Eugene S. Topping, in his Chronicles of the Yellowstone, a classic 1885 history of the greater Yellowstone Valley, claimed that in 1863 a group of thirty miners lead by George Huston prospected their way up the Yellowstone River from the mining community of Emigrant Gulch and continued past Soda Butte toward what later became the New World mining district. Attacked by Indians who ran off all their horses, the prospectors cached their excess supplies and continued afoot toward Clark’s Fork with one lone jackass. Finding a few prospects, but no pay, they returned back along the Yellowstone. Topping related that, “On the way they found fair prospects in a creek on the east side of the Yellowstone, and finding also a hairless cub, called the gulch Bear.” Even though today the creek goes by the name Bear Creek, the name Bear Gulch, also referred to as the Sheepeater District, still identifies the classic mining areas around the town of Jardine, Montana.

George Huston, from Harpers Weekly, 11-17-1877
Guide for Army during chase of Chief Joseph to the Bear Paw Mts.

From Joe Brown's obit in 1913, Livingston Enterprise:
"A gentleman of the old school; the blazer of trails, the hardy pioneer; the man inured to privation, hardship and suffering; the man without fear or favor, who tells you if he likes you or if he does not; the man who looks you squarely in the eyes, tells the truth in return; the exemplification of honesty, sincerity and frankness - a race disappearing with the advance of civilization as rapidly as the buffalo, and destined in a few years more to live as a remembrance and not as a reality."

Meanwhile, placer mining was conducted on gravel bars along the creek, or in ancient channel deposits accessed by tunnels or drifts into the hillsides. During the years 1875-77, Joe Brown and other miners built over 3000 feet of ditch to carry water to the various gravel bars they were working. In either 1870 or 1874, depending on sources, Joe Brown and James Graham discovered quartz gold deposits in upper Bear Gulch on a hill later known as Mineral Hill. Although not developed for several years, the Bozeman Times reported in July 1877 that Wm. Heffner, Joe Brown, and James Graham were successfully crushing ore with a crudely-built, mule-drawn device known as an arrastra, based on a primitive design from the early Spanish and Mexican miners. The paper also noted that George Huston and Stoker Henderson would have their arrastra operating by October.

Hard rock mining escalated in 1878 when Z.H. “Zed” Daniels and three other men began working a quartz lead on Bear Gulch and built an arrastra to process their ore. In July the Bozeman Times reported that George Huston, Jimmy Dewings, and Joe Brown discovered a “fine gold lead . . . [that] panned out one dollar to the pound of rock.” A later article described a 9-foot vein with free gold running through it; a 4-ton run through the arrastra yielded $50 per ton. In 1879 the following mines were recorded at Bear Gulch: Legal Tender (Joe Brown); The Wonder of the World (Beattie, Anderson, and Lovely); The James Graham Lode; Joe Brown & Graham; The Monitor; The Mountain Bride; The Coan & McCauley Lode; The Mountain Chief (Geo. Huston); The Champion Lode; The Summit Lode; The Great Western; Mountain Chief (Brown, Huston, & Graham); and the Home Stake.

Various newspapers touted the richness and auspicious future of both Bear Gulch and Crevice Gulch, where similar successes and operations were occuring. The Bismarck Tribune in May of 1879 claimed, “The belief is that erelong Bear Gulch is destined to become one of the richest camps in the Territory.” In  April of  that year a new town site was being laid out with corner lots going up, a harbinger of anticipated stability and prosperity. Outside investors were now beginning to see the potential of Bear Gulch and as a sign of things to come, Huston and Dewings sold a third of one of their claims for $3500. Huston went on to concentrate his efforts in the New World Mining District, amassed dozens of claims, and became one of the original founders of Cooke City.

     Bozeman Avante-Courier, 5/22/1879

In 1882 Major George O. Eaton and a man named Sturgess formed the Bear Gulch Placer Co. and filed articles of incorporation in Gallatin County with capital of $40,000. Eaton bought out Brown’s Legal Tender mine and over the next few years purchased other mining properties. His crews tunneled into the canyon walls following old river channels in search for placer gold. Eaton also began hydraulic mining in 1884 on Joe Brown’s 40-acre placer claim on Bear Creek, about three miles below what would later become the town of Jardine. Installing equipment served by 1200 feet of 12-inch pipe with a vertical drop of 400 feet through a six-inch nozzle, it was reported to be the most powerful hydraulic placer operation in the world. Blasting away huge sections of the canyon walls in the quest for auriferous bounty, Eaton realized few riches from his efforts and left a scarred landscape, still visible to this day. Changing direction, Eaton built the first quartz mill in Bear Gulch, a five-stamp combination mill to process the oxidized ores from the various lode claims. The mill operated successfully for about two years, but shut down around 1886 due to internal company dissention and the difficulty in hauling ore to the Cinnabar railhead

Above:  Hydraulic mining on Bear Creek. FJ Haynes photo, 1885 

Below:  George O. Eaton, nd 

Minimal organized mining efforts occurred until 1890 when the firm of E.D. Edgerton and W.E. Jewell of Helena took over the operation and added five stamps to the mill. Operating successfully for three years, the operation was shutdown during the Panic of 1893 and the resulting economic depression. By 1895 a few mines and two stamp mills were again in operation. In the midst of the mining operations, a few businesses had been established, including a hotel, sample room, general store, and four log cabin residences belonging to George Welcome and two other men. Despite promising discoveries by Uncle Joe Brown and others, the community remained relatively quiet until 1898, when the arrival of Harry Bush, a native of England and active in the South African mines, arrived and inaugurated a new era in Bear Gulch. Backed in part by Canadian capitalists, he secured a lease on the Legal Tender mine and the Edgerton & Jewell properties on Mineral Hill. Bush organized the Bear Gulch Mining Company in August, 1898, and began buying additional claims that included the Sowash mine on the same vein as the Legal Tender, the Revenue from George Phelps, and five mines from George Welcome. Bush enlarged the Eaton mill to twenty stamps, attracted additional investors, and layed out the townsite of Jardine. New businesses developed and the mining district boomed. With the beginning of the 20^th Century close in sight, a new epoch was emerging that would experience the cyclic triumphs and failures, joys and sorrows, so typical of the mining industry.

Around the turn of the century, George W. Welcome, who was an active businessman in Cinnabar, Aldridge, Horr and Gardiner, had also been busily involved in a number of mining activities on the mountain He was variously reported to have kept a hotel, saloon (Saloon Keeper on 1900 Census) and merchandise store in Jardine. Frank Jay Dean kept a mercantile establishment that unfortunately burned to the ground, along with the attached post office in early June, 1904. An article in the Anaconda Standard of Oct. 29, 1899, reported that, “the firm of McCarthy and Dean, who conduct a large general store at Jardine, and who are two of the most substantial business men in the bonanza camp of the upper Yellowstone.” Dean had also been active in businesses in Cooke City and Gardiner.

* Click Here for Dean Ad in 9Jul1903 Wonderland newspaper
* Click Here for Geo. Welcome Ad in 21Aug1902 Wonderland

 “By this time 200 men had been working, earning wages of $3.00 to $4.00 per day. In March of 1899, Bush laid the foundation for his Revenue (Red) stamp mill, with a ground area of 93 x 120 feet and a height of 103 feet. The foundation of this building contained six hundred perch (perch = 1 cu.yd.) of stone and required 400,000 feet of lumber . . . a five hundred foot tramway ran from the mine to the mill and discharged into a Cammett crusher which pushed it into a 500-ton pocket. The ore was then fed into eight batteries of five stamps each by eight automatic feeders. Eight plates then caught the free gold. This mill was finished in December of 1899 and Bush celebrated with a Christmas party at which 700 guests were entertained by a twelve piece orchestra and fed roasted buffalo.” [Cultural Resource Inventory and Evaluation Project – Jardine, 1982]

"However, during this period, Bush struggled with problems obtaining ore with sufficient value to run tthrough his mills, since his most productive mines were tied up in litigation. He continued to process low-grade ore in his mill and problems with other members of the Bear Gulch Mining Company developed. A split in the Bear Gulch Mining Company developed and Bush broke away and formed the Revenue Mining Company, incorporated in Helena on June 21, 1899 . . . By the summer of 1899, Bear Gulch, now renamed Jardine, had two distinct mining groups operating in opposition to each other. These were the old Bear Gulch Mining Company, still under the direction of A.C. Jardine, and the new Bush Company."  [Cultural Resource Inventory and Evaluation Project – Jardine, 1982]

In early 1900 creditors began to press Bush for payments on his huge debt load. After much wheeling and dealing, and many negotiations Bush was forced into bankruptcy. On August 18, 1900, Bush's properties, including the Revenue Mill, 72,000 shares of Bear Gulch Mining Company stock, 275,000 shares of King Solomon Quartz and Placer Company stock, electric light plant, water plant, guest house and mine office buildings, were sold at auction in Livingston, with the First National Bank of Butte the new owner. The short reign of 'King Harry' rapidly came to an end. In the fall, new directors of the Bear Gulch Mining Company were elected with A.C. Jardine, B.C. VanHouten, and Andrew J. Davis representing Montana, while Alfred C. Blair, W.H. Barnaby, and W.G. Merritt from St. John, New Brunswick. Mining and milling again resumed.

Operations were temporarily suspended in 1942 because of the Federal restrictions on gold mining during WWII, but increasing war demands for arsenic led to the reopening of the mines in 1944, which operated until May 8, 1948, when fire destroyed the cyanide plant and the mines closed down in July. High shipping costs of arsenic ore were claimed as other reasons for the mining shutdown. About 90 men were abruptly thrown out of work

Right: Great Falls Tribune, 14May1948.

 

Production figures from 1899 -1942 indicate that over 155,000 ounces of gold, 27,000+ ounces of silver, 4,000+ ounces of copper, 765,000+ pounds of tungsten and 12,615,000 tons of arsenic were produced. Perhaps an addition 40,000 ounces of gold were mined 1944-48.

Today the community supports a small population of about 50 souls and a few businesses such as outfitting, fishing & hunting guides, and vacation rentals. It is a popular area for hiking, biking, horse riding, skiing, and snowmobiling enthusiasts.

Left: Current day view of Jardine