William Mayger Montana GenWeb Archives May be copied for non-profit purposes. Honorable William Mayger, one of the early pioneers of Lewis and Clarke County, was born at St. Louis, Missouri, November 24, 1842. His father, John Mayger came to America from London, England in 1837. He was married in his native country to Elizabeth Cheesman, also a native of London. They had two children born to them in that city: Elizabeth and Charles. With his little family Mr. Mayger came to St. Louis, Missouri, remaining there until his death, January 14, 1885, at the age of seventy-three years; his widow departed this life three years later. Their family consisted of one daughter and seven sons, all of whom are now living, with the exception of the eldest son, who died in infancy. William Mayger, the fifth child in order of birth, was reared and educated in St. Louis, In the spring of 1864 he came to Montana, (then the territory of Idaho) making his first mining venture on Silver Creek, where he met with varying success. During that same year Mr. Mayger discovered gold in paying quantities in the left-hand fork of Silver Creek and in company with J.W. Rhodes and Alvord Hintze he located the first placer ground in the gulch, organizing the district and naming the gulch in honor of the town of Ottawa, Illinois, the home of Mr. Rhodes.In 1866 Mr. Mayger and associates put in a bed rock flume, and continued to placer-mine until 1876 making as high as $30.00 a day, but the greater portion of the time with but indifferent success. He was the first to discover the float of the now famous Drumlummon Mine; this was in the gulch below where the mine is located. He and his partners spent many days in trying to discover the vein, but unluckily for themselves they were doomed to disappointment. In the following spring Mr. Cruse, having worked out his placer ground in Trinity Gulch, moved his camp convenient to where the lode was supposed to be, and upon the disappearance of the snow from the mountainside, he commenced a systematic search for the load. The first hole sunk disclosed the foot side of the vein, he then commenced a shaft some ten feet higher up the mountainside, which disclosed the vein and from which the discovery was made. After the Drumlummon lode was located, Mr. Mayger and his partner, Nat Collins, located the ground to the southwestand immediately abutting the Drumlummon location which they named the Ivanhoe lode, the discovery being made ona small vein near the southern end of the location. After representing this ground for two years, Mr. Collins abandoned his interest. It was at this time that Mr. Mayger, who was then at Butte, wrote to his brother Charleston to relocate the ground. Being fully convinced that the Drumlummon lode was not properly staked, he instructed his brother to move the stakes of the Ivanhoe lode higher up the mountain--100 feet on the north end and 300 feet on the south end. This Charles Mayger proceeded to do, but unfortunately did not calculate the steepness of the mountainand fell short in his measurement some forty feet on the north end, a circumstance that has caused the two brothers much litigation, from the fact that only a portion of the apex of the Drumlummon lode was cut by their north end line, consequently raising the question of divided apex, which could only be settled through almost interminable litigation. Mr. Charles Mayger named the claim the St. Louis lode, after the city of his birth.Its discovery shaft is on a vein that was first disclosed by Mr. Mayger when representing the Ivanhoe lode. In 1877 Mr. Mayger sold his placer mining interests and engaged in quartz mining, first operating at Butte, Montana, where, in company with John C. Rainsford, he purchased the Centennial quartz mill. Mr. Mayger soldhis interest in the enterprise the following fall. Returning to Marysville, he entered into a contract with Mr. Cruse for 2,000 tons of ore, to be delivered on the dump of the Drumlummon mine. For the purpose of millingthis ore, Mr. Mayger commenced the erection of a five-stamp pan amalgamation mill; this mill was built upon the mill site located on the creek just under the mine, and was the first silver amalgamation mill built in the County of Lewis and Clarke. The greater portion of the machinery for this mill was shipped from St. Louis, Missouri--first by boat to Fort Benton, then by teams to its destination. In 1880 Mr. Mayger sold this millto Mr. Cruse, who after making several months' run sold the property to the Montana Company, Ltd. Mr. Mayger,after disposing of this mill, devoted several years to prospecting and the examination of mines, extending overa section of country from Colorado to Canada, British America, spending two years in the latter country on a copper property owned by a Canadian and English company. In 1886 Mr. Mayger was united in marriage with Fannie McLeod, of Boulder, Colorado, a native of Florida. They have two children: Helen Delorm and William Jr. Socially Mr. Mayger is a member of the I.O.O.F. and also of theB.P.O.E. and one of the pioneer members of the Montana Club. A Democrat in his political views, he has served as Assessor of the Second District of Lewis and Clarke County, and was also a member of the constitutionalconvention that formed the laws for the state of Montana. In 1887 Mr. Mayger organized the St. Louis Mining and Milling Company of Montana. He has been its manager from its first organization and through frugal andeconomical management has from a small beginning succeeded in developing a mine second to few in the state. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format forprofit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express writtenpermission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.