Offered here is an unusual group of original late-19th/early-20th-century Oregon mining-related correspondence and business papers associated with P. Basche of Baker City, Oregon, an important regional hardware merchant and supplier to eastern Oregon's mining industry.
The group dates primarily from 1896-1900 and includes correspondence/orders originating from identifiable Baker County mining locations, including the Columbia Mine, Sherman Mine, and Rye Valley.
These are original period working documents rather than later reproductions or historical accounts. They provide a fascinating glimpse into the everyday supply network behind eastern Oregon's gold-mining industry.
Highlights include:
COLUMBIA MINE — Baker County, Oregon — September 8, 1897
Original handwritten letter headed:
“Columbia Mine / Baker Co Ore / Sept 8th 1897”
and addressed to:
“P. Basche / Baker City Ore.”
The writer requests working tools including a two-foot rule, medium-size calipers, pincers and nippers suitable for pulling slivers from the flesh.
The letter appears signed J. W. Johnston. Research has not established Johnston's precise position at the mine, so no claim regarding his title or position is made here.
SHERMAN MINE — Baker County, Oregon — June 4, 1900
Original handwritten mining-supply request apparently headed:
“Sherman Mine Baker Co Ore / June 4, 1900”
and addressed to P. Basche, Baker City.
The order appears to request approximately:
25 lbs. No. 2 powder
100 feet triple-tape fuse
RYE VALLEY, OREGON — March 20, 1900
Original handwritten correspondence from Rye Valley, Oregon, addressed to P. Basche at Baker City and requesting hardware/mechanical supplies.
Rye Valley was part of the historic Mormon Basin-Dixie Creek-Rye Valley gold-mining district of southern Baker County, an area associated with both placer and later lode mining.
P. BASCHE BUSINESS / ORDER PAPERS
Also included are original P. Basche-related business/order sheets dating to the late 1890s, including an 1896 order sheet containing hardware and supply notations.
P. Basche operated an important Baker City hardware business supplying the surrounding region during the height of eastern Oregon's mining boom and was himself associated with mining ventures.
The documents therefore form a coherent little archive illustrating the relationship between Baker City's commercial suppliers and the surrounding gold mines and mining districts.
The Columbia Mine developed into a substantial operation, while the Baisley-Elkhorn and Rye Valley districts contained numerous mines, prospects and placer workings.
Rather than merely describing mining after the fact, these papers document the mundane but essential business of keeping mines operating—ordering tools, pipe, hardware, powder, fuse and related supplies.
They would make an interesting addition to a collection devoted to:
Oregon history
Baker City history
Baker County mining
Sumpter, Oregon
Western gold mining
Mining ephemera
Mining explosives/blasting history
Columbia Mine
Baisley-Elkhorn mining district
Rye Valley
Western Americana
19th-century business history
All documents shown are included.
The historical information above has been researched from period and archival sources. Where an identification is not conclusive, it has intentionally been described as such.
An unusual surviving group of original documents from the working world of eastern Oregon gold mining at the turn of the 20th century.
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