Amazing that no robberies occurred at small assay offices 0

[RWB]

The following request was made after an inspection of the Boise, Idaho Assay Office by Asst Treasury Secretary Vanderlip.

December 30,1899.

 To the Honorable

The Secretary of the Treasury.

 Sir:—

I have the honor to call your attention to the insecurity of the Safe and Vault in use at the Assay Office at Boise, Idaho. The safe is an old-fashioned one and is neither burglar nor fire-proof, while the entrance to the Vault is closed by a wooden door only.

There is at all times a quantity of bullion on hand at that Assay Office and proper facilities should be furnished by the government to insure its safety as well as that of the office records.

 There is only one watchman employed at this office and the safety of the bullion at night is, in great measure dependent upon the vigilance of this one man, which is an injustice to the Assayer in Charge.

 In view of the facts above stated, it is urgently requested that you will procure from Congress, as early as practicable, an appropriation of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00), for the construction of steel doors with combination locks to the Vault of the United States Assay Office at Boise, and also for the purchase of a burglar and fire-proof Safe for the use of said institution.

 Respectfully,

[Signature] George E. Roberts,

Director of the Mint.

[RG104 E-235 Vol 304 Sec Treas]

Edited November 27, 2023 by RWB

[Henri Charriere]

[Malheureusement, Chat Board Guidelines preclude my answer as to why in the manner in which I have become accustomed. Suffice it to say the lay of the land, unimproved roads, primitive ground transportation and law enforcement, non-existent on the Federal level, would all have to be considered for an understanding of an undertaking of this magnitude, in the remote Northwest on the cusp of the 20th century.  Great find!

[RWB]

The Seattle AO didn't have a vault -- just two old safes.

[Henri Charriere]

On 11/27/2023 at 6:27 PM, RWB said:

The Seattle AO didn't have a vault -- just two old safes.

Well, Seattle ain't exactly Boise but still and all this little gem you've dug out does not exactly portray the United States Government in the most favorable light.  Then again, that was the age of train robberies, stagecoach holdups and cattle rustling. The Justice Department had a Bureau of Investigation as early as 1908 but interstate jurisdiction of crime investigations was not authorized until the Midwest crime wave of the 1930's and formation of an independent agency: the F.B.I.  Great stuff!

[zadok]

...oh no, wait for it goldfinger...coming soon at a cornfield near u...the Seattle n Boise AO saint gaudens hoards...u will never want for speculations to do....

[RWB]

Seattle opened in July 1898 and immediately became the largest gold deposit Assay Office outside of the NYAO....about $5.6 million per year. Much of this was from Alaska and the Klondike.

[Henri Charriere]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:08 PM, zadok said:

...oh no, wait for it goldfinger...coming soon at a cornfield near u...the Seattle n Boise AO saint gaudens hoards...u will never want for speculations to do....

For the record - USAO Years of Operation:

Boise:  1869-1933

Seattle: 1898-1955

My personal favorite, a belief unsupported by a scintilla of doubt, much less a shred of supporting evidence for any as yet unfound SG DE Hoard(s) is the Badlands (not cornfields) in the vicinity of...

Deadwood, SD:  1898-1927

Has a nice ring to it!  As Alfred Hitchcock would say, mystery, suspense and surprise are all interrelated.  🤔  

[Moxie15]

One must not apply 21st century knowledge and fears to such things. At the time of this letter the office had been open just over a year and was in an area that was not known as a hub of crime and was likely being run on a very limited budget. Was this the first letter mr Roberts wrote requesting funds? Was Mr Roberts recently appoointed as Director? So many facts we do not know, some we may never know.

It is easy to judge by ones own feelings and beliefs.

[zadok]

On 11/30/2023 at 10:31 PM, Henri Charriere said:

For the record - USAO Years of Operation:

Boise:  1869-1933

Seattle: 1898-1955

My personal favorite, a belief unsupported by a scintilla of doubt, much less a shred of supporting evidence for any as yet unfound SG DE Hoard(s) is the Badlands (not cornfields) in the vicinity of...

Deadwood, SD:  1898-1927

Has a nice ring to it!  As Alfred Hitchcock would say, mystery, suspense and surprise are all interrelated.  🤔  

...the Badlands , with a capital B, is a long trek from Deadwood to be hauling any gold hoards mules or otherwise....

[RWB]

Depositors are Assay Offices were usually paid by check drawn on a large financial center, such as New York and sometimes Philadelphia or San Francisco. These were accepted at 100%, although in the first months of Seattle's operation local banks tried to extract 2 or 3%.

On 12/1/2023 at 6:03 AM, Moxie15 said:

One must not apply 21st century knowledge and fears to such things. At the time of this letter the office had been open just over a year and was in an area that was not known as a hub of crime and was likely being run on a very limited budget. Was this the first letter mr Roberts wrote requesting funds? Was Mr Roberts recently appoointed as Director? So many facts we do not know, some we may never know.

It is easy to judge by ones own feelings and beliefs.

Roberts asked for supplemental appropriations and additional clerks to handle the deposit volume. Criminals were just as ubiquitous then as now. The methods of identifying them were more limited. Gold dust was a unique problem because it all looked much alike. Stolen dust looked just like miner Pierre's deposit of Klondike dust.