Berg, Abel A.

The following data is extracted from Illustrated History of the State of Idaho.

For twenty-five years Abel A. Berg has been a resident of Silver City, has devoted his energies to prospect mining, and is the principal owner of the Lone Tree group of mines, located near the Trade Dollar mines. He is a native of Sweden,, his birth having occurred near Arvika, on the 19th of December, 1846. His parents, Anderson and Mary (Danilson) Berg, were also natives of that country, and were members of the Lutheran church. The son acquired his education in his native land and there remained until twenty-five years of age, when he resolved to seek a home and fortune in America, believing that the superior advantages of this country would sooner enable him to acquire a competency. It was in 1871 that he sailed westward across the Atlantic landing at New York city, whence he journeyed across the country to California. In that state he worked at farming, and in a sugar factory in Sacramento, but came from the latter place to Silver City and secured employment in the Minnesota mine on War Eagle Mountain. That mine was then a large producer and its stock advanced from fifty cents to fifty dollars a share.

As his capital has increased Mr. Berg has made judicious investments in mining property, and is now associated in business with Mr. Ouinlan, Tim Regan and Charles i\I. Hays. In addition to the Lone Tree mines he is now the owner of other valuable property on the Florida Mountains, none of which is far from Silver City. He has made a three-hundred-foot tunnel in the Lone Tree mine, joining the Trade Dollar mine, and the ore from the former assays from ten to one hundred and fifty dollars per ton. Mr. Berg also has another claim below the Lone Tree, known as the Idaho mine, which has several tunnels in it, while its ore assays as high as the other. The Crown Point mine, just east of the Idaho, is also his property, and its ore has assayed as high as two thousand dollars per ton. He owns the American Eagle mine, immediately east of the others, and also has a tunnel there, which is designed for a cross cut. He sold his Hammerson mine, near the Black Jack, for seventy-five hundred dollars. Mr. Berg has gained a broad and practical knowledge, and is considered a mining expert. His close study and application, and his energy and indomitable purpose, have made him successful.

Mr. Berg is a "silver" Republican in politics and served as a delegate to the "silver" Republican County convention. He is a member of the Odd Fellows society, has filled all the chairs in both branches of the order, and has twice been a representative to the grand lodge. The hope that led him to leave his native land and seek a home in America has been more than realized. He found the opportunities he sought, which, by the way, are always open to the ambitious, energetic man, and making the best of these he has steadily worked his way upward. He possesses the resolution, perseverance and reliability so characteristic of people of his nation, and his name is now enrolled among the best citizens of Owyhee County.

Source: Illustrated History of the State of Idaho

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