George Hearst and the Homestake Mine
Fred and Moses Manuel had trapped and hunted in Minnesota and Dakota for more than a decade before the Black Hills gold rush began. The brothers had tried their hand at mining in Idaho, California, Utah, Nevada, and Montana and liked it. Moses had just returned from Alaska and was contemplating going to the gold fields in Africa when he heard about gold in the Black Hills. Thinking that perhaps Africa was too far away, he traveled to Helena, Montana, to see if his brother Fred was interested in going with him.

The brothers started for the Black Hills in the fall of 1874 after gathering together a party of six other men. Entering the Hills near the mining camp of Custer, they prospected for a while but were not satisfied with the area. The brothers decided to make a prospecting loop of the Black Hills to see if any richer ground existed. They stopped briefly at the Hill-Yo Camp and helped a group of miners sink a shaft to bedrock, but again there seemed not to be enough gold to go around. So they packed up their goods and started out for a place called Box Elder Creek. When they arrived they found miners who were excited about rich diggings that had been discovered a little farther north. The brothers joined with another man, Hank Harney, who knew the lay of the land there, and headed for Whitewood Creek. The group’s first stop was at Bob-Tail Gulch where they located a quartz claim that would later become the Golden Terra Mine. Next they traded claims and acquired land at Gold Run. After prospecting the area, they put down a claim on what they called the “Homestake.” The men bought a team and a wagon, built an arrastra on Whitewood Creek, and started milling their ore. Meanwhile they continued to prospect, finding a large chute of ore and naming it the "Old Abe".

Seldom seen in Deadwood except when they needed supplies, the Manuel brothers preferred to work their claims, dividing their time between prospecting, mining, and hauling ore The Open Cut at Homestake, late 1800s to their homemade arrastra mill. During the winter of 1876-77, Fred and Moses mined, processed, and sold $5,000 in gold. After that, Harney and Fred Manuel went to Chicago, leaving Moses to look after the claims. He bought a ten-stamp mill and began running Homestake ore through it. It was at this point that Ludwig Kellogg arrived in Deadwood, scouting for investments as the agent of George Hearst. Recognizing the potential of the Homestake, Kellogg approached the Manuel brothers, offering to bond the mine for thirty days. The price was set at $70,000. Soon after that he also bonded the Old Abe for $45,000. During the thirty days, the Manuel brothers mined and milled as much ore as they could and then turned over the claims to the new owners.

Kellogg did more than just scout and bond. Numerous people recognized that he was providing something that had previously been missing from the Northern Hills’ mining scene: paying jobs. During the winter of 1877-78, Kellogg bought up water rights on Whitewood Creek and began building a five-mile-long ditch down Two-Bit Gulch. The ditch, which was finished during the first days of March 1878, provided water to exploit claims that had thus far had not been worked because of the lack of water. The Times touted such jobs as rejuvenators, providing grubstakes for numerous "ragged and hungry Bonanza kings that are holding other claims in the region".

In October 1877, George Hearst arrived in Deadwood to view the "New El Dorado" with his own eyes. His initial stay in Deadwood only lasted 40 days, but the impact of his visit would reverberate through the Hills for more than a century. In early November 1877, Hearst wrote back to his partners in San Francisco, describing the vein of gold ore on the Homestake claim as being 30 feet wide, 1,500 feet long, and at least 100 feet deep. He estimated that 60-70% of the assayed gold in the ore could be easily reclaimed with the correct equipment. He then recommended that 100 stamps be brought to the Homestake, stating that it would take at least 25 years to do the job. Hearst continued, telling his partners that many of the claims immediately north of the Homestake were almost as rich.

When he returned to Deadwood in March of 1878, newspapers and citizens were anxious to see what he would do next. In June he announced that he would be spending $225,000 to improve the mines that he and his investors had bought. Those improvements included two 60-stamp mills and a hoisting works for the Homestake #2 and the Golden Terra.

More than an account of his financial worth is necessary to describe George Hearst. Deadwood newspapers estimated his value at $20 million and then made fun of the shabby suits he wore. Rumor has it that the Native Americans in the area where he grew up called him "Boy The Earth Talks To". Certainly, Hearst did have a knack for finding gold, and gold is what he found at the Homestake. With a fondness for bourbon and chewing tobacco, Hearst should have blended in with the other capitalists in Deadwood, but very few of them had the dedicated crowd of observers Hearst had. If the weather was a bit nippy, Hearst would wear two vests, and the editors of the Times and the Pioneer would discuss his fashions as though they had never had a chill. When the Times told him it was time to get a new suit, he did. Then the media questioned its style, accusing him of looking like a preacher. Through it all, Hearst drank bourbon, chewed tobacco, played poker, and made more money than they would ever dream of. Perhaps at his core, Hearst was a man of common values. In July of 1878, Hearst decided he needed to broaden his experiences and proceeded to learn the art of bullwhacking. During one of his lessons, he lost control of a large team a few miles outside of Crook City. The team, which belonged to Patton and Flaherty’s Livery in Deadwood, traversed, unguided, through an extremely thick growth of timber and down a creek bed where a tree limb across the path halted them. The Times stated that "no jehu could have driven the team over the same course without colliding with a tree". In August of 1878, the Times printed, "Not withstanding all his wealth, (he) is most proud of his bull whacking acquirements".

By 1880 Hearst had accomplished all he had set out to do when he came to the Black Hills: he fought the legal battles, acquired the land for the Homestake, paid the money, and hired the men he needed to run a world class gold mine. He then placed Sam McMaster in complete charge of the mine and returned to his family in San Francisco. Hearst never returned to the Black Hills, but his presence and investment are still being felt today.

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