The New World Mining District Collection

What is it?

The historic New World Mining District is located in the Beartooth Mountainss, northeast of Cooke City, Montana, and Yellowstone National Park. The area was originally part of Gallatin County, Montana Territory, but became part of Park County, Montana, upon that county's establishment in 1887 and statehood in 1889. Initial metals mining exploration occurred in the area in 1869. Although several hard rock mines were located on Henderson Mountain in the late 1870s, they were not extensively developed until the late 1880s. The bulk of early mining activity in the district occurred on Republic Mountain, south of Cooke City, and at Miller Mountain, north of the camp of Cooke City during the 1870s. Extensive workings developed at the Homestake and Little Daisy Mines between 1904 and 1925. The Homestake Mine stopped only a few hundred feet from a high-grade ore body. This ore body was later discovered by Crown Butte Mines in 1989 and 1990 as a result of an intensive drilling campaign. Crown Butte, a U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian mining company, Noranda, Inc., planned to develop the site as a working gold-copper-silver mine. However, the location of the district in the watershed that fed into Yellowstone National Park drew considerable environmental opposition. After a settlement with the federal government, the lands and mining interests owned by Crown Butte, Inc. within the district became federal property within the Custer Gallatin National Forest. Additional mining claims in the area are still in private ownership.

The New World Mining District records consist of photocopies of record books documenting miners and mining claims near Cooke City, Montana, from 1882 to 1898. The first record book, contains claim registers and district miner’s meeting minutes dating from 1882 to 1883, in what was then Gallatin County, Montana Territory. The meeting minutes describe formal gatherings of local miners to decide on matters such as claim registration rules and bylaws for the district. The claim registrations in the book give the owner’s names, legal descriptions of the claim site, and document payment of registration fees. The second record book dates from 1891 to 1898, after Park County, Montana, was created from the eastern portion of Gallatin County. The book consists of completed “Affidavit of Representation of Quartz Lode” preprinted forms. These forms provide scant location information, but do briefly report on work done by the owners of various claims.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], New World Mining District Collection, Montana State University (MSU) Library, Bozeman, MT, [Item permalink or DOI]

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