Rutherford B. Hayes Appoints Russell Benjamin Harrison, Son of the Future President, to the Position of Assayer at the Original Gold Mines of Montana

The discovery of gold in California in the 1840s sent a generation west, scouring the country for the precious metal.  Much of the country was unexplored, and the men who went west for fortune built homes and facilities and helped populate barren lands.  Gold was first discovered in Montana shortly after California, in 1852.  Mining began in 1862.

In order to receive this money and build an infrastructure, the U.S. Treasury built the U.S. Assay Office at Helena. The office was established on May 12, 1874, but it did not commence operations until January 15, 1877.  It was only Montana Territory’s second federal building. Helena’s was one of just five U.S. assay offices at which the melter transformed golden nuggets and gold dust into bars; the huge ovens are still intact.  With the office now operating, President Hayes needed an assayer to preside over the new office, a source of great potential wealth to the U.S. Treasury.

In 1878, future President Benjamin Harrison prevailed on President Rutherford B. Hayes to give his son, Russell Benjamin Harrison, the coveted position of Assayer, in charge of the gold in that state.  Montana was a far away land to most East Coasters in 1878, and the riches had to travel great distances.  One New York Times article of the time described a visit he paid to the East in pursuance of his work: "He [Harrison] is on his way to Philadelphia, whither he goes as a member of the Assay Commission…. Mr. Harrison carries considerable metals in various mineral combinations.  He has $12,000 in gold bars which he s taking to Philadelphia to be coined.  The gold in these bars in unparted, that is, there is a varying proportion of silver in it yet to be separated. He has one nugget, a single mass, weighering four pounds troy, solid gold…. Mr. Harrison has a specimen of ruby silver – a combination of silver with base lead that assays $20,600 to the ton… Helena, Mr. Harrison says, now has 5,000 inhabitants."  In Helena, Harrison would meet and marry his wife Mary, son of Nebraska Governor Alvin Saunders. 

Document signed, Washington, December 4, 1878, appointing Russell B. Harrison to be "Assayer in charge of the Assay Office at Helena Montana."  Signed by Hayes as President and William Evarts as Secretary of State.

A search of public sale records going back 40 years showed no presidential appointments for Assayer at a U.S. Assay Office, making this one very uncommon to say the least.  This document comes to us from the direct descendants of Russell Harrison and Mary Saunders Harrison and has never before been offered for sale.  It is a fascinating glimpse into the American Gold Rush.