Humming Bird Mining Company

Records, 1898-1936
3 cubic feet

The records of the Humming Bird Mining Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985. Initial processing of this manuscript group was done by Marilyn Sandmeyer in September 1987. Processing was completed by Michael Tarabulski in April 1991. Funds for processing were provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the U.S. Department of Education HEA Title II-C "Strengthening Research Library Resources" program, the Library Associates of the University of Idaho and other donors.

COMPANY HISTORY

The Humming Bird Mining Company was organized in 1898 and included a total of fifteen claims. Some of these were the Bombard, Blue Jay, Tomahawk, Philippine, Fairmont, Commercial, Wedge Faction, Mountain View, Summit, No Count, Josie, Aetna, and Phoenix. Humming Bird was located very near the town of Burke, Idaho, in the Lelande mining district. The principal ores extracted were lead, silver, and zinc.

The main stockholder in the early days of the Humming Bird was the owner, Carl Amonson, who traded a total of 400,000 shares for rights to all of the claims. The first board of directors, elected in 1898, were Carl Amonson, president and manager; M.J. Maher, vice president; M.J. Farrell, secretary; and Walter Graham, treasurer. Dan Cardoner, a Burke merchant, later became the largest stockholder acquiring 250,000 shares between 1898 and 1899. By 1905, he owned 45% of the issued stock. He served on the board of directors from 1902 to 1911.

The Humming Bird became of great interest to the Day family when they realized that the mine's tunnel was aimed almost directly at the Hercules' orebody. The Hercules was just uphill from the Humming Bird, and Harry Day saw a chance to renovate and extend the tunnel--thus opening up a 5th level to the Hercules. Partners in the Hercules began buying up Humming Bird stock, gaining a majority by 1908. In 1909 the Hercules began work on tunnel #5.

In 1911 Harry Day became president of the board. The Humming Bird and the Hercules remained connected, physically and corporately, from then on. The Hercules acquired 97% of the stock in the 1930s and finally, in 1936, purchased all property associated with the mine and dissolved the company.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of the Humming Bird Mining Company span the years 1898 to 1936. Included are minutes of meetings, monthly and yearly financial statements, maps, claims, leases, deeds, correspondence with suppliers and stockholders, reports to state and federal agencies, stock ledgers, assessment records, cash journals, invoices, check registers, bank statements, paid checks, and federal and state tax returns.

Related materials can be found in the records of the Hercules Mining Company and the papers of Henry Day.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

This manuscript group is divided into six series. The first series, Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, includes a minute book and three folders of records relating to meetings, covering 1898-1936. Four folders of financial statements, 1921-1931, include monthly and yearly statements and reports to the board, the stockholder, and the Hercules Mining Company.

General Correspondence and Related Records, the second series, contains lode claims, leases, deeds, and progress reports. Taken together these records document the Humming Bird properties and work thereupon. Several blueprint maps are present. Also in this series is correspondence with suppliers, including one folder of correspondence with the Pelton Water Wheel Company dealing with the purchase and operation of a generator in 1903-1904. Here, too, are a file of accident and mine operation surveys, and two files of annual reports and statements, 1909-1936.

The third series, Capital Stock Records, includes stock ledgers for the whole of the company's history, but no stock journals. There are cancelled stock certificates, 1901-1936, and assessment journals, 1900-1930. Assessment receipt registers were kept for assessments 3, 12, and 13, as these are not covered by the journals. Also included are two sets of correspondence with stockholders; one from the Humming Bird's Burke office, the other from its Wallace office. These overlap between 1925 and 1935, and contain like materials -- including letters from the same stockholders.

Most of the items in Financial Records, the fourth series, predate 1916, though a cash book extends 1901-1936, and a check register runs to 1933. In the absence of ledgers and journals, common to most of the Day Mines, Inc. records, receipt books, paid checks, invoices, and bank statements were kept.

The fifth series, Personnel Records, contains only two time books, one dated 1901, the other dated 1901-1908. The final series, Tax Records, contains only two folders, mostly tax returns, federal and state. Some correspondence related to taxes is in each folder.

Removal of blank and returned proxy statements, assessment receipts, blank checks, and duplicate materials reduced this collection by two cubic feet.

SERIES LIST

										Container
I.	Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1898-1936	1
II.	General Correspondence and Related Records, 1898-1935	1
III.	Capital Stock Records, 1898-1936	2-3
IV.	Financial Records, 1898-1936	3
V.	Personnel Records, 1901-1908	3
VI.	Tax Records, 1909-1936	3

HUMMING BIRD MINING COMPANY
INVENTORY

Box Folder Description

I. Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1898-1936

1	1-4	Minutes and related records, 1898-1936
	5-8	Financial statements, 1921-1931

II. General Correspondence and Related Records, 1898-1935

	9	Lode claims, 1898-1903
	10	Leases and deeds, 1904-1933
	11	Progress reports, 1905-1930
	12	Correspondence, 1905-1927
	13	Correspondence with Pelton Water Wheel Company, 1903-1904
	14	US Government surveys, 1909-1935
	15-16	Annual Reports and Statements, Idaho, 1907-1936

III. Capital Stock Records, 1898-1936

2	17	Stock ledger, 1898-1911
o.s. 18	Stock ledger, 1898-1935
	19-22	Cancelled stock certificates, 1901-1936
	23	Assessment journal, 1900-1905
o.s.	24	Assessment journal, 1906-1930
	25-26	Assessment receipts, 1901, 1905-1906
3	27-33	Correspondence: Burke office, 1906-1935
	34-35	Correspondence: Wallace office, 1925-1938

IV. Financial Records, 1898-1936

	36-37	Cash journals, 1898-1910
	38	Cash book, 1901-1936
	39	Receipt book, 1898-1902
	40-41	Invoices and paid checks, 1905-1906
	42	Check registers, 1907, 1911-1933
	43	Monthly statements, 1907-1916

V. Personnel Records

	44-45	Time books, 1901-1908

VI. Tax Records, 1909-1936

	46	Federal tax records, 1909, 1921-1930
	47	Idaho tax records, 1932-1936

mg237.htm / February 1995

Special Collections & Archives