Two Newport Men Stake a Claim on the Old Katydid Mine
Charles Waterman and A. L. Reis revive a long-idle galena mine north of town—and challenge the timber-and-stone claim that has covered it.
Charles Waterman, of the Opera House management, and A. L. Reis have relocated the Katydid mine. This mine is located two miles north of the city and has not been worked for years. It has been understood that a party filed on the land several years ago and secured it as a timber and stone claim. Considerable development work was done on the mine a number of years ago and several cars of high grade galena were shipped, but the ledge pinched out and the pay streak back east pinched out at about the same time. The new locators will make an effort to have the patent cancelled, alleging that the land is mineral land.
“The new locators will make an effort to have the patent cancelled, alleging that the land is mineral land.”
Land patents and mineral claims were the original property fights of the Inland Northwest. The Katydid dispute shows how a forgotten mine could suddenly matter again when someone saw value in the ground.
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