History of Salt Lake City, Part 91

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

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And in the light of the full history of our Territory as it reaches down to this day the impartial sociologist would be compelled to admit that the policy and counsel of Brigham Young as a leader of a peculiar people were well grounded. Utah is unquestionably destined to become a great mining State of the Union ; but it will be found (as the author believes) a century hence that the Mormons will share it as a great manufacturing community, iron workers and farmers ; while the Gentiles will chiefly be the owners and developers of the Utah mines : a blessed prospect for all when the country shall rest from its turmoils. Leaving the social exposition induced by General Connor's communications and circulars, we return to the mines themselves.

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Mr. Stenhouse, who was the first to give the early mining history of Utah, says : " In the summer of 1864, the Jordan Mining Company was incorpor- ated by General Connor under the Laws of California, and work by a tunnel was commenced on the mine, at a cost of sixty dollars per foot, which could now be done for ten dollars. Blasting-powder was at that time twenty-five dollars a keg ; now it is less than one-sixth of that price, and labor is also more abundant.

"The first smelting-furnace in the Territory was erected at Stockton, in 1864, by General Connor. He, at this time, became aware of the importance of hav- ing the mineral interest developed to the fullest possible extent, and induced a large number of his California friends to enter into the enterprise. The Rush Valley Smelting Company was organized at the same time, by the military offi- cers at Camp Douglas, and a furnace was built by them at Stockton.

" General Connor followed, with his second furnace on the reverberatory plan, with an inclined flue, one hundred and fifty feet long. During the summer and fall of 1864, furnaces were built by the following parties, in and around Stock - ton and Rush Valley (mining prospects innumerable having by that time been located in the neighborhood), viz : The St. James, Finherty, J. W. Gibson, Nichols & Brand, Hartnet, Davids & Company, and one cupola blast-furnace by Johnson, Monheim & Company. A cupelling furnace was also built by Stock & Weberling, in the same year.

"But the treatment of ores by smelting was a task new to these Californians, and their experience in milling the gold ores of their State was of no service to them in this task. This disadvantage was increased by the fact that charcoal was not abundant, that rates of transportation were excessively high, and both the ma- terials of which the furnaces were built, and those used in the daily operations, were very dear. These are circumstances which would tax the ability of the most experienced ; and the Californians, unused to the work, failed entirely. A good deal of money was spent, with no result, excepting the establishment of the fact that the ores were easy to treat. During this time of trial, the usual history of new mining fields was repeated, and companies which were organized with high hopes spent large sums, and became bankrupt.

The Knickerbocker and Argenta Mining and Smelting Company was organ- ized in New York, to operate in Rush Valley, and expended about one hundred thousand dollars in the purchase of mines and the material for working them. But, owing to the impossibility of making medium and low-grade ores pay, at such a distance from the market, the company lost their money, and abandoned the enterprise. Thus, after two years of steady, earnest, hopeful toil-from the time of the first discovery in 1863, to the same month in 1865-the business of mining had to be suspended to await the advent of the "iron horse," which was to bring renewed vitality to the occupation of the miner.

With the failure to work the mines profitably, came the disbanding of the volunteer troops, in the latter part of 1865-6. Their places could now be filled by the regulars-the rebellion by this time having been suppressed-and, as the owners and locators (who were principally military men) could not subsist on non- paying mines, the question arose as to how their rights could be secured while they were seeking employment elsewhere. Their method of solving the difficulty

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has resulted in the greatest injury to the cause which had its rise in their energy and determination. They called miners' meetings, and amended the by-laws of the district in such a manner as to make claims perpetually valid, which had had a certain but very small amount of work done upon them. For the performance of this work, a certificate was given by the district recorder. This certificate pro- hibited all subsequent relocation of the ground. In consequence of this provision, the mines of Stockton long lay under a ban, and it is only since the wonderful discoveries made in neighboring canyons, that mining has been energetically re- sumed there. While the operations, detailed above, drew attention chiefly to the Rush Valley mines, discoveries were gradually becoming numerous in other districts.

Here the mining history pauses until the years 1868-9, when it connects with what was familiarly known as the " Godbeite Movement."

Mr. Eli B. Kelsey, thorough breaking off from Mormonism, and believing that the hour had fully come to develop the mineral resources of the Territory, started out in the old missionary style to lecture upon Utah in the Atlantic and Pacific States, in the summer of 1870. He wrote to the papers, spoke to 'boards of trade,' published a pamphlet, and created quite an interest among cap- italists, and was the means of sending into the mining district a hundred thousand dollars in the fall of 1870. The first of Eastern capitalists who was converted, was an enterprising merchant of New York, William M. Fliess, Esq., who joined Mr. Kelsey, and advanced the " working capital " required to develop some valu- able mines. From that time capital has flowed into Utah, and wealth has been dug out of the mountains in such abundance-in proportion to the capital and la- bor employed-as to justify the hope that Utah will yet be the first mining country in the world.

The first discovery of silver-bearing lead ore had been made in the Wasatch range, in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and in Mountain Lake, in the summer of 1864, by General Connor, but nothing was done towards development until the district was organized, in the fall of 1868 ; when, for the first time, operations of any extent were begun on the mines by Messrs. Woodhull, Woodman, Chisholm, Reich and others. The first shipments of galena ore from the Territory were made in small quantities by Messrs. Woodman & Co., Walker Brothers, and Woodhull Brothers, of Little Cottonwood ore, in July, 1868, being the first pro- ducts of the Emma mine. Several other shipments were made in the fall of that year, by the same parties. The completion of the Utah Central Railroad to Salt Lake City, in January, 1870, presented the long-looked-for opportunity of em- barking with certainty in the business of mining.

During the fall of 1868, and the spring of 1869, mining was taken hold of with a will, and it was soon proved, beyond a question, that the mines of Utah were possessed of real merit. What better proof can be looked for than the fact that from the first discovery they were not only self-sustaining, but highly remun- erative? The first shipment of ore to market having proved a success, work was pushed on with the utmost vigor on the mines already discovered. This was es- pecially the case in Little Cottonwood district, on such mines as the Flagstaff, Emma, North Star, Savage, Magnet, Monitor, and others. Thus an impetus was

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given to the business of prospecting for mines all over the Territory, and this led to innumerable discoveries subsequently made. The export of ores has increased from a few irregular weekly shipments, as in the fall of 1868, and throughout 1869, to that of a regular and constant stream, during the summer months, of from four hundred to six hundred tons weekly. In one month the Walker Brothers shipped 4,000 tons. In the two months-August and September, 1872-2,458 tons of ore, and 1,362 tons of silver-bearing lead and iron, were sent out of the Terri- tory. The latter item shows what progress has been made in smelting the ores within the limits of the Territory itself.

It was during the excitement produced by the very rich developments made on the Emma and other mines of Little Cottonwood, that " horn," or chloride silver ores, of a very rich character, were discovered in East Canyon-now known as Ophir District. The first location in this district was made on the 23d of Au- gust, 1870, and was named Silveropolis. This location was soon followed by many others of a similar kind of mineral, all proving, at the surface, to be very rich-such as the Tampico, Mountain Lion, Mountain Tiger, Petaluma, Zella, Silver Chief, Defiance, Virginia, Monarch, Blue Wing, and many others, with promising prospects. All were found on what is known as Lion and Tiger Hills, immediately south of Ophir City ; and the ores (unlike those of Cottonwood) are adapted to the mill treatment alone.

At the same time, prospecting was going on upon the north side of Ophir, where many very extensive ledges of lead ore, carrying silver, were found ; which ores are adapted to the smelting process only. A remarkable distinction is to be noticed in the character of the ores on either side of the canyon, at the bottom of which appears to be the dividing line. On the north side, at the distance of r.ot more than one-third of a mile, is found a combination of sulphides of iron, lead, arsenic, antimony and zinc-the iron predominating, and carrying silver in appreciable quantities, with fifteen per cent. to forty per cent. of lead. On the south side distant from the canyon about one mile, in a direct line, the silver oc- curs as chloride, with little or no base metal. But, small as the quantity of the other minerals is, they contain lead, molybdanum, antimony, and zinc, and there- fore few of the mines yield ore that can be well treated without roasting. Prob- ably fifty or sixty per cent. may be taken as the average yield of those ores in the mill, when they are treated raw. But a proper roasting increases this to eighty- five and even ninety per cent., and upwards. Some mines yield a remarkably pure chloride-ore-a dolomitic limestone containing true chloride of silver in a very pure condition.

It was at the time of these discoveries that the district now known as " Ophir " was formed in that part of the Oquirrh range known as East Canyon, and originally included in the Rush Valley District. Some forty locations had been made as early as 1864 and 1865. The conditions under which the ore exists in these mines is somewhat peculiar. It is in concentrations, which are often small and exceedingly rich, or larger and less concentrated, though still very rich. Mines were opened, which, when the overlying earth was removed, disclosed a narrow vein, exhibiting along its length a number of "boulders " highly impreg- nated with chloride of silver. These frequently assayed from $5,000 to $20,000

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a ton ; though their value would vary very .nuch in different parts of the same mass. As a rule, the ore of East Canyon may be estimated at $80 to $150 per ton in value, though considerable quantities run much higher. But the marvelous stories of the $10,000 and $20,000 ore, found in boulders, attracted the attention of prospectors in other parts of the West ; and these discoveries in Ophir, to- gether with the wealth of the "Emma," have probably done more than any thing else to bring about that strong tide of immigrating prospectors which have so rapidly raised Utah to the position of a first rate mining.field. At all events, they would probably have been sufficient for the work, had the other discoveries been of less importance than they really are.

The working of these mines not only opened new districts, but revived the activity of those which had suffered partial abandonment ; and at present there is not one district where important works are not going on. Great encouragement was also received from Eastern and foreign capitalists. Important sales were made, and a great deal of money brought in as working capital. At the same time a number of smelting-works were built. The amount of ore which these were capable of treating is variously estimated at from 200 to 400 tons per day ; but few of them are now running. In June, 1870, the Woodhull Brothers built a furnace eight miles south of Salt Lake City, at the junction of the State Road with Big Cottonwood Creek. It did some service in testing practically the ores of the Territory, and from these works was shipped the first bullion produced from the mines of Utah. It was smelted from ores of the Monitor and Magnet, and other Cottonwood mines.

These works were soon followed by the Badger State Smelting Works, about four miles south of the City of Salt Lake, on the State Road, which were com- menced in August, 1870. They produced their first bullion on the 18th day of March, 1870. The next works were those of Jennings & Pascoe, immediately north of the city, at the Warm Springs. They contained reverberatory furnaces, which are not well adapted to the average ores of Utah, but are useful for the preparation of galena ore for the blast-furnaces. A cupola or blast-furnace has since been added to these works, increasing their value greatly.

The next, and best designed works of any built in the Territory until a late period, were those of Colonel E. D. Buel, at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The smelting-works of Buel & Bateman, in Bingham Canyon, which followed, were built on the same plan as those in Little Cottonwood.

During the winter of 1870-1, Messrs. Jones & Raymond built furnaces in East Canyon for the purpose of treating the lead-ores of that district. A renewal of operations also took place at Stocktou, and the works there have suffered greater vicissitudes than any others in the Territory. Tintic, a new district, saw the next establishment built. But, during the year 1871, furnaces were erected in all quarters : in Little Cottonwood, by Jones & Pardee; in Big Cottonwood, by Weightman & Co .; in Bingham Canyon, by Bristol & Daggett ; in American Fork, by Holcombe, Sevenoaks & Co .; and others. These were nearly all shaft-fur- naces, rather rude in construction, though with some well built furnaces among them. The only works which deserve notice, for the introduction of good metallurgical models, are those of Robbins & Co., who built a large reverberatory

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furnace for reducing the ore by charcoal, after preliminary roasting ; and the works of Colonel Buel, in Little Cottonwood, where the later constructions of German metallurgists were introduced with good judgment and effect. The fur- naces which Colonel Buel placed in his Cottonwood and Bingham Canyon works have been repeatedly copied in later erected establishments, and have proved themselves as serviceable in this country as abroad.

Thus sixteen furnaces were built in as many months, and the number has since been increased more than one-half ; but it cannot be said that great success has attended them. Few have continued in active operation, and fewer still work with the regularity necessary to success. It is impossible to doubt that a history like this must be the result of inexperience. It is but a repetition of the course of affairs in Nevada, where men accustomed to the amalgamation of gold under- took to treat silver ores, which require a very different process. They at first ascribed their failures to some peculiarity of the ores, which were thought to be different from any others in the world ; but now they confess that the cause of their difficulties was simply ignorance. Undoubtedly that is the real secret of the trouble experienced by smelters in Utah ; and, doubtless, when they have become more experienced, they will not hesitate to acknowledge that ignorance of the work was the cause of their first failures, instead of giving the numerous excuses that are now current.

In addition to the foregoing means of reduction there was built in Ophir Dis- trict, East Canyon, a first-class crushing and amalgamating mill, in May and June, 1871, by the Walker Brothers, of Salt Lake City. It is known as the Pioneer Mill. It has fifteen stamps, and was built by the firm to work the ores of the Sil- veropolis, Tiger, Rockwell, Zella, Silver Chief, and other mines-the mill-process alone being adapted to the ores of that section of Ophir known as Lion Hill, where horn chloride silver ores are found. There are also four or five "Mexican arastas" in successful operation in East Canyon. The mill-men have met with better success in Utah than the smelters, for they are engaged in a task familiar to them, the process being the same as that in use in Nevada and some parts of California.

Notwithstanding all the discouragement which has been met with hitherto by the smelters, the progress of mining in Utah has been wonderful. Remember- ing that the first really practical work done towards the development of the min- ing interests was commenced only in the fall of 1868, and making due allowance for the inclement season then at hand, which the miners had to pass through in such high altitudes as those where the mines are situated, it will be understood how it was the summer of 1869 had progressed so far before work to any apprecia- ble amount was done. Considering the shortness of the time, the record of what has been done is most extraordinary.

From the summer of 1869 to the 25th of September, 1871, there were shipped from the Territory 10,000 tons of silver and gold ores, of the gross value of $2,- 500,000 ; of bullion, or pig-lead, containing gold and silver, 4,500 tons, of gross value of $1,237,000 ; copper ores, 231 tons, of the gross value of $6,000. Salt has also been exported to the extent of 1,100 tons, of the value of $4,000; and silver bars, obtained by milling chloride ores, have produced $120,000. The an-

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nual product of gold from Bingham Canyon, by improved appliances for washing and sluicing, has been increased from $150,000 to $250,000. The number of districts by exploration and location has grown from two, as in 1868, to thirty- two in 1871. Since June, 1870, there have been erected eighteen smelting-fur- naces, built at an aggregate cost of $200,000, several of which are producing bullion.

The above is a comprehensive history of the growth and development of the mining interests of Utah from the day when General Connor and his men first discovered the Old Jordan in 1863 until the time when mining was no longer an experiment, but had become one of Utah's chief industries. Since then the searching pick of the prospector has been actively bringing to the light of day mineral deposits in all parts of the Territory ; until an account of even the valua- ble mines of each district would require a more extended article than the most industrious reader would desire. There are excellent mineral indications on the Idaho line ; and developments in the extreme south of the Territory have shown rich deposits of a peculiar character that have surprised and perplexed the most practiced mining experts. So, also, the Clifton and Rose Bud districts to the west give promise of future wealth, and from the almost unexplored southeast come frequent tales of rich placers and gold-bearing quartz veins.

While research has thus been made as to the extent of the mineral-bearing portions of Utah, there have been many splendid results from individual mines. Since the day, when, as it is said, mining was at its hey-day flush of prosperity, the owners of such mines as the Ontario, Mono, Horn Silver, Flagstaff, Old Tele- graph, Great Basin, Crescent and others innumerable, have all made great fortunes. True, to offset this, some then considered permanent and of great value, have be- come worthless. But who shall lay this to the fault of the mines themselves ? Who shall say that, in many instances, the supposed durability of these played-out mines was not, in the main, the misrepresentations of scheming operators? In other cases, these seeming failures are not real. Mines currently reported of great prospective value in those days were rich only in the conscientious, but hopeful and visionary minds of their owners. Still others retain their value, but the ope- rators are financially unable to carry on the developments necessary to reach a paying condition of the mines. By this fair method of elimination, it will be seen that the real and true failures of the mines of Utah are very few indeed ; on the contrary, it is considered by miners of extended experience that Utah presents an unusually safe field for mining adventure.

The mines of Utah have held and will hold their own. The field is so large, the precious yield so rich and varied, the fortunes in the past so conspicuous, and the domain of the future so hopeful, that it will be a phenomenon in the economy of events if Utah does not become a great mining success.

Millions on millions of dollars have been dug from the dark breasts of Utah's mountains. Towns have been built, expensive works have been erected, the busy hum of toil has gone on for years ; the mountains have echoed with the miner's blast and the valleys have been made dark with the smoke of furnaces. Piles of dingy ore have been dragged from the secret chambers of the hills, and streams of glittering metal have flowed from the smelters. Men and fortunes have come and

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gone ; but the buried wealth of the Territory has only been trifled with. The restless activity of the American mind has allowed only a superficial examination of our treasures. The readiest road to a quick fortune has been the only one traveled. Gold, silver and lead -- the cream on the surface of the dish -- are all that have as yet been sought after. Our real treasure trove, the base and founda- tion of future eminence, our iron and coal, are almost untouched. Within the borders of this promising Territory lie beds of coal of an immense extent and value. Near by, are enormous quantities of purest iron which will, one day, en- able Utah to rival and outvie any State in the Union. At other points have been discovered the useful minerals necessary to make these principal ones of complete utility, such as sulphur, paraffine, graphite, etc. Other metals are also to be pro- cured, including copper, antimony, quicksilver, bismuth and tin.

It is not the purpose nor within the capacity of this chapter (which is but as a link in the history) to deal with the voluminous detail of the Utah mines ; but, before closing the subject, it seems proper to review briefly the general mining operations of the Walkers, who, undoubtedly, were the chief instruments in work - ing out success for Utah mines in 1870.

At the opening of the year 1870, when the Walker Brothers took hold of mining, there had been but very little legitimate mining done in Utah, though considerable prospecting had been carried on as shown in the preliminary history of Utah mines as written by Mr. Stenhouse. Placer mining had been carried on to a limited extent in Bingham canyon, a few men making a living of it ; but sa- gacious men of enterprise, like the Walker Brothers, whose attention had for years been attracted to the mines of Utah, through the prospecting of General Connor and his troops, saw that quartz mining only could benefit the country, and at this time quartz mining was very limited. The Walker Brothers' financial help having been sought by the discoverers of the Emma prospect, they went to look at it; and becoming fully assured that the vast mineral resources of Utah could be successfully worked, if sufficient capital was brought to the help of the discoverers of good mines, and being also convinced that the Emma prospect was such a mine, they purchased an interest in it with Messrs. Woodhull, Woodman, Chisholm, Reich and others. The new combination was most fortunate; and as the Walker Brothers, like the family of the Rothschilds, were known to have at- tached to their lives that magic something called "luck," a settled faith grew in the public mind at home that the Utah mines at length were indeed opened, and scon a kindred faith in the mines of Utah spread throughout America and Europe.

The Emma was the first silver-lead mine in Utah that obtained a paying status. At the time of its development there were no silver-lead reduction works in the United States excepting one or two which had just started, the most noted of which is the Balbach, New Jersey, reduction works.

After becoming interested in the Emma developments, which soon opened up large bodies of ore, it became apparent to the company that a market should be opened for the product of the mine; and as there were no works in the United States available to reduce or smelt the products of the mine, correspondence was opened with parties in Liverpool and London, and it was soon ascertained that the ores of the Emma mine could be shipped to the English market at a profit. This

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History of Salt Lake City, Part 91

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194