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Nicely Framed William Andrews Clark Signed Stock Certificate and Photograph

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:150.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 500.00 USD
Nicely Framed William Andrews Clark Signed Stock Certificate and Photograph
SOLD
190.00USD+ (43.70) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2016 May 13 @ 11:50UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Stock number A606 for 100 shares to QM Jones in 1885. Signed by secretary JH Moore and WA Clark. Iconic engraving by E. G. Williams & Bro, New York. Facsimile autograph.
Clark settled in the capital of Montana Territory, Bannack, Montana, and began placer mining. He soon changed careers again and became a banker in Deer Lodge, Montana. He repossessed mining properties when owners defaulted on their loans, placing him in the mining industry. He made a fortune with small smelters, electric power companies, newspapers, railroads and other businesses, becoming known as one of three "Copper Kings" of Butte, Montana, along with Marcus Daly and F. Augustus Heinze. Between 1884 and 1888, Clark constructed a 34-room, Tiffany-decorated home on West Granite Street, incorporating the most modern inventions available, in Butte, Montana. This home is now the Copper King Mansion bed-and-breakfast and museum. In 1899 Clark built the Columbia Gardens for the children of Butte. It included flower gardens, a dance pavilion, amusement park, lake, and picnic areas. Clark served as president of both Montana state constitutional conventions in 1884 and 1889. Clark's long-standing dream of becoming a United States Senator resulted in scandal in 1899 when it was revealed that he bribed members of the Montana State Legislature in return for their votes. At the time, U.S. Senators were chosen by their respective state legislators. The corruption of his election contributed to the passage of the 17th Amendment. The U.S. Senate refused to seat Clark because of the 1899 bribery scheme, but a later senate campaign was successful, and he served a single term from 1901 until 1907. In responding to criticism of his bribery of the Montana legislature, Clark is reported to have said, "I never bought a man who wasn't for sale." He helped fund the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. It would cut freighting expenses for his ore. In 1905 the city of Las Vegas was laid out on this line.



In a 1907 essay Mark Twain portrayed Clark as the very embodiment of Gilded Age excess and corruption, "He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag; he is a shame to the American nation, and no one has helped to send him to the Senate who did not know that his proper place was the penitentiary, with a ball and chain on his legs. To my mind he is the most disgusting creature that the republic has produced since Tweed's time." City: Butte City / Las Vegas State: Montana / Nevada Date: 1885 ID# 37246