Manuscript Group 367
Records, 1887-1984
169 cubic feet
The records of the Bunker Hill Mining Company were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the company in June 1991. They were processed by Judith Nielsen between October 1993 and October 1994.
Grubstaking, a practice whereby someone with a little extra money invested in a prospector, was common in the early days of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District. The usual arrangement was that the grubstaker would provide a prospector with a burro and a month's provisions in exchange for an agreement to share in any mineral wealth discovered. It was under these conditions that Murray merchants John T. Cooper and Origin O. Peck outfitted Noah S. Kellogg when he set out to look for gold up the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River in August of 1885.
The Bunker Hill lode, in Milo Gulch, was discovered by Kellogg on September 9, 1885. Legend has it that it was his wandering burro who found the outcropping. Since Kellogg did not know the value of the ore he found, he showed some of the iron-stained galena to Philip O'Rourke, a former Leadville miner then being grubstaked by Jacob Goetz, who recognized it as valuable ore. The two then located the Bunker Hill claim in O'Rourke's name. On October 2, Cornelius Sullivan, a friend of O'Rourke, located the Sullivan claim across the gulch, and soon all the adjacent ground was taken up. As a result of the grubstake agreement, and after disputes and lawsuits, Cooper and Peck received a half interest in the Bunker Hill claim and a quarter interest in the Sullivan claim. Between the discovery and 1912 there were seven or eight litigation cases over claim ownership and extralateral rights. The principle suit, which involved the Last Chance Mining Company, was settled in 1910.
Soon after the discovery, the partners entered into an agreement with Jim Wardner whereby he would secure capital for development of the mine and construction of a mill. After negotiating a contract with Selby Smelting Company to treat the mill product he was able to interest a syndicate composed of A.M. Holter, S.T. Hauser, A.M. Euster, and W.E. Cox, all of Helena, Montana, and D.C. Corbin of Spokane, who organized the Helena Concentrating Co. This company built the first mill on the Sullivan side of the gulch in July of 1886.
In 1887 Simeon Gannet Reed purchased the claims and mill for a total of $750,000 and, in partnership with Martin Winch and Noah Kellogg, incorporated the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company in Oregon on July 29. Reed, John Hayes Hammond, Cyrus H. McCormick and principals from the Crocker Bank of San Francisco and Peabody, Houghteling and Company of Chicago invested large sums of money in the company. The financial headquarters of the company was transferred to San Francisco in September 1891. The Oregon corporation was dissolved on March 24, 1924, and the company was reincorporated in Delaware. It was not until 1956 that the name was shortened to The Bunker Hill Company.
As the tonnage of ore in the mine increased, it became apparent that a mill of larger capacity was needed, and in 1891 a new mill of 400 tons capacity was built in the main valley below the confluence of Milo Creek with the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. To transport ore to this mill an aerial tramway, with a horizontal length of 10,000 feet, was constructed from Wardner. This tramway served to transport all mine ore until the two mile Kellogg Tunnel was completed in 1902.
In 1898 the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Co. and the Alaska Treadwell Company each purchased 31.34 percent of the stock of the Tacoma Smelter on Puget Sound, rehabilitated the plant, and thereby provided a facility for smelting the ores from these two properties. This ownership continued until 1905, when the plant was sold to the American Smelting and Refining Co. at a substantial profit. The sale of the smelter also carried with it a contract for the reduction of the Bunker Hill ore for a period of 25 years. However, when the smelter closed its lead plant in 1912, Bunker Hill's lead was shipped to Selby, California, and East Helena, Montana for processing. Difficulties arose as a result of these changes and in 1916 the company began the construction of a lead smelter at Kellogg which went into operation in July 1917.
Two men stand out in the early history of the company. They are Frederick W. Bradley and Stanly A. Easton. Bradley first became associated with the company as a young engineer in 1890. In 1893 he was named general manager of the operation and in 1897 he became the company's fourth president, a position he held until his death in 1933. He brought to Kellogg another young California engineer, Stanly Easton who became general manager in 1903 and succeeded Bradley in the presidency. Under the guidance of these two men the Bunker Hill Company grew from a small uncertain mining and concentrating venture to a large mining and smelting firm.
Bunker Hill's first trouble with mine workers occurred in the spring of 1887, and over the next twelve years the company played a principle role in leading the district mine owners' resistance to labor's demands. Many of the events that took place during this period--including the organization of the Western Federation of Miners, the mill bombings, the declarations of martial law, the unprecedented use of "bull pen" stockades, and the "permit" work system--have come to occupy an important place in the history of the American labor movement.
August 19, 1949 saw the first interruption of operations in 50 years due to strike; this was settled on November 12. In 1956 a wildcat strike broke out, resulting in a short mine closure. Then on May 5, 1960, a 220 day Mine-Mill strike was called. This ended on December 10 with the Northwest Metal Workers Union ousting Mine-Mill union. The first major strike at the mine since 1960 was called on May 5, 1977, and lasted until September 19. During the strike salaried staff operated the smelter.
The Kellogg Tunnel, started in 1897 and completed in 1902, permitted vigorous exploration work to take place on the tunnel level and the intervening ground between it and the surface which resulted in the opening up of the Carey and July stopes on the 7th and 8th levels and the March ore body on the tunnel or No.9 level, three of the highest grade and most productive stopes in the history of the mine.
The South Mill which was destroyed by a dynamite blast during the strike and riot of April 29, 1899 was rebuilt in 1900, and in 1909 the West mill began operations.
In 1916, in response to a war-time increase in the demand for lead, Bunker Hill constructed a large lead smelter. A new epoch began with the opening of the smelter on July 5, 1917. This not only reduced costs of handling the ore but gave the company a second major source of income from handling charges for ore of other mines in the area.
On May 25, 1917, Bunker Hill and Sullivan joined with the Hecla Mining Company in forming the Sullivan Mining Company, which purchased and operated the Star mine at Mullan. This company was in existence until January 1, 1956 when it was dissolved, and the corporate name was changed to The Bunker Hill Company on April 1.
The ore from the Star mine had a relatively high zinc content and because there was no plant in the district to treat the zinc sulfide concentrates, erection of an electrolytic zinc plant was decided on by the Sullivan Company. Designed by Wallace G. Woolf and U.C. Tainton, construction began in 1926, and operation commenced in August 1928, thus adding a third major activity to Bunker Hill. The plant ran continuously until May l, 1930 when the low price of metals and the decreased demand for slab zinc made curtailment advisable. By 1936 the price of the metal had increased to the point where full capacity was again attained. Zinc production reached record levels during World War II and Bunker Hill was able to supplement its zinc refining operations with the addition of a cadmium plant. The technological process that was devised for the zinc plant was the first of its kind and was recognized as a significant new development in the field. Silver operations on a larger scale than ever before added still another phase to Bunker Hill's business.
In April 1920 Bunker Hill acquired 50% interest in the Seattle based Northwest Lead Company. This company manufactured lead plumbing supplies, white lead and other commodities, and furnished an outlet for a portion of the lead produced at the Bunker Hill smelter. Northwest Lead Company joined with Eagle-Picher Lead Company to form the Associated Lead & Zinc Company on February 27, 1948. In August 1956 Bunker Hill purchased the balance of the stock in Northwest Lead and this became the Sales & Fabrication Division; in December 1956, it purchased the Eagle-Picher interest which became Bunker Hill Chemical Products Division.
During the depression years of the 30s and the war years of the 40s, expansion of the company's facilities was somewhat limited. In 1939 an electrolytic antimony plant was constructed, but operated only a few years. Then in 1943, a slag fuming plant was erected at the lead smelter to recover zinc in the blast furnace slag.
A sulfuric acid manufacturing unit to recover the sulfur in the stack gasses was added to the Zinc plant facilities in 1954, and in the early 1960s further investments were made in the construction of a fertilizer plant.
Bunker Hill obtained Hecla's 50% interest in Sullivan Mining Co. in exchange for 275,000 shares of BH stock in October 1955, and also purchased 494,696 shares of Pend Oreille Mines and Metals Co. stock from Hecla thus increasing its ownership of Pend Oreille to 36%.
In 1960 a 130-ton per day phosphoric acid plant was constructed between the smelter and zinc plant. In 1965 this plant was placed into a joint venture with the Stauffer Chemical Company and a dry ammonium phosphate fertilizer unit added.
In 1963 the Zinc Plant sixth unit started operation. A $15 million expansion at the Electrolytic Zinc Plant which included a second sulfuric acid manufacturing unit was begun in 1966. Also, this was the year that the company started construction on a million dollar central research and analytical laboratory. Both projects were completed in 1967.
Fluctuation zinc and lead prices continued to plague the company and, combined with rising foreign imports of less expensive ore and a decline in the industrial demand for lead, there was much speculation about the company's future. This came to an end on June l, 1968 when Bunker Hill became a wholly owned subsidiary of Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp. Some observers felt that Gulf was more interested in stripping the company of its remaining resources than investing in its future. In August 1971, the corporate office was moved from Spokane to Kellogg.
In September 1968, Bunker Hill purchased the balance of stock in Zinc-Lock Company; this company was sold in December 1970. And in March 1969, the Cortez Gold mine in Nevada, 22% owned by Bunker Hill, started production.
Growing public concern with the environment in the 1970s compelled Bunker Hill to spend large sums on plant improvements in order to avoid further civil suits by area residents and to comply with federal air and water pollution control standards. The new Lurgi sintering machine started operation at the Lead Smelter in September 1970, and the sulfuric acid unit, too, was completed, representing a $6.5 million air pollution control project. Also in the fall a new $220,000 effluent treatment facility started up at the Lead Smelter.
Bunker Hill's underground tree nursery started operation in December 1975.
Bunker Hill began marketing its own metal production for the first time in the company's history in January 1976. In April construction was started on a 610 foot zinc plant stack and in June construction commenced on the 715 foot smelter stack
The recession of 1981 and the decline in metal prices led to another slow-down in operations at the mine and significant lay-offs ensued. Continued uncertainty about metal prices and the unlikelihood of winning wage roll-backs from labor contributed to Gulf Resources' decision in August 1981 to close its Bunker Hill operations and put the company up for sale. In 1982 the company was sold to the Bunker Limited Partnership consisting of Harry Magnuson, Duane Hagadone, Jack Kendrick and Simplot Development Company; the Simplot company dropped out of the partnership in 1987. Although the new company reopened the mine, the lead and zinc operations remained closed. The mine operated from 1988 to 1990, then, in 1991, the partnership filed for bankruptcy. An auction of furniture and equipment was held in August of 1991 and fire on September 23 destroyed the rock house and adjacent storage building. On May 1, 1992 the mineral rights were transferred to Robert Hopper, owner of Placer Mining Co., of Bellevue, Washington. Pintlar, Inc., a subsidiary of Gulf Resources & Chemical, remains responsible for the EPA Superfund cleanup of the smelter site.
Starting with the original Bunker Hill and Sullivan claims, the Bunker Hill Mine later encompassed 620 claims totaling 6,2000 acres. From the discovery cuts some 3600 feet above sea level, over 20 major ore zones were mined to nearly 1600 feet below sea level, a vertical distance of about one mile.
Four major mining methods were employed in the Bunker Hill Mine. The oldest is square set, cut and fill. This method employs support of the stope where the vein is mined with sets of timbers which are buried by sand fill pumped from the surface as the mining activity moves to a higher elevation. The broken ore is scraped into chutes by compressed air powered slushers where it dropped into ore pockets on the level below.
The second method is similar to the above, but no timber support is required. Air powered slushers or compressed air operated mucking machines on rubber tires are used.
A third important mining method is known as pillar mining. In this operation no timber is required but pillars of ore are left in place as supports until the stoping moves to a higher elevation, at which time sand fill is pumped in to provide the floor for the next cut. As the ore is broken, rubber tired, compressed air operated mucking machines pick it up putting it into a box on the back of the loader. It is them transported to a chute in the stope where it drops into the ore pocket on a lower level.
The fourth method is sublevel blasthole stoping. Diesel powered equipment cuts horizontal slices every forty feet in the ore zones. Then long holes are drilled in the pillars between horizontal slices. The holes are blasted allowing the ore to fall to the bottom slice. Here it is scooped up by diesel powered loaders and transported to ore passes. This method was used above the Kellogg Tunnel, and ore was transported by gravity to the tunnel and hauled out by train to the surface.
From the ore pockets on the various levels of the mine below the Kellogg Tunnel, ore trains powered by battery driven locomotives transported the ore to ore pockets located at the shaft. In the shaft, large steel buckets, called skips, were loaded and hoisted to the Kellogg Tunnel level where the ore was dumped into two large concrete bins. Drawn from these storage areas by gravity, the ore was next transported two miles to the surface in 22-car ore trains pulled by trolley and diesel locomotives.
At Kellogg the company operated the Bunker Hill Mine (lead-silver-zinc) and the Crescent Mine (silver- copper), a lead smelter and refinery, electrolytic zinc reduction plant, cadmium plant, zinc fuming plant, sulfuric acid plant and a phosphoric acid plant. At Burke it owned a 70% interest in the Star Mine (zinc- lead). At Seattle the company operated a secondary lead smelter, a lead fabrication plant and chemical products plant, all under the Pacific Division of the Bunker Hill Company.
At its peak the company produced corroding lead, antimonial lead, silver, special high grade zinc, zinc diecasting alloys, cadmium, specification lead alloys, leaded zinc oxides, dore metal, super purity antimony, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid at its Kellogg, Idaho, operations, and manufactured lead products such as sheet, pipe, sleeving, casting, solders, shot, lead oxides and battery oxide, red lead, antimonial lead, and soft and calking lead, at its Seattle, Washington, operations.
Subsidiaries and affiliates included Pend Oreille Mines and Metals Co., Metaline Falls, Washington; Reeves MacDonald Mines, Ltd., Salmo B.C.; and Metaline Contact Mines in northeastern Washington, and Jackass Ski Bowl near Wardner.
The records of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company and its successors span the years 1887 to 1984.
Administrative records, 1887-1978, include minute books, annual reports, and staff reports. Among the correspondence files, 1892-1981, are managers' letters, general correspondence, presidents' files, and letters arranged by individual writer. Accounts receivable, appraisements, audit reports, directors monthly statements, employee earnings records, and ledgers and journals form the Financial records, 1885-1982. Included with the legal records, 1885-1979 are the original claims register, court documents, property appraisals, and documents concerning the National Lead Company suit. There are a few items relating to capital stock transaction s, 1887-1968, mine and plant operations, 1906-1984, and personnel matters, 1941-1982. There is also a chronologically arranged historical file, 1885-1981, and a set of scrapbooks, 1897-1976 containing clippings about Bunker Hill and mining in general.
Another series contains various company newsletters, 1956-1981, including GAP News and the Bunker Hill Reporter. Bunker Hill operated several subsidiary and affiliate companies including Caledonia Mines in Kellogg, Metaline Contact Mines in northeast Washington State, Pend Oreille Mines and Metals in Metaline Falls, Washington, and Reeves MacDonald Mines in Salmo, British Columbia. Records for these companies are in another series. A miscellaneous series contains records of the Silverhorn ski area, plant handbooks and safety manuals, and reports on mining properties not owned by Bunker Hill. The final two series contain large collections of photographs and maps.
These records have been used extensively by University of Idaho history professor Katherine G. Aiken in the preparation of several published articles and a forthcoming book on the Bunker Hill Company. The published articles are: "It may be too soon to crow": Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company efforts to defeat the Miners' Union, 1890-1900, Western Historical Quarterly, 24 August 1992, Pp. 309-331; Bunker Hill versus the lead trust: the struggle for control of the metals market in the Coeur d'Alene mining district, 1885-1918, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, April 1994, Pp. 42-49; and "Not long ago a smoking chimney was a sign of prosperity": corporate and community response to pollution at the Bunker hill Smelter in Kellogg, Idaho, Environmental History Review, Summer 1994, Pp. 67- 86
Related records from the Bunker Hill company are in Manuscript Groups 130 (Records, 1894-1937, 5 cubic feet), 187 (Research and Development Division records, 1922-1982, 8 cubic feet), and 188 (Legal cases, 1899-1902, 1.5 cubic feet). The library also holds records from other Coeur d'Alene mining companies; see Day to Day: A guide to the Records of the Historic Day Mines Group in the University of Idaho Library (1992).
Most of the material in this record group was in labeled folders when received. Series headings were assigned during processing but the material within each series retains its received order.
Records tagged for IRS or EPA litigation remain in the possession of the company.
Minutes of the Board of Directors and stockholders, 1887-1968, are the official records of the proceedings of meetings. The majority of these are typed and in bound volumes. Also included in the minute books are typed copies of the Articles of Incorporation and by-laws. Other minute books include those of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, 1905-1927, and the Sullivan Mining Company, 1917-1955. Book two of the Sullivan Company had warped badly due to the thickness of the material glued to the pages; for this reason it was dismembered and the pages placed in folders.
Minutes for several internal committees are also included, the Management committee, 1955-1962; 1969-1972; Management-Operating committee, 1963-1969; and Policy and Development committee, 1956-1959. The Management committee was, until April 1955, called the Policy Committee. It contains reports on general operations by managers of the various divisions--Mine, Geology, Metallurgical, Plant services, Employee & Public Relations, and Financial. In February 1961 it became the Joint Management & Operating Committee, then in 1970 it split into two committees. The Planning and Development Committee was originally called Planning & Diversification.
Annual Reports, sometimes called Manager's reports or President's reports are yearly records of the activity of the firm. Annual reports from 1893-1907 are typed, while the remaining reports through 1978 are printed. In 1968 Gulf Resources and Chemical acquired Bunker Hill and the annual reports reflect all of that company's activities. The quarterly reports for Bunker Hill and Gulf are short descriptions of the income and expenses for each quarter.
Staff Reports to the Board of Directors, 1961-1968, are written reports prepared by the heads of the various divisions of the company and presented to the board at the semi-annual meetings. The 1961 report is dated August, and the years 1962-1965 contain a January and mid-year report presented in July or August. The 1966-1968 reports are dated January, and 1967 also has a bound volume of supplemental reports for April, July, and October.
The Printed notice of the annual meeting of stockholders in 1968 announces the proposed take over of Bunker Hill by Gulf Resources and Chemical Corporation.
The correspondence files consists of incoming and outgoing letters, some arranged chronologically, others by subject.
The managers letters are letters from the manager of the mine in Kellogg to the president of the company in San Francisco, detailing the operations of the mine, union activities, and related information. In 1892 the letters were from V.M. Clement to John Hayes Hammond; letters for 1893 are lacking; 1894- 1896 are from F.W. Bradley to N.H. Harris; 1897-1898, Frederick Burbidge to Bradley, also Bradley and Burbidge to Alex Granger; and 1899-1909 Burbidge to Bradley or Granger.
Then comes a general correspondence file, 1894-1900 which is an alphabetically arranged group (M-Z, 1898-1900, is lacking). The majority of these letters are inter-company correspondence between the Kellogg and San Francisco offices, although there are a few letters from suppliers.
Correspondence from stockholders contains both incoming and outgoing letters and is arranged alphabetically by the stockholder's last name. Most letters concern dividend payments, proxies, and stock purchases.
The F.W. Bradley correspondence files are arranged alphabetically by what appears to be the subject of the letter, although in some cases it is hard to tell. Letters were left in their original order. Most letters are from Bradley, as President as the company, to A. Burch and Frederick Burbidge and deal with routine company business.
The manager's letters of Stanly A. Easton, 1904-1926 (lacking May-December 1911 and January-March 1919) contain originals of Easton's letters to Bradley, carbon copies of letters from Easton to others which were enclosed in his letters, and copies of Bradley's replies. One file in this group concerns concentration and slips of paper in the main file refer to this concentration file, while slips in the concentration file refer to letters in the main group. For the years 1921 to May 1926 there is a separate file of carbon letters from Bradley to Easton. The letters from Easton to Jules Labarthe in San Francisco are original letters from Easton and carbons of Labarthe's replies. Most of these letters concern the cost of smelting.
A.A. Irish sold mining properties and his correspondence with Bradley, 1916-1928 concerns available mines.
Oscar A. Hershey was a geologist and consulting engineer who examined properties for Bunker Hill and Sullivan. His files, 1918-1929 contain originals of his letters to Bradley, carbons of his letters to Easton and carbons of Bradley's letters to him.
Easton's correspondence with the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company, 1925-1937 contains photocopies of Easton's letters which give information on Bunker Hill equipment and National Labor Relations Board hearings.
Urlyn Clifton Tainton was the electrometallurgist at Bunker Hill who designed the electrolytic zinc plant in 1926. His letters, 1920-1930, concern the treatment of ore.
The acid marketing correspondence, 1942-1954 and 1972 concerns Bunker Hill's supplying sulfuric acid to other industries.
The Employee and Public Relations Division file, 1955-1958, contains notices to employees concerning public relations matters. Carbons of letters to the department, and originals of letters from the personnel assistant and employee and public relations division manager are included.
Most of the letters in the Lead: Sales contract and correspondence file are to/from National Lead Company. Originals of letters from Nalco and carbons of letters to Nalco are included. The letters from Bunker Hill are signed by the Sales and Traffic manager; all letters concern the sale of lead and zinc to Nalco.
A note attached to the original bundle of Allied Chemical correspondence, 1952-1967, reads "Info was extracted from these files in response to a Justice Dept. inquiry re Allied Chem." Included are some original incoming letters and photocopies of outgoing letters which concern the sale of sulfuric acid.
E. Viet Howard's files, January-October 1979, contain photocopies of his correspondence, mostly inter office memoranda, concerning environmental issues.
The next group of correspondence is an alphabetical subject file, 1971-1981, maintained in the office of the president. Letters are both incoming and outgoing.
Finally there are letters between Frank Woodruff, President of Bunker Hill, and the Hecla Mining Company; correspondence with Hecla on the joint operation of the Star-Morning group, and financial settlements and progress reports of Hecla's work at the Star-Morning Mine.
There are many different types of financial records in the Bunker Hill papers. They are arranged in alphabetical order by type of record. The oversize journals and ledgers retain their alphabetical place in the inventory although their physical location may be on an adjacent shelf.
The first type of record is accounts payable/receivable. One group dating from 1965-1982 is in numerical order by account number. These folders contain memos, correspondence, ledger sheets, and financial statements. Among the accounts are accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory records, agreements, values of mining property, equipment, and taxes payable. The original folder headings were retained. These are followed by a group of accounts receivable, 1974-1975, arranged alphabetically by company. Most of the original folders contained only one ledger sheet, therefore several folders were combined into one. Other folders contained correspondence related to unpaid invoices and these companies have retained their individual folders. Other material in this group includes invoices, arranged alphabetically by company, and accounts payable for residential property purchased by the company between 1974 and 1976 from residents of the Silver King as part of a long-range goal to eliminate residential areas from within the industrial zone. The final items are detailed invoices from the legal firm of Brown, Peacock, Keane, and Boyd which detail the work done for the company from 1976-1982.
Each Annual report to the Shoshone County Assessor, 1957-1976, contains approximately 20- 22 sections giving values of the laboratory, North Idaho Phosphate Company, mine, acid, zinc and smelter plants, and other claims and properties owned by the company.
Appraisements, 1935-1977, are usually multi-volume sets which list the depreciated value and replacement cost of equipment and buildings. Unless otherwise noted in the inventory the appraisals were compiled by the General Appraisal Company. Also included are appraisals for the Sullivan Mining Company and Pend Oreille Mining and Metals. There are also eight volumes of appraisal reports and valuation analyses of property and homes owned by the company in Kellogg, dated 1974-1975, which were prepared by Reino A. Jurvelin of Acuff Realty, Coeur d'Alene. Included with these are plat maps, descriptions, valuations, and photographs. The legal papers documenting the sale of these properties are in the Legal series, box 58.
The Audit Reports, 1938-1968 were done by John F. Forbes & Co. of San Francisco. Most years include a regular and a condensed report. Audit reports for other companies are with the records of those companies. Forbes and Co. also prepared year end financial statements for the years 1961 to 1967, although the statement for 1964 is lacking.
Oversize volumes include cash book transfer sheets, 1940-1955, which is in two parts--cash receipts and cash disbursements; which also functions as a voucher journal, a cash received journal, 1940 to 1958, six volumes of construction ledgers, 1940-1970 which are arranged by job number, and four volumes of contract mining payroll journals, 1947-1969. which show daily time worked and earnings--straight time, over time, and bonus--for each 2 week pay period.
The Cortez Gold Mine was a joint venture formed March 17, 1968 to explore for minerals in Eureka and Lander Counties, Nevada. Among the records for this venture are distribution of funds and financial statements, 1978-1982 (the statement for 1980 was not included).
The Directors' monthly statements, 1955-5966 are a compilation of financial reports from all divisions of the company.
There are several types of employee earnings records. The first, 1937-1957, are 5x8 folders for each employee, containing employment information and records of earnings, these are filed alphabetically by employee. The second, 1975-1982, are computer generated quarterly reports listing alphabetically by employee the total of wages paid and taxes withheld.
There are also a number of financial ledgers, including general ledgers, and subsidiary and transfer ledgers for specific accounts.
Other financial records include lease data, payroll distribution records, actuarial reports on employee pension plans, property tax receipts, voucher registers and a product sales ledger for the zinc plant.
The Stearns-Rogers Manufacturing Co. purchase orders, 1951-1954, are for the crushing and drying plant, preparation and bedding plant, and the new pelletizing plant. Each project is contained in a separate binder; there is no correlation between these and the construction ledgers.
Another binder is labeled Singmaster and Breyer story, Zinc plant, 1952-1954. It contains a monthly list of costs associated with the Singmaster and Breyer contract, broken down by unit, e.g., land and improvement, utilities and service, engineering, field expense, roaster no.9, acid plant, and electrical system.
The claims register, 1885-1904, is an oversize volume, arranged alphabetically, which gives the name of the mining claim, the mining district, county, state, name of the locator, date, annual labor record, and transfer history for each claim owned by the Bunker Hill company. Each claim is on a separate page.
Boxes 54 and 55 contain court documents, both typed and printed, which include transcripts of testimony, affidavits, and correspondence. Included are 6 volumes of transcripts and briefs in the Timothy McCarthy vs. Bunker Hill and Sullivan case, 1904-1906.
The agreements, contracts, and similar documents found in boxes 56 and 57 were originally in numbered folders; some were filed behind a subject divider, others began a numerical sequence without the divider. The folders were left in their original order and the subject divisions are in bold type in the inventory.
The property appraisals include correspondence, legal documents and legal descriptions of property and houses acquired by Bunker Hill because of lead contamination in the soil, also material concerning other homes owned by the company. The first folder contains photographs of some of the houses. These papers are in alphabetical order by owner of the property. The financial appraisals of these properties are in box 31 with appraisals of other company property.
In 1968, due to a change in the lead-zinc market, Bunker Hill abandon its development of the Higdon properties in Missouri, which were owned by National Lead Company. NLI responded by changing the discount procedure of the zinc it bought from Bunker Hill. NLI sued also Bunker Hill over the lack of development of Higdon. The related papers include correspondence, legal briefs, affidavits, contracts, invoices and other financial material. All materials are photocopies. Some documents were NLI records given to Bunker Hill, while others were Bunker Hill records given to NLI. The documents from NLI were in labeled folders and the folder headings were retained during processing. Those furnished by Bunker Hill were separated by paper clips or elastic bands, and were not labeled; they are therefore called Group 1, Group 2, etc., in the inventory.
The material in this series consists of two books of canceled stock certificates for the Nevada Bunker Hill and Sullivan Company, 1909-1917, and stock ledgers and journals for the Bunker Hill Company.
The stock ledgers are the official record of stock ownership, recording all changes in holdings, the names and addresses of shareholders, the date of issue, the certificate number, from whom it was received, the number of shares received, the date of cancellation, and to whom it was transferred. These are bound volumes and are arranged alphabetically. The stock journals list changed in stock ownership chronologically.
The ledger and journal for the Oregon based company are for common stock, 1887-1924, and voting trust, 1917-1924, whereas the Delaware company includes common stock, 1924-1927, preferred stock, 1925- 1927, and voting trust stock, 1924-1935.
There are four bound volumes of stock transfer ledgers, 1912-1918, plus another stock ledger for 1910- 1916, but there does not appear to be any relationship between the single volume and the previous four.
Box 66 contains a stock ledger kept on 5x8 cards from 1953 to 1068. Some of these entries correspond to entries in the Common stock transfer journals, others to not.
The nine volumes of common stock transfer journals are in order by folio number, each page being a folio.
This series contains plant and equipment records as well as ore shipment records.
The diversification program manual outlines proposals for effective functional operation of product and market development; research and development activities; merger, acquisition, joint-venture and new plant construction proposals; and liaison with industry activities.
Equipment records include blueprints and instructions for automatic station and switching equipment.
Among the ore shipment ledgers are settlement sheets, assays and bills of lading for copper residue shipments, 1966-1972; a daily summary of zinc plant operations, January-June 1945; a spiral bound booklet describing operations of each of the departments of the mine visited by the board of directors of Gulf Resources in 1968; and a computer generated stock control master inventory record listing all supplies on hand as of December 8, 1981. Also included are sheets documenting daily mill runs at both the south and west mills, 1930-1938, and 2 bound volumes of ore statements and smelter settlements, 1925-1930 which contain assays and shipping data. The mill assay records span the years 1906 to May 1955, with the exception of the volume for July 1926 to November 1940 which was lacking. The dump slag book, 1955-1970, keeps track of monthly amounts of slag received from the roasters and furnaces.
The majority of the material in this series was originally in two boxes labeled "Industrial Relations - Historical". The material was left in its original order, and the original folder headings were retained. It consists mainly of labor relations material and notes on bargaining sessions with the unions. The drafts of the contract with the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers and its local #18 are arranged by article number. Also in those folders are notes on the progress of the bargaining sessions. One group of material containing negotiation and strike material, memos, broadsides, newspaper clippings, and news releases was not in a folder and was therefore labeled "Miscellaneous". Another group of material concerns the National Labor Relations Board election which decided which unions would represent Bunker Hill workers. The two folders titled Recap of carpenters and machinists, blacksmiths, welders, and painters, contains bound volumes of detailed job descriptions for each employee in those classifications.
Other material in this series includes lists of hires, quits, retirements, and pension plan arrangements.
This file was set up by Ray Chapman of the Bunker Hill Company. He gathered material from various files in the company offices into one chronologically arranged group covering the years 1885-1981. Since it would be very difficult and time consuming to return items to their original location Chapman's arrangement was retained. Included are court documents, early correspondence to and from Stanly Easton, some of which predates his employment as manager at Bunker Hill, reports of Pinkerton and Thiel operatives during the years 1905-1907, newspapers and newspaper clippings, magazine, reprints of journal articles, brochures and small pamphlets, and company newsletters.
The first items in this series are large scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings. The first is 15" x 10" and is labeled "Coeur d'Alene and general Northwest mining news from Spokesman Review," and contains clippings dated between June 11, 1897 and July 21, 1899. It is arranged chronologically.
The second scrapbook is 18" x 12", and contains clippings dated between April 1899 and December 1901. The majority of the clippings concern the mining strike, riot, and trial in 1899. The remainder concerns locations and property transfers. It is in very poor condition--the pages are falling out and the newsprint is very brittle.
The clippings in the third scrapbook concern general mining news from 1905-1917. The scrapbook is 19" x 12" and is divided into headings, i.e. district, labor, lead, litigation, and smelting. It is also in very poor condition, the paper is brittle and the pages and some clippings are loose, also, the back cover is detached.
The remaining boxes in this series contain mounted newspaper and journal clippings which were originally in notebooks, but which were transferred to folders during processing. The first folder contains unmounted clippings, 1917-1960, with many undated clippings. The clippings for 1950-1951 are in alphabetical order by subject, and are from a notebook identified as belonging to Charles E. Schwab's files; many clippings from this notebook are coming unglued. The years 1956 through June 1959 contain only Bunker Hill related clippings, while the 1959 through 1971 folders contain mounted clippings separated into subject areas, i.e. Bunker Hill, Lead-zinc, Bunker Hill negotiations, Other negotiations, This week in mining (a newspaper column), and Miscellaneous. Following this group are clippings with specific folder headings, e.g. Wildcat strike, 1956; Strike log, 1960, which contains clippings, transcripts of radio broadcasts, strike bulletins and a photograph of Bunker Hill during the strike. Another scrapbook contains clippings about pollution. The scrapbooks about the Sunshine Mine fire disaster in 1972, also contain several items of correspondence thanking Bunker Hill for its assistance in the rescue operation, a diary of rescue operations, and related manuscript notes.
There is a notebook containing obituaries of company president John D. Bradley, collected from many sources. He and his wife, a daughter of Stanly Easton, were killed in an automobile accident in San Francisco on November 26, 1959.
Notebooks one and two were also dismantled and the contents placed in folders. Notebook 1, 1921-1970, contains reprints, photocopies, articles, and pamphlets on Bunker Hill, Crescent, Galena, and other Coeur d'Alene area mines. Notebook 2 contains reprints, typed papers, and journal articles dealing with the geology of the Coeur d'Alene region.
There is one folder of official company news releases, 1969-1972, and a collection of articles on the Bunker Hill Company, its mine, smelter, and concentrator.
The final items in the series are two oversize scrapbooks containing dividend notices, earnings reports, quarterly reports, reports to employees, etc., for the years 1912-1961.
The next series is comprised of the various newsletters published by the company.
GAP News. In October 1972 Bunker Hill Public Relations Department installed a telephone hotline called GAP to give employees daily news of plant operations. This was later supplemented by printed copies for those in the mine who didn't have access to a telephone. The paper copies, which span the period January 1976 to May 1977, are daily, single page news letters which report on the general plant operations and give weather forecasts. They appear to be photocopies of a typewritten master copy.
The Bunker Hill Reporter, 1956-1977, began as a monthly newsletter prepared by the Employee and Public Relations Division of the company. It covered activities of the company in Kellogg, Seattle and elsewhere, and gave employees a picture of the overall workings of the company. In 1977 it became bimonthly. This is not a complete set, many years have missing issues.
The Bunker Hill Company Report was the publication which replaced the Reporter and was issued quarterly. The only issues in this collection are v.l, no.1, and a special issue, both dated 1978.
The July and August 1981 issues of Intercom appear to contain information similar to that in the Reporter. There is no indication which division of the company published this newsletter.
The last publication in this series is the first issue of Lifelines published by the Bunker Hill Co. Safety Department.
The remaining material in this series consists of research material used in writing Reporter articles and mockups for v.2, no. 4 & 5 showing the difference in size and lay out.
Larger subsidiaries and affiliates Bunker Hill included Caledonia Mines, Kellogg, Idaho; Metaline Contact Mines in northeastern Washington; Pend Oreille Mines and Metals Co., Metaline Falls, Washington; and Reeves MacDonald Mines, Ltd., Salmo B.C.
The Caledonia Mining Company was incorporated July 1, 1907, with Stanly Easton as its president and manager. it had 2 patented claims in the Yreka district adjacent to Bunker Hill claims, in fact, the equipment to work the mine was rented from Bunker Hill which also controlled a majority of the stock. During the depression of 1921 Caledonia managed to maintain capacity production, but closed the latter part of 1927 except for unimportant leasing operations. The records for this company include financial ledgers and journals, cashbooks, voucher registers, stock and dividend records, most covering the years 1907-1918.
Metaline Falls Lead and Zinc (1928-1931) was reorganized as Metaline Metals (1931-1945), and later became Metaline Contact Mines (1949-1952). Records for these companies include minute books, 1928-1945, a financial journal, 1928-1944, and audit reports, 1949-1952.
Pend Oreille Lead and Zinc was taken over by Pend Oreille Mines and Metals in 1929, and in 1945 Metaline Metals merged with the company. Pend Oreille Mines and Metals merged into Bunker Hill in 1974. Pend Oreille Oil and Gas was a wholly owned subsidiary of Pend Oreille Mines and Metals. The records for the Pend Oreille Mines were originally in two large storage boxes. They were transferred to smaller (l cubic foot) boxes during processing, but the original order and folder headings were retained. Among the records are articles of incorporation, minute books, annual reports, correspondence, alphabetical filed maintained by Don Wilson, secretary of the company, which include financial records, correspondence and dividend records.
Reeves MacDonald Mines, Ltd, of Salmo/Remac B.C. was owned 60% by Pend Oreille Mines. It was developed with Spokane capital in 1949. The main Reeves mine worked out in 1970, but later work was carried out in the Annex mine on the other side of the Pend Oreille River. Mining operations discontinued about October 1, 1973, although development and exploration continued until all operations shut down in March 1975. In 1974 the British Columbia government passed a new Mining Tax Law which greatly increased the royalties paid to the provincial government. This act was protested by mining companies, but in September 1976 Reeves MacDonald and the other B.C. mining companies dropped their appeal. In September 1977 the plant and equipment were sold at public auction. Records relating to this mine are similar to those of the Pend Oreille mine since Don Wilson was secretary for both companies.
The Sierra Nevada Consolidated Mining Company, located in the Yreka District, Shoshone County, Idaho, was incorporated in November 1886, under the laws of the State of Oregon. During the years 1920-1922 the company acquired certain mining properties consisting of approximately 114 acres formerly owned by Coeur d'Alene Development Co. In August 1926, the company sold the surface rights to these properties to the Sullivan Mining Co. for $5,000. Mining operations by the company were discontinued in the year 1923, but subsequent to that date portions of the properties were operated by lessees on a royalty basis. Records for this company span the years 1914 to 1943 and include a financial journal, audit report, and bullion record.
Smaller affiliates include North American Mining & Milling Co., North Idaho Phosphate Co., Northwest Lead Co., Sullivan Mining Co., Treadwell Yukon, and Zinc Lock, which each contain only a few items. The records for all the affiliates are arranged alphabetically by mine name.
Items which did not fit into established series were placed in a miscellaneous series. Types of material in this series are a record of special trips made by Bunker Hill jitneys or buses between 1938 and 1940, visitors and guest registers, plant handbooks and safety manuals, reports on non Bunker Hill mining properties and geology prepared by Oscar H. Hershey and Fred Callaway, reel to reel tape recordings and 4 15" data disks.
Other material relates to the Jackass Ski Bowl and Shoshone Recreation, Inc. - Silverhorn Ski Area. Jackass Ski Bowl, near Wardner, Idaho, was constructed in 1967 on lands leased from Bunker Hill. Operations began in 1968, but several years of poor skiing weather caused the operation to discontinue. Assets were liquidated in a foreclosure sale by the Small Business Administration in August 1973 and were purchased by Bunker Hill for $100,000. The ski facility was reorganized as Silverhorn Ski Area under the ownership of Shoshone Recreation, Inc. Included are general informational records and monthly financial statements for the years 1973-1979.
A majority of the material in this series is in the form of photographic negatives rather than prints. Boxes 100 to 106 contain mostly 35mm, 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" and 4" x 5" negatives, with some contact prints. Negatives were transferred from their original envelopes to acid neutral envelopes, but were kept in their original order; original descriptions were also retained. The envelopes were placed in folders according to subject, and in many cases more than one envelope on the same subject was placed in the folder. Photographs are of the smelter, zinc plant, research labs and fertilizer plant, concentrator and mine area, coast operations, and Crescent mine. Another group of negatives were taken for the Bunker Hill Reporter, although not all shots were used in the newsletter. Approximately 100 identifiable nitrate negatives from the Mine and Mill series (series K, box 105) were separated from the collection and will be copied onto safety film at a later date. Negatives which showed signs of severe deterioration were disposed of by the University safety office.
There is also a group of glass negatives. Unfortunately many of these have been badly scratched, others are cracked or broken. None were identified. Some are pictures of the Bunker Hill mine, others are of people and events.
Other negatives include copy negatives of aerial views of the Kellogg operations, and other negatives, some in color, of the plant.
The slides were placed in plastic slide pages, with 20 slides to a page. Most slides are of the smelter, mine, concentrator and the offices of the Pacific Division.
The final items in this series include a notebook containing photographs of trucks and graders, possibly at the Cortez mine, negatives and prints of the official opening of the Cortez mine in 1969, pictures of Gulf Resources executives, and a printing plate for a $5.00 Bunker Hill check.
The final series consists of a large collection of maps, including stope maps, surface maps, and progress maps of Bunker Hill properties as well as maps of the Coeur d'Alene mining district. Of particular interest is a map of the Coeur d'Alene mining district drawn by Henry C. Ihrig and copyrighted by Adam Aulbach in 1899 (T-17 2712). A few maps were small enough to be folded and placed in folders; these include maps of building locations for the smelter, zinc reduction plant, research laboratory and gas plant, mine and mill properties and fertilizer plant. Other foldered maps are fire maps showing gas shut off valves, fire alarms, Grinnell valves and alarms, and fire hydrants for the smelter, mine plant, zinc plant, and phosphate plant and research lab. A majority of the maps are rolled and are stored in tall boxes. They are arranged by the Bunker Hill number. An asterisk (*) preceding the description indicates that the map was too large to be removed from the box which it was originally stored upon receipt by the library. A double asterisk (**) preceding the description indicates that the map is very large and mounted on cloth; these maps were difficult to handle and are not stored in numerical sequence.
Materials removed from the records include duplicate issues of the Bunker Hill Reporter and Annual Reports. These were checked against the holdings in Special Collections and the gaps were filled in. Other items removed were duplicates of mimeographed material, property tax installment receipts when the total receipt was available, invoices when the invoice register was available, paid dividend checks when the check register was available. Deteriorated photographic negatives, some of which were nitrate, were disposed of by the University Safety Office. Also removed were the 2 volume autobiography of John Hays Hammond which is available in Special Collections and Generals in Gray which has a reference to General N.H. Harris which will be reviewed for possible addition to the general library collection. The collection was reduced by a total of 42 cubic feet.
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