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 feet of piping 12 inches in diameter. It would drop from a little giant motor through a nozzle 6 inches in diameter. This force was sufficient to bend an ordinary iron Bear Gulch Mining Camp bar double. This mode of development continued until '85, when work was suspended owing to a disagreement among the property holders. James Graham and Uncle Joe Brown discovered the first quartz in 1870, but owing to the difficult mode of transportation it remained inactive until '84, when Major Eaton put in a five-stamp and saw mill combined. This work came to a standstill in '86 from the same cause as the previous workings. The gulch now remained quiet until '90, when Edgerton & Jewell, of Helena, opened up the old mill by a fivestamp addition, working it success fully until the crisis of '93, when the camps again and for the second time in their history, took on a state of inaction, remaining in this way until July 28, 1898, when H. Bush arrived. It was at once evident that he possessed all the zeal and enthusiasm for the establishment of a foundation for the mining industry of Bear Gulch—one that could breast any of the former difficulties which had existed there previously, and at the same time a foundation that would accept no standstill in its industrial development that would in the least have cause to impede its progress. He at once bonded the Legal Tender of the First National bank of Helena, for $150,000, and in less than 60 days he made his first purchase in the Sowash mine. The next purchase was the Revenue, from George Phelps, a mine whose richness has exceeded the wildest expectations of its former owner. From George Welcome he now purchased the Keets, West Point, W. W. Dixon, North Star and Norse. As soon as quartz mines were purchased Mr. Bush at once put experts at work to develop them, and at the same time prove to the world at large that his judgment in such line of work is faultless. Shortly after getting his quartz interests underway he turned his attention to the purchase of 40 acres of placer ground from Joe Brown, and has just completed a ditch three thousand feet in length, furnishing water for hydraulic mining that is second to none in the state. Thus it has been, while each month new mines are added to his store of hidden wealth. About ten days after Mr. Bush first set his enterprises on foot he had the old stamp mill increased to a twenty-stamp, with new vanners and tables to conform with his ideas of what a stamp mill should be. His next Building Scene in Bear Gulch Mining Camp
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