How the town of Wickes got its name

Phil M. Saunders, who was president of the Argentum Mining Company in 1876, had a small workforce of men mining their claims: The Argentum, North Pacific, The Fayette, The Alpha and their Fountain Head Tunnel, all in the Colorado District.  Saunders was well aware of the problems and struggle with costs associated with shipping ore and decided to go East to seek rich, interested investors who would see the value in the region. In March of 1876 he found those investors: Frank Frisbee, Philip W. Holmes and others. They set up a new company, The Montana Company, located at 35 Broadway St., New York City, with Frisbee as president, Holmes as secretary and Saunders as superintendent. The Argentum Mining Company received $15,000 ($415,000 today) for their mines and claim properties and “9,000 shares of full paid and un-assessable stock” of the Montana Company. Now with more capital available and thus more labor, The Argentum could be developed properly along with the North Pacific and other mines. Sinking a 100-foot shaft on The Argentum, they had accumulated a large dump pile of less valuable ore in mining the more valuable ore that would be shipped East. This ore had accumulated in great quantities across the region.  Soon Saunders found himself discussing the prospects of building a local Mill in the area that could process the less valuable ore from not just theirs but all the local mines.  

Back in New York, the idea was nearly instantly accepted with dreams of easy millions to be made.  The board quickly issued 10,000 shares of preferred stock offered at $100 per share, producing a capital of one million dollars (27 million today), and then after some consultation, propositioned to build a Concentrating, Reduction Works and Smelter at the source of the ore right there in Jefferson County.  Investors were highly accepting of the idea and revenue was generated quickly. Building of a particular type of Concentrator and Reducer suited for the type of ore in the area was needed. These Works would be fitted with a 60-horsepower engine, two 40-horse boilers, a Blake’s rock-breaker crusher, a Krom’s drying furnace using the newest technology, Krom’s rollers and revolving screens for sizing, and eight Krom’s concentrators and roasted with Bruckner’s cylinders with a capacity of 50 tons per day.  Superintendent Saunders wasted no time, set up an office in Jefferson City, and began subcontracting in June for construction. Several locations were considered and finally, the Montana Company Concentrating Works would be built at the junction of Spring Creek and Hawley Gulch (Finn Gulch today), about 4 miles west of Jefferson City. A. M. Holter & Brothers Saw Mill profited from this venture, supplying 260,000 board feet of lumber. Saunders also contracted out 1,200 perch of stone,150,000 bricks,15,000 firebricks, 5,000 bails of charcoal and 1,000 cords of wood. In early 1877 the Works were completed and began operations on Feb. 17. The Concentrating Works were a complete success in every respect and hailed as one of its kind in the Western Territory with capacity of 50 tons of ore processed every 24 hours. Mr. Krom, the patentee and builder of the machinery, was endorsed by George W. Rogers, the Engineer of the Montana Company, in a circular put out to the mining community. Miners from as far away as 20 miles came to see the works and left quite pleased and astonished knowing that they could finally sell their ore and make a profit.  

At this point, the town was growing quickly around the Works as the construction of the Concentrating works and Cloridizing & Amalgamating Works had employed 60 men and over 50 more indirectly. Even after construction was completed, the Montana Company had plenty of work in its nearby mines and was purchasing leases on the Bismark and Von Arnim in the Boulder District and The Rocky Bar in the Colorado District. Those men now had steady employment and no reason to leave.  The town still didn’t have a name but often people were asked “where is this?” Someone once said humorously “Somewhere” and the name took for a period of time. Even a Quartz Lode was named after it as “The Somewhere Lode” located by Phil M. Saunders and the Montana Co. on Sept. 19, 1876 and often the Helena Herald Newspaper would refer to the town as “Somewhere” as well. In April of 1877 the Smelter was built, completing the reduction process for the ore, and attracting even more residents.

On June 14, 1877, the Board of the Montana Company elected new officers: William W. Wickes as President, Cole Saunders and O. H. Stevens as directors. Wickes wasted no time in making a visitation on July 26, 1877 for inspection of this most important enterprise of which he was now a major stockholder. He was also aware that the Annual Report was about to be released, which would show an operating loss and there would be anger and questions from the stockholders, who would not receive any dividends. John W. Eddy was appointed auditor in January, partially out of concerns that business was not being handled properly by Saunders back in Montana.  Now all checks, drafts, notes, contracts and bills had to be countersigned by Eddy that had been previously approved and signed by Saunders. In May, Eddy was sent out to figure out how to squeeze the operations and generate profits. There had only been complete confidence in the Works and Saunders was well-trusted by the miners, who had grown accustomed to the 30-day wait for pay after ores received policy.  There was no indication that there were financial difficulties and the Works operated steadily until around September 15, 1877, when the annual report finally was released in the Independent-Record Newspaper. Then suddenly the shock and panic set in. There was an operating loss of about $72,000 (2 million today). Having run up a bill of local debt that was owed to miners and businesses, suddenly there was doubt that payment would ever be made.  Pressure was put on the local government to do something about it and the Sheriff was sent to provide a notice and attach a lien. The result had exactly the opposite intended effect and the Montana Company Concentrating Works were forced to shut down until their debts were paid, putting hundreds of men out of work. Wickes quickly accessed the situation with no doubts in his mind that the Concentrating Works weren’t a large expensive mistake. He convinced the board that with some additional capital and better management they could upgrade the Works and increase the production of ore, shortening the interval of time necessary to recoup losses and make nice, solid profits.  He sent a letter to Rogers that stated all outstanding indebtedness would be paid and the concentrator would start up again in a short time, which was then announced to the public.  

By Oct. 18, 1877, to the delight of everyone, Wickes had raised $35,000 ($971,000 today) and deposited it in the First National Bank of Helena, which was announced by S. T. Hauser, the President of the bank. On Oct. 31, 1877, the Works resumed operations under new management and a short time later it was announced that Mr. Wickes had deposited an additional $15,000. It was also announced directors were amply able and willing to furnish $100,000 more if necessary. Cole Saunders, one of the principal investors, was sent to make sure everything went as planned. The debt was paid, $56,000 in cash, then improvements would cost some additional $25,000 ($700,000 today). In 1878 many of the components of the Works were doubled in capacity and now all base bullion could be run through the Works without costly shipping back East. With the new works in place Cole Saunders, was able to pay $40-$50 ($1100-$1300 today) per ton out to the miners as long as that ore would assay at $90 to $100 ($2500-$2700) per ton, turning a clear profit for the company. In early 1878 ore was being processed from most of the prominent mines: Lexington, Eureka, American Flag, Alta, Legal Tender, Dan Tucker, Comet, Rumley and many others.

All in all, the Montana Company had invested $190,000 ($5.3 million today) in the Reduction Works, much of which went into the local economy and built the town. The people of the town saw William W. Wickes and the Montana Company as their personal hero. He had come through true to his promise, paid his debts, saved and provided hundreds of jobs, and provided an ore processing facility that was here to stay. He had provided the common man their means to live the American dream, and “Somewhere” was about to get its name.

The Jan. 24, 1878 issue of the Herald suggested to its readers: “There has grown up in the immediate vicinity of the Montana Co.’s Reduction Works a town, respectable in appearance, and one, we think, deserving of a name.  We therefore suggest that, in honor of the President of Montana Co., W. W. Wickes, Esq., -to whom the company is largely indebted for its present sound basis, and whose name his many friends in Montana would like to see thus commemorated ---the town be now and hereafter known as Wickes.”