Ruins of Cracker Mine

View High-Resolution Image
Ruins of Cracker Mine

Ruins of Cracker Mine

Cracker Lake also was the site of mining activity in the past, and some of the ruins are still there today. A little information about the mining: By 1910, when Glacier National Park was finally formed, only a small number of these consolidated claims remained. Specifically, the major claims included the Bulls Head group operated by the Josephine Copper Mining and Smelting Company in the Swiftcurrent Valley; the Reid Mining, Milling and Smelting Co. (known as the Van Pelt claims) on the North Fork of Kennedy Creek (today's Slide Lake area); and the Michigan and Montana Copper Mining and Smelting Company at Cracker Lake. At the Cracker Lake mine, a tunnel had been driven some thirteen hundred feet into the mountain, including some four hundred feet along the vein. But even though a sawmill was built, a concentrator erected, and assays looked promising, a "well known mining expert of Helena, representing a mining syndicate" examined the various locations and apparently discouraged further development. The Cracker Lake concentrator never operated, but individuals like Frank Stevenson, Mike Cassidy, and a few others remained in the area, hoping eventually to prosper. Some of these mining claims still remain in private ownership within Glacier today. NPS Source Glacier National Park, MT-- August 2012
Bob Sihler
on Feb 6, 2013 7:43 am
Image Type(s): Informational,  Scenery
Image ID: 837246

Comments

No comments posted yet.