A Tale of Rory McRae

  

The Federal Census, lists Rory McRae as a farmer in 1880 and a miner in 1910. A news article in the December 20, 1887 Mail states “A tunnel is being run in the Boulder District by Dominick Mellen, Rory McRae and Will Albright. indications are good on the surface and when the tunnel is 200 feet the vein will be tapped at 300 feet.” Also, although his residence was at the ranch at Stone Station his family tree indicates he was living in Granite in 1905. All of this gives credence to the fact that needed income to support his family was earned by working in and around the mines and as most of the people in the area, had an interest in the industry. 

 Is the following only a tall tale or did Rory ever realize he was spoofed out of a very rich mining claim or was the story just that…a story developed while the men were swapping tales over a few late night drinks? The December 17, 1905 Anaconda Standard stated that the honor of the discovery of the Hope mine actually belonged to Rory McRae of Stone Station.” “ When the St. Louis Company, which first purchased the Comanche claim on Hope hill began work on it, McRae was employed as a carpenter, his duties being to cut timbers for the mill, which was then in the course of erection. The Comanche was a rich claim, but the ore shoot was small and the mine soon ‘pinched out.’ McRae’s work brought him frequently to the top of Hope hill. Returning one evening. he picked up a piece of float rock which bore the unmistakable traces of mineral. He broke the quartz with his axe and on his way home showed the rock to Anhauser, Anderson and Stewart (sic) who were employed at the Hope office. Anhauser was the son of a St. Louis brewer and could not distinguish a piece of float from a keg of his father’s foamy product and Anderson and Stewart were equally as ignorant of mining. They ‘jollied’ McRae into the belief that the rock was not worth assaying, but ascertained the spot where McRae found it. That evening they showed the rock to Dr. Merrill, who was then the assayer at the Hope mill. Dr. Merrill at once pronounced the rock rich in silver. Before daylight the next morning Anhauser, Anderson and Stewart found the ledge, located the Hope mine and soon afterward sold the property to the old Hope Company for a good sum. The Hope was one of several lodes sold by the Stuarts, Dance et al, to the St. Louis and Montana in 1867 for $25,000. It is likely that part of the sale price was reimbursement for the purchase of the Comanche lode and other claims and part for the Hope itself, which proved to be an excellent mine.” 

Rory was born Roderick Duncan McRae to Duncan and Margaret (Munro) McRae at St. Elmo Muskoka, Ontario, Canada in February 1845. He immigrated to the US in either 1862 or 1866 and had an unclaimed letter posted in the Montana Post on November 15, 1866. Rory married Minerva Frances Burden on June 10, 1873 in Deer Lodge and to this union were born: Roderick Duncan Jr.; Margaret (Holton), William, John, Mary “Mamie” (Powell), and Minnie (Cyr). He retired from ranching at the Stone Station and lived for 13 years in Philipsburg, before his death from Mitral Insufficiency on June 17, 1923.