Blue River placers, Summit County, Colorado

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917 ItiUfWtll —Htwgfii lb@#

August 1959

mmmtrmtlm Pimm®Qarpapatiant

w^aldngtan, D.C.

Attention Nr John 1* Morton* Chairwwt Otoaml INK DlyistOfl, Ottr t ' nptont nxi

to our un<i«r* tending onteroi? Into loot una, with mtmmmto "afctng thro# or four preliminary too to, acroaa

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i t - r'w ' -rt ;• • I. trlot In ••I'T^Ok In o ; ~rt of our op I loot ton for # dan* Iota, to toot our I* rlvojri totwo plaaert,

ta«0#9 oo lu: Rtmr on 3,9 7

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patont o. rmnrarl 01X908* and the iov loodo of told 'ill iaaar, potant 'Jo. 15.719, s»t loo loodo of rolyn ft- o r • ®#tf for only 8u :«* Plana* &UPM0# SM08, f«gFOnttttag 509 sorea of la*rlv r ottw i

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nd*

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together with an fedrtltloyl ;5 »or ® of beneii

sr* r 1# » It- I , r tflsll dradg

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-»g to nap art aa..^nttlanai uplofwmt of tn£ff^^»aar# \\

n fmm80 llad ten 'T* Jayh% f>t#8» fining im§»A/

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r, ulfdlngjAt • <nvoW, or)'' stating the purpaon

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^»i>ttol of • / Ott tt t> 'O' r**9o, o ••! < tly /r oho f. «rk*

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« fining anglnaar of ability on* otto aapawanon. M/ploo oopoololly wall InforaM

•- « y.-corlcne " In to reek- nrldg Mfor ore t-ro v t i*** of • o"-tu ry,iy v1<»; latnly oomplotpgjir-ot^dyN^fC tfc-y *«f fain • l< none, lm«dl to-

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io NSmi - i \ v |aoog§ tt go Ka ftttt 1 •*

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?# on* ttao

Wmammrn

• wife oMMfto iifii Mil* aa« Monlya o

1 pieaara, aaiandlng irots

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tarn of til ion, to tha lunation of the Blua and soon vivtm « dfstanoaf pf nam ttnn fonr allM, of oontinunua plaaana.

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ortos aoaepted/ pur ooploymnt, and tool* liwrtl aoni ? m> •« v v »• o wAXitl p#p w am <?fca <i or t ott »ja o^r mi*

KU • laaar to 100Q, >M tbOvPapMfe Of ainking too largo atanfta, an# a tna wm&mmmntfund am^rr^- '^0M«t »Hoft, t tp 15 9it% fro* ooitoto to otm.1# ood ro^f St foot tnloo, oolitng an fomor onployooo onfngot on sol*

•. i t ••"/? r- -a fc>-. tVAlr oomtruotl- n »rl -.t# f -aor t'xjreln.

M?t beforo lefflo^ for roo^onrldg^ dlotrlot r fw* • • rtouo »ooi- t: it Rocut :n#\e;hh. //!«-'. n> t» oot yet roeorored.

\V ^oisim; toon intorooto* In mftmnrl*i» liagi »lno»

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+'t r nrku >'« tho lnl - ;> In -c t o enr of to i.rif£S2£ri.o' »»1< n rojtatc, aloft a< iolnln: ->r **•

tii'#, both properti

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tf t ^a nlngtoo mih >#too o#plt? 11#to, oxponging -wat# iu"« of wonoy to hawnt tho rioh d-r.joolt# of gold oulllon koorn to onlnt in tho

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of tho rH»o Stiw# /o otnts* hy the* -loolonor of lino# m lining wining, otsgtmipp i» 'hottor aissll- ft td t c ' - of t vvU to

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than r «r?sa

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«af noo«- ioaorwt

$m- t

r aansdlt for anility and Integrity*

laear drilling ay tha Data liar rothora.

Mig the early of the station of the la at aantury, e • tto# fathor of <arry a- d Clair uetntlar, to t> i r-ek^nrld ?e

•-old fieftda, whrra He kept the paaao aa r-'horiff of Sn» it County, a noat iMpooto* and wvored altlaon, untU ttU death a fan years aga. I

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in Uy sing# tho y«ar 1907, alma tho ; ot*ll«r roth-

«r« r • MdoS to the early «3oa#toa of taat drliliog tho pltoer# to aao^sr

tain th»; oharaator of tte

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fowmation, i t 1# l«t«raparai alth

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0 large boulders, or tenacious clay, a certain liability to gold dredging.

It Is refreshing to come Into • mining community, end find men who are wil

ling to enlighten tho tender foot, with the truth m thoy find it, rather than Indulge in poetie lleen»e^fto booifc &n industry# In my nocjuaintanee with the Dataller rotlMW, as placer dtstllors, I have always round them ready to give the facta ma thfy find thorn from p nnlng foot by foot in th<

testing for gold values, Their estimates of values calculated from gold- col/ore found In tho pan , ar© not only substantiat-d by the actual welch

ing of the particles of gold, In milligrams, but the dredge-owner will say that in -.any ins tances, the actual harvesting of gold by the dredge will

exceed by 100< the valued given by tho Betwller rothers, during the testing.

The two and three compssitraent f 4hsfts on ilue River Placer No, 6. H

ps John Marks, personally knew Mr W.HJaay, of 2990 "rant Mm Ave, Benver, and HP. Leo Ames, of Billon and Mr Jesa Oalkloy, of {rcokcnrldg*

Colorado, as employes of the former owners of the ilud ftivor Placers 5,8 fc 7 during the construction of the two large cdmpr.rw-nt spafto sunk on Blue River Placer No.6 early in the century, fact* #f those gentlemen were inter

viewed, two of whom wore token to the a rafts Where they ^ x the following Information t Shaft No. I, nee rest the r^er, was constructed first to ascer

tain the depth of the pinosr-aurif crops' gravel,/ Ihlch was found to bo 53 fent to a a hale bad rook# It contained ttflMMi p^ pwpfcnv&irt® ^f two a a lifts^# and one to accomodate a centrifugal pifc^p, oowatsd toy a water-wheel, The manager , r Gay, on© of the owners staVd. xhet the first ten or thirteen feet wore very good, yielding atoeutr4Qc<3tft*vto the ou.yd, fhat the next 80 foot were without muoh value/^Whllo m saitt^ foot ran fro30 cents to ..

' I# pw ou yd# Th&t ttm b#d/Vb@li wtaMi shfes|*|# h&<! boss and driftln • began yielded as l^lgh as 2.50 '.per ou yd, as the pay channel was encountered. While * r OakMy and Mr toes) jwhllo not mowing t&ie sctusl values leathered fro® tho bed roek\ln drifting it to the pay channel did know that the owners of the property Md highly del Ightcd with the result of

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sinking the shaft^-fSrhigh ^.tejuM^Xf tho fin© sand, and quantity of water Sncou*tar©4>4» drifting ^MmTss burdeasono that workmen trade little

progrooa. Other/Own rs, who^out into the outcrprica their own moneys, con- fir^ r Gay thOt values of 40 cent® per cu yd at tho surface and up to f5.

per cu yd on taw bed rock wtoaf recovered from this shaft, There are two Jorah Centrifugal double suction pumps in the two sgafts, each saft being about the snmoSbPth, though the yield of -«o. 2 shaft was loss than o. 1, shaft, Tho matoHhl ts.keh- ^herefrom Is still in evidence as very small grav

el and fine sand, MsftHMfthar clay nor boulders were encountered.

'•'» - Test No, 2 drilled in July 1938,

I retained the Information gathered from r "ark® and r Gay, as a check upon the testing toy the Datallers and did not confide In thorn what the earlier reports of values had boon, and I was astonished to find

the remarkable corroboration by the Betwller report, and th final weigh

ing of the bullion, showing an average of 20 cente per cu yd, considering the wall known fact that th© Botwliera always allow liberally in thiir estimates in giving lower values that shown toy the pan test. The betwller report of tho pay channel or toed rock values are practically I. par

for scren foot t at from 48 to 49th foot tmt In o. 2 testing In . uly 1936.

vmt th© Betwllera do not hesitate to give the low values in certain portr of each of th© three tests taken, each being 800 feet apart, across the 986 feet width of th© Blue liver Placer® 5,8 A 7. We know the values de

crease as the testing reaches westward over th© placer®, and Increases as wis roach tho eastern border of the 925 feet, the origin of the gold supply.

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T e a t < © • X , d r i l l e r t a y t h a J u l y , IB M , Taat a* If «*• calnctM appraMoataly in tn« middle of tha 98ft foot width af th® lu® !tva«» 'lcaar o* 6, and about cbout iiidway be

tween section 19, in whlob is loostod HlaaMw i»eor o.S arv' section SO location of ?lue Rlvar flaaar M« i» Blot Itlwor fl«aar «a* 7 lying lit section 31 extending couth bayaaA ttlakoy station* Ttm 886 seres In those throe plftcorc consist of a vary u*ruaual dredging project* The three pl«o-

®ya or* ajftroxluataly ?«*o and * balf uil f in l ngth, with an avon width of a out §83 foot* end frcws known axoovatloa* and drill toato «r holier- ad to bo :•© feet in depth to a halo ted

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the oaat #t«@ to to foot OH th- wont oida, no tw lthe tond in?r, t he dip to the root tide the oat valuaa

or pay ehcnnal unou»*tlo«ia*ly 11 « close to the asat aide of property, a® a boon in oar m*t to»ta> wad® in Jfcly Itid# doing to th® pfcyal*

oal injufjr to r arka, Juat prior to no King hi* survoy and topographical plat of our pla*ara, 1 haw® pyr®tSf.»aod photoatat oaploa fro® the Paitvar

• up rvl® r of Survey, reproduced a n»» from the patent record files, to -nth r with a copy o? th« <§•»«itoologiaai topographical drawings of the

:<luo tirer fWLley chawing

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throe '.'ilh® Riror Plaa«rs 5.1 % f to Pa an unbroken Irani rioof nottom tpwat o# apwaal and aa«id, holinrod to b© fro®

of tjould r# end clay* While the troeke if tha aolojtwdo § -Vmth-TO H*H, her*

d tr on the woet aid® of our proportlao, aa do alto '-tat-'; !4gba»y -o* 9, and the eloctric nower linos of the Qlonwood t prlngo Riant, well a*

telephone lis*®, yt those utilities,ea arontlal to our projsot, do not

|®l9if«p» with our propoaad opera tiona, toil© the bad rock alopaa to t ha

«•#«, the turf or of our properties spa absolutely lore! and oven, end atoopt for willow bushes bar# and tnar®, and a few snail pin rows, th®

fiurf o if without tirabnr, and as ldael dratalstr proposition#

ifk C.Swith, not i 1.4;-. -v,-; «< U urglosl nginaar, wh#

asmlnod or roperti s, *® ©erly »* X9M, said *Fr«m the North end of th®

grs—d to the railroad station at r.'iokay, or through a little ?©pa than half the l«a0bi of the ground, th® Klvwr hsa a nice, waaoured by /con

oid of ©bout 3i ft to th Othsra hey# ®#iliaat#i tha yr d« of the

>Xu« rivar thsvs Mahay station at 73 f«©t par Oil# "a oarretit auffiaiant to a* rry eoa ©at rolrt down stwirs," ngln #r «oifch oatinet s thn Blue nia.'.r to be 8ft faat wid« with n depth of 18 tnaloa, at law watar*

th© V*8*9sysipaphftsal »p thaw® th© hi# curantni8, > nd the bond of th. riwar, iarcadiataly y th slda of .lh«ft ?-o 1, snd test 'a 8 ahom th© ^etwilara report finding 40 oal or® of gold in drilling ana foot

from th® depth of 48 faat, 5(> colors, to 48 fa^t, 59 Chlars to 44 fact,40 color® to 41:. fact, 75 colors to 46 fe t,90 colors to 47 font,68 colors to 48 feet, SO colors sad two trndltm gpaitia, to 49 faat, ts*d rook* '"hi® report thou. conc 'rvatlve carrobaratcs th (Ureport of rom than a X* p r «u ya.rd"i«i hd rook to ^van ^*30 and aa ugh «® ^b*found in poakatc or nug- gats* -oth ' wkley sad a®» statod tha abaft 8» I waa known to ha wry rich ft had rock** ?her® wf.a no ouaation that wo war# in tha pay omnnol, the t»a®#tion w»» how to gat it m%%"r iambi « aw of tha mmam of »ur pro-

rt^t. i- I 94, srl I tiu,? -» rri tacts -•« r MOkry,{thoa t- st * i « sra still visible) th© higheat tsat I '.dad §1*80 to lip cu yd, wfella tho lSS*

eat vflues p'V®, I® catusl weight, .0 cant® to op yd* I took SO© runnings In

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inctlon, of thasa pl«c »r» &oi faw*d s?old in ah * -aopt two*

?aat mo 8 was mda @00 faat watarly frost t- at ho l#wbil©

teat ro 8 was nada WOO faat «aat of tost X, giving «. di«t«na« of 400 ft to»§p*oa th® thr^a tacts, h«i*ig crsnly divided In the width of tl«» "laaaro*

4p ':-racniaataiy 100 faat, 8«w*ths«at of teat 7o*ft i« tha a haft fa, I, ap; raxiaataiy of the s«m© depth, while 800 faat to the

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from shaft Ho I,is shaft Ho 2, also about 53 feet deep, and is on line wit!

and 100 feet south west from test No I, drilled by the Detwilers, in July 1936, which test was also 53 feet to bedrock.

r Gay who constructed this shaft, and Mr Oakley and Mr Ames wno worked in the shaft, all eorrpberate each other that shaft No, 2 was not as rich in gold as shaft No I, but corresponded to the values report

ed by the Detwilers In test No,I, as compared with test No 2, and shaft lo.I

Both shafts No I and No 2 are well timbered and well preserv

ed, and are believed to bs safe for unwatering the shafts, if same should be desired for testing purposes. It Is conceded by those who worked In the shafts that the great pressure of water and_Xlne sand,at bed rock, made both shafts useless for gold saving, as the^y£%bw of water and sand,caused by the intense pressure, prevented opening/^hy partaK the heavy timbers in the sides of the shafts, to drift or mlhe, unless the pumps in each shaft be repaird and kept in constant opejt^tlon, to preVent the shafts filling up to at least the intense pressu^fe point in e^jih shaft.

Much time and expense was incurred in endeavor to unwater the two shafts sunk on Placer ^o. 6^.blue Ibjtver, but pump experts all agreed that a new pumping equipment coating about"$750. with much doubt whether such equipment could accomplish more than unwater the shafts, leav

ing a larger task to control the pressure of fine sand and water, should the heavy timbers be removed fed test valueflof the sand and gravel for gold upon unwatering the shafts, t^d Blue River feeing very close to the shafts.

The names abd. qddresses of the/men living in Denver and Dillon who constructed the shafts being Svailebib, it was decided to defer action on the shafts for the preseh|y as they^can be of no possible use In our dredging projeet. The fact however that the reports of the Detwilers cor

roborate the reports of/fa? Gay eSx to depth,values and formation.

In the abs/ence of Marks plats and official report, I beg to submit thd photostat copies bnd blue prints of maps and topographical sheet showihg\the V—

V\ SIZE, FORMATION and LOCATION of the BLUB RIVER PLACERS Nov, _J5ut|r^ and the Bvelyn Placer No, 3,Gold Hill Placer Du Lac, now Evelyn Placer No I containing approximately 500 acres of available low river dredging placers, of a very unusual character, in that, these placers were of a most favdrtable material, free from boulders and clay and timber costly to remove, and that the gravels were not only 1VSNLY DISTRIBUTED over the entire 500 acres, but the Blue"River flowed, within more than 2i miles and in the immediate border of the remaining Evelyn and Gold Hill Placers for an addition

al 2# miles, and that the Power facilities, Railroad and High

ways and communication lines were adjacent to our properties.

The Detwiler report and logs show the high values values stat

ed by Mr Gay, Mr Lambing, Dr Smith, former owners and their workmen can be relied upon as DREDGING ground of a very high character, both as to values found and the low cost of dredging..

Blue Prinft No I reproduced from the County Records at Breckenridge and the Land Office in Denver. It Is self explanatory. The shaded portions show the low land dredgable on the Evelyn Placers, DuLao, Gold Hill and Blue River Placers 5,0 7, aggregating 500 acres in a continuous tract approx&

imately five miles in length. In section 7 of the Blue Print, 10 test holes are shown, in the immediate vacinity of which the Lewisohn dredges

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5

yielded m high as #5.000 per day during 1908, when within let® than 100 yard® from our dold Hill and DuLac Placers, and th© test number 8. shown In section 1 ^$ wbm tim beat valvM&& they had an countered ^f show in# m pair

channel on our side of the river. Test holes were drilled by the J.ewisohn interests across the valley in section 6 near the terminus of Hunroe

Placer and Evelyn Placer So. 5 giving the depth approximately 40 feet,and th© value-© somewhat less than those drilled at the confluence of the Blue and the Swan , in section 7, where Dr Handsome in his reoort known as "Pro- fess ions1 Paper 75 flat© No* 32, stated "best hole at 21 cents" at th© old valuation of #20. per oz. It is submitted that these estimates of the immediate vacinity can be considered a© evidepofi^of values, for class *e*

loan provided ior by Congress, af« test ing^/^©ana-r--C_'^<C|o81 th© testing shown by us to have been made in section 7,in I

have dredging lands adjoining our Bin .»

within the purview of the legislation ap ter of self liquidating industry#

Tho tests made on the 31 wilers in July 1936, as shown on

sent a cross section of our Pla

r, I S St

. »r Placers

•opriating

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|evidence that we l6 k 7, which come

~s for this eharae-

I and 2, shown just 100 feet excavations showing th© dept found therein. The proof is materials very inexpensive t over cost of operation

Sxhlb Supervisor of Survey oj especially made for the

"Mineral patent ten ve//0l I50P ing , the lot 9, and the SWf

River Ho •Oblate eompripini 30, said TwpN-md Range^x — 5,3,7,8,9,10 ^v

It is a fact

t$V-elag .-feet apart, while shafts ith eastN^C the drill tests give five actual .nd character of the materials and the gold

t the values are HIGH, and the ing a proximate profit of 300'4 ionolusive t

(operate, s

•^v3an Iuap,/ia a photostat flap made by the Office, showing the h™ 7HDT> plat

$ing dT Blue River Placers 3,6 % 7, the shad-

•!' "A. Afc ^{-4?* m} ^Ht% ^{.Jii Vift} mm. mm. '.mm. aft*. -M awi-inm-i , M A M AIM m m

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the eastern bo:

venes in part

ion 19 and section 30 and section 31, iglnal patent papers as followsi

... Blu e Rivsr Placer so, 5 elate oompris- he of bee 19 T.5 SR 77*? 6 P*'» The i31u®

~ ,.... -Blue River Mo# 7 claim comprising the lots section 31 in said Twp and ^ilange. Containing 298.53 rh^a^^Sk.J3^-s River runs practically between th© center and

foresaid showing red lines and a

Ooodale placer,; t-hose patent pt.pers are defective#

Exhibit "0 3 Ban Juan Is a photostat map acquired a® a- section 0 Twp 6 SR 77 and Evelyn flaaer No# 3 within the part of oold Hill 13,719, approximately J00 acres of which ar© dredgable, In a continuous line from section 31, irrespective of Oood- ale placer#

Exhibit Ho, 4 is a phots tat, showing section 7, Twp 6 SR 77, showing more fully Oold Hill , Du Lac now Evelyn Mo I placer a substan

tial part of which is low river bottom, aggregating an additional 100 acres making a total of 500 acres immediately available for a large dredge#

J#H.Marljkp endorsing our project.

Exhibit Ho 6 show th© letter anct LOOS of tests ??o, 1,2 &3 of Detwilar Brothers, all of which are respectfully submitted#

^ CLAYTON B#lnig for San Jhan «X.C

August 13 I9o6 _MJM M, •**-*»• MM. JUT M »# u 917 18th at N#W, Washington# w • WW wWwww iV« Www