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CO - Del Norte,Rio Grande County - 1875 - San Juan Consolidated Mining Co. Stock Certificate - Fensk

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
CO - Del Norte,Rio Grande County - 1875 - San Juan Consolidated Mining Co. Stock Certificate - Fensk
Session D is a Mail-Bid Only Auction. Absentee bids will be accepted only. No live bidding will be allowed. All winners will be contacted after the auction. BIDDING ENDS MONDAY JUNE 27 AT 5PM PACIFIC TIME!!!
Incorporated in Colorado in 1875. This firm owned the Little Ida Mine near Summitville, which was 27 miles from Del Norte. John Esmund, a local rancher, discovered gold in the area in 1870. The Little Ida was located in 1874, which was situated “immediately west and parallel to the Little Annie Mine. A rich vein of gold ore was discovered in the Little Ida which assayed $1500 to $2500 a ton in gold ore. Four months after discovering this vein, the mine produced $250,000 in gold. By 1881, the company had a 30 stamp mill operating. Thomas Meade Bowen [the secretary and treasurer of this firm] was admitted to the bar to practice law at the age of 18. He joined the Union Army at the start of the Civil War [in 1861]. When the war ended he settled in Arkansas where he became a State Supreme Court Justice. He was briefly governor of Idaho in 1871. He moved to Del Norte where in 1876 he was appointed judge of the District Court. As a judge, he traveled all over the country and became acquainted with the different mines. Legend says that he was a lucky poker player and in one game won many IOUs, which may be how he acquired ownership of the company. In 1883 he won a six year term in the U. S. Senate. By 1885 the Little Ida Mine and the other mines in the area played out and by 1889 there were only 25 residents in Summitville. In 1976, while the mines were under lease to ASARCO, an employee discovered a 114 lb. boulder by the side of the road containing $350,000 worth of gold. In 1979 Anaconda MC leased the property from the heirs of the Little Ida and other mines but decided against full scale mining. An open pit venture began in the 1980s . . . [but] a tailings dam failed causing much damage” [Ref: Holabird, Western Americana, Auction #11, Part I, p. 97-98, 2001]. No. 143 issued to Charles F. Gillett by Thos. M. Bowen, Secretary and Treasurer, and Chas. M. Tankersly, President on 28 October for 100 shares at $100 per share. Cancelled. Signed on the reverse by Gillett a witness and dated. Some wrinkling and yellowing. Good condition.