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Mabel C. Olson
Superior, Montana
TOPIC: William beach, Prospector
Interview with Ray Green, Superior, Montana
Bill 3each came to Superior from Colorado in the
early 1890's.
He had been a soldier in a Colorado company
of cavalry during the Civil War. He worked Periodically
at the Iron Mountain Tunnel, burning charcoal, used to
sharpen tools. Wnen he had a month's wages coming, he
would get supplies and set out on a prospecting trip. The
Lucy Ellen and the Lookout were his best claims.*
The ore was base, with too many other irCnerals, hard
to separate from the gold. The wall rock was too hard to
make much headway.
In 1902, Beach interested Harry Gregg, of Leeds,
South Dakota. Gregg 7ot Fred Finney, a Wallace, Idaho
engineer, superintendent of the Golden Chest at Murray,
Idaho at the present time, to build a mill. This mill,
however, proved not tcOhe type to save the ore values.
Gregg operated he mine or a short period, then ,rave it up.
God roads lead to all the claims. Poston Brothers,
of Kalispell, at one time interested in the mine, built
the road to truck ore to he mill, as the -ravity tram
formerly used was too worn out for service.
The Lucy Ellen Lode was originally located in August
11, 1892, Dy C. F. Carver, William Teson, and John H. Jackson.
It was relocated in Decemper 1, 1905 by Richard Wilson. It
is about six miles in a westerly direction from the mouth
of Deep Creek. ('Mining Locations'), B ok H, page 7
Mabel C. Olson
Superior, Montana
Pat Maila, from iute, located a string of claims on
Maila Gulch, adjoining Deep Creek, and reached by a branch
of the :qat Creek road.
In the 1390's, any man with a sack of ore )n his back
could ride on the Coeur d'Alene branch of the Northern
Pacific railway free. So each got his sack of ore, secured
free transportation to Butte, and there contacted Marcus
Daly. He interested Daly to the extent of a t5000 grubstake
and started back for Deep Creek. He got as far as Missoula
with his money, and there spent it on a drunk, with crowds
following hin about on the streets.
Daly grubstaked leach for a number of years, then grew
tired of it. At that time he employed a clerk, Walter
Mackay, to whom he made a present of the stock. Mackay
care to look at the projerty, liked old ?each, and backed
him in locatir number of claims, -bigilning about 1900.
Anotbr of the co -owners of e Trirle was Richard Wilson,
of the Mammouth "'ne, out of Wallace, Idaho. Ot ers who
had grubstaked -)each at various times were Charles Still-
Inger, an Iron Mountain (now part of Superior) grocer;
L. L. Gregg, the father of Harry Gregg; Theodore H. Thomas,
who ran the Thomas Hotel (now the Ordean). Stillinger was
interested with Finney, also with Mackay.
(For s:pplementary material, see interview with
Lee Roach, who knew each as quite an old man.)