DANIEL OLIVER’S MINING INTERESTS

Daniel Oliver’s interest in mining was apparent during his early years in Spokane. On September 5, 1885 a story in the Spokane Falls Review related that “Daniel K. Oliver and John R. Cook had claimed to make a good strike in northern side of Gold Hill and have named it the Spokane Lode.” There were no followup stories on this particular claim, but many such stories followed over the next fifteen years.

Spokane Falls Review December 31, 1890. “About two weeks before Christmas, A.L. Thorp and Daniel Oliver, of this city, were hunting deer on the mountain range northwest of Old Baldy. They had wounded a deer, which they were following, and when on top of a peak of the “hog’s back,” they came across a large body of white rock which they recognized as mica slag. A large boulder protruding above ground was found to have imbedded in its snowy depths a streak of beautiful mica. The hunters pushed on after their game, but the next day they returned to the scene of their discovery to pursue their investigations. Having no tools they were unable to do anything, so they returned to this city. On Christmas Day they equipped themselves with tools and returned to the place where they made the discovery.  “There appears to be a whole mountain of it,” said Mr. Thorp. “The ledge looked beautiful in the sunlight, resembling a vast body of silver.”

D.K. seemed always to be pursuing or developing mining claims anytime he had a spare moment. In July of 1896 SMOKED OUT was the newspaper headline for this story: “D.K. Oliver, councilman from the Second ward, returned last night from the North Fork of the Salmon river. He says he was driven out by the fires. He went in and out the same day. Most of the miners and prospectors are coming out.”

An October 2, 1896 Spokane Chronicle story told about R.A. Lee and D.K. Oliver having returned to the city from Methow where “they went to examine four claims owned by some of the courthouse officials. They were apparently getting samples of the ore for evaluation. Owners include commissioners, sheriff, plumbers, city engineer as well as Lee and Oliver.” A story the next day told of Oliver and Lee returning from squaw creek mining district with about 100 pounds of silver ore from the Ophir claim. ”The Squaw Creek mining district in Okanogan county, along with the Little Ida, White Lily and Iron Horse, is owned by A.L. Thorp, R.A. Lee, D.K. Oliver, H. Foster, F.A. Fender, H.G.  Stratton, T. Bertrand, Henry Treede, O.P. Anderson, and D. Collins, all of Spokane. Mr. Thorp, who is chairman of the board of county commissioners states that they obtained an assay from some of the poorest rock, all of which goes well in silver. The Ophir ledge is four feet wide, with well-defined walls. All the claims are on the mountain, where the Friday is located.  It is the intention of the owners to incorporate in the name of the Ophir Mining Company. Oliver and Lee stated that they drove right up to the claims and hauled in their stakes with a wagon and team. They think an ordinary team can draw out a ton of ore to the steamboat landing with ease.” In a July 4, 1897 a story in Spokesman-Review stated: A.L. Thorp, recently chairman of the Spokane county board of commissioners told of a trip to the Methow country to visit the Ophir Mining and Milling company.  “By the way,” Mr. Thorp said, “the crops in the Big bend country looking fine. Dayton Collins, Charley Oliver and I drove over together. You remember Collins? He used to be our janitor at the courthouse and a good man he is in any place. Charley Oliver is a son of City Councilman D.K. Oliver. He makes a good hand in a mining camp, too. I wish all the men and boys in Spokane out of employment would get out to the hills and make and effort for themselves. All may not strike it, but all cannot miss it, for the mineral is surely there.” In the story he described the Ophir as having sunk a shaft 63 feet and crosscut the ledge 19 feet, showing a body of ore all the way across and the foot wall has not yet been found.  The Ophir is owned by ex-commissioners Fender and Thorp and Commissioner Treede, Colonel A.G. Stratton and other former courthouse officials and employees. On September 11, 1897, story in the review stated: “Ex-County Commissioner Thorpe and D.K. Oliver departed yesterday for their mining claim near Grouse mountain, on the reservation.”

On May 2, 1897 an announcement in the newspaper declared the incorporation of the company—Pend O’reille Mining and Milling Company, $1000,000. Trustees: A.L. Davis, H.P. Glass, John Cassidy, F.C. Bailey, D.K. Oliver, C.N Bassett.

We have been unable to locate information on the proceeds these mining claims paid the owners, including D.K. Oliver. However, the claims were worth enough that as late as 1957 a lawsuit was filed to establish the rightful owner of the claim as a result of the discovery of uranium in the area. The heirs of D.K. Oliver and others were denied rights to the claim based on their ancestor’s discovery.