Baileys LOST SILVER LEDGE of Custer Peak

Oroblanco

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Jan 21, 2005
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Bailey's LOST SILVER LEDGE of Custer Peak

***Author's note - This is an old one, but might be worth finding today.***


Bailey's Lost Silver Ledge of Custer Peak
silver-ore-quartz-calcite.jpg

In the early gold rush days of the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, a man named Bailey was out prospecting in the region near Custer peak. He became a little disoriented, so he climbed to the peak of the mountain to get his bearings. Seeing Deadwood in the distance, he then knew which direction he would have to take to get to town, and headed back down the mountain for his burro and gear. Somewhere along the way to where he had left his burro, he spotted some interesting quartz "float" so picked up a piece to have it assayed - the ledge it came from was nearby.

<Rich silver ore>
SilverOreUSGOV.jpg


Taking his burro to Deadwood, Bailey had his quartz float assayed. To his shock, the ore tested at over $15,000 in silver to the ton! That is nearly one-half silver in the ore. Bailey bought grub and supplies and headed back for Custer peak to stake his claim, knowing that he was now a rich man. Unfortunately, Bailey could not find the spot! He searched until he ran out of food and had to leave.

I have found when Bailey arrived in Deadwood on the Cheyenne & Black Hills stage (1876) and the assayers who did tested his sample; Bailey filed a pre-emption entry on a parcel of land outside of Spearfish, so he could be close enough to be able to search for his lost silver ledge and he made many attempts to find it, but was never able to find it again.

<Topo map of the area around Custer Peak>

CusterPk1.gif


Now finding a rich piece of quartz "float" (which is a piece of rock broken free of the original vein, usually some distance downhill or downstream of the vein) has led many a prospector on a merry wild goose chase - for glaciers have left such tantalizing "teasers" in many places, with the original vein being either many hundreds of miles away or even destroyed completely, so we might be justified if we were to dismiss this story as just another prospector being misled by finding a stray piece of float. However according to the United States Geological Survey, the Black Hills have NEVER been glaciated. Further, Custer Peak, at 6804 feet, has no high mountain peaks close by, so the ledge which gave birth to Bailey's silver-loaded quartz almost certainly came from somewhere around that mountain.

custerpeak.jpg

<Fire Lookout Tower on top of Custer Peak>

Custer peak is readily recognized by its conical shape.
DSC44688s.JPG


The Black Hills are famous for their rich gold mines, but rich deposits of silver have scarcely been touched. The eminent metallurgist Paul K. Sibley stated "To prospect for silver, start westward from Rapid City and head southwest toward Mount Rushmore, then start looking in the Black Hills." Scattered in various parts of the hills are several silver districts, Spokane, Silver City, Carbonate and Galena, all of which have produced many hundreds of of thousands of ounces of pure silver - a "bar" of native silver even being found in one mine. The attention of the prospectors in the Black Hills has always been concentrated on the gold, with but little effort being spent on the rich silver deposits, generally being ignored unless found by accident. One geologist wrote that in his opinion, there were silver deposits in the Black Hills which would rival the Comstock lode of Nevada or even surpass it, if only someone would take the trouble to mine it.

With silver prices running over $17 per ounce, the ore of Bailey would be worth $255,000 per ton today! The area around Custer peak is partly federal land and open to prospecting (but may have active mining claims on it, check with the BLM before going there) and partly private land, in which case permission must be obtained before entering onto the private property. The mountain itself is mostly volcanic rock which is considered a poor host rock for metallic minerals, but the foothills around it are of the right type for gold, silver, copper and tin - so the odds are this silver ledge is not on the mountain itself but one of the smaller slopes around it. Which one is the problem - if one could locate the site of Bailey's camp, and follow a path between that site and Custer peak, you should come upon the ledge or at least more pieces of the float.

<Example of "bonanza" type rich silver ore from the famous Comstock Lode in Nevada, Bailey's ore might have resembled this>​
comstock_ore02.jpg

Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek. And if you should find this lost silver ledge of Bailey somewhere near Custer peak, I hope you will post photos of your find here. :icon_thumleft:
your friend in 'Dakota Territory'
Oroblanco
:coffee: :coffee2:
 

Maitland

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Mar 15, 2010
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Re: Bailey's LOST SILVER LEDGE of Custer Peak

Excellent write-up and very interesting story!
 

OP
OP
Oroblanco

Oroblanco

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Jan 21, 2005
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DAKOTA TERRITORY
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Re: Bailey's LOST SILVER LEDGE of Custer Peak

Thank you very much for the very kind words! I hope you have a very pleasant evening, you sure made mine. :thumbsup:
Roy ~ Oroblanco
 

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