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 foundation for the profitable mining development of Fergus County. He disagreed with the common theory that there was no use looking for gold in the limestone. From this he received his name “Limestone” or “Limerock,” a title he was proud of. In his conversations he called himself Limestone Bill. He eventually succeeded in interesting some Helena investors in the Gilt Edge mine and sold it to the Great Northern Mining and Development Company for $32,000. A mill was built in 1893, and the town of Gilt Edge was named for the mine. The mill was the second in the United States to use the “cyanide process” on a commercial scale. About $1,250,000 in gold ore was processed at this mill. Limestone continued to prospect all over the Judith Mountains, looking for ore bodies in the limestone. He strongly believed the great mines of the United States would use the cyanide process and that those ores would be found in the limestone. He often stated that ore was where you find it and not where it was supposed to be. In 1900, Wilson married Margaret E. Wampler of Chicago and settled in a handsomely furnished home in Maiden. Limestone eagerly pursued self-education himself and acquired an extensive library. He enjoyed quoting many of the classics word-for-word. Wilson stood 6’4” and slender in build. He was well known for his beautiful bass voice. Tragically the Wilson’s home in Maiden burned to the ground taking all their possessions including Limestone’s valuable library and photo collection of early mines and miners. In 1912, Margaret died and was buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery. Sometime after his wife’s death, Limestone moved to a cabin near the mouth of Maiden Canyon not far from Gilt Edge. He continued to prospect and advance his claims. Limestone soon developed a reputation as a gardener, a talent he no doubt acquired from his father. His potatoes were widely known and at one time he sold them to the Northern Pacific for use on their liners. One distinguishing feature of Limestone was being very particular and detailed in all his endeavors. The tunnels in his mine were a work of art and looked as though they had been laid out with a transit. He insisted that all loose debris be cleaned out at the end of every shift. In his nearly 56 years of prospecting, Wilson is known to have driven over 2,000 feet of tunnel with his own hands. His last work of any consequence was done in Alpine Gulch in the Judith Mountains in 1927. The tunnel he drove can still be plainly seen. In intermittently ailing health, he waged a losing fight against the infirmities of age and died in the Deaconess Hospital in Great Falls on July 17, 1938. He was buried beside his wife, Margaret in the Lewistown City Cemetery. –Courtesy of the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, montanacowboyfame.org Sources: Lewiston Democrat News (Christmas Edition), December 1937. “Gold in the Judiths” by W. E. Wilson, also “a Buffalo Hunt in ‘81” by W. E. Wilson., Fergus County Argus-1901 Pictorial Edition. Page 9-10, “Fergus, A Miniature of the West”. By C. B. Worthen, Lewistown Democrat News, July 18 & 19, 1938., A History of MontanaBurlingame & Toole Vol. II. Page 156.
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