The Homestake Mine


	This information appears on pages 846-848 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				THE HOMESTAKE MINE. 

	The Homestake mine, located at Lead, South Dakota, is 
incorporated as the Homestake Mining Company under the laws of 
California. It is the largest mine of its kind in the world and is 
known in all mining circles. Its distinctive features are the splendid 
equipment and efficient management that enable it to make a large 
annual profit out of a low grade ore yielding but very little gold per 
ton. It has grown steadily since its incorporation in 1877 and although 
at that time its holdings were but ten acres it now has property 
extending for two miles in one direction and comprising two thousand 
six hundred and twenty-four acres. 

	It was incorporated by several prominent mining men and 
capitalists of San Francisco for the purpose of taking over the 
Homestake lode claim, which gave the company its name. The claim itself 
was so named by Moses Manuel, who located it, and it originally 
consisted of a gold prospect of less than ten acres. L. D. Kellogg 
secured an option to purchase the claim for the sum of seventy thousand 
dollars, after thoroughly examining the property. He was a trusted 
agent and mine expert and his opinion was highly valued. The prospect 
was later visited by George Hearst, the veteran miner, who believed it 
to be a paying proposition, and he and James B. Haggin and Lloyd Tevis 
became the organizers of the Homestake Mining Company. In 1884, seven 
years after the incorporation of the company, Samuel McMasters, its 
superintendent, retired and soon after died, and Thomas J. Grier, an 
employee of the company who had shown a remarkable knowledge of mining 
conditions and a high order of executive ability, was promoted to the 
superintendency. For thirty years, or until his death on the 23d of 
September, 1914, Mr. Grier supervised the actual working of the mine 
and under his guidance it grew and developed into the colossal company 
of the present time. He knew how to combine conservatism with an 
openness of mind and a progressive spirit that made him willing and 
eager to adopt new methods when they were of real value and not merely 
of interest because of their novelty. He also understood human nature 
and was more than usually successful in securing the real cooperation 
of the army of men employed by the company in their extensive 
operations. At his death, Richard Blackstone, for more than three 
decades an employee of the company, was promoted from the position of 
assistant superintendent and chief engineer to that of superintendent 
and his record of marked ability, excellent management and faithful 
service in the former capacity is the best guarantee of his success in 
the more responsible position of superintendent. 

	When the claim was purchased by the Homestake Mining Company the 
exploration consisted of small surface pits only and some mining men 
considered its value as doubtful although there were a number of 
favorable surface indications. The Homestake Mining Company was backed 
by a great deal of capital and was controlled by expert miners, who had 
unlimited faith in the possibilities of the claim. The company 
immediately began the further exploitation of the property and two 
shafts equipped with hoisting engines were sunk and various drifts were 
soon under way. By July, 1878, or the year after the purchase of the 
claim, the first mill of eighty stamps was constructed and in 
commission. With the first dropping of stamps it was proved that the 
mine was a producer and from that small beginning the mine has steadily 
expanded, breaking all records and setting a new pace in the world of 
gold mining. Although it is a very low ore, illimitable tonnage is at 
the disposal of the company and large mills, the most improved mining 
machinery and great mechanical power enable the mine to pay large 
dividends. The facilities for handling vast quantities of material in 
the most economical fashion and with the greatest possible elimination 
of waste in ore, time and energy are indispensable in the successful 
operation of a mine of this type and the Homestake Mining Company, 
realizing this, has spent hundreds of thousands and even millions of 
dollars in securing the machinery and men needed. Their expenditure has 
been justified as the mine is the most gigantic gold-mining enterprise 
the world has ever seen. The company has steadily increased the extent 
of its property, buying additional claims as the development of the 
region and the resulting knowledge of conditions indicated with 
reasonable certainty the presence of valuable ore. By following out 
this policy of expansion and absorption in the last thirty-six years it 
has acquired the properties of the Highland, Deadwood, Terra, Caledonia 
and Father De Smet mining companies, besides those of lesser companies, 
groups of claims and many individual holdings. Its marvelous growth may 
be realized when it is remembered that it started with less than ten 
acres and today controls a body of mining ground extending from 
Deadwood creek on the north over the divide to Whitewood creek on the 
south, a distance of practically two miles, and comprising within its 
limits two thousand six hundred and twenty-four acres. The holdings of 
the company cover the strike of the great parallel lode system, known 
as the Belt. The company operates over all of this area and employs 
many hundreds of men in the various phases of its work. It has enlarged 
old and constructed new milling plants, installed a great deal of 
hoisting machinery, including an immense Ellison hoist, a new and even 
larger B. & M. hoist, has put in an extensive water system, which 
supplies not only the works of the company but also the cities of Lead 
and Deadwood and a number of other towns; has installed the Spearfish 
hydroelectric plant, the boiler and power plant; has built a viaduct 
connecting the mills with the railway systems of the company and has in 
other ways improved its property. The Star and Amicus mills recently 
enlarged have added largely to the company's capacity. The increased 
facilities mentioned were all provided under the regime of the late Mr. 
Grier, who was also responsible for the erection of the recreation 
building for employees, which will stand as his monument for many 
years. The company in its dealings with those who work for it has shown 
itself to be an enlightened modern business organization and has taken 
much thought for their welfare. 

	The Homestake Mining Company has six stamp mills, the smallest of 
which has one hundred stamps and the largest two hundred and forty, the 
total number being ten hundred and twenty. The mills reduce four 
thousand five hundred tons of ore every twenty-four hours and there are 
also two cyanide mills with a daily capacity of eight hundred and 
fourteen hundred and fifty tons respectively. There are also six shafts 
with steam hoists ranging in depth from eight hundred to seventeen 
hundred feet. All of the ore is handled on tramways operated by 
compressed air motors and there are in operation forty-one miles of 
tramway track under ground. There is also a slime plant located at 
Deadwood which utilizes what was formerly a waste product and turns 
into the treasury a neat profit from that source annually. The 
capitalization of the company was originally one hundred thousand 
shares but has now reached the enormous figure of twenty-five million 
dollars. Twenty-five hundred men are employed and the monthly payroll 
records the sum of two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. The 
total amount of its production in 1913 was six million one hundred 
eighty-six thousand six hundred and fifty-one dollars, which is more 
than the amount of wealth produced by any other concern in the state. 
It also employs more labor than any other firm in South Dakota and is 
capitalized for more money than any other company in the state. There 
remain immense unbroken ore deposits which insure the continued 
development of the company and which make certain its ability to pay 
good dividends for many years to come.