any good prospecting around lame deer or forstyh montana?

[rochestergirl]

Hi everyone I am trying to find out some information on montana. I am leaving june 18 and i am flying there to work on the reservation.. so in my spare time i would like to try and metal detect. there is a town called forstyhe i think i spelled it wrong? if there is any information on where to go and if anyone rent detetors i would like to know.. thanks for any information.. lorraine

 

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[TOWcritter]

Welcome to the forum. Research , research , research. That's about all I can say about that. LOL. Start with the state almanac or even the phone book. Google everything in "quotes" It speeds things up a bit. Look at old maps at www.loc.gov. It's the library of congress and BOY do they havesome awesome maps there. Just follow the directions. Also download "terra client" It's a great mapping program that has ariel pics that you can overlay a topo map on. It's all out there for FREE!!, and ready for you to snatch it up. Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

[RAD In MT]

Hi, I just read your posting and checked my best references, Field Guide to Recreational Gold Panning in Montana, and Gold Placers of Montana, and neither of them show any discoveries in the area that you will be in. the closest is S.W. of Billings on the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River from the Wyoming border North to the town of Bridger. The gold there is what they call "flood gold", that means that "the flakes are very small, wide and thin, it can float on the surface of the water, a gold pan must be used carefully to recover it".
Farther West, some discoveries were made in Park County, one is Emigrant Creek just South of the town of Emigrant and another was Bear Creek between Gardiner and Jardine. The Field Guide also shows that flood gold is found in the Yellowstone River. Here is a quote from the Field Guide "The Yellowstone River from Emigrant to Columbus is better known for it's Agate, Petrified Wood, and for its fishing than for it's gold content. Most of the gold here is 'flood gold' and while there is a lot of it, it takes an awful lot of colors to make an ounce. 'Flood gold' is extremely thin and it takes 200,000 to 800,000 flakes to make an ounce. Look in the grass roots and in the sand piles behind logjams; the gravel bars shouldn't be forgotten either". Most of the gold discoveries were in the mountain areas of the South Western part of the state. Most of the good areas that produce gold are private property or have claims filed on them. Most claim and property owners take trespassing very serious and permission should be acquired before entering any private land or claims.
I don't know of any place in Mt. that will rent detectors. There are two prospecting/metal detector shops in the Helena area, one is The Prospectors Shop and the other is The Modern Prospector. I don't have their phone No's handy but if you want to check with them I am sure you can find them on the Yellow Page phone No look up on the web. Helena will be nearly 300 miles west of Lame Deer.
What kind of work will you be doing on the Reservation? Have you have ever been to a reservation in the west before?

Good luck with the job and the prospecting.

RAD in MT

 

[rochestergirl]

Hi rad,
thanks for your very informative information.. i have never worked on a reservation before so it will be an experience im sure.. i will be there for a couple of weeks..i have been to colorado when i was a teenager so going out west now should be more fun..sowhat part of montana are you in? and what can you tell me about reservations... thanks for your help lorraine

 

[RAD In MT]

Hi, Sorry I hadn't replied earlier but I had to take an un-planned road trip to North Dakota.

I am living in the Great Falls area near the Missouri River. Here the country changes from prairie to mountains. I have mountains west and south of me and a few scattered isolated ranges poking up out of the prairie east and northeast of me. Lame Deer where you are going is in a semi-mountain area, just west of the Custer National Forrest. It isn't very far from the Custer Battlefield National Monument where he and his troops got wiped out. It is worth a visit.

I haven't had much experience with Indian Reservations, but I have traveled through most of the ones that are here in Mt. Some are very depressing just to drive through.
What kind of work will you be doing at Lame Deer?

RAD

 

[rochestergirl]

so you live more west than where i am going? i will be xraying at the clinic there .. a bunch of us are working at the clinic to help out...well from what i read about the reservation it does sound depressing...they should declare themselves a forgein nation and they could get foregin aid that way.. lol..because they sure do need some...feel bad for them..but i never been out that way before and i am looking forward to it.. if i did go metal detecting where would i go off the reservation is there any metorites around that way?

 

[RAD In MT]

I don"t know of any meteorite areas but I am sure you could find out by doing a Google search. The agate in the Yellowstone River is quite popular. I will check some reference books on other rock/mineral collecting sites. I am not sure what areas would be available for metal detecting. Will you have a detector or will you still be looking to rent one. Around some of the old homestead sites or any old cabbins would be likely sites. I don't know what the rules are on the reservation but you could inquire.

RAD