P a g e 5 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 The Dunn Mines at Moose Lake Legend has it that one of the most profitable gold ventures near Moose Lake was the Dunn Mines. More than twenty five men at a time worked these mines and continued for four decades. John P. Dunn born in Little Falls, New York in September 1845 traveled from Bellevue, Iowa to Montana in 1864 with numerous other family members. First arriving in Butte it was not long before they moved on to Virginia City. John’s brother staked a claim and soon sold it for $2,000 then left “never to be seen again.” John returned to Iowa and married Catherine (Kate) Sophia Dyas and they started a family. But in the late 1870’s he felt the “lure of the mountains” and returned to Butte. In 1880, Kate and three small children Robert, Lulu and Harry joined him. They bought a six room house and lived there four years. John worked various jobs including running a ranch at Warm Springs and hauling bullion from the Elkhorn mine to Butte. When Marcus Daly began construction of his smelter in Anaconda in 1883, Dunn realized that was where the money was going to be and opened up a grocery store on Commercial Avenue. He then bought a lot from Marcus and Maggie Daly and built a home on West Park Street. Three years after moving to Anaconda, their youngest child Bessie (later known as Betty) was born. John P. Dunn Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Although the grocery store was successful, John loved mining and grub staked many prospector’s and because of this his name appears on many claims in both Deer Lodge and Granite County Courthouses. In 1895, John and companions made a strike at Moose Lake and began staking many claims east of the lake. Often he used the name “Gold” such as Gold Hill, Gold Eagle, Gold Comet, Gold Enuf. But the richer claims were Daisy, Dandy, Abe Lincoln, Chief, Old Dominion, Toro and many others. By 1896 Dunn sold the grocery store and gave all of his energy to developing claims and building a mill. He eventually owned more than thirty claims running up both sides of the narrow canyon and extending almost to the lakes southern end. These claims produced for forty years and in 1902 the Mail stated that Dunn was shipping ore worth $80 a ton from the Lincoln group of claims. In 1903, John created “The Moose Lake Mining Company, Inc.” and continued building on his mill. The ore was hauled from the mines up a steep hillside where it was crushed and crudely processed then fell through chutes to wagons parked below. Mill workers said “it was wood fired and a bit of a disaster but it worked.” When living at the lake the Dunn family resided in a small prospectors cabin built by George Watsoon the east shore looking out at the Pintlers. In due time a cook cabin and sleeping cabin
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