Musselshell Mining Company Records

Musselshell Mining Company Records, 1901-1908

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Musselshell Mining Company
Title: Musselshell Mining Company Records
Dates: 1901-1908 (inclusive)
19011908
Quantity: 0.5 l.f.
Collection Number: MG031 (collection)
Summary: Business correspondence and financial material of Lafayette Russell Parsons, business manager of this Pierce, Idaho, mining district mine.
Repository: University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The Musselshell Mine was a hydraulic placer mine on Musselshell Creek in what is now Clearwater County, Idaho, (1900-1913). The company was owned and operated by Charles McClintock of Detroit, Michigan, and John McClintock of Lexington, Kentucky, in partnership with Louis C. Roberts.

Prior to 1901, Roberts managed the company and directed mining operations in Idaho. Because the mine was unprofitable, the McClintock brothers hired L. R. Parsons to be business manager while Roberts continued to direct the mining operations.

Parsons was a personal friend of the McClintock family and they trusted him to look after their interests. He was also well qualified for the position. He was a recent graduate of the University of Michigan (MS 1900) and had a working knowledge of geology and chemistry.

The company continued to be unprofitable. In 1907 a geologist recommended closing the mine. The ore was low grade and there was insufficient water pressure for hydraulic mining. There was a shortage of operating capital. The partners decided to diversify into other ventures such as logging. The company suspended mining operations in 1907.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The records of the Musselshell Mining Company span the years 1901-1908 with the bulk of the material from 1902-1908. Most of the materials consists of the business correspondence of L.R. Parsons for the Musselshell Mine. Besides correspondence, there are some scattered financial papers such as canceled checks and monthly statements.

Folders one through four retain the original folder headings. The material within the folders is in the original chronological order. Folder five contains papers which were loose in the box with the correspondence folders. These consist of financial statements, legal agreements (grubstaking), canceled checks, deposit slips, a bank statement, tax receipts, grocery bills, a geologist's report, a subpoena and a small penciled map of the claims.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Musselshell Mining Company were acquired by the University of Idaho Library sometime prior to 1980.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/1	Correspondence 21 items	February 1902; October & December 1903; November 1904
1/2	Correspondence 130 items	January-November 1906
1/3	Correspondence 67 items	January-November 1908
1/4	Correspondence 139 items	1903-1908
1/5	Other papers 82 items	1901-1908

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