A Frontier Prospector Finds Her Own Vein
Mrs. W. Miller returns to Seattle from the mines of Okanogan County, credited by her husband for discovering a high-quality ore vein during their summer development work.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. and Mrs. W. Miller and Mr. George F. Redpath returned to Seattle this Wednesday from their mining properties in the northern part of Okanogan County. According to Mr. Miller, they have been working a large crew to develop the property near the headwaters of the Similkameen River. Notably, Mrs. Miller spent her summer months actively prospecting alongside her husband. She discovered a surface 'float' of ore and successfully traced it until she uncovered a high-quality vein, leading her husband to sink a shaft on the site. Mr. Miller reports that the pay ore holds up well as they descend, and the couple has already refused several offers from mining experts looking to secure the property for Eastern capital.
“Mrs. Miller has spent a great deal of time in the mountains with her husband and has become quite an expert on ores.”
Mining in Washington’s Okanogan region was a major driver of the state's early economy, often involving family-run ventures. This brief mention of Mrs. Miller as an 'expert on ores' provides a rare, albeit brief, glimpse into the active role women played in the state's resource extraction and prospecting history.
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