the Advance mining company, was iu town Monday. Ho br, light in hiiiio samples of Hue ore from that pros-rty, found iu a tunnel at a depth of only lifleen leet. At I bat (nihil there is a three-foot xelu averaging1 eighty tiiill.ir-4 in gold mid coppur. Tint company has decided to sink a shaft and two shifts are already at work on it. Winter supplies of every description h.tVi) b en delivered at the mine, suill cieiit to last until spring. This includes fuel and timber1 stilllcient lo go down 100 feet. Mr. Cost olio says the com pany has ample funds mi hand to com plete all coulemplated work and that as soon as the smelter hern begins o iter ations the Advuitce will be in osition to sustain itself. Heware of imitations. See that the puwiler you purchase is brundwl "Giant Powtier, Han Francisco, patented May 24, No. 241041 and June 14, No. 242MM. tsOfi