The Gold Bonanza Beneath the Palouse

Speaking of mines, there is one right on the Palouse river which shows rock and assays not beaten in the whole mineral range of Idaho and Washington. Because it is right under their noses, however, people overlook it like a clay bank and go chasing off over far-away divides in search of hidden wealth.

On the headwaters of the North Palouse, John H. Taylor and C. G. Taylor of Farmington three years ago discovered a ledge of gold, the feeder of the famous Hoodoo placer mines, which for over forty years have been producing the yellow metal. The find was named the Mother Lode, and the quartz-bearing district in which it lies the Mascot. Quietly the two brothers worked their property, and it was not until last year that others were attracted to the region. Late in the season the great richness of the Taylors' discovery was realized and a rush which plastered the country for miles around resulted.

Late last season the Taylor boys set up a small two-stamp prospecting mill and worked it for a short time. Though with this only the free gold — about one fourth of the actual value of the rock — could be saved, the results were wonderful. The owners will not give out actual results, but that they consider it a great bonanza is shown in the fact that not one iota of the mine has ever been for sale. The free gold studs the rock, plainly visible in lumps to the naked eye.

LEDGE WIDE AND RICH. The last assay from this ledge is 300 and 1-10 ounces of gold to the ton. Like the placer gold of the Hoodoos, it is of high value — $20.67 an ounce. This makes the assay $6,327.08 a ton. This was, of course, from picked samples, but $63 is the lowest ever obtained. A mill test of one pound of rock showed a value which could be saved by this process of 73 1-6 ounces of gold to the ton, or $1,512.35.

"We can show as rich rock as any to be found in the state of Idaho," said J. H. Taylor, one of the lucky owners, who was at Colfax Monday. "But not one share or one inch of the property is for sale. Myself and brother own it alone, and it is rich enough to develop itself, though it will, of course, take some years to bring it up to a great producer.

"The Mother Lode is about two miles from the old Hoodoo placers and has been the feeder for that rich ground. The ledge was nine and one-half feet in width at the surface. At a depth of 62 feet, which is the distance now down, it is twelve and one-half feet wide. The concentrates at the surface were worth $45 a ton. At a depth of 62 feet and 82 feet into the ledge they show a valuation of $141.03, a constant increase in worth.

"Great wealth lies in this ledge. The only question is whether or not we will live long enough to get it out alone. So far the mine has paid its own way and supported our families. We pay as we go, and owe nothing for its working. But we never have told what it has yielded us and are not yet ready to do so, as it is our own affair and we are not on the market, nor do we expect to be. We will begin the season's operations in about 12 days.

"I see no reason why the Mascot should not make a great camp — one of the best in the northwest. There are other valuable properties besides our own."