"MAMAKATING MINE OLDEST IN STATE"

Lower lead mine operation 1912-13.

     This was stated in an article written by prominent Orange County Historian and author Mildred Parker Seese. After much research Mrs. Seese wrote "One thing can be said without contradiction; Mamakating is the oldest mine in New York State. It was part of the mining venture in upper Jersey which is scarcely recorded yet unquestionably existed during the first half or three quarters of the 1600 's. The Jersey mines, in the neighborhood of Franklin, were in fact, a major enterprise of the early 17th Century which continued into the second half of the 20th -- more than 300 years of virtually continuous operation. The lead which was their modern product didn't run out. It was the price of imported metals that closed the mines. (They are a tourist attraction now.) The more precious metals, gold , silver and copper, were what the prospectors sought when Mamakating was an uncharted part of New Netherlands and boundaries were likewise unknown. They found copper, and somewhere in the archives of Amsterdam, if modern wars have not destroyed it, there is a sample of copper delivered by one of those prospectors in 1657-9.

     Modern historians, aware of the continuing Jersey mines, overlooking the Mamakating mine -- which was really much more accessible before the railroad era -- have attributed the sample to Jersey. Mrs. Seese concluded that they were talking of the Mamakating spur of the Catskills, but not the Jersey end of that long ridge. Many facts can be found in Amelia Stickney Decker's story of "The Old Mine Road." Samuel Eager expressed the opinion that Dutch miners were in "Mamakating Hollow" before 1664. "Those who labored at the Shawangunk mine in Mamakating cannot be styled as setters. When they departed thy left no enduring trace behind them." What of the vague tales of even earlier Spaniards looking for gold and silver mines along the same ridge? Manuel Gonsalus, who was the first permanent settler of Sullivan County, had his name mentioned in connection with the mine holes in different historical books. The gold found by early prospectors turned out to be fools gold. However, in an extensive investigation of the Shawangunk(Wurtsboro) mine, by the Bureau of Mines done in the spring of 1948, rich deposits of zinc and lead were found along with amounts of copper, pyrite, silver in a minor amount, and gold in a minute amount. Quartz constitutes the principal gauge mineral deposits.
 
     Although the mines have been in operation many times down through the years, the problem of seperating the metals kept the operation from prospering.

     As far back in history as the Indians of the area, miners have been making use of the mine to a certain extent. One of the hallucinations of that period was, that the forests of this continent abounded with rich mines of gold, silver and other precious metals, and that the natives were well acquainted with these mines, and could be induced to disclose what they knew. The Swedes, as well as other immigrants, used every artiface to induce the Indians to lead them to these El Dorados. Thus doubtless, the Dutch discovered the old mine at Minisink, and the lost mine of Mamakating. Generally, however, the ore found was not as valuable as the mixed lead, copper and zinc found in the Shawangunk. Samples were sent to Europe, and much to their disappointment it was termed "Fools Gold". Although the search for mines lead to the discovery of much fertile land in the wilderness, and its occupation by whites at an early day, it did not lead to the settlement of the banks of the Delaware by the Swedes, or any other Europeans, as far up as Minisink, until several years had elapsed.
 
     The pioneers of Mamakating knew that the Indians obtained lead not far from Wurtsboro. The natives always refused to show where it was to be found, and generally became angry whenever the mine was alluded to. Even the white men who were in part or wholly domesticated with them, could not get any information from them in regard to it. At last a white hunter named Miller dogged them, at the risk of his life, until he ascertained that they got the ore near a certain clump of hemlock trees, which were the only ones of that kind within a considerable distance. He heard them at work; but did not dare to go to the locality until a considerable time afterwards when he was sure the savages were not in the vicinity. Miller intended to tell this to a man named Daniel Gunsaulis. He told him the lead was on the mountain near the hemlocks, pointed them out from the valley, and promised to go with him to the mine after he had made a visit to his friends in Orange County. He went, but died at Montgomery during his visit there. Gunsaulis never attempted to profit by what Miller had told him. In 1813, however, he communicated what he knew of the matter to our venerable townsman, Daniel Niven Esq., who, in 1817, hired a man named Mudge to assist him in searching for the lead, and they succeeded in finding it. A quantity of ore was sent to Doctor Mitchell and others, chemists. Mr. Niven made a confidant of Moses Stanton, a resident of Wurtsboro, who as well as Mudge, insisted on sharing the profits which were expected to be made from the discovery, and the three became partners. Not long after, those who had analyzed the ore endeavored to purchase the mine of Mr. Niven and his associates. But the discoverers found a difficult way of selling. The land did not belong to them, and it was not known who did own it. 
They could neither buy the mine or sell it. So they rested the matter until 1836 -- Mr. Niven and his partners mutually agreeing not to make any disclosure concerning the mine, unless with the consent of all three. Their secret, however, was revealed after it had been kept secret for twenty years. Stanton had an awkward habit of talking in his sleep, and one night, while his eyelids were closed, he spoke of the location of the mine so distinctly that his son, who was present, had no difficulty in finding it. Young Stanton was fortunate as to ascertain who some owners of the land were, and he made some five hundred dollars by keeping his ears open while his father was "dreaming aloud". (Quinlan's History of Sullivan County --1873, Mildred Parker Seese -- Orange County Historian.