Gold - in county - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

CRAWFORDBVILLE, Ind.. December 28.—The statements In The News relative to the gold resources of Indiana have led to a revival of interest In gold In Montgomery county, and especially along Sugar creek, where It has long been known to exist more or less plentifully. Prof Donaldson Bodlne, who teaches geology In Wabash College, and Is a mineralogist of ability, has the opinion that the predicted gold craze In Indiana will end with many disappointments if much money is spent in working the limited deposits In the drift of the State. In speaking of the prospects of Indiana's becoming a gold mining center, he said; "There Is no denying that, gold exists In Indiana, and many persons who have not investigated the extent of the gold bearing material may be disappointed. If they assume that it is here In paying quantities. Such gold as is found along many of our streams and elsewhere was brought down from the north, by glacial action, and Is only to be found in scant quantities. Action of the Creeks. "Gold Is to be found where present, or past, creek action has concentrated the material. I doubt if It is plentiful enough to pay for getting It. because there is not enough material in any one locality to pay for putting In expensive machinery necessary to obtain gold In commercial quantities.” Only In metamorphlc rock* do we find highly paying deposits, and there are no outcrops of such rocks In Indiana. The rock about Crawfordsville is shale, and gold Is never to be found In It. The small deposits left In the drift I regard as of little Importance commercially, although they may be In limited regions. "It has long been known that gold is here, but scientific investigation has proved the uselessness of trying to obtain It In paying quantities.”

Gold Along Sugar Creek. “Perhaps no man Is better acquainted with the deposits along Sugar creek for the distance of about twenty miles in this vicinity than Tom Francis, who has spent several summers In prospecting. He said: “I’m satisfied that there Is plenty of gold In Sugar creek. With no tools but a shovel and a common pan, I have washed sand from the creek bottoms and have never failed to find 'colors,' sometimes as high as twenty-four In one pan. I have heard that prospectors consider three or four 'colors' to the pan good. "I know a place about two miles down the creek from here where a man could make 25 a day If he were equipped.for It. Of course, he would have to have a Sluicebox and would have to shovel a great deal "I used to go out with my father-ln-jaw. Jimmie Collins, and we panned all along, the creek from the old Hibernian mill, down by the old Indian ford, nine miles down stream, all the way up to Darlington, about ten miles from here, and we never failed to get 'colors’ any place we tried the sand. “Mv father-ln-law found a nugget down by the old mill that weighed about as much as a dollar and made a ring out of it for my daughter. We tried the nugget with acid and by other tests and it was gold.  

Washing the Sand.  “I never followed the work any length of time, because I wasn’t fixed for It. I would” go along the creek with my rubber boots on and try a panful of sand every now and then. I find the old beds are the best. I wash the sand around in a pan till finally the gold settles in the bottom and I can tip the pan and see several spots In the bottom made by fine pieces of gold. I never went very far down because the sand Is not very deep, but the deeper one goes the better It is.  "I had the opinion that there was a fountain head to It some place, and I was always looking for that.“It has been known for years that there Is gold in Sugar creek. ne first I heard of It was when David Johnson, an old miner, told me about It. There used to be a man named Colonel Blair, who owned a farm on the creek, and his men used to go out at odd hours and Sunday and get considerable gold.’’  Francis intends to continue his search and expects to work some of the best deposits he has found if he can get the permission of land owners.