Collection open for research.
The original Hope Mine was located July 1, 1867, in the Granite Mining District by Samuel T. Hauser, Granville Stuart, James Stuart, and several others. Hauser then approached the St. Louis and Montana Mining Company, which had an unsuccessful mill at Argenta, with a proposition for the sale of the Hope property. The owners of the claim were to receive St. Louis and Montana Mining Company stock in exchange for their property and the Company was to invest capital to develop the mine. Under this agreement the Company built a wagon road to the mine site and a 10-stamp mill to process the ore. Unfortunately, a combination of circumstances prevented the profitable operation of the property. First, the geology of the Hope hill made prospecting difficult and unpredictable. Little valuable ore was located in the early years. Second, the management of the property was poor. In 1872 the Company was unable to pay either the principal or the interest on its bonded indebtedness. To protect their investment, the bondholders purchased the property and reorganized as the Hope Mining Company. A further reorganization in 1887 changed the name to the Hope Mining Company of St. Louis. In 1881, the first really important silver strike was made on the Hope property. From then until 1901 the operation was almost continually on a paying basis. It was able to survive the disastrous 1893 drop in the price of silver by the discovery of an especially rich vein of ore. In December, 1901, both the mine and the mill were shut down as unprofitable. The following spring the owners of the Granite-Bimetallic properties purchased the Hope Mine and mill.
These records consist primarily of interoffice correspondence (1889-1902) between the Company's home office in St. Louis, Missouri, and the mine office at Philipsburg, Montana. This correspondence discusses in considerable detail the day-today operation of the mine. There is also incoming correspondence (1890-1898) from several companies from which they bought supplies and letterpress books (1881-1900) of outgoing correspondence. In addition there are annual reports (1880-1900, 1903), bullion records (1892-1901) an account book (1898-1901), and claim records and deeds (1878-1897).
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1 / 1-2 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include Louis Duestrow, Charles A. Cuno, John T. Field)
|
1889 |
| 1 / 3-4 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include Charles A. Cuno, John C. Porter, John T. Field)
|
1890 |
| 1 / 5-6 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno)
|
1891 |
| 1 / 7 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno)
|
1892 |
| 2 / 1 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno)
|
1892 |
| 2 / 2-3 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig)
|
1893 |
| 2 / 4-5 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig)
|
1894 |
| 2 / 6-7 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig)
|
1895 |
| 3 / 1-2 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig)
|
1896 |
| 3 / 3-4 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig, Walter C. Guels)
|
1897 |
| 3 / 5-6 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Charles A. Cuno, John J. Taussig, Walter C. Guels)
|
1898 |
| 3 / 7-8 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Walter C. Guels)
|
1899 |
| 3 / 9-10 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Walter C. Guels)
|
1900 |
| 3 / 11 |
St. Louis office to Montana office (correspondents
include John C. Porter, Walter C. Guels)
|
1901 |
| 4 / 1-2 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, C.B. Stevens; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1890 |
| 4 / 3 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1891-1894 |
| 4 / 4-6 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, John R. Lucas; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1895 |
| 4 / 7 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, John R. Lucas; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1896 |
| 4 / 8-12 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, John R. Lucas; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1897 |
| 5 / 1 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, John R. Lucas; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1897 |
| 5 / 2-7 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (correspondents
include N.B. Ringling, John R. Lucas; some letters include mine drawings)
|
1898 |
| 6 / 1-3 |
Montana office to St. Louis office (letterpress
books; correspondents include John R. Lucas, W.C. Guels, Henry Rehfeldt)
|
1898-1902 |
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 7 / 1 |
Anaconda Copper Mining Company
|
1896-1898 |
| 7 / 2 |
A (correspondents include Edward P. Allis Company,
American Diamond Rock Boring Company, R. Anderson)
|
1891-1897 |
| 7 / 3 |
Baker and Harper, Civil Engineers (includes Thomas T.
Baker and Joseph H. Harper)
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 4 |
Big Blackfoot Milling Company
|
1896-1898 |
| 7 / 5 |
B (correspondents include G.B. Ballard, Bennett
Brothers Company, George F. Blake Manufacturing Company, E.L. Bonner Company, Boston
and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company, Bridal Veil Lumbering
Company, Buffalo Forge Company, M.C. Bullock Manufacturing Company, Butte City Water
Company, Butte Hardware Company)
|
1892-1898 |
| 7 / 6 |
C (correspondents include California Powder Company,
J.T. Carroll, Chicago Iron Works, Chrome Steel Works, J. Ross Clark and Company, F.W.
Cole, Continental Oil Company, Custer Mine)
|
1891-1897 |
| 7 / 7 |
Deer Lodge County government
|
1891-1897 |
| 7 / 8 |
D-E (correspondents include Davis and Peck Abstracts
of Title, William De Lacy, Dessau Company, George T. Dougherty, Durfee and Brown, S.
Elliott, Eureka Company)
|
1891-1897 |
| 7 / 9 |
Forbis and Forbis, Attorneys (John F. Forbis)
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 10 |
F (correspondents include J.A. and J.B. Featherman;
Fraser and Chalmers; Freyschlag, Huffman and Company)
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 11 |
Granite Mountain Mining Company
|
1892-1898 |
| 7 / 12 |
G (correspondents include Garlock Packing Company,
W.W. Gleason, Granite County government)
|
1893-1898 |
| 7 / 13 |
A.M. Holter Hardware Company
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 14 |
H (correspondents include Woodford D. Harlan, Henry
Heil Chemical Company, Hine and Robertson Company, Alfred E. Holmes)
|
1892-1898 |
| 7 / 15 |
Inland Crystal Salt Company
|
1892-1898 |
| 7 / 16 |
K-L (correspondents include M. Kaiser, Kenyon-Connell
Commercial Company, John King, Kleinschmidt and Brother, Knowles Steam Pump Works,
J.A. Leggat, Theodore Lexow, J.H. Leyson, George W. Lord)
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 17 |
McKechney Milling Company (re water right)
|
1893 |
| 7 / 18 |
Montana Hardware Company
|
1897 |
| 7 / 19 |
Montana [government agencies]
|
1892-1897, 1904 |
| 7 / 20 |
M-N (correspondents include J.K. MacDonald, John
McCormick, McKeen and McQuarrie, Mines and Minerals, Montana Electric Company, Montana
Lumber and Manufacturing Company, W.E. Moore, W.A. Morgan, National Lead Company,
National Tube Works Company, Nicols and Dean, Northern Pacific Railroad Company),
|
1891-1898 |
| 7 / 21 |
Pelton Water Wheel Company
|
1892-1897 |
| 7 / 22 |
P-R (correspondents include H.M. Parchen and Company,
W.R. Parker, Prospect Oil Company, Puritan Mining and Milling Company, Racine Wagon
and Carriage Company, Repauno Chemical Company, Revere Rubber Company, Rose and
Company, George Ross, L.M. Rumsey Manufacturing Company, Russell Process Company)
|
1892-1898 |
| 7 / 23 |
Granville Stuart
|
1891-1893 |
| 7 / 24 |
S (correspondents include Charles E. Sackett; St.
Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company; William Scallon; Settlers and Muller; Josiah Shull;
Spaulding, Jennings and Company; Sullivan Machinery Company; Sunrise Mining and
Milling Company; W.H. Sutherlin)
|
1891-1897, 1904 |
| 7 / 25 |
Tuttle Manufacturing and Supply Company [see also
successor Anaconda Copper Mining Company Hardware Dept.]
|
1892-1896 |
| 7 / 26 |
T-W (correspondents include Tacoma Mill Company,
Tacoma Smelting and Refining Company, John Taylor and Company, Charles Tetzen, Tip Top
Mine, L.C. Trent and Company, Union Iron Works, United States Assay Office, United
States Land Office, United States Surveyor General, Victor Bishop and Company, Visalia
Stock Saddle Company, Western Valve Company, Oscar W. White, H.R. Whitehall, World's
Columbian Commission)
|
1892-1898 |
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 8 / 1-3 |
Letterpress books
|
1881-1882, 1884-1886 |
| 9 / 1-2 |
Letterpress books
|
1890-1892 |
| 10 / 1-2 |
Letterpress books
|
1892-1894 |
| 11 / 1-2 |
Letterpress books
|
1894-1898 |
| 12 / 1 |
Letterpress book
|
1897-1900 |
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Volume | ||
| 1 |
Account book (letterpress volume including cash,
supplies, expenses, inventory)
|
1898-1901 |
| Box/Folder | ||
| 12 / 2-3 |
Bullion record
|
1892-1901 |
| 12 / 4 |
Tax assessment
|
1901 |
Container(s): Box-folder 12 / 5
Container(s): Box-folder 12 / 6
