These Histories are taken from the;

1901 Annual Report Of The State Mine Inspector.

This county, in view of the fact that mining has been engaged in within its borders since 1720, has shown a lack of enterprise and progress difficult to understand.

Mining for lead ore in what is called shallow diggings was carried on in that desultory way so commonly met with in this State where the ore is found near the surface, from 1720 to 1878, at which time the dissemination of ore was uncovered at the 100-foot level. From 1878 to within the past two years no systematic attempt appears to have been made to locate the disseminated ore bodies of the county if we except the Mine La Motte property. Here, however, the property has been owned for years past, first by Mr. Rowland Hazzard and since then by Mr. S. H. Leathe, both being old men.

The large body of land with its diversified interests, of a mining and smelting plant, with supply store doing a good business, drug store, post office, churches, school houses, many buildings furnishing homes for the miners. Over one hundred farms to visit and collect rents from, a ranch containing 2, 500 acres all fenced, a specialty being made of raising fine cattle, mules and hogs, together with a fine residence for the owner and one also for the Superintendent proving too tempting a bait to the pride and in its last analysis to be more of a hobby with these old gentlemen of ample means than a business proposition; with the result that no effort was made to increase the output of the mines, which could have been done easily many fold.

Recently the Catherine Lead Company entered the field and became possessor of 1, 500 acres on which it has sunk two shafts, erected a modern and up-to-date mill, and now producing regularly.

During the year the North American Lead Company has come into possession of a good body of land near Fredericktown, sunk a shaft to the 280-foot level and developed a very rich body of the disseminated lead ore.

One has only to visit the dump made in excavating this shaft to see the richness of what miners call the dirt.

The inspector and his assistant visited during the year a section of the county southwest of Fredericktown, where virtually nothing has been done to prove the territory; yet we secured specimens of the disseminated ore gotten out within a few feet of the surface; a test made of some specimens of what we thought was iron pyrities proved to be copper pyrite.

This same section has had considerable shallow mining done in it and the instances where the surface ores have been found are too numerous to mention.

The geological area of this section will, in our judgment, when properly developed, prove it a very rich mineral section of the county.

County to-day furnishes more nickel and cobalt from Mine La Motte alone than all other sections of the United States combined.

Now that the Catherine mines near Fredericktown has been found this valuable ore in its mines the product must be in the near future considerably increased.

Copper ore has not only been mined on the Mine La Motte property, but years ago quite a quantity of it was mined near Fredericktown and within a few hundred feet of the point where the North American Lead Cp., has its shaft sunk.

Silver has been found in this county in numerous places south and southwest of Fredericktown, the metal being found in true quartz-filled fissure veins, the most famous of which is known as the Einstein Silver Mine in the southeast quarter of section 12, township 33, range 5, east.

The deposits of iron ore in this county are numerous and valuable, and some day will be mined with profit.

Marble quarries are numerous in the county and no other district in the State will compare with this section in the variety, beauty, quality and quantity of its building stones, which are shipped and used in some of the finest structures in the Eastern States.

With further geological exploration, and a continued development as now appears to have set in, the county, already famous for its mineral resources, will, we believe, become more famous and one of the leaders in the mineral production of the state.

MINE LA MOTTE

This property is owned by Mr. S. H. Leathe of St. Louis and embraces very nearly 38,000 acres of land, a portion of which is in St. Francois County.

During the year 5, 200,000 pounds of lead ore and 84,000 pounds of nickel and cobalt was produced, which sold for $155, 000.

The equipment at the mines and smelter consist of the following:

Four shafts were operated during this year, the depts. Of which are 100, 118, 160, 170 feet, respectively.

The mill is a complete one, having a capacity of 110 tons per day, the smelting plant consists of calcine ovens, smelting stack and refining furnace; there are ten steam boilers, fourteen steam pumps, five steam hoisters, one hydraulic hoister, one crusher and twelve steam jigs in daily use.

The mine is usually free from water but a good water power is furnished by a reservoir covering 30 acres, which has a head of 70 feet, supplying not only all the water needed in dressing the ore, but acts in all needed purposes the same as a city water works and greatly reduces insurance charges.

The mines, while they have been operated without apparent effort to increase the business, yet the management , while the most conservative and modest, has been extra good, no complaints have arisen, no demand has been required for a betterment of sanitary condition of the mines or for any lack of ventilation and not an accident of any nature to record for many years.

Such record speaks volumes, and it is but due Mr. C. F. Stephens, the manager of this property, to make public mention of these facts, gratifying alike to the operator and inspector.

The inspector would like to see this great property developed and opened up to the extent that its opportunities warrant and under as good management as has formerly been experienced.

It is estimated that the Mine La Motte property has produced to December 31^st, 1901, lead ore to the amount of 253,360, 000 pounds and valued at $6,334,000, the output having been made from 65 acres of surface work and about 20 acres of deep mining.

Considering the estimate made by an eminent geologist that there are 12, 160 acres in the lead-bearing group embraced in the Mine La Motte property, it is evident that while mining operations on this track is old, yet the extraction of the mineral is in its infancy.

CATHERINE LEAD COMPANY

This company owns the fee to 1,540 acres of mineral land, representing a capital invested in the same amounting to $476,641, and $90,000 of capital invested in plant, with a total capital of $566,641.

Mr. H. J. Cantwell is President; S. H. Brickey, Vice-President, and Edwin H. Wagner, Secretary and Treasurer, all of St. Louis.

Mr. Wm. Magenau of Fredericktown, Superintendent.

The Catherine is operating two shafts, one having a depth of 100 feet, while the last one sunk has a depth of 160 feet.

The ore is carried from the shafts to the mill by an overhead tramway 9, 150 feet in length; the tramway was required on account of the mill being located convenient to water facilities on the Little St. Francois river, a flume leading the water from the river to the mill with sufficient fall as not only to aid largely in furnishing power for the mill, but in furnishing all water needed for milling purposes. The mill is a modern equipped plant, supplied with a Corlis engine, 14x36, two boilers, 54x16 feet, two pair of rolls, 14x30, two crushers, 9x15, fourteen steam jigs and four 18-foot slime tables.

A Worthington 10 inch triplex pump with a capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute has been installed, also and electric plant for drilling and other purposes

The production of lead ore amounted to 1,800,000 pounds for the year; but as there was no turn in of the nickel and cobalt mined its value cannot now be given.

THE NORTH AMERICAN LEAD COMPANY

This company is composed of Columbus, Ohio, parties, with Mr. Joseph F. Davidson as President and Mr. Frank E. Stoneman as Vice-President.

The work done by the company so far has been of a preliminary character wholly; drilling with the diamond drill and sinking shafts.

There are two shafts on the property on the property; but the main shaft sunk by the company has a depth of 280 feet, in the drifts from which a very rich body of disseminated lead ore was encountered.

Preparations have been made for installing a first-class plant and it is expected the year 1902 will show a good output from this tract of land.

The new shaft is a very short distance from an old shaft, we are in formed, that was worked forty years ago and out of which a large amount of copper ore was hoistedthat copper ore in quantity was mined here is a well established fact.

This property reaches very near to the city limits of Fredericktown and excellent transportation facilities will be had on the Belmont Branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad.

With a good output from this mine, the Catherine mines and a little more of the progressive spirit injected into Mine La Motte owners, large increased production may be looked for from this county.