Old Missoula

Death In The Mountains.

James McArrison Killed on the Sierra Lode.

On the crest of the mountain between Bear and Elk, there is a quartz lead called the “Sierra,” owned by Mr. Henry Grant. There is a tunnel on it running along on the lead which has a dip of 40% or 50%. This tunnel is in about 150 feet, and is cut partly in the granite in which the lead is cased. The nature of the granite is such that on exposure to the air it crumbles rapidly and requires substantial timbering. In this lead, on Wednesday of last week, James McArrison, formerly of Nevada Creek, and Jas. H. Hartford, of Bear, were working, having a cabin near by and engaged to work during the winter. On this day they had reached some excellent ore, and McArrison was highly delighted, picking it down in advance of the timbers and making exulting remarks. At about 2 ½ p. m., Hartford started out with a car load of ore, took it to the dump, and returning found some obstruction on the track. Calling to his comrade, he received no answer, and at almost the same time he heard the granite falling and knew he had run the car against a cave. Calling to his partner, he received no answer. Going to the cabin he procured a candle, went in past the car some 16 feet, when another cave came down and he only saved himself from being crushed by crouching quickly on the side. Getting out he went to Elk, three miles, for help, and as soon as they could reach the place, Hartford, Henry Grant, M. Corcoran, Ed McGune, John Childs, James Flemming, John Austin and James Barry, assisted by two Chinamen, set to work to rescue alive, if possible, the (illegible) into two shifts, and finding the crumbling granite came down like wheat from a bin, they started a drift, timbering as they went, the rock overhead coming down by tons. Starting at 4 ½ p. m. on Wednesday, these ten men worked without cessation until 11 ½ p. m. Thursday, when they reached the body, having run 36 feet in that time. It is regarded as extraordinary work. All the men notified had joined the party and they had no relief. McArrison was found dead, with 8 or 10 feet of rock on him. He was in a crouching position and was probably standing when the cave started. His neck, right thigh, shoulder and legs below the knee were broken and the body frightfully crushed. He had died instantly. Procuring a hand sled the body was placed on it and brought thus to the river, twelve miles, where it was placed in a vehicle, brought to Deer Lodge, and on Sunday interred in the cemetery from the Catholic Church, Rev. Father DeRyckere, officiating. Although he was a comparative stranger to most of them, a poor workingman, and it was mid-winter, the following persons from Yreka and Bear, all that had horses, mounted, formed a funeral escort, and made the round trip of nearly 150 miles, requiring four or five days’ time and heavy expense, to pay the last tribute to the dead. There were John McArrison, brother of the deceased, Henry Grant, Ed. McGune, Alex. Hiland, James Hartford, Wm. Kennedy, James Flemming, Hugh Gaven, Kerns Murray, Wm. McLaughlin, Walter Dumphy, T. McLaughlin, P. Casey, Thos. Connors, Jas. Auchinvole, M. Corcoran, John Pyne, James Laforcade, James Brannon and P. Brogan. Is there any other place in the world where a scene like this occurs? And yet, the like of it is no uncommon occurance here, and probably a third of those whose graves are in the Silent City beyond the little river were brought here from remote camps, by hard handed but warm hearted comrades, who attest by these deeds the fidelity of their friendship, the noble impulses of generous hearts, and “the touch of Nature that makes the whole world kin.”

The deceased was a single man, came to this country from Ireland in 1866 or thereabouts, and to Washington gulch in ’67-‘8. He has been working for the past year principally on the lead where he was killed and is highly spoken of by his comrades. The funeral was largely attended, and on Monday the escort returned home.

The above article appeared in the Deer Lodge, Montana newspaper The New North-West on December 18, 1874.

The location of this accident was not far from Missoula in the Blackfoot – Garnet/Top O’ Deep area. After visiting that area last summer (2019), I can attest that it is even now remote and still presents evidence of the furious mining activity that occurred there beginning 150 years ago. Climbing the mountain from the Blackfoot Highway side, visiting Garnet ghost town, wrenching further up to Top O’Deep, and exiting to the South down the loops of Deep Creek – it was a full days’ tour. A chain saw would have come in handy. Echoes of the past overlay the whole area. Abandoned stopes, piled berms and tailings, small ditches, trenches, large ditches and ponds, eroded banks and bluffs – courtesy of hydraulic sluicing, and all the other remnants of 150 years of mining are still there, if muted by time and nature. Carefully laid rock walls, cairns, and cribbing can still be found by a careful observer. Beartown, Reynolds, Yreka, Nevada Creek, Elk and Top O’Deep have all disappeared but the ghosts are still there.