In 1879, rumors spread across Montana of a new gold discovery on Yogo Creek in the Little Belt Mountains. A short "stampede" ensued, and the newly established camp of Yogo grew to several hundred people. By 1883, the town was practically deserted and only a few prospectors remained. Two of these prospectors, Jake Hoover and Frank Hobson, discovered a new strike in 1894 and convinced Lewistown banker S.S. Hobson, and Chicago veterinarian, Dr. J.A. Bouvet, to finance work on their claims. Sluicing efforts of the following year proved unsuccessful, but a continual showing of "blue stones" (or sapphires) and favorable reports on the stones from Tiffany's of New York prompted a new partnership. In 1898, the New Mine Sapphire Syndicate was formed with headquarters near Utica, Montana. S.S. Hobson served as vice president, and Mathew Dunn and George A. Wells, both Great Falls residents, served respectively as president and secretary-treasurer. By 1901, an English marketing firm, Johnson, Walker and Tolhurst, had bought out the American partners. That same year Charles T. Gadsden, a native of Berkhampstead, England, who had worked at Yogo for ten years, became resident manager. He continued in charge of the workings until his death in 1954. The British operations proved extremely successful and the company returned high dividends to its stockholders. In 1914, the rival Yogo American Sapphire Company sold out to the English syndicate ensuring them a monopoly of Yogo sapphires. During World War I, the London-based company operated on a small scale. However, following the war, a series of events forced the closure of the mines. Beset by currency difficulties, double taxation from Britain and the U.S., and severe property damage from a July 26, 1923, cloudburst, the business faltered. In 1927, operations ceased and repair work was put off indefinitely. In 1956, the British syndicate sold its operations to a group of Montana businessmen including Thomas P. Sidwell and E.K. Cheadle, both of Billings. Estimates of the worth of Yogo sapphires mined during the years of profitable operation range from three to four million dollars, with an individual sapphire bringing as much as $1,600. Yogo sapphires were especially valued for their uniformity of color.