Tid-bits of History and Hazards of the Henderson Mining Area

As a person drives down what is now known as Highway One from Maxville to Hall you pass a sign that says Henderson Gulch on the left side of the road just beyond Boulder and then Stone. Often these three landmarks go un-noticed by the traveler. Previously I have written articles about Emmetsburg and the Monument plus the fact that Henderson Gulch was probably the first discovery of gold in Montana, but have written little about other events in this part of the narrow Flint Creek Canyon. 

One of the first news article research revealed concerning Henderson Gulch was June 13, 1894 in the Citizen Call. James Mallette died in a mine accident in the Healy tunnel on the Washington claim in the Henderson district. This property had only recently been bought by the Charles McLure Mining group and a large force of men had been clearing out the tunnel for about ten days. At the time of the accident only Mallette and Hugh Mellen were in the tunnel. Mallette was filling the wheelbarrow and Mellen was wheeling the muck to the dump. As Mellen was returning from the dump he heard a muffled sound in the tunnel and called his partners name. Hearing no response Mellen immediately sought help. Calling for Mallette the men began digging about where they thought Mallete was located. The deceased was found after about 30 minutes of digging. He was face down and wedged by a wheelbarrow that had been thrown across his legs. There were no marks on the body except a slight scratch on his nose so the cause of death was assumed to be suffocation. 

Coroner Ray was summoned and held an inquest. The verdict follows:”At an inquest held at the Healy mine, in the county of Granite, State of Montana, on the 8th day of June, 1894, before me William Ray, the coroner for said county, upon the body of James Mallette, there lying dead, by the jurors whose names are herein subscribed, the said jurors upon their oaths do say that the deceased came to his death by an accidental cave-in of the Washington lode tunnel; we the jury exonerate the foreman and the company : James Franzman, Foreman, B.R. Horton, R.D. McRae, Dominick Byrne, Jacob Franklin, Jurors.” 

The article went on to state that Mallette had been warned about working in the tunnel before the lagging had been placed. But he believed the dirt was too loose to fall in large quantities so had proceeded with the cleanup. 

At the time of death, James was the president of the Granite Miner’s Union and vice-president of the State Federation of Labor. Born in Cromwell, England in 1862, Mallette came to Montana in 1887 and to Granite one year later. He had lived in Granite until 10 days prior when he came to work at the Healy. There was no mention of survivors and after a funeral service at the Granite Miner’s Union Hall he was interred in the Philipsburg cemetery. 

The Philipsburg Mail carried a short article on December 19, 1895 that stated: “News reached town yesterday of an accident in Henderson Gulch whereby two Chinamen met death by the caving in of an open ditch in which they were engaged in placer mining. The news was reported here by another Chinaman who could talk very little English and no further particulars could be learned. 

An article in the Philipsburg Mail on August 26, 1904 detailed the visit of Asher Adams and told that he was a pioneer of Henderson Gulch. He and his partners (unnamed) were the first miners to operate in the Flint Creek District in 1865 and worked the placer diggings for three years. Mr. Adams stated that they made as much as $33 a day in the early placer diggings, but the price of flour was $125 a hundredweight. When he got tired of mining he returned to Osage City and engaged in a mercantile business, until retirement. 

W.T. Parkison, the superintendent of the Henderson Mining Company’s properties was quite ill according to the October 20, 1905 Drummond Call. Research fails to find more information on W.T., but the daughter of W.T. and Mary J.Parkison, named Virginia died at birth July 11, 1907 and is buried in Block 19 in the Philipsburg Cemetery. 

The December 28, 1923 Philipsburg Mail published a list of property owners and the taxes owed. This list included Henderson Mining Company (Paul Gow) with at least 16 claims located in Township 8 and 9, Range 14 with total taxes owed assessed at $82.35. 

 

According to the “Mining Bible” by William Harvey Emmons titled Geology and Ore Deposits of the Philipsburg Quadrangle, Montana, the Henderson Area began at the Combination Mine which is “west of Henderson Mountain on the crest of the ridge between Smart Creek and Lower Willow Creek approximately 6,500 feet above sea level.” 

About 12 miles northeast of Philipsburg, the closest railroad station was at Stone which was ten miles away by a wagon road. Combination Mine was discovered in 1882 with the first heavy work done beginning in 1885 when a few hundred ton of ore was run through the Hope Mill. At that time the property was bonded by James A. Pack for $25,000 and he formed a syndicate which was organized as the Black Pine Mining Company. They built a 10-stamp mill on Willow Creek about one and one half mile northeast of the mine in 1887 but it only ran for a few months because the company was unable to meet their bills and the property was sold at a Sheriff Auction. A new syndicate formed and was named the Combination Mining and Milling Company with stock holders of the Black Pine Company receiving pro rata allotments of stock in the new company. This new organization was under the control of Charles D. McLure and others that owned Granite and Bimetallic mines. 

By 1891 ten additional stamps had been added to the mill along with concentrating equipment and roasters to facilitate separation by pan amalgamation. Most of the years from 1888 to 1897 the mine and mill operated with the end result of approximately 2,135,00 ounces of silver and 1,411 ounces of gold valued at $1,496,862. Unfortunately the cost of extraction was almost equal to the bullion receipts. Thus causing difficulty receiving financing and the closure of the operation. 

Paul and W.C. Scott owned the Douglas Mine located on the west slope of Henderson Mountain approximately two miles east of the Combination. They built a mill a short distance from the mine that had rock crushers, steam stamps and cyanide tanks and ran about 200 tons of ore but the money was scant due to the lack of equipment to treat the slimes that carried away much of the metal. The Peacock Mine three quarters of a mile Northeast of the Douglas was also owned by the Scott brothers. This 700 feet of work done in two tunnels has a shoot of rich ore from one to eight inches wide carrying silver and copper. Again the outcome was the same as the Douglas. 

The Queen Mine known to most of the locals as the Sunrise Mine was situated on Sunrise Mountain just north of the camp of Henderson about five miles from Stone Station. This mine was worked at intervals from 1892 to 1903 and was troubled throughout the period with litigation. By 1913 the property was owned by Charles D. McLure et al. and had produced about $120,000 in gold. The mill was located in Henderson Gulch south of the mine and was connected by a surface gravity tramway. “The ore from the various tunnels was collected into a bin at the top of the gravity tramway through a number of surface chutes and level tramways and was treated by wet-crushing, amalgamation and concentration.” 

Research revealed the mining application published in the Philipsburg Mail April 12, 1894 by the Sunrise Mining Company for the Maud S. Lode and the Queen Lode which totaled 101.71 acres of land. On August 1,1895 the Philipsburg Mail stated that Superintendent Frederick W. Sherman of the Sunrise was “quite seriously sick at his home at Sunrise. About four weeks ago Mr. Sherman was afflicted with asthma and before he had fully recovered from that he went into the mine and caught cold which brought on an attack of Muscular Rheumatism.” 

The August 4, 1899 Philipsburg Mail, detailed the splendid mines being opened in the Dunkleberg District and stated that a Mr. Rhodes responsible for a real cleanup of good paying ore in that district had also been responsible for the discovery of the “Sunrise Gold Property, which is known to be one of the best and richest in the State. He had also discovered lodes in the Princeton District where Jaspar Huffman and others were now operating. Other early mines in Henderson Gulch were Bunker Hill located one-half mile below the Henderson Mill and was the property of the Henderson Mining Company. Opening in 1894 it produced about $20,000 in gold and silver. Also owned by the Henderson Mining Company was the Belleflower Mine about one mile northwest of the Sunrise, which I found little information about.