Gold, Silver, Tin—and a Secret Location in the Black Hills
A prospector arrives in Olympia with ore said to carry gold, silver, tin and cinnabar, but he won’t say where it came from.
Rich developments are promised in the Black hills. James E. Hemphill, a cruiser and prospector, was in from that region today with what are supposed to be rich specimens of ore, containing gold and silver, tin and cinnabar. Mr. Hemphill, of course, declines to make known the whereabouts of the find. The gold and silver ore was sent to Tacoma a short time ago and assayed $30 to a ton. Later the outcroppings of the ore were discovered, and pieces of the ore will be sent to Tacoma to be assayed. The ore is found in large quantities in a location easily accessible. The tin ore is supposed to be in a vein which is a continuation of the one in which the tin ore was discovered by Dr. Simmons at Oyster Bay, and which is now being worked.
“Mr. Hemphill, of course, declines to make known the whereabouts of the find.”
Every resource boom starts with a secret and an assay office. The Black Hills’ mineral promise is a reminder that Thurston County’s quiet wooded edges were once prospected as if they might be the next Comstock.
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