Miners Meeting on the Oolkilsipava River
May 10th 1863
Mr. S Shoup President
J. V. Wheelhouse Secretary
“Names of original prospectors as required by Resolution No seven –
Capt. J. R. Walker.
George Bloper.
G. Gillahan.
Jos. E. Walker, Jr.
A. C. Benedict.
Jackson McCrackin.
John Dixon.
S. Shoup.
Rodney McKinnon.
Jacob Linn.
T. J. Johnson.
Felix Cholet.
Jacob Miller.
B. Ellis.
M. Lewis.
Jas. V. Wheelhouse.
A. B. French.
Jas. Chase.
Jack Swelling
Chas. Taylor.
George Coulter.
Frank Finney.
H. B. Cummings
S. C. Miller.
Wm. Williams.
“Preamble, laws & resolutions adopted & passed by the ‘Walker’ prospecting & mining company for their mutual guidance and protection at a meeting of said company on the Ookilipava River May 10th 1863
Sec. 1st To all to whom it may concern, be it know that the ‘Walker’ prospecting & mining company have taken up certain portions of Ookilipava river & Tributaries for mining purposes have formed the said portion into a District to be called Pioneer District extending from the head of said river to a tree below the falls at the foot of the mountains (on which the notice of claimants is put up) taking in all tributaries, gulches, & ravines drained by said portion of river to main summit on both sides.
Sec. 2d That at a miners meeting duly called & at which a majority shall pronounce pro & con, shall be in this Dist the manner by which all laws be made & adopted, disputes to rights of claims settled, extent thereof, litigation, &c, & all other business appertaining to miners & their rights usually settled at said meetings in other mining Dists
Sec. 3 That there shall be one President to preside over said meetings & one Secretary, both of whom shall be elected by a majority of votes for the term of one year from the date of election – It shall be the duty of said Presd’t to call all meetings & see that business belonging to said meetings be properly brought before it & freely discussed to the satisfaction of all parties concerned – The duty of the Secty shall be to keep a true and proper record (in writing) of the proceedings of each & all of said meetings
Sec. 4 There shall be a Recorder for said Dist appointed by the miners for the term of one year, whose duty it shall be to record all claims, sales & transfers of same & other transactions in said Dist appertaining to said office in other mining districts – He shall keep a true record of same in writing open at all proper hours for public inspection
Resolutions passed & carried at the above meeting
Resolved, that one hundred yards in length and fifty yards from each side of centre of gulch be considered a claim on this river.
Resolved, That each original prospector be entitled to one extra claim by right of discovery-
Resolved, That each member of the company having drawn by lottery the number of his claims shall have the privilege of exchanging one or both of them for any other unclaimed part of said river same dimensions as original being observed
Resolved, That whereas but little time was taken to properly prospect, no claims be taken for persons outside of origial prospectors until they have definitely settled to which part of said river their claim may be exchanged to
Resolved that the President be entitled to a fee of five dollars for each miners meeting which may be called to settle disputes or other individual business, to be paid by parties calling said meeting before the meeting be called & in case of winning suit to be refunded to Plaintiff & same amount collected from Defendant
Resolved that the names of all original prospectors be embodied in this document
Resolved That Mr. T. J. Johnson be President of this Dist
Resolved That Mr. Wheelhouse be Secretary
Resolved That Mr. Wheelhouse be Recorder
Resolved That the original claimants whose names appear in this document have nothing to pay for recording their first claims
Resolved That the fee for recording claims be fixed at Two dollars & fifty cents per claim –
Resolved that No Mexican shall have the right to buy, take up, or pre empt a claim on this river, or in this Dis’t for the term of six months, to date from the first date of June 1863 to Dec 1st 1863
S. Shoup, President
J. V. Wheelhouse, Sect’y