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Copper Queen Smelter Front Douglas AZ
Copper Queen Smelter Bowl Douglas AZ
Copper Queen Smelter Handle Douglas AZ
Copper Queen Smelter Reverse Douglas AZ
Gagnon Mine Butte Mt ca 1901
  Souvenir Mining Spoon Gagnon Mine Butte MT.JPG - SOUVENIR MINING SPOON GAGNON MINE BUTTE MT - Sterling demitasse spoon with engraved bowl showing mining scene and marked GAGNON MINE BUTTE, unusual wire wrap handle, 4 in. long, reverse marked Sterling with scroll S hallmark for Simons Brothers Philadelphia, PA who made Sterling spoons from 1840 to 1908 [The Gagnon Mine, located on the western side of Butte, MT in Silver Bow County, is one of the oldest and most productive of the Butte copper mines. Like many of the Butte properties in the very early years of mining development, the Gagnon Mine ownership was contentious. The small settlement of Gagnon was formed by Patrick Meagher and Antoine Gagnon just outside the town site limits of Butte on Feb. 21, 1877. They filed a claim on the property but the land was apparently owned by J. C. C. Thornton who purchased it in 1869. The courts sided with Thornton but he failed to represent the claim within the one-year period to maintain ownership. Meagher and Gagnon relocated the claim and named it the Gagnon claim. Thornton along with John Rosenfeld, Joel W. Ransom and Timothy Kelly bought the claim from Meagher and Gagnon and proceeded to develop a mine. These early claims along the copper rich Parrot lode that included the Park, Parrot, Original and Gagnon were filed as early as 1864. However it was the construction of local smelting operations in 1879 that triggered the expansive Butte copper production. Copper King William A. Clark formed the Colorado and Montana Smelting Co. in May 1879 and purchased the Gagnon Mine. Reorganized in 1883 as the Colorado Smelting and Mining Co., the company mines included the Gagnon, Original, Caledonia, Nettie, Hibernia and Burlington. The Gagnon was the main producer and was particularly rich in silver and gold along with copper. The name of the company was once again changed circa 1905 to the Trenton Mining and Development Co. as organized under laws of New Jersey with a capitalization of $2,500,000. The Trenton was controlled through ownership of the entire stock issue by Amalgamated Copper Co. The company employed John D Ryan as managing director, John Gillie as general superintendent, and Geo F McGee as mine superintendent. At the time, Trenton owned 35 quartz and placer claims and an area of 220 acres in the western limits of the Butte copper zone including the Gagnon Mine carrying argentiferous and highly zinciferous copper ores averaging 2.75 copper and 3.5 oz silver per ton. The Gagnon Mine had a 2,300 foot three compartment shaft sunk at an angle of 74 degrees and was connected underground with the Original Mine. In 1910 the Trenton Company was purchased by the expanding Anaconda Copper Mining Company.]  
Souvenir Mining Spoon Front Gagnon Mine Butte MT
Souvenir Mining Spoon Bowl Gagnon Mine Butte MT
Souvenir Mining Spoon Reverse Gagnon Mine Butte MT
De Smet Mill
Souvenir Mining Spoon De Smet Mill & Mine Central City SD

Souvenir Mining Spoon Gagnon Mine Butte MT | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON GAGNON MINE BUTTE MT - Sterling demitasse spoon with engraved bowl showing mining scene and marked GAGNON MINE BUTTE, unusual wire wrap handle, 4 in. long, reverse marked Sterling with scroll S hallmark for Simons Brothers Philadelphia, PA who made Sterling spoons from 1840 to 1908 [The Gagnon Mine, located on the western side of Butte, MT in Silver Bow County, is one of the oldest and most productive of the Butte copper mines. Like many of the Butte properties in the very early years of mining development, the Gagnon Mine ownership was contentious. The small settlement of Gagnon was formed by Patrick Meagher and Antoine Gagnon just outside the town site limits of Butte on Feb. 21, 1877. They filed a claim on the property but the land was apparently owned by J. C. C. Thornton who purchased it in 1869. The courts sided with Thornton but he failed to represent the claim within the one-year period to maintain ownership. Meagher and Gagnon relocated the claim and named it the Gagnon claim. Thornton along with John Rosenfeld, Joel W. Ransom and Timothy Kelly bought the claim from Meagher and Gagnon and proceeded to develop a mine. These early claims along the copper rich Parrot lode that included the Park, Parrot, Original and Gagnon were filed as early as 1864. However it was the construction of local smelting operations in 1879 that triggered the expansive Butte copper production. Copper King William A. Clark formed the Colorado and Montana Smelting Co. in May 1879 and purchased the Gagnon Mine. Reorganized in 1883 as the Colorado Smelting and Mining Co., the company mines included the Gagnon, Original, Caledonia, Nettie, Hibernia and Burlington. The Gagnon was the main producer and was particularly rich in silver and gold along with copper. The name of the company was once again changed circa 1905 to the Trenton Mining and Development Co. as organized under laws of New Jersey with a capitalization of $2,500,000. The Trenton was controlled through ownership of the entire stock issue by Amalgamated Copper Co. The company employed John D Ryan as managing director, John Gillie as general superintendent, and Geo F McGee as mine superintendent. At the time, Trenton owned 35 quartz and placer claims and an area of 220 acres in the western limits of the Butte copper zone including the Gagnon Mine carrying argentiferous and highly zinciferous copper ores averaging 2.75 copper and 3.5 oz silver per ton. The Gagnon Mine had a 2,300 foot three compartment shaft sunk at an angle of 74 degrees and was connected underground with the Original Mine. In 1910 the Trenton Company was purchased by the expanding Anaconda Copper Mining Company.] Download Original Image
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