718 IDAHO MINING DISTRICTS. 



the river. Hall's claim lies a little lower down, about 700 feet above the 

 river. Some of these claims appear to be promising properties, but 

 the developments are slight. The ores are decomposed, carrying on 

 the surface a considerable amount of free gold. Some antimonite, 

 carrying no gold, was also found in this vicinity. 



The above are by no means all of the claims and prospects of the 

 district, but only such as showed any notable development or pro- 

 duction of ore. It is quite possible that some of these prospects may 

 develop into paying mines. 



. SILVER DEPOSITS. 



The Boise Mountains contain many notable silver deposits, chiefly 

 well-defined quartz veins with finely distributed rich sulphides and 

 antimonides. But it is not intended to take up the study of them in 

 this paper. The principal locality where silver mining has been car- 

 ried on is at Banner, 25 miles northeast of Idaho City. 



Many scattered quartz veins with silver ores, either galena or rich, 

 silver sulphides, occur in the area here described, but none of them 

 have produced much. A few deposits of this kind occur along the 

 Idaho City road 3 or 4 miles from Boise, and another' in north fork of 

 Dry Creek a few miles southwest of Shafer Butte. Other silver pros- 

 pects are located 2 miles south of Church's placers, in Marsh Valley, 

 and at several places near Horseshoe Bend, notably on the western 

 side of the Payette 2 miles north of the bridge. Many silver pros- 

 pects occur 1 mile east of Halfway House in the Moore Creek Valley, 

 and some of them are said to contain rich ore (Sunlight group). 



The occurrence of occasional silver deposits in the Idaho Basin has 

 already been mentioned in the detailed description in Chapter IV. 



PLACERS OF THE BOISE RIDGE. 

 RECENT PLACERS. 



The bars of the Boise and Payette rivers were worked in the early 

 days, and on some of them work is still progressing. The large 

 gravels of the lower reaches of both rivers contain a little gold, but 

 scarcely enough for profitable working. A dredger built some years 

 ago to work the gravels of the lower Payette near Marsh proved a 

 failure. The placers of the Moore Creek drainage were discussed in 

 Chapter III. Most of the creeks of the Boise Range have carried a 

 little gold, but few of them have been rich. 



Benches along Dry Creek and Willow Creek are worked at inter- 

 vals, even now, when water is available. Shafer Creek, at least the 

 branch heading near Cartwright ranch, carried a little gold. The 

 richest placers probably occur at the northern base of Crown Point 

 Hill at Church's in Marsh Valley; but the whole output of the recent 

 placers of the Boise Ridge is, if we except the basin, of small 

 importance. 



