scholarly journals U.S. Geological Survey diamond drill logs, Kokomo (Tenmile) zinc-lead mining district, Colorado

1949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Herbert Koschmann
Author(s):  
Jarod Roll

This chapter explains the discovery of lead mineral deposits and development of lead mining in southwest Missouri in the 1850s. Far from markets and transportation networks, working miners discovered and claimed rich deposits of lead mineral in this isolated region in the midst of a national market revolution that made lead more profitable than ever. Their discoveries soon attracted the attention of lead-starved smelting companies from St. Louis and elsewhere that tried to take control of the mineral wealth from the miners, most of whom were white men. The miners resisted corporate control because they believed that the mines rightfully belonged to them by virtue of discovering and developing them. By the time of the Civil War, miners and the smelting companies had negotiated a compromise based on leasing. Miners worked leasehold mines and sold their lead mineral to smelting companies for favorable prices, thus preserving the rights and privileges of the men who discovered the lead, and also creating good opportunities for miners who moved to the area. While the war devastated mining in the region, the companies rebuilt the mining district after the war by reinstating the favorable terms for working miners.


2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Testa

Josiah D. Whitney and William P. Blake shared common social and educational backgrounds and pursued similar professional career paths at a time when employment in geology was undependable. Their professional paths crossed numerous times over the course of five decades in what initially was an amicable professional relationship that evolved by 1860 into competition for state geologist and director of the first California Geological Survey, and California commissioner for the London International Exhibition. Beyond simple competition, Whitney and Blake disagreed over important mainstream geological and ethnological issues germane to California during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The primary issues evolved around the potential economic value of oil and the Bodie Mining District, earthquakes and seismic risk, origin of the Yosemite Valley, the significance of the Calaveras Skull and the antiquity of man, the age of the gold-bearing rocks of California, and formation of the College of California. Both men were influential, however, Blake's contributions to the early geologic understanding of California were more optimistic and compatible with California's needs, while correctly forecasting the state's potential growth and providing insight into the geology and mineral and agricultural resources of the region. Despite Whitney's contributions while serving as director, his personal disposition and pessimistic views sealed the fate of the first geological survey of California.


2013 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 598-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Nelson Beyer ◽  
J. Christian Franson ◽  
John B. French ◽  
Thomas May ◽  
Barnett A. Rattner ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document