The Elma Iron Rush
Local prospectors are convinced they have struck it rich in the hills east of Elma, filing claims for iron deposits by the wholesale.
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.
The mining excitement in this region is growing more intense daily. Every man you meet has a pocket full of specimens, and claims are being located by the wholesale. Mineral claims have been filed in the auditor's office by James Lewis, W. K. Rust, W. D. Rice, R. Sherwood, D. D. and W. H. Calkins, W. S. Grant, and B. L. Johnston, of Aberdeen. The claims are located in the eastern part of this county, in township 18, range 5 west, three miles east of Elma, and the claimants are confident they have struck it rich. William Murray, who has located an iron mine near Elma says of his find: 'I had it thoroughly tested and the returns are 63 per cent iron, or 1260 pounds solid iron to the ton, carrying a percentage of $6.02 in gold.'
“Every man you meet has a pocket full of specimens, and claims are being located by the wholesale.”
Every Washington boom town of the era seemed to have a 'mining excitement' waiting just over the ridge. While these iron claims near Elma were largely speculative dreams of the 1890s, they reflect the era's relentless hunger for extraction and the belief that the land's hidden wealth would solve all economic woes.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.