P a g e 4 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r commodious frame buildings. Brick clay of the common grade is found abundantly; also a good quality of fire clay that has been tested and found to be of first-class material for the manufacture of fire brick. At the present time the city is well supplied with hotels, lodging houses, and a supply store which meets the present requirements, of the camp. Natural Bridge District, or Contact About thirty-two miles above the mouth of the Boulder is located the mining camp of the Natural Bridge district, with Contact as a center. It was supposed that this was a rich mineral bearing district for many years, but during the summer of 1894 A. Drago and Hector McRae verified this belief by discovering quartz in Slate mountain. It is a free-milling proposition, and up to date has some three hundred feet of tunneling. Since then the Minnie, Minnie Extension, Great West, Standard and Natural Bridge claims have been located, assays running from $50 to $100 in gold, but owing to the lack of better facilities to treat the ore they have been progressing very slowly. Following this and on the same mountain is the Oregon group, of E. Fowler and Jas. Howell, while the Plymouth group is further southwest of this. Next comes the Bonanza or Newell mountain, located by P. J. Donnelly, who represents some ten or more claims on this and Slate mountain, all free-milling propositions and rich in ore. In the spring of 1898 Thos. McHugh and W. W. Wishon of Butte located a claim on Gould Mountain, showing a good working proposition in copper. I. J. Cooper and William Kearns have several claims on Froze-toDeath creek in the Snowies, showing gold and copper. On this same creek and near the divide of the Boulder and West Boulder are the claims of James Blackburn, Harvey Bliss and Mr. Budd. In 1894 a post office was established at Contact, with James Blackburn as postmaster, who retained this position until 1897, when, by Mr. Blackburn retiring, A. B. Gould was appointed as his successor. It was so named by this region being a contact of lime and granite formations. About ten miles below Contact is located a good lignite coal camp. It has proven to be good blacksmith coal, will cake and coke and, undoubtedly, is a great stimulus to the future mining possibilities of the entire Boulder region. The Pioneer Resident of the National Park George W. Marshall, of Rock Island, Illinois, is the pioneer resident of the Geyser Basin of our National park. He owned the first stage line that ran into this exclusive resort, his family being the first that wintered there, while the first child born in the “Enchanted Land” was his daughter Rose. –Read more in next month’s newsletter! Buffalo scene near Cooke City
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