On This Date in Minnesota History: August 16

August 16, 1912 – A party of Minneapolis men, headed by E. P. Moorhead, who has been prospecting in the vicinity of Northome, Koochiching County, Minn., arrived in Duluth tonight and report the discovery of gold in paying quantities there. The deposit is said to be both ore and placer. It is claimed that the ore averaged about $20 to the ton.

The prospectors claim that the district will prove an important gold field.
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“As early as 1865 prospectors began coming into the Rainy River and Rainy Lake area [in Koochiching County] on both the Canadian and American sides, to search for precious minerals. George W. Davis, a prospector, arrived at the Little American Island in Rainy Lake in July of 1893. He panned some quartz and found gold. News of his discovery spread quickly and soon hundreds of prospectors were streaming into the region. Mining operations by the Bevier Mining and Milling Company were in full swing on the Little American Island by 1894. Mines were also opened on the Dry Weed and Bushy Head Islands.”¹

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “Minneapolitans Strike Gold. Party headed by E. P. Moorhead Find Ore Near Northome, Minn.”; Aug. 17, 1912; p. 1.

¹http://www.co.koochiching.mn.us/220/The-Age-of-Mining

http://www.lakesnwoods.com/Northome.htm

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