Archives West Finding Aid

William Antonioli, speaking for his two brothers Frank and Peter, donated this collection of maps through multiple donations. The family of three brothers grew up in Butte Silver-Bow County sons of a rich Italian father named Peter. Peter V. Senior was a widely known Butte businessman and milk farmer who died in 1959. His father Peter Antonioli emigrated from Italy in 1865 and was one of the oldest and richest Italians in the Silver Bow county area; he first established the Antonioli name as a prominent family in Butte history. William himself was not involved in mining instead working as a physician, but his two brothers Frank and Peter spent their lives dedicated to mining. Peter was a widely known figure in Montana mining, he studied mining engineering at Montana Tech, founded the Montana Mining Association serving as their secretary for many years. Frank also was involved in the mining industry working as a miner throughout his lifetime. The collection consists of maps of the multitude of mines to which the brothers owned the claims and actively operated. The family remains active in mining in Montana to this day. Many of the mining claims originated with various mining companies as early as the 1870s. Many of the maps date for the original mining companies.

The Philipsburg Mining Company was incorporated under Missouri law on March 28, 1911 to take over the properties of the Hope Mining Company. The officers of the company were the principal stockholders of the Granite-Bimetallic Consolidated Mining Company. In 1916 the firm began mining manganese at the Algonquin Mine, a former silver mine on Frost Creek, and in 1917-1918 developed several other productive bodies along the same lode. In 1918 the Philipsburg Mining Company completed and put into operation a large mill near Philipsburg designed to concentrate the lower grades of ore from the Algonquin and other mines to increase the rate of production of manganese. By 1940 the Philipsburg Mining Company owned property including 284 claims and 3,964 acres near Philipsburg, but had no mine in operation. The company ceased filing annual reports with the Montana Secretary of State in 1944 and its charter expired in 1957.

The Trout Mine was first developed in 1870 by the Cole Saunders Gold and Silver Mining Company. The company's manager James Patten later formed his own company the Patten Mining Company and operated the mine in the early 1900s. During World War I, the Western Ore and Mining Company produced manganese from the mine. The Trout Mining Company was incorporated under Illinois law in 1922. It was re-incorporated under New Jersey law in October 1924 and operated the mine until October 1936. In 1947 and again in 1950 the Trout mill burned. In January 1958 a new Trout Mining Company was incorporated to take over the operation of the mine. It became inactive in 1963, though the charter did not expire until 1993.

The Basin Mining and Concentrating Company was incorporated on October 3, 1891, by Erastus D. Edgerton, John B. Clayberg, and Augustus N. Spratt. In exchange for the entire stock, Edgerton transferred to the new company a group of mining claims near Basin, Montana, including the Atlantic, Nellie, Hope, Hopeful, and Balarat. In December 1892 the company contracted with B.R. Young to build a 100-ton concentrator at Basin. During the depression of the 1890s the company became deeply indebted to the First National Bank. Then on April 8, 1896, while preparing the mine for shutdown, seven men were killed in a disastrous shaft fire. The coroner's jury condemned the operation of the mine as unsafe. As a result of these adverse conditions, the company sold its assets in the summer of 1896.

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. 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.

The Granite-Bimetallic Consolidated Mining Company of Philipsburg, Montana, was formed in April 1898 by the merger of the Granite Mountain Mining Company and the Bi-Metallic Mining Company. In 1880, Charles D. McLure acquired title to the property and formed a syndicate with several St. Louis capitalists, including Charles Clark, Augustus B. Ewing, Lewis M. Rumsey, Moses Rumsey, and Charles Taussig. The following year this syndicate incorporated as the Granite Mountain Mining Company. A gravity tramway connected the multiple mills with the mine. From 1883 to 1893, the mine produced over $20 million worth of silver and other metals. Hit by the drop in the price of silver in 1893, the Granite Mine shut down operations for most of the 1890s. The James G. Blaine lode, which became the Bi-Metallic Mine, was located in April 1881, by William W. Williams. It was purchased by Charles D. McLure in 1883. Little development work was done on the mine until 1885. In June 1886, the property was incorporated as the Bi-Metallic Mining Company by a syndicate comprised of many of the owners of the Granite Mountain Mining Company, with the addition of Paul A. Fusz. During the winter of 1888-1889, a 50-stamp mill was built and another 50 stamps were added the following year. This mine produced over $7 million before shutting down in the mid-1890s. Following the 1898 merger of the two interconnected syndicates into the Granite-Bimetallic Consolidated Mining Company, the company had several years of profitable operation, but in 1903, it briefly went into receivership. Thereafter the mines were operated primarily on the lease system. They produced sporadically until the 1920s, and in November 1934, the Granite-Bimetallic Consolidated Mining Company was dissolved.

The American Gem Mining Syndicate was incorporated on August 10, 1901, by David Jankower, owner of several Philipsburg area sapphire mining claims; and Auguste B. Ewing, Paul A. Fusz, Moses Rumsey, and Charles D. McLure. The main corporate offices were in St. Louis. The company was capitalized at $300,000, with Jankower initially owning all but four of the shares. Among the broad powers claimed by the company were purchasing and developing mining claims, building water flumes, and maintaining lapidary and stone cutting facilities. The basic aim of the company was to mine and market the sapphires from several mining claims in Sapphire, Anaconda, Myers, and Wildcat gulches on Rock Creek southwest of Philipsburg. Sapphires were first discovered in the Rock Creek drainage by gold prospectors in 1892. The claims were purchased by the American Gem Mining Syndicate in 1903. The bulk of the output was shipped to the company's factory in Geneva, Switzerland, run by Eugene Deschusses, for use in Swiss watches. Smaller amounts were used for industrial bearings and for jewelry. In 1912 the company built a 30 mile long flume to provide water for hydraulic mining of the sapphires. The company mined sapphires commercially until 1926. After that natural sapphires began to be replaced for industrial use by artificial sapphires. The company sold the property in 1936 to Charles Carrp and J.W. Kaiser, and ceased its legal existence on August 10, 1941.

The Fred Burr and Granite Ditch Company was incorporated on August 26, 1889, by William C. Buskett, William D. Dodds, Alfred J. Bettles, and James H. Henley. The company was formed to build a water ditch and flume to supply water from Fred Burr Lake and from the north fork of Fred Burr Creek to the town of Philipsburg, Montana, and the surrounding area. At some point in the 1890s the company was acquired by the same group of St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen who owned the Granite Mountain Mining Company and the Bi-Metallic Mining Company.

The Moorlight Mining Company was incorporated in Philipsburg, Montana, on July 12, 1918, by John Hickey, Thomas F. Hickey, Charles J. Anderson, Nathan Williams, and W. W. Williams. By 1930 the company officers were John Hickey, president and general manager; Thomas Hickey, vice-president; and J. C. Harrah, secretary-treasurer. These three men continued to operate the Co. until the death of John Hickey in September 1945. Within two months the company was purchased by the Taylor-Knapp Co. The company operated several silver, zinc, and manganese properties in the Philipsburg area, becoming one of the major producers of manganese ore for batteries. The company's primary mine was the True-Fissure. Other mines, including the Bryant, Climax, Durango, and Headlight mines, were operated under contract and by leasers. During World War II, the company became a major producer of manganese ore for the war effort. It employed 50 miners and could have used about 25 more. As the war ended production declined. In November 1945, shortly after the death of its president John Hickey, the Moorlight Mining Company sold all of its properties.