USA > Utah > Salt Lake County > Salt Lake > Utah gazatteer and directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo and Salt Lake cities, for 1884 > Part 15
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INSURANCE-BANKING-RAILROAD INDEBTEDNESS.
About fifty insurance companies carry $500,000 worth of insurance on stores in Salt Lake City and Ogden, and $3,500,000 worth on merchandise in stock, which is believed to represent one-half the value of the goods insured in the two cities, and three-fourths of the value of all the goods in stock in the Territory on the average.
The banking business of Utah is done by twelve commercial banks, and five national banks. Their aggregate paid-in capital is about $1,000,000; average deposits, $3, 500,000; average loans $3,000,000; amount of exchange drawn, perhaps $12,000,000 to $15,000,000 annually.
Appended is given a list of the banks doing business in Utah. The first five are national, the remaining twelve, private banks:
HANK.
LOCATION.
PRESIDENT.
CASHIER.
CAPITAL ..
Deseret National,
Salt Lake City, H. S. Eldredge.
I .. S. Hill
$300,000
First National,
Ogden,
HI S. Eldredge,
H. S. Young,
100,000)
Utah National,
Ogden,
IJ. W. Guthrie,
R. M. Donly,
100,000
First National,
Provo ..
A. O Smoot,
W. 11. Dusenberry, O. E. Hill,
50,000
Commercial National,
Ogden,
H. O. Harkness,
Frank, Charles, Private ..
Logan ..
J. W. Guthrie,
Jones & Co., Private,
Salt Lake City,
W. P. Lynn ..
McCornick & Co., Private.
Salt Lake City,j W. S. McCornick, J. Barnett,
Park City, Private,.
Park City,
A. B. Richardson,
Peterson, James M., Private,
Richfield,
Logan,
Geo. W. Thatcher,
H. E. Hatch,
75,000
Wells, Fargo & Co .. Private, ..
Salt Lake City,
J. E. Dooly, Agent,
Walker Brothers. Private,.
Salt Lake City,
B. G Raybould,
Woollev. Lund & Judd, Private, St. George,
Zion's Savings, Private,
Salt Lake City, John Taylor,
|T. G. Webber,
50,000
Guthrie, J. W., Private, ..
Corinne.
Gillespie, R. T., Private,
Silver Reef,
30,000
Thatcher Brothers & Co., Private,
Of the bonded indebtedness of railroads in Utah, the appended table will probably give a fair idea. It is impossible to ascertain what proportion of the bonds are held in this Territory, but the amount is painfully insignifi- cant. The Utah Central, the only line of any length in Utah which is viewed as a local enterprise, is owned by parties outside of Utah. Very little over one-tenth, if any at all, of the bonds, are held by parties living in the Territory. Outside of this, nearly all the bonds of the road, the aggregate value of which is $25,716,725, are owned by parties having practic no other interests in the Territory.
.
116
UTAH GAZETTEER.
The bonded debt of Utah's railroads, as given by Poor's Railroad Manual, is:
NAMES.
MILES.
AMOUNT OF BOND.
Central Pacific.
150
$ 8,100,000
Denver and Rio Grande,
386
7,334,000
Echo and Park City,
32
480,000
Sanpete Valley.
30
750,000
Salt Lake and Western.
57
1,080,000
Union Pacific,
65
-
1,700,725
Utah and Northern,
81
972,000
Utah and Nevada, .
37
NONE.
Utah Central. .
280
4,900,000
U'tah Eastern,
25
400,000
Total,
$ 25,716,725
.i
TAXATION.
Utah Territory is practically free from debt. Nowhere is taxation lighter vither in principle or in practice. The rate of taxation is three mills for school and three mills for Territorial purposes. Counties are given discre- tion as to the amount of tax to be assessed for county purposes, provided the amount shall not exceed six mills on the dollar. Cities are curtailed to an assessment of five mills on the dollar for ordinary expenses. and five for opening and keeping in repair streets. In school dis- tricts, upon a two-thirds majority vote of property owners in the district. a property tax not exceeding 2 per cent. may be levied to build and make improvements for schools, within the provisions of the law. The revenue law requires that property shall be assessed at a fair cash valuation. An examination into the subject, however, will show that, taken altogether. property is assessed at less than 50 per cent. of the cash valuation. The limit of taxation for Territorial, school, county and city. not including special taxation for school purposes and other uses provided for in city charters, is twenty-two mills on the dollar. Allowing it to be taxed at 50 per cent. only, which is a high estimate, the real tax would be but eleven mills on the dollar. Each county assessor, however, makes his own standard, the county court acquiescing, and the result is that the tax levied varies all the way from 20 to 50 per cent. of the cash valuation only, accord- ing to the county and the idea of the assessor. The result is that a steer in one county may be valued at $15, while in another it is but $6 to $8, and with other animals and real property at the same rate; whereas, as a matter of fact. the fair cash valuation of cattle-not including sucking calves which are not counted by stock men -- is from $25 to $30 per head. The table of the assessed valuation of railroads, appearing elsewhere, will illus- trate the matter still better. Roads bonded at an amount ranging from $16,000 to over $56,000 per mile, are assessed at a valuation ranging from $1.750 to $8,ooo per mile according to the county, the highest tax failing to equal one-sixth the bonded indebtedness of the road. Notwithstanding this variation, however, the Territory keeps free from debt, and reasonable progress is made in public improvements. The assessed valuation of the entire Territory, as shown in the office of Auditor Clayton, in 1883. was $30.834.425. The Territorial and school tax on this amount-six mills on the dollar -- was $185,006.55. Thirty million dollars would not begin to
.
UTAH GAZETTEER.
117
cover a fair cash valuation of Salt Lake County alone. Here the liberality of the revenue law can not be questioned. Mines and the product of mines are not taxable; though surface improvements are liable to taxation. The revenue from this source, however, is so insignificant as to be unworthy of mention.
PUBLIC BUSINESS.
The receipts from Utah on account of United States Internal Revenue taxes have averaged $40,670 a year for the past twenty-two years. For the last fiscal year they were $48,512. No spirituous liquors are manu- factured, nor any tobacco. About 18,000 barrels of malt liquors and 230,000 cigars were made in the last fiscal year, worth, together, $250,000. and paying $18,097 revenue. Aside from these two items the bulk of the internal revenue receipts are from special taxes (license).
The following is furnished by Postmaster John T. Lynch, showing the business done in the Salt Lake City Postoffice during the years named, from 1878 to March 31, 1884:
CLASS.
187S.
1884
Receipts ..
$19.821
$31,122
$39.294
Expense of Maintaining
$11,492
$11,66S
$12,871
Profit of the Department ..
$8,329
$10.45+
$26,423
Receipts of Money Order Department.
$274,775
$846,524
8853,300
Value of Postage Stamps Cancelled
$25.374
$31,275
$34.781
Letters and Postal C'ards Received
833.544
1,035,241
2,044,43-
Letters and Postal Cards Dispatched
722,540
1,461,235
2,014,720
Pieces of Third and Fourth Class Mail Dispatched
84.365
142,633
166,736
Weight of Total Mail Dispatched.
115,144
603.262
936,367
Registered Packages Handled.
24,865
13,149
67,412
The United States Land Office at Salt Lake City was opened in March, 1869, and the following summary of its business from that date to, and including March 31, 1884, embraces nearly all the lands in the Territory to which the title has either passed out of the Government or been applied for. All moneys for sales, fees, or commissions are paid over to the United States. They are included under the heading of receipts:
ENTRIES, DESCRIPTION OF.
NO.
ARRA.
RECEIPTS.
Homesteads, First Entries
6,388
$44,159
$ 91,839.50
Homesteads, Final Proofs. .
2,773
373 280
15,364.00
Declaratory Statements, for Pre-emption.
4,1 37
27,411 '00
Cash Entries thereunder. .
2,662
200,382
406,032.99
Desert Entries, First Payment, at 25c.
172,520
43.208.88
Desert Entries, Final Payment, at $1.00.
205
25,794
28.796.20
Agricultural College Scrip
579
02,640
Military Bounty Warrant Entries.
152
23,535
Valentine Serip Entries
7
250
Porterfield Scrip Entries.
2
So
Supreme Court Scrip Location.
39
4,600
Chippewa Scrip Entries.
5
100
Sioux Scrip Entries.
3
307
Coal Land Entries
7
10,443
130,950.00
Declaratory Statements, Soldiers and Sailors
20
44.00
Declaratory Statements for Coal Land.
2,055.00
Applications for Mineral Lands.
1,230
12,300.00
Adverse Claims Filed.
055
6.580.00
Timber Depredations.
14,626.41
Railroad Selections, Central Pacific
75.40"
900.00
Testimony Fees.
627.00
Total Receipts.
$ $31,200.0%
Timber-Culture Entries
32,202
3,221.00
Mineral Entries
1,023
41,160.50
118
UTAH GAZETTEER.
ENLARGEMENT OF BUSINESS AND TRADE.
Heretofore the trade of Utah has been largely confined within itself, but that is rapidly changing. Its central location and fine climate have always made it more or less the headquarters of the mountain people. The ten- dency is on the increase. Our citizens are beginning to wake up to the natural advantages of their position; in the center of the only habitable transverse belt of the mountains, moderata in altitude, with a delightful and saluberious climate, full of rich valleys easily watered, and of mineral mountains covered with timber, and affording limitless pasture and water power; giving rise to a mixed industry, farming, stock-growing, fruit-raising, mining, smelting, and manufacturing; the products being coal, iron, gold, silver, lead; the cereals, fruits, and vegetables common to the latitude; butter, cheese, and various manufactured articles; presenting the natural route of trade and commerce, containing already 160,000 people, and rap- idly filling up. They are begining to see the advantages in a commercial sense of holding the key to such a country, and the tendency to grasp and improve them is growing. Our railroad system is being rapidly extended, drawing after it into an ever widening field our capital, our trade, our man- ufactures, and business enterprise. Ogden, situated on the intersection of the trans-continental and transverse railroads, has a large trade along the lines of these thoroughfares and in the section they traverse. There is little agricultural or manufacturing save in this central trough-like depression in the mountains between Nebraska and California, and the adjoining sections, east and west, chiefly mineral or grazing in resources, afford an ample market for Utah's products of all kinds, and a good field for the display of business enterprise and ability. Our citizens are more and more engaging in extensive business operations beyond the confines of Utah, such as min- ing, smelting, lumbering, and stock-raising, and this naturally enlarges the scope of our commercial fnfluence. Yearly our trade is finding new chan- nels and broadening and extending on every hand the theatre of its opera- tions. All that is needed to give Utah unquestioned comercial pre-eminence among the rising young commonwealths of the mountains is a comprehen- sive view of the situation and a resolute grasping and improvement of the opportunities at presents existing .*
NOTES!
Perhaps no State or Territory in the West pays out as much money for articles, the importation of which could be stopped without inconvenience and the manufacture of which could be commenced with unquestioned profit, as does Utah.
Between $300,000 and $350,000 goes out annually for pork products that could as well be kept in Utah.
In pickles the cost to the Territory is from $8,500 to $10,000 per annum. Scarce any capital would be required to supply this demand, and the profits, with reasonable management, would be certain.
Utah, the best fruit raising country, taking in fruit generally, pays to other commonwealths annually, $30,000 for canned fruits. For vegetables, where, if possible, there is really less excuse, the annual outlay is $25,000.
The item paid by the Territory each year for boots and shoes is $250, - 000. This amount is sent out by a country which exports annually 600,000
. Resources of Utah.
.
.
119
UTAH GAZETTEER.
pounds of hides, and gets as an offset $78,000, besides paying railroad freights both ways on the hides.
It is among the reasonable possibilities for Utah to manufacture her own clothing, even against eastern figures. In this then alone fully $500,000 could be saved yearly.
Oats to an unknown amount are imported into Utah, when a better article is raised here. It is admitted by competent persons that, even at the higher figure which Utah oats bring, they are still cheaper for the consumer than the imported cereal.
Tons of apples rot on the ground each summer, where waste should be intolerable, and from which excellent vinegar, superior to the article imported, could be made-enough for exportation. As it is, fully $20,000 goes out of Utah each year for the simple article of vinegar.
Colorado gets $3,000 a year from Utah for crocks. Colorado never had and never will have the opportunities Utah has for the making of this article of commerce.
In a country from which tallow is regularly shipped, where manufac- tures exist with a capacity to employ more than the internal demand for soap, and where the soap ranks as high, if not higher, than does the imported article-in such a country, in Utah-there is an annual expenditure of $40,000 for foreign soaps. This is a sin.
Fifteen car loads of manilla paper are imported into Utah yearly, at a cost of $150 per ton, $22,500; six car loads of butcher paper, at over $80 per ton, $5,000; fifteen car loads of newspaper, at $180 per ton, $27,000, and between ten to fifteen car loads of book and job paper-say twelve car loads -at $300 per ton, $36,000; not less than $90,000 per annum, which could just as well be kept in Utah.
Figures are not given for the money expended for brooms, brushes, hops, nor for articles the figure on which is greater, as on glass, and iron. and other things. Nor do they include the importation of butter, which alone is a very important item. Iowa and Nebraska furnish Utah with butter, when neither place is better qualified for the manufacture of dairy products; and when over 1,000 miles stands in favor of Utah. In cheese alone is the home market most generally supplied, and this enterprise has driven out foreign competition. It is not always possible to force exporta- tion, but it is possible for Utah to save, by producing some of the articles she now imports, about $1, 500,000 annually. Not one of the articles enum- erated but can be made here at a figure to compete with imported figures. The money thus saved would amount to one-half the money brought into the Territory yearly by exports, if the products of mines are not included.
.
UTAH-COUNTIES.
.
IN general, there is a great similarity in all the counties in Utah. The notable exception is in those counties lying below the rim of the Great Basin. In all parts of the Territory the general and characteristic economic resources are practically the same. The country is mountainous. The val- leys lie between and in the mountain ranges. Irrigation is everywhere necessary, and agriculture is the pursuit of much the larger portion of the population. All the counties are surrounded by mountain ranges; in all the mountains minerals are found so that, as above stated, there is no great diversity in the economic resources. So far as developments, made up to the present period, show the condition of the Territory, some sections are favored with richer mineral deposits, and with varieties of minerals not found in others. But, at best, the country is yet imperfectly developed; and even as regards farming, in which the greatest progress has been made, results are as nothing compared with what later years must see realized. Information has been solicited from each county regarding that county; from every city, concerning the corporation, and from every town and hamlet. It is given as fully as has been returned. Negligence, or inability, or both. in responding, have rendered it impossible to give every place in detail; but the fault is on the part of responsible parties in each place, as all have been requested alike to furnish the same general character of information. The county, physically; as to settlement, to development, to industries and to economic resources, is first considered; then as to cities and towns and other details that are of value. The information is as complete as could be secured. If any is wanting, it is the result of indifference on the part of persons applied to, or their unwillingness to furnish the information solicited.
BOX ELDER COUNTY.
This county was settled in the fall of 1851 by Simeon A. Carter and others; and, while making no very great pretentions, has always been con- sidered a section in which there was a steady increase in material and a constant improvement in social conditions. It was among the first counties to inaugurate manufactures, particularly of woolen goods, and for a time occupied an enviable position because of its manufacturing energy. It embraces perhaps as fine farming land as is to be found anywhere in the Territory, and a ride through its length, over the Utah and Northern, dur- ing any of the summer months is most pleasurable. It covers a large area and encircles the northern part of Great Salt Lake, which runs far into the county. It is bounded on the north by Idaho, on the east by Cache. south by Weber and Great Salt Lake, and on the west by Nevada. The Utah and Northern skirts the eastern part of the county and passes the larger and more populous towns, while the Central Pacific runs through the entire county in a sort of westerly direction for a distance of about 150 miles. Considerable of the arca of the county is made up of the Great American Desert, on the west side of the Great Salt Lake. The county is
1
121
UTAH GAZETTEER.
noted tor its excellent grazing advantages, not only because so extensive but also on account of mildness of the seasons, the severity of winter being largely mitigated by the warm breezes blowing from the lake and the salt the air contains as a consequence. Though excellent farming land is found everywhere in the county, that which has been most cultivated and which is most tempting lies between the lake and the range of mountains separating Cache and Box Elder Counties. It is wonderfully fertile and greatly resembles Davis County in this respect. There are vast tracts of land in the county at present useless save for pasturage, because of absense of water facilities. The principal towns are located at the base of the range skirting the county on the east. Some smaller ones are found on the Bear River, which runs through this county into Great Salt Lake, while hamlets are dotted in all directions and wherever opportunity is afforded. Like nearly all other counties, Box Elder is rich in mineral deposits though but little has been done looking to their development. Gold, silver, lead, copper, etc., have been found, but so far not in such quantities as to excite very great interest. The county, because of the lake, is supplied with inexhaustible salt resources, and considerable is shipped north over the Utah and Northern and west over the Central Pacific. Large iron deposits, the ore being of several varieties, also exist in this county, and are of acknowledged value; it being simply a matter of time when they will come into use. Next to the deposites of antimony found in Piute County, those in Box Elder, and near Brigham City, are second in importance. Tests have been made and the results were most satisfactory, giving to the mineral, which is found in a three foot vein, a commercial value from the start, and making its coming development a reasonably assured success. This county also has its min- eral springs which are greatly resorted to by invalids, and by people seeking rest and inland bathing opportunities. These waters flow hot from the earth in the extreme southeastern part of the county, and have been collected so as to afford healthful and pleasurable bathing. The county seat is at Brigham.City, the largest and the wealthiest town in the county. A fine court house is located here. The county is embraced in the Second Judicial District, which holds its sessions in Ogden, Weber County. Several years ago, before the Utah and Northern was carried beyond Franklin, Corinne made very considerable pretensions, being on the line of the Central Pacific and the point at which all freight to be hauled by team to Montana was deposited. The continuation of the narrow guage, however, took from Corinne this business, since which time it has not been so prosperous. The county is remarkably wealthy in natural advantages; its people are thrifty and enterprising, and it is growing as fast as permanent development will justify.
BRIGHAM CITY, the county seat of Box Elder County, is one of the prettiest and best situated towns in the Territory. It is on the line of the Utah and Northern Railway and occupies a portion of the "bench" lands east of Great Salt Lake, and near the mouth of Box Elder and Wellsville Canyons. The principal industry of the citizens is farming and bee culture. It has a woolen mill, a flour mill, a saw mill, and a dairy farm, where a large quantity of butter and cheese are made for home consumption and exporta- tion. The city was incorporated February 10, 1867, and has an area of ten square miles. Elections are held biennially. There are three churches-two Latter-day Saints churches; four ecclesiastical wards, A. Nichols, A. Mad- sen, J. Walsh and H. Tingey, bishops; one Presbyterian church, Rev. L. S. Gillespie, pastor; six schools and three schoolhouses -- two District and one Presbyterian-with an average attendance of 360. The places of amusement are the Social Hall and Court House Hall, Y. M. M. I. A. and Sunday School libraries. It has also a Female Relief Society and Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations. 15
122
UTAH GAZETTEER.
WILLARD CITY, situated on the line of the Utah and Northern Rail- road, seven miles south of Brigham City, was first settled in March, 1851, by J. S. Wells, John M. McCrary, Elisha Mallory, Lyman B. Wells, Alfred Walton and Samuel Meecham: the place was then known as North Willow Creek and was included in Weber County. When Box Elder County was established the name was changed to Willard City. There is one church. Latter-day Saints, George Facer bishop; one district school, one Sunday school, a library and the following societies: Female Relief Society and Young Men's and Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Associations, and a Primary Association. Willard City ranks second in importance in the county. Mail received every day, except Sunday.
GROUSE CREEK, laying in the northwestern part of the county, was settled in the spring of 1876 by the following persons and their families: T. Atkinson, B. F. Cooke, S. Fletcher, M. Grover, E. T. Hubbard, C. Kimber, Sr., H. Merrill, W. C. Thomas, C. Kimber, Jr., A. Tanner and R. E. Warburton. A ward of the Latter-day Saints' Church was organ- ized July 16, 1879, S. H. Kimball, bishop. Mail is received once a week from Terrace on the Central Pacific Railroad, arriving Fridays and depart- ing Thursdays.
CALLS FORT, on the line of the Utah and Northern Railway, was first settled in the spring of 1852 by Anson Call, John Gibbs and a Mr. Grover. At present it numbers about thirty-five families. Thomas Harper is bishop. There is a mail twice a week.
HONEYVILLE, also on the Utah and Northern Railway, were settled in 1865 by Abraham Hansucker and organized a ward in 1877. There is a daily mail, Sundays excepted.
SNOWVILLE, situated fifty miles northwest from Corinne, was settled in 1876 by A. Goodliffe and a few others. It is surrounded by a country well adapted for grazing, and the chief industry of the citizens is stock-raising. There is a hotel, feed stable and general store. Mail arrives from Kelton on the Central Pacific Railroad on Wednesday and Saturday, and departs Tuesday and Friday of each week.
BEAR RIVER CITY, situated about five miles north of Corinne, was settled by S. Smith in 1866. It has a population of 350, one co-operative store, and receives mail daily. Carl Jensen is bishop of the ward.
WEST PORTAGE, located in the Ortheastern part of the county near the Idaho line, was first settled and organized in 1867, with Thomas Green as bishop. It has a co-operative store; mail is received three times a week. The present bishop is O. C. Harkins.
DEWEYVILLE. was first settled by J. C. Dewey in the fall of 1869: organized a ward, September 9, 1877. with John C. Dewey bishop. It has a daily mail.
PARK VALLEY was settled by C. Thomas and T. Dunn in 1869; ward organized July 14, 1879. E. D. Mechamsen is bishop. There is a mail Thursday of each week.
KELTON AND TERRACE, next to Corinne, are the principal railroad towns, on the Central Pacific Railroad, in the county. The inhabitants of. each town are principally engaged in railroading and freighting, as both places are outfiting and starting points for the mining country north of them.
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