LEAD AND ZINC ORE 275 



developing; them became too p;reat for their Rimple tools, 

 were found at a later epoch to be among the moat profitable 

 in the region. 



Improvement in the method of working the mines waa 

 very slow for a long time after the advent of white miners. 

 The first shaft in a lead mine in Missouri was sunk about the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century, Schoolcraft, who 

 visited tlie leading mining district m 1819, found about 40 

 mines, 4 or 5 of which had regular shafts. There was not 

 an engine of any kind — horse, steam, or water power — for 

 removing water from the mines, several of which, with the 

 richest prospects in view, liad been abandoned on this account. 



The reduction of lead ore to the metallic state was in 

 the earliest times not differentiated from mining. Any man 

 who found a vein could mine and smelt the ore roughly him- 

 self. The methods of smelting were crude in the extreme. 

 A hole was dug in the ground and lined with rocks. This 

 was usually located on a hillside for the purpose of getting 

 a strong air draft. Hollow log heaps were reared; the centers 

 were filled with mineral; then as much wood as possible 

 was piled on top of and around the heaps, and the mass was 

 fired, with the result that a portion of the ore was smelted and 

 ran into trenches in the ground. Sometimes this operation 

 had to be repeated three times. Rough pigs run into a scooped 

 out hollow in the earth itself, and weighing about 75 pounds, 

 were usually made by the Indian squaws. This method of 

 smelting was wasteful, but since the supply of ore was ap- 

 parently unlimited the same practice was followed as late 

 as the first quarter of the nineteenth century by white miners, 

 as well as by operators who worked their mines with slave 

 labor. About that time smelting began to be specialized 

 by ore buyers as a separate occupation. The methods of 

 reduction practiced in those days are thus described by 

 Schoolcraft : 



''Having raised a sufficient quantity of ore for smelting, 

 the next process consists in cleaning the ore from all ex- 

 traneous matter. This is done by small picks, tapered down 

 to such a point that a careful hand may detach the smallest 

 particle of adhering spar. It is necessary that the ore should 



