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Basin Mining Company Records, 1903-1925

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Basin Mining Company
Title
Basin Mining Company Records
Dates
1903-1925 (inclusive)
Quantity
.6 linear feet of shelf space
Collection Number
MC 311
Summary
The Basin Mining Company was a Granite County, Montana, gold mining company, with head offices in St. Louis, Missouri. Records include interoffice correspondence (1903-1923), general correspondence (1903-1925), records of a court case (1907), minor financial records, organizational records (1906-1922), and miscellany.
Repository
Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Basin Gulch Syndicate was formed by Paul A. Fusz and other St. Louis, Missouri, businessmen to develop gold placer claims in the Rock Creek drainage southwest of Philipsburg, Montana. In June 1906, the syndicate incorporated as the Basin Mining Company. Directors of the new company were Paul A. Fusz, Auguste B. Ewing, Mark Ewing, L.M. Rumsey Jr., and Joseph P. Hartnett. The company's mines were never large producers. Little work appears to have been done after 1909, although small amounts of bullion continued to be sent to the Denver Mint until 1925. By 1922 most of the stock was held by heirs of the original owners. The company dissolved in 1926 when its twenty year term of existence expired.

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Content Description

Records consist primarily of interoffice correspondence (1903-1923) and general correspondence (1903-1925). Correspondents in the home office in St. Louis include Paul A. Fusz, president; George S. Zehnder, secretary; and Charles G. Ewing, president after the death of Fusz in 1910. Major correspondents in the general office files include companies supplying equipment; mine foremen Peter F. Scherr (1907), Sam L. Clark (1908), Joseph Sorenson (1909-1910), and Charles Campp (1916); surveyor E.A. Cralle; the Forest Service; and the U.S. Land Office in Missoula. There is a file for an appeal (1907) of a U.S. Land Office ruling concerning the company's mineral entry. Financial records inlcude assay reports, scattered bills and invoices, orders for supplies, bank deposits, time checks, etc. There is one accident report for an injured employee.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

by series

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information:

available upon request

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection

  • Interoffice Correspondence

    • Description: Home Office (correspondents include Paul A. Fusz, George A. Zehnder, John R. Lucas, Charles G. Ewing, Jesse B. Mellor, W.T. Terrell)
      Dates: 1903-1923
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 1-9
      Location: Interoffice Correspondence
    • Description: Home Office (telegrams)
      Dates: 1906-1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 10
      Location: Interoffice Correspondence

  • General Correspondence

    • Description: American Spiral Pipe Works
      Dates: 1909, 1915-1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 11
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Anaconda Copper Mining Company
      Dates: 1915-1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 12
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: A-B (correspondents include Aetna Life Insurance Company, Anaconda Standard, O.J. Berry, W.H. Bohn, Frank D. Brown, Business-Men's Clearing House)
      Dates: 1903-1906, 1915-1917
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 13
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Charles Campp (foreman Basin Gulch)
      Dates: 1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 14
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Sam L. Clark (foreman Basin Gulch)
      Dates: 1908
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 15
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: E.A. Cralle (surveyor)
      Dates: 1903, 1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 16
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: C (correspondents include J.T. Conner re Chinese workers, Continental Oil Company)
      Dates: 1907, 1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 17
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Daly Bank and Trust Company
      Dates: 1904-1909, 1915-1917
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 18
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: D (correspondents include O.C. Dallas, Denver Engineering Works Company, Denver Fire Clay Company)
      Dates: 1907, 1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 19
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Gorham Rubber Company
      Dates: 1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 20
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Granite County offices
      Dates: 1906-1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 21
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: G-K (correspondents include General Naval Stores Company, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, E.F. Houghton and Company, Hans J. Kolbeck)
      Dates: 1909, 1915-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 22
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Montana Industrial Accident Board
      Dates: 1915-1919, 1925
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 23
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: M-N (correspondents include Montana National Bank, Montana Secretary of State, C.J. Morgan, W.S. Nott Company)
      Dates: 1906-1908, 1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 24
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Pelton Water Wheel Company
      Dates: 1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 25
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Risdon Iron and Locomotive Works
      Dates: 1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 26
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: L.M. Rumsey Manufacturing Company
      Dates: 1907, 1916
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 27
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Peter F. Scherr (foreman at Basin Gulch)
      Dates: 1907
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 28
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: Joseph Sorenson (foreman at Basin Gulch)
      Dates: 1909-1910
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 29
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: S (correspondents include Square Employment Office re Chinese cook, William Stahl, Standard Steel Works Company, D. Gay Stivers)
      Dates: 1903-1908, 1916-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 30
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: United States Assay Office
      Dates: 1907, 1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 31
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: United States Forest Service
      Dates: 1906-1909, 1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 32
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: United States General Land Office / Land Office, Missoula
      Dates: 1908-1909
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 33
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: United States Mint
      Dates: 1915-1925
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 34
      Location: General Correspondence
    • Description: U-W (correspondents include Union Carbide Sales Company, United Commercial Company, United States Food Administration, United States Geological Service, United States Surveyor General, Walker Commercial Company)
      Dates: 1904-1909, 1917-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 1 / 35
      Location: General Correspondence

  • Court Papers

    • Description: In the matter of Mineral Entry 173
      Dates: 1907
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 1
      Location: Court Papers

  • Employment Records

    • Description: Accident reports
      Dates: 1918
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 2
      Location: Employment Records
    • Description: Time checks
      Dates: 1919-1920
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 3
      Location: Employment Records

  • Financial Records

    • Description: Bank deposits, etc. [scattered]
      Dates: 1903-1922
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 4
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Bills and invoices [scattered]
      Dates: 1915-1919
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 5
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Orders for supplies
      Dates: 1915-1916
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 6
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Taxes
      Dates: 1917-1919, 1922
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 7
      Location: Financial Records
    • Description: Voucher lists [scattered]
      Dates: 1907, 1915-1918
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 8
      Location: Financial Records

  • Organization

    • Description: Articles of incorporation [copied from Secretary of State's records], proxies, minutes
      Dates: 1906, 1922
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 9
      Location: Organization

  • Production Records

    • Description: Assay reports
      Dates: 1918-1922
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 10
      Location: Production Records

  • Miscellany

    • Description: Explosives license, copy of USGS topo map showing Basin Gulch area
      Dates: 1918, n.d.
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 11
      Location: Miscellany
    • Description: Report on pits dug in Basin
      Dates: 1915
      Container: Box/Folder 2 / 12
      Location: Miscellany

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Gold mines and mining
  • Industrial accidents
  • Industrial safety
  • Mines and mineral resources--Montana--Granite County

Geographical Names

  • Basin Gulch (Granite County, Mont.)
  • Granite County (Mont.)--Industries
  • Philipsburg (Mont.)--Industries


2002

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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