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NV - Death Valley,Nye County - Keane Wonder Mine Agreements - Gil Schmidtmann Collection

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 300.00 USD
NV - Death Valley,Nye County - Keane Wonder Mine Agreements - Gil Schmidtmann Collection
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!!!
“Memo of Agreement between E.H. Wedekind and John Keane, et al.” Dated December 4, 1905 at Tonopah; this is between E.H. Wedekind of Rhyolite, Nye County, Nevada and John Keane and Domingo Etcherran of Inyo County, California. It is signed on last page by Thomas Keane as the “attorney in fact” for John Keane and Domingo Etcherran. Legal document is typed on thin paper and measures 13" x 8”. The cover of the document is heavy brown paper stock with red borders and measures 14" x 8.5”. The cover was printed by John Partridge, Printer, 306 California St, S.F. There are two brass studs which attach the document to the cover.



There are two documents in this memo. 1) Recognition of a previous informal agreement between the two parties giving Wedekind an option to purchase the mine. In this document, Wedekind agrees to pay $500 in US gold coin on account for assessment work on the mine. There is no signature from Wedekind. The second document in the memo is a four-page agreement. In it Wedekind agrees to pay Keane/Etcherran $1 and then agrees to incorporate the mine with a capitalization of $1 milliion. The monies will be held by J.P. Marshall of Goldfield until such time as the Inyo County Recorder can register the title. The stock was to be divided with 373,333 shares in reserve in the treasury and 626,667 issued in the name of Keane to be put in trust in the Ormsby County Bank in Goldfield. Wedekind agreed to put on account to the bank $150,000 in gold coin, to be paid in installments over the following year. Signed by the lawyer for John Keane and Domingo Etcherran but not Wedekind.



2) Simply titled “Agreement: E.H. Wedekind with John Keane, et al.” The date is January 8, 1906 at Tonopah. It is on the same paper and has the same appearance as the previous document. The purpose of this agreement is to extend the date of the first payment from January 20, 1906 to February 20, 1906. During that time period Wedekind promised to keep two men at work at the mine and pay for their supplies. Wedekind would receive one dollar “lawful money of the United States” from Keane/Ectherran during this month. This document is signed by Thomas Keane as lawyer but also by E.H. Wedekind.



In researching the Keane Wonder Mine, there is no evidence that Wedekind or his backers ever owned the mine. The Tonopah Miner Inyo Independent newspaper of March 16, 1906 announced that the mine had been purchased by John F. Campbell. [REF: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ca/keane.html].