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Structure History

This silver mine was in operation in 1890 on Ruby Mountain in the Conconully Mining District of Okanogan County, WA. An article of 01/04/1890 in West Shore magazine said of the mine: "The Fourth of July mine, one of the richest in the Okanogan country, Washington, has been purchased by a syndicate of Helena, Butte and St. Louis capitalists who are to push its development. That the property will shortly rank among the largest silver producers of the northwest and become a great dividend paying property is not doubted by any competent mining men who have visited the mine. The vein is a true fissure, well defined and lies in granite. The general character of the vein matter is very similar to that of the famous Granite mountain at Phillipsburg, Mont. The vein is exposed on the surface for a distance of 320 feet and shows streaks of ore, varying from six inches to six feet, that assay all the way from 50 to 14,000 ounces in silver to the ton. On the seventy-five foot level the face of the north drift shows an ore body four feet in thickness which assays 297 ounces in silver. A single car load of the ore shipped recently to Helena smelter netted the owners, for ten tons, $4,049 after paying all expense of freight and treatment." (See untitled article, West Shore, no. 157, 01/04//1890, p. 14.)

High-grade silver ore and a lesser amounts of antimony, gold and copper was discovered at Ruby Mountain and Peacock Hill in 1886 and 1887, with large-scale production occurring between 1889 and 1893. Two shafts were sunk into the mountain, the larger one 500 feet in depth (with two compartments for transport and ventilation) and a narrower, single-compartment one drilled down to 200 feet. Various floor levels were opened off of the two shafts. Discovery of this mine in 04/1887 has been credited to R. Dilderback. (See State of Washington Parks.gov, "Old Ruby State Park Heritage Site History," accessed 10/15/2025.)

The Depression of 1893 lowered silver prices to such an extent that mining no longer became profitable here, due to the lack of smelters in the immediate vicinity. Transport costs to smelting facilities in Tacoma, WA, or MT proved to be too costly. A State of Washington Parks.gov site on "Old Ruby State Park Heritage Site History," said of these prohibitive transportation costs: "The continued high cost of transporting mined ores to markets severely reduced the profitability of the mines. Typically, ore shipped from Ruby was hauled by wagon 45 miles to Brewster, where it was transferred to river boats for an 80-mile voyage to Wenatchee, where it had to be transferred again onto rail cars destined for smelters in Tacoma or Montana." (See State of Washington Parks.gov, "Old Ruby State Park Heritage Site History," accessed 10/15/2025.) Low-scale production resumed at the site between 1958 and1964 and during 1967. Ruby, once a promising mining settlement, became a ghost town starting in the 1890s.

Structure Notes

WA State's first State Geologist, George A. Bethune, described the 4th of July Mine in his annual report of 1890: "Another promising property that has several times been inspected by me is known as the 'Fourth of July,' I believe so called because of its discovery on the nation's natal day. The 'Fourth of July' lies to the north of the Arlington mine, near the summit of Ruby mountain, at an altitude of 4,500 feet. Croppings show ten (10) feet of ore on the surface, with a pay-streak of from eighteen (18) to twenty-four (24) inches in width. The strike of the vein is north and south, dipping twenty-five degrees to the eastward. The ore is a high grade quartz, carrying silver, sulphurets, sulphide of silver and gray copper. Where the ore crops a ninety (90) foot shaft has been sunk, several levels have been run, and two (2) or three (3) car loads of rich ore have been extracted and shipped to Montana for treatment, giving handsome returns. As assay from the pay-streak which I took showed eight hundred and seventy ($870) dollars in silver, with a trace of gold. Average assays from the vein showed the ore to be worth over one hundred ($100) dollars per ton. On the dump i measured about one hundred and fifty (150) tons of good grade ore. The mine, which is the property of a Montana syndicate of capitalists, is supplied with a Ledgerwood hoisting plant of thirty (30) horse power. At present a double compartment shaft is being sunk, 4 x 4 1/2 and x 4 1/2 feet, respectively, using 10x10 square timbers. Over a hundred (100) feet have been sunk when I visited the property. The operations, I have ascertained, continue to be carried on with activity. The plant of the property comprises a large shaft house, blacksmith shop, ore house and boarding house. Work is pushed systematically, and I consider the Fourth of July one of the best equipped properties in the state." (See "Mineral Districts," Mines and Minerals of Washington, Annual Report of George A. Bethune, First State Geologist, [Olympia, WA: O.C. White State Printers, 1891], pp. 48-49.)

Demolition

The mine has not been physically closed, but has not been active since 1967.

PCAD id: 25863