New World Mining District records, 1882-1898

The historic New World Mining District is located in the Beartooth Mountainss, northeast of Cooke City, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park. The area was originally part of Gallatin County, Montana Territory, but became part of Park County, Montana, upon that county's establishment in 1887 and statehood in 1889. Initial metals mining exploration occurred in the area in 1869. Although several hard rock mines were located on Henderson Mountain in the late 1870s, they were not extensively developed until the late 1880s. The bulk of early mining activity in the district occurred on Republic Mountain, south of Cooke City, and at Miller Mountain, north of the camp of Cooke City during the 1870s. Extensive workings developed at the Homestake and Little Daisy Mines between 1904 and 1925. The Homestake Mine stopped only a few hundred feet from a high-grade ore body. This ore body was later discovered by Crown Butte Mines in 1989 and 1990 as a result of an intensive drilling campaign. Crown Butte, a U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian mining company, Noranda, Inc., planned to develop the site as a working gold-copper-silver mine. However, the location of the district in the watershed that fed into Yellowstone National Park drew considerable environmental opposition. After a settlement with the federal government, the lands and mining interests owned by Crown Butte, Inc. within the district became federal property within the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Additional mining claims in the area are still in private ownership.