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Rare Bodie Mining Lumber Agreement, 1880, Bodie, California (Mono County)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
Rare Bodie Mining Lumber Agreement, 1880, Bodie, California (Mono County)
SOLD
200.00USD+ (48.00) buyer's premium + applicable fees & taxes.
This item SOLD at 2017 Oct 19 @ 11:50UTC-7 : PDT/MST
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Very rare. Handwritten copy of 1880 agreement between S.B. Burkham and A.J. Nineuire (?) of Bodie and the firm of Bass and Cameron of Bodie. The first party promises to deliver wood to the Noonday Mine and Mill. Later in the contract, it is revealed that Burkham and Nineuire sold this contract to Boone & Wright (well-known merchants in Bodie). 12.5" x 7.75" with folds and light toning/soiling.

Lumber was a huge problem for Bodie, as any modern day visitor could surmise from the topography. Not only was the demand high for mine timbers, but also for firewood to survive Bodie's unbelievably cold winters. The forests along the Mono Craters were milled at the Mono Mills and shipped to Bodie via the Bodie & Benton Railroad beginning in the 1880s.

The Noonday Mine opened a mill in 1879 with 30 stamps and increased it to 40 by 1881. The Noonday Mill was unique in how it processed the ore. While the other mines in Bodie used the Washoe Process, the Noonday used the "Boss Continuous Process". Bodie historian Michael Piatt explains how it "reduced the amount of water in the stamp batteries, permitting [them] to do away with the slow, labor-intensive settling tanks that lost a high percentage of the ore’s value as slimes. Instead, crushed ore flowed from the stamps into the first pan of a series. Subsequent pans, settlers, and agitators, connected in sequence, allowed the pulp to pass from one machine to the next, flowing continuously through each. The first pans ground the crushed ore progressively finer while incrementally increasing its temperature. Quicksilver and chemicals were added about midway, after which more pans effected amalgamation. Separation occurred as the finely ground ore, water, and mercury mixture passed through settlers then agitators, each drawing off amalgam through siphons. Yields improved largely because very fine gold and silver particulates, normally expelled as slimes, were retained. Mortars equipped with larger than usual screens permitted the stamps to crush more ore in less time, increasing the mill’s capacity. The process also lessened manual labor and reduced fuel costs." City: Bodie State: California Date: HWAC# 50991