It was back in 1879 when a miner Thomas Cruse was out looking for gold when he came across rich vein of silver and gold. He had been mining downstream but knew his small deposit would only last so long and like most gold miners, he was always on the lookout for the mother lode and it just so happened that this day was his lucky day.
Of course like most gold miners back in the day, he was pretty much broke so he needed to borrow some money to get the proper equipment to mine this high grade vein he discovered. This rich vein of precious metal ore later turned out to be the Drumlummon Mine and once mining started it wasn't long and he had all that borrowed money paid back in full. Like pretty much all the gold rushes back in the day, it wasn't long before word got out about this rich deposit and soon miners and prospectors were flocking into the area in droves.
Of course this new mine needed workers and with no where to stay the need for a town of some kind was pretty much top of the list. Soon there were a few houses and building going up and this town became known as Marysville being named after Mary Ralston who was the first female resident to move into town and in 1881 the town had a post office.
Of course this new mine needed workers and with no where to stay the need for a town of some kind was pretty much top of the list. Soon there were a few houses and building going up and this town became known as Marysville being named after Mary Ralston who was the first female resident to move into town and in 1881 the town had a post office.
In 1880 Thomas brought in a small 5 stamp mill to process the gold ore. Thomas ran the mill until 1884 at which time he sold the mine to a syndicate for one and a half million dollars and then moved into nearby Helena. There Thomas got involved in banking and started a family howver his wife died giving child birth. After a year or so Thomas moved back to Marysville where he bought the Bald Mountain Mine on Bald Butte not far from the town. This mine went on to produce hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold, silver and copper over the years. Another mine in the area was the Bell Boy. In its first three years of operation, the mine produced about a half a million dollars worth of gold.
During the 1890's the town of Marysville boomed. With 12 active mines in the area the towns population grew to 4000 residents. All of these mines ran 24 hours a day and with some ore going out and supplies coming in, the town and mines had to be serviced with two rail roads. There were over 60 businesses, including 27 saloons, several hotels, a couple of newspapers, three churches, a post office and a couple of doctors. The town had a school that could hold 250 students and the town even had their own Brass Band to put on concerts for the public.
For much of the 1890's Marysville was the place to be. During this time the Drumlummon mine upgraded the milling operations by getting rid of the old 5 stamp mills that Thomas had and building a new 110 stamp mill. By the early 1900's however things started to take a turn. First the rich ore was starting to run out and mines were having to process lower grade ore. Then there was a dispute with another mining company the St. Louis Mining Company over boundary rights and mining slowed down even more as the mines were tied up in litigation. This was a turning point for Marysville as people started to leave town due to the lack of work.
Then like pretty much every old mining town we read about, in 1909 a fire swept through the town destroying a lot of the buildings and some homes. Then in 1911 the St. Louis Mining company bought out the Drumlummon Mine and continued to mine the ores until 1920. Then new deposits were discovered in 1924 and the Drumlummon Mine reopened once more and operated until the beginning of the Second World War when gold was considered a non essential metal. Over the years of operation the total production of gold from the Marysville mines district produced over 1.3 million ounces with almost half of that gold being credited to the Drumlummon mine alone.
You can still go to the town of Marysville today as there are still a few folks who call Marysville home. There are a few of the old buildings from that can be seen about
