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Rockefeller's Right-hand Man: Frederick T. Gates and the Northwestern Mining Investments*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

James E. Fell Jr.
James E. Fell Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Historic Preservation, Colorado Historical Society
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Abstract

As the careers of men like J. P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie illustrate so well, one of the most important elements of entrepreneurship is the ability to select talented lieutenants. This aspect of John D. Rockefeller's career is less well known, particularly in respect to his private investments. Dr. Fell takes one of Rockefeller's minor projects and demonstrates that the sagacity and perseverance of a lieutenant, Frederick T. Gates, meant the difference between a near-total loss and a remarkably profitable investment.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business History Review , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , Winter 1978 , pp. 537 - 561
Copyright
Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College 1978

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References

1 Frederick T. Gates to John D. Rockefeller, New York, May 18, 1905. The Papers of John D. Rockefeller, The Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters cited in this article are from this collection.

2 Gray, Henry L., The Gold of Monte Cristo (n.p., 1969), 2.Google Scholar

3 Ibid., 2–4.

4 Ibid., 3–4. “Articles of Agreement,” January 30, 1892, and other legal documents. Monte Cristo Mining Company, MSS 31, 1891–1892, M 772, Baker Library, Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, Boston, Massachusetts (hereafter cited as HU).

5 Gray, The Gold of Monte Cristo, 3–4. Clark, Norman H., Mill Town: A Social History of Everett, Washington, from Its Earliest Beginnings on the Shores of Puget Sound to the Tragic and Infamous Event Known as the Everett Massacre (Seattle, 1970), 19–24.Google Scholar

6 Clark, Mill Town, 6. Nevins, Allan, Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist (New York, 1953), II, 203–206.Google Scholar

7 Clark, Mill Town, 7–24. Nevins, Study in Power, 203–206.

8 Nevins, Study in Power, 204. Alton L. Dickerman and C.F. Rand to Joseph L. Colby, Seattle, October 10, 1891; J.H. Hoyt to C.W. Wetmore, Cleveland, January 5, 1891 (should be 1892), MSS 724, HU.

9 Alton L. Dickerman, “Report on the Syndicate Mines in the Monte Cristo District, Washington;” “Report on the Pride of the Mountains Mine. In the Mjonte Christo District, Washington;” “Report on the Monte Christo Mining District,” MSS 724, HU. J.E. Spurr, “The Ore Deposits of Monte Christo, Washington,” in Walcott, Charles D., Twenty-Second Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey (Washington, D.C., 1901), 785–787.Google Scholar

10 Dickerman and Rand to J.L. Colby, Seattle, October 10, 1891. Andrew F. Burleigh to J.L. Colby, Seattle, November 2, 1892, MSS 724, HU. “Articles of Agreement,” January 30, 1892, MSS 31, 1891–1892, M 722, HU. A trial balance prepared in January 1892 indicated that on December 31, 1891, Rockefeller's net worth stood at $42,007,316.87, Rockefeller Archive Center, Pocantico Hills, New York.

11 “Articles of Agreement,” MSS 31, 1891–1892, M 772, HU. Gates to Charles L. Colby, New York, May 1, 1895.

12 Trial balance prepared January 1892. Ledgers G, H, and I. George D. Rogers to John D. Rockefeller, January 16, 1903.

13 Nevins, Study in Power, II, 203–204. Clark, Mill Town, 158–167. For Butler's early career, see newspaper clippings in the Columbiana Collection, Columbia University, New York. For Gates's relationship with Butler, see Gates's letters in The Papers of John D. Rockefeller.

14 Spurr, “The Ore Deposits of Monte Cristo,” 785–787. Engineering and Mining Journal (hereafter EMJ), 56 (December 1893), 626.

15 Gates to J.B. Crooker, New York, September 5, 1894; and to Joseph L. Colby, New York, September 5, 1894.

16 EMJ, 55 & 56, passim. Gray, The Gold of Monte Cristo, 16–17.

17 Clark, Mill Town, 29–32. Nevins, Study in Power, II, 200–203.

18 Nevins, Study in Power, II, 165–178, 207–208. Rockefeller, John D., Random Reminiscences of Men and Events (New York, 1909), 116–117.Google Scholar

19 Gates to H.A. Schenk, New York, April 5, 1893; to Crooker, September 1, 1894. Clark, Mill Town, 32.

20 Gates to Rockefeller, New York, July 18, 1894; to Francis H. Brownell, July 31, 1894; and to Colgate Hoyt, New York, August 17, 1894.

21 Gates to Crooker, New York, April 13, October 8 and 19, 1894, and other letters.

22 Gates to Crooker, New York, May IS, 1894; to J.L. Colby, May 22, 1894; and to William C. Butler, November 1 and 5, 1894.

23 Gates to Butler, New York, November 1 and 5, 1894; and to J.L. Colby, May 22, 1894.

24 Rockefeller, Random Remniscences, 118–120.

25 Gates to Crooker, New York, January 22, 1894; and to Rockefeller, September 11, 1895, and July 17, 1897. EMJ, 57 (May 1894), p. 496; (June 1894), p. 616; 58 (September 1894), p. 208; 60 (August 1895), p. 135; (October 1895), p. 355; 62 (July 1896), p. 39; (August 1896), p. 135; (November 1896), p. 447; 63 (January 1897), p. 75; (March 1897), 314; (June 1897), p. 673.

26 Gates to Crooker, New York, February 15, 1896, and December 6, 1897. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to Rockefeller, New York, November 4, 1903. EMJ, 57 (1894) through 64 (1897), passim.

27 Gates to Crooker, New York, May 15 and 21, 1894.

28 Landes, Henry, Washington Geological Survey: Annual Report for 1901 (Olympia, 1902), 137.Google ScholarEMJ, 59 (February 1895), 111; 60 (November 1895), 475. Gates to John E. Searles, New York, May 13, 1896; and to Butler, June 8, 1896.

29 Fell, James E. Jr., “Ores to Metals: The Evolution of the Smelting Industry in Colorado, 1864–1921” (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Colorado, 1975)Google Scholar, passim.

30 Rothwell, Richard P., ed., The Mineral Industry, Its Statistics, Technology and Trade …. (New York,), IV (1896), pp. 310 and 462–63Google Scholar; VI (1898), p. 293; and IX (1901), pp. 317 and 433.

31 Gates to W.H. Tilford, New York, April 1, 1895; to George M. Naylor, August 14, 1895; to Butler, June 8, 1896, and August 27, 1897; and to Rockefeller, November 11. 1895.

32 Gates to Butler, New York, January 6, 1898; to D.O. Mills, November 30, 1898; and (copy) William R. Rust to J.L. Colby, Tacoma, August 22, 1896.

33 Gates to Crooker, New York, June 25, 1894; to Butler, February 15 and March 10, 1896; and to Tilford, April 1, 1895.

34 Ingalls, Walter Renton, Lead and Zinc in the United States…. (New York, 1908)Google Scholar, passim. August R. Meyer to Henry Lee Higginson, Argentine, Kansas, May 22, 1897, Henry Lee Higginson Collection, HU. New York Stock Exchange, Committee on Stock List, “Consolidated Kansas City Smelting and Refining Company,” New York, November 1, 1898. Charles Francis Adams, Jr., “Memorabilia, 1894–1897,” entry for July 20, 1897, Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston (hereafter MHS).

35 EMJ, 49 (March 1890), 282, 284. Ingalls, Lead and Zinc, passim. (Copy) August R. Meyer to Daniel Guggenheim, London, October 6, 1897. Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Papers, MHS.

36 EMI, 64 (November 1897), 602, 631; (December 1897), 661, 696. Marcosson, Isaac F.. Metal Magic: The Story of the American Smelting and Refining Company (New York, 1949), 57–65.Google Scholar

37 Luther Conant, Jr., “Report on the American Smelting and Refining Company …,” passim. National Archives of the United States, Records of the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Corporations, Record Group 122, file 3198–1.

38 Rockefeller, Jr. to E.R. Chapman, New York, February 21, 1899.

39 Ibid., February 23 and 28, and March 1 and 8, 1899; to Butler, March 11, 1899. Gates to Rockefeller, New York, June 29, 1899.

40 Affadavit of Edward W. Nash in William M. Donald, et al. vs. the American Smelting and Refining Company, National Archives, RG 122, file 3198–9. Conant, “Report on the American Smelting and Refining Company,” 11–16. Colorado Bureau of Labor Statistics, Biennial Report, 1899–1900 (Denver, 1900), 170–184.

41 Gates to Butler, New York, April 29, 1899; and to Rockefeller, June 29, 1899. Rockefeller, Jr. to Gates, August 5, 1899.

42 Gates to F.B. Schenck, New York, April 6, 1899; to W.W. Keen, April 11, 1899. Rockefeller, Jr. to Gates, August 15, 1899.

43 Ledgers G and H Rockefeller, Jr. to Rockefeller, New York, September 15 and 19, 1902.

44 Fahey, John, The Ballyhoo Bonanza: Charles Sweeny and the Idaho Mines (Seattle, 1971)Google Scholar, passim.

45 Ibid., 171–179.

46 Rockefeller, Jr. to Gates, New York, May 8, 1903. Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 176–177.

47 Rockefeller, Jr. to Gates, New York, May 8 and August 5, 1903.

48 Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 182–184.

49 Ibid., 181–185. Ledger I. Rogers to Rockefeller, New York, January 16, 1903. Gates to Rockefeller, February 7, 1905.

50 Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 178–184. Stockholders Committee of Investigation, Report to the Stockholders of the American Smelting & Refining Company (New York, 1922), 8–11.

51 Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 189. Stockholders Committee, American Smelting & Refining Company, 11–13.

52 Rockefeller, Jr. to Gates, New York, August 5, 1903.

53 Ibid., August 12, 1903; to Butler, August 14, 1903; to Rockefeller, September 4 and 30, 1903.

54 Gates to Rockefeller, New York, February 7, 1905.

55 Frederick J. Lovatt to Rockefeller, New York, February 6, 1905. Gates to Rockefeller, February 7, 1905. Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 189–191. Stockholders Committee, American Smelting & Refining Company, 11–12.

56 Gates to Rockefeller, March 13 and 15, 1905.

57 Fahey, The Ballyhoo Bonanza, 191–192.

58 Gates to Rockefeller, New York, May 18, 1905.

59 Ledger I. Gates to Rockefeller, New York, February 7, 1905.