P a g e 6 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 Gem Mining Syndicate sold the Rock Creek claims to Charles Carpp Jr. and J.W. Kaiser in 1936/37. I found in August Erickson’ diary this notation “October 29, 1937—Sapphire News------The mines have been leased to Charley Carrp. 20% on 3 years-$10,000 basis.” They lived in the Philipsburg area until 1943 while Charlie was in the mining business and had the partnership in the Sapphire Mines. Carpp and Kaiser leased the claims to George Carter when the market for sapphires tanked. The couple next lived in Butte until 1948 then moved to Dillon where Charlie worked in the hardware business. Charlie was also a sales representative for Coast to Coast Hardware, until they returned to Philipsburg when he retired. Charles Jr. died at the age of eighty-three in the Granite County Memorial Nursing Home on April 21, 1990 following a long illness and is buried in the Philipsburg Cemetery. Survivors were: Pauline and the two sons. Pauline, died November 16, 2002 at the age of eighty-nine at Redmond, Washington. –Courtesy of the Granite County History Blog Charlie (Jr.), Pauline, Charles Walter and Larry Dale Carpp Circa 1940. The purpose of the Granite County History Blog (https://granitecountyhistory.blogspot.com/) is to share and seek information on the history of Granite County, Montana. In a few cases our topics will lap over into adjacent counties as mining districts especially do not respect the later boundaries imposed by politicians! It is a project of members of the Granite County Historical Society, an organization founded in 1978 by the late Barry Engrav of Philipsburg and now comprised of 8 members dedicated to preserving and interpreting historical documents, artifacts, and sites in the greater Philipsburg area. Our goal is to interest current residents, folks with family roots, and those with an academic interest in the area to add their knowledge to this blog as an ongoing project to deepen and in some cases correct the narrative of the people and events that shaped history in this part of Montana. The recent explosion of scanned historical documents onto the internet is making it possible to greatly speed up historical research, refine historical chronology, and deepen historical interpretation. Perhaps we are entering into a "golden age" of research into our past! Anyone with an interest in the Philipsburg area or Montana history is invited to discuss the topics of our posts, as well as their own data and sources, which we hope will create an ongoing dialogue about the area now known as Granite County. Smuggler is located about seven miles from Sheridan on Mill Creek. The mine was claimed by John and Thomas Cavanaugh, James McDonnell, Mrs. Clara Conley and Carrie Herman in 1897. In the late 1920s the Smuggler property consisted of 13 unpatented claims producing gold and silver. The property was developed by a 117-foot shaft; two adits of 150 and 200 feet; 340 feet of drifts; 425 feet of cross-cuts; 450 feet of raises and 160 feet of winzes. The hydroelectric plant on the Emma B. claim powered a 100 ton amalgamation and concentration mill. This mill contained a crusher, a No. 54 Marcy ball mill, classifier, 3 Wilfley tables, motors, and pumps. Other improvements included 25 buildings including an office, assay office and cabins to house 45 people. The site had water, electric and telephone systems. Although the operation produced $24,117.03 in gold from 1930 to 1933, the milling process allowed $4 per ton profit to escape into the tails. Activity was suspended in 1934 while flotation techniques were examined. No further production was recorded in the historic period. Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz Photo by Jolene Ewert-Hintz
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