Historical Note
The Columbia Mines Company was incorporated on April 30, 1901 by L.A. Lewis, J.N. Teal and James G. Wilson in Portland, Oregon. During the initial meeting of the company, L.A. Lewis was elected president and treasurer of the company. He was also the primary stock shareholder. Other directors and shareholders of the company included Anna K. Lewis, William H. Hampton, and J.N. Teal. The company remained in operation mining primarily quartz until 1929, when it was sold to A.W. Yount for the sum of $25,000.
The Columbia Mines Company held lands in northern Josephine and Jackson counties, where it established placer mines in dense mining zones along Grave Creek and other waters to mine quartz, wich required the use of water. At the turn of the century, companies mined quartz from which they extracted gold. Although expensive, this method of mining gold yielded quartz crystals which the mining company could sell for use in jewelry or technology industries. Some of the mines owned by Columbia Mines were placer mines patented and owner A.L. Lewis held much of the Columbia Mines lands in his own name.
Content Description
The Columbia Mines Company records is a small collection consisting of two (2) volumes. The first is a stock certificates book for the company that contains the receipts and the certificates for nine of the twelve stock certificates issued. The certificates were issued to L.A. Lewis, Anna K. Lewis, William H. Hampton, J.N. Teal and A.M. Compton between the years of 1901 and 1913.
The second volume is a Columbia Mines Company records book that contains records, primarily minutes of stockholder and board of directors meetings, dated from April 30, 1901 to 1929. The records book also contains two (2) filing certificates regarding the decrease in capital stock. The minutes include comprehensive descriptions of the lands purchased by the Columbia Mines Company in both Jackson and Josephine Counties, Oregon.
The Columbia Mines Company records is a small collection that does not contain detailed information concerning the mining industry in Oregon at the time. However, it does provide information concerning the business dealings of L.A. Lewis and the company itself. With the exception of meeting minutes which discuss yearly dividends and the issuance of stock certificates, the collection lacks financial records concerning the company.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access Collection is open to the public.
Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.
Restrictions on Use Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the
Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The
reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Columbia Mines Company records, Bx 103, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.