The North Home Mine, source of North Americas finest vanadinite

Chris Tucker Minerals
Specializing in minerals from Montana

The North Home Mine, page 5

The Artifacts (to date)

Old mines often contain artifacts left by both the original miners as well as visitors over the years. Deep in the underground darkness of the North Home mine, a number of artifacts have been recovered. With the exception of a few pieces, everything found was left by the miners. The few exceptions are pieces of "trash" that various people had thrown down the shaft over the years, such as a safe, slot machine, and beer cans. Items left by the miners range from their trash to tools left behind. Unfortunately, the North Home mine has not been vary productive on the artifact front. As most of the mine workings are vertical, there are few places were the miners could place things out of the way of the day to day workings of the mine. The few pieces recovered are very well preserved and attest to the mines dryness.

The Surface
Items left on the surface are limited to heavy iron, anything less substantial has been lost to time.

The boiler to the steam plant at the mine. The remains to the shaft house lie scattered down the hill to the left, the main shaft lies near the upper right of the photo.

A portion of the steam works.

All the underground workings, with the exception of some portions of the No. 2 shaft, were driven by hand methods. Hand drilling is never easy, imagine working by candlelight and spending your day doing nothing but swinging a hammer and striking a hand steel, giving the steel a slight turn and striking it again. Stopping only to clean the hole or to switch out dull steel, once the hole was drilled to about three feet, another would be started. In the softer portions of the ore body, a skilled miner could probably drill a complete round in one shift; where the rock is highly siliceous, he would be lucky to complete one or two holes.

Food
Food containers found underground in the North Home mine
Food containers found underground in the North Home mine. From left to right, Red Crown Brand Vienna Sausage can, Federal Condensed Milk Company evaporated milk can, Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce bottle, portion of a Minnesota's Favorite Tomato Catsup bottle, and Quaker Brand Cane & Maple Syrup can. The syrup can dates from sometime after 1906, the others are believed to be from the same time period. Several other sausage and milk cans have also been found along with a number of unmarked bottles.

Light
W. & H. Walkers Steric Acid Mining Candles box
W. & H. Walkers Stearic Acid Mining Candles box. This is the box that the Candle box raise is named after. Portions of a Standard Oil Company candle box have also been recovered. No candle wrappers have been found.

Blasting Caps
Instruction sheet from a Metallic Cap Manufacturing Co. blasting cap tin
Instruction sheet from a Metallic Cap Manufacturing Co. blasting cap tin.

Some of the blasting cap tins recovered from the North Home mine. Left row front to back, California Cap Company Triplex tin, California Cap Company square Triplex tin. Center row front to back, Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company Silver Medal square XXXX, Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company Silver Medal round XXXX, Metallic Cap Manufacturing Company Gold Medal square XXXX (with drops of candle wax). Right row front to back, DuPont No. 7, DuPont No. 6.

The California Cap Co. tins date from 1880 to 1900, portions of an uncommon Quadraplex tin have also been found. The three Metallic Cap Manufacturing tins date from between 1880 and 1908. The DuPont tins date from 1905-1920. It is interesting to note that cap from the three major blasting cap manufactures were used in the mine.

Explosives

California Powder Works fifty pound "Hercules Powder" box from the late 1880's-early 1890's.

Five date Giant Powder Company 25lb box from the late 1880's.

1917 25lb Giant Gelatin V.L.F. box from the Giant Powder Co. Consolidated.

In addition to these three boxes, several others have been found, including a 10lb Giant and a 25lb Judson, as well as a few 25lb powder cans.

Tools
A few of the tools recovered underground in the North home mine.
A few of the tools recovered underground in the North home mine. From left to right, bull point hand steel, hand steel, blacksmith tongs, and an axe head. Several picks and shovels have been recovered as well.

Other items
Webster's Assay Office in Helena, Montana
Assay receipt from Webster's Assay Office in Helena, Montana dated Dec 22nd, 1896.

Baackes Wire Nail Company keg from the late 1880's.

The Salem Wire Nail Company nail keg from the 1890's.

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