Chapter XXVII.
Agriculture, Stock-Raising, Manufactures, and Mining.
1852-1886.

Agricultural Products and Yield Per Acre — Irrigation — Character of the Soil — Fruit Culture — Viticulture — Sericulture — Timber and Timber-Lands — Bunch-Grass — Cattle-Raising — Dairy Products — Horses — Sheep — Woollen Manufactures — Leather — Other Manufactures — Iron-Mining — Coal-Mining — Copper — Sulphur — Gypsum and Mica — Other Minerals — Building Stone — Gold and Silver — the West Mountain District — the Rush Valley District — the Cottonwood District — the American Fork District — the Tintic District — the Ontario Mine — Other Mining Districts — Mining Products — Milling, Smelting, and Reduction-Works.

    The progress of agriculture in Utah will best be understood from the following figures: In 1849, as we have seen, nearly 130,000 bushels of cereals were raised from about 17,000 acres of land,¹ then valued at $6.50 per acre. In 1883, which was by no means a favorable year, more than 1,600,000 bushels of wheat, and some 722,000 of oats, 305,000 of barley, 193,000 of corn, together with 215,000 tons of hay, and 800,000 bushels of potatoes, were produced from about 215,000 acres,² the value of which varied according to location from $25 to $100 per acre; the yield

²For tabulated statement of cereal and farm products for each county in 1883, see Utah Gazeteer, 1884, 297-8.

of wheat being in 1883 about 20 bushels, of oats 33, of barley 25, and of corn 16 bushels, to the acre; though in Willard county the average of wheat was 57,³ of oats in Cache and Utah counties 53 and 58 bushels, and of barley in the latter nearly 41 bushels.⁴ When the pioneers entered the valley in 1847 their hearts sank within them at the hopeless prospect. The land seemed barren beyond redemption; but from less than seventeen acres of its soil were raised, in 1880, more than 1,250 bushels of grain.⁵

    According to the census returns for 1880, there were 9,452 farms in Utah, with a total area of 655, 524 acres, of which 416,105 were in tilth, their value, including improvements, being estimated at $14,015,178; the total value of all farm products at $3,337,410, and of farming implements and machinery at $946,-753. The agricultural products of Utah in 1883 more than sufficed for her needs,⁶ and as there was no very reliable market for the surplus, there was little incentive to further exertion in this direction. It was claimed, however, that with more careful cultivation the yield could be at least doubled on the same acreage, and it is certain that there were several million acres of farming land untouched and almost unthought of, on

⁴Agricultural statistics for Utah will be found in the census reports for 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880. For intervening years, see the files of the Utah Directory and Gazetteer; Utah Gazetteer; Deseret News; Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 23; Fabian's Utah, 6, 8-9; Utah Resources and Attractions, 18-19; Sac. Union, Jan. 9, 1873; S. L. C. Tribune, March 30, 1879; Deseret News, Nov. 9, 1881; House Ex. Doc., 46th Cong. 2d Sess., 46, 503.

⁵By S. A. Woolley. Of wheat, 426 bushels were obtained from 6 2/3 acres, 517 of barley from 5 2/3 acres, and 310 of oats from 3 1/2 acres. Sloan's Utah, 4. For an essay entitled Utah: Her Attractions and Resources, as Inviting the Attention of Tourists and Those Seeking Permanent Homes, a prize was awarded in 1881 by a committee of Mormons, among whom were Joseph R. Walker and Wm Jennings, to Robt W. Sloan of the S. L. C. Herald. It was afterward published as a pamphlet, and contains much reliable information in a compact form. Mr Sloan is also the compiler of the Utah Gazetteer, and Directory of Logan, Ogden, Provo, and Salt Lake Cities for 1884, in which is a valuable compendium of the agricultural, manufacturing, mining, railroad, and commercial interests of Utah, together with a chronological table and description and brief historical sketch of the various counties and settlements.

⁶The consumption of wheat was estimated at 900,000 to 1,000,000 bushels a year, or about 6 1/4 bushels per capita of the population.

account of an insufficient rainfall,⁷ or through lack of irrigation.

    There are few parts of the world where irrigation has been pushed forward more systematically and with better results than in Utah. In 1865, 277 canals had already been constructed, at a cost, including dams, of $1,766,939, with a total length of 1,043 miles, irrigating 153,949 acres; and there were others in progress at this date, the cost of which was estimated at $877,730.⁸ During each succeeding year thousands of acres, before considered worthless, were brought under cultivation, canals being built in all directions, the waters that had run to waste down the mountain sides and through the cañons depositing

⁸Smith's Rise, Progress, and Travels, 23. For act incorporating the Big Cottonwood Canal Co., see Utah Acts Legisl., 1855, 277-9; for progress of work, Deseret News, Aug. 29, 1855, March 25, 1857. In 1856 the Davis Co. Canal Co. was incorporated. Utah Acts Legisl., 1855-6, 34-5. For an account of the Weber River canal, see Deseret News, Aug. 20, 1856, Oct. 10, 1860; of the Logan canal, Tullidge's Mag., i. 534-5; and of the Jordan cañon canal, Id., Sept. 21, 1864. In this year it was first proposed to bring the waters of Utah Lake into Salt Lake co., where there was not one third of the water needed for irrigation. The cost of making a canal for this purpose, 32 miles in length, 20 feet broad at the bottom, 3 feet deep, and capable of irrigating about 30,000 acres per week, was estimated at $485,580. Id., Nov. 30, 1864. The enterprise was termed the Deseret Irrigation and Navigation Co. The governor refused to grant a franchise. See Utah Jour. Legisl., 1864-5, 116-17; but it was incorporated in 1867. The act of incorporation will be found in Utah Acts Legisl., 1867, pp. 30-2. See, for statistics of irrigation for each county in 1865, Pac. Coast Direct., 1867, 151-3; for reports on extent, cost, and value of canals at this date, with other statistics, Utah Jour. Legisl., 1864-5, 130-3, 1865-6, 149-53; for various acts regulating irrigation, Utah Compiled Laws, 879; for act to provide right of way for S. L. City canals, Utah Laws, 1880, 85-8; for act regulating water rights, Id., 36-41; for other acts concerning irrigation, Id., 1882, 119; for names, length, and cost of canals in Weber co., Stanford's Brief Hist. Sketch of Weber Co., MS., 22.

on the farm-lands rich particles of fertile soil.⁹ Two or three waterings a year would, in most localities, secure good crops, and the millions devoted to purposes of irrigation throughout the territory paid better interest, directly and indirectly, than capital invested in any other description of enterprise. Nevertheless, the supply was insufficient, more water being still allowed to run to waste during the spring and winter months than was utilized.¹⁰

    The winter rains swell the streams, sometimes to overflowing, when considerable damage occurs to farming-lands along the river-bottoms. Snow falls to a depth of from two to twenty-five feet, but does not usually melt before summer is well advanced. Wind-storms are often violent, and occasionally destroy growing crops.¹¹ The altitude of Utah renders the high lands liable to night frosts during the summer months, and on the more elevated plateaus no attempt is made to plant, the surface being devoted entirely to grazing purposes. At times in winter a very low temperature is registered. Often the valleys are colder at night than the more elevated adjacent regions, and

¹⁰See, for remarks on facilities for irrigation, Wheeler's Surveys, Progress Rept, 1872, 28-33; for report on water supply, character and quantity of irrigated and irrigable land, etc., in 1876, House Ex. Doc., 45th Cong. 2d Sess., 73, passim; for report on existing system of irrigation and needed improvements, Powell's Lands of the Arid Region, passim.

¹¹The Kings of Kingston, in Piute county, one year sowed 300 acres with wheat, and the wind blew the crop away. What was not actually displaced was kept cut close to the ground by the perpetual passage of waves of sand. They planted an orchard, but some gooseberry bushes alone remained. Shade trees were set out about their houses, but the wind worked them around so that they could not take root. Robinson, Sinners and Saints, 209. In 1880 occurred the most violent storm ever known in Utah. A description of it is given in the S. L. C. Herald, July 29, 1880. For account of flood at Parowan in 1857, see Deseret News, Sept. 30, 1857. In Nov. 1860 there was a violent hurricane which caused great destruction of property. See Deseret News, Nov. 21, 28, 1860; Sac. Union, Dec. 1, 1860. In 1860 there were heavy floods in various parts of Utah. See Little's Jacob Hamblin, 75-7; Deseret News, Jan. 15, 22, Feb. 12, May 7, July 9, 1862; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1863-4. For other remarkable storms, see S. F. Bull., May 25, 1877; S. F. Chron., Apr. 25, 1883. The prevailing winds are westerly. Powell's Lands of the Arid Region, in H. Ex. Doc., 45th Cong. 2d Sess., 73, 68.

growing crops are occasionally nipped by frost when those on the bench-lands escape altogether.¹²

    The havoc wrought, as we have seen, by crickets and grasshoppers among the growing crops of the first settlers, and again in 1855-6,¹³ was repeated at brief intervals in later years. Seldom was a harvest gathered in Utah that was not more or less injured by this scourge.¹⁴

    Of the nature of the soil, slight mention has already been made.¹⁵ The early settlers discoursed in glowing terms of its fertility, though passing emigrants spoke of it as a "mean land," hard, dry, and fit only for the plodding, thrifty, sober Mormon. The main drawback was the alkaline matter, which was so abundant in spots as to form a white efflorescence on the surface, and wherever this efflorescence appeared, vegetation died. Otherwise its composition was favorable to fertility, being formed principally of the disintegrated feldspathie rocks of the mountain ranges, mingled with the débris and decomposed limestone of the valleys.¹⁶

    At the annual fairs held by the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society, discontinued after 1881 on account of inability to secure permanent grounds and buildings, prizes were awarded for nearly all the varieties of grain, fruits, and vegetables that

¹³See pp. 279-81, 498 (note 36), this vol.

¹⁴In 1859 great injury was done to the crops in Juab co. and elsewhere. Deseret News, June 29, 1859; and in Carson Valley. Sac. Union, June 23, 1859. For damage by crickets and grasshoppers in other years, see Deseret News, May 2, 1860; S. F. Call, July 22, 1864; Deseret News, Aug. 7, 14, Sept. 4, 1867, May 13, 1868; S. F. Bull., May 21, June 30, 1868; Huntsville, Descript. of MS., 6; Utah Sketches, MS., 27; S. F. Times, Aug. 10, 1869; S. F. Call, Aug. 18, 1869; Deseret News, June 29, 1870, May 17, 1871; S. F. Bull., Oct. 4, 1872. In the Second Rept Entomol. Comm., 45th Cong. 2d Sess., there is also a report on their ravages, with suggestions as to their extermination.

¹⁵See p. 322, this vol.

¹⁶For further mention of the soil of Utah, see U.S. Agr. Rept, 1869, p. 617, 1870, 557 et seq., H. Ex. Doc., 42d Cong. 2d Sess., 325; Mess. and Doc., 1868-9 (abridg.), 831; U.S. Land-Off. Rept, 1869, 170-1; King's Geol. Survey, v., p. xlviii.; Ludlow's Heart of the Continent, 202-3; Marshall's Through Amer., 237; S. L. Wkly Tribune, Feb. 14, 1880; Musser's Fruits of Mormonism, 27.

were raised in California and Oregon.¹⁷ With the exception of Indian corn, all the cereals raised in Utah thrive vigorously when under irrigation, fall wheat requiring only one watering a year. In the basin of Great Salt Lake the fruits of the temperate zone grow to good size, and are of excellent flavor, the crop being remarkably sure. The value of orchard products in 1883, including apples, of which there were at least ninety varieties, pears, quinces, cherries, peaches, currants, plums, and berries of many descriptions, was estimated at $157,000. The yield of apples was about 90 bushels to the acre, of pears 75, of peaches 120, of plums 165, and of cherries 75.¹⁸ Production was largely in excess of the demand, most of the surplus being dried for shipment, though for want of a market thousands of tons were fed to hogs, or allowed to rot on the ground.¹⁹

    On the Rio Virgen and elsewhere in southern Utah below the rim of the basin were, in 1883, a few vineyards, but viticulture was not a profitable industry, as both grapes and wine were slow of sale, the latter

¹⁸Utah Gazetteer, 1884, p. 46. These figures are for 1875. Of late years apples, peaches, vegetables, and grain have been infected with worms, and the trees with noxious insects, four or five large worms being sometimes found in a single ear of corn. Jennings' Mat. Progr. of Utah, MS., 7; Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah (1882), 18.

¹⁹See, for review of fruit culture in Utah, Deseret News, March 20, 1861; for tables showing area under fruit, product, yield per acre, and sketch of fruit-growing interest for 1875-9, S. L. C. Tribune, Apr. 2, 1879; for other statistics and reports on horticulture, Deseret News, Dec. 31, 1856; Utah Jour. Legisl., 1866-7, pp. 159-62; 1868, 163-8. Among the leading men engaged in the wholesale fruit business may be mentioned H. L. Griffin, who commenced operations in 1881 and met with fair success. Mr Griffin, a Pennsylvanian by birth, came to Utah in 1879, having previously resided for many years in Kansas, to which state he removed after his father was crippled in the war of the rebellion. Griffin's Fruit Cult., MS.

on account of its inferior quality, and because the Mormons seldom use stimulants. In 1875 there were only 544 acres in grapes, the total yield being about 1,700 tons, and the average a little more than three tons per acre.²⁰

    In 1883 nearly 700,000 bushels of potatoes were raised from about 8,500 acres of land, the value of market-garden produce for this year being less than $65,000. The small volume of business in these and in orchard products is due to the fact that most of the settlers raised their own fruit and vegetables.

    Of experiments in the raising of cotton in southern Utah between 1855 and 1859, mention has already been made.²¹ Of flax fibre there were raised in 1879 a few thousand pounds in Washington county, and of flax straw about 1,170 tons in various counties.

    That sericulture will eventually become a leading feature in the industries of Utah seems almost beyond a peradventure, as portions of the country are well adapted to this industry, and nowhere else in the United States can the labor of women and children be obtained so cheaply and in such abundance. In 1868 a large cocoonery was built some four miles south of Salt Lake City,²² and about thirty acres planted in mulberry-trees, but through mismanagement, and also on account of the dampness of the building, which was of adobe, the first experiments resulted in failure. After some further efforts, a company was organized, styled the Utah Silk Association, and incorporated under the laws of the territory.²³ Ground was leased

²¹See p. 599, note 74, this vol. A little cotton was raised until 1864. See Deseret News, Oct. 9, 1861; Sac. Union, March 4, 1869; Cal. Farmer, March 11, 1864; but after that date its culture seems to have been practically discontinued.

²²Experiments were made before this date. In the S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 21, 1863, a correspondent states that he saw the first silk fabric made in Utah—a small scarf from silk raised at Centreville.

²³In 1880 William Jennings was president, Eliza R. Snow vice-president, A. M. Musser secretary, and Paul A. Schettler treasurer, the first three being (cont.)

at the mouth of City Creek, where a neat brick building was erected and fitted with machinery for the manufacturing purposes. Samples of raw silk were sent to New York, to Florence in Italy, and Florence in Massachusetts, and were found to be well reeled and of good strength and quality. Though the industry is as yet in its infancy, the Mormons are confident that it will soon develop into a source of wealth.²⁴

    One of the main drawbacks to the industries of Utah has been the scarcity of timber for hard and finishing woods. In the mountains and cañons there was a fair supply of common timber for ordinary use, though in the valleys and plains there was no forest growth, sage-brush having been often used for fuel during the first years of settlement, willow brush for fencing, and adobes for building. In later times the black balsam and red pine, indigenous to the Oquirrh and other ranges, were largely used for posts and railroad ties, the scrub cedar and piñon pine, found in many portions of southern and western Utah, being made to serve the same purpose. Though the people were not allowed to acquire title to timber-lands, and were even nominally forbidden to use the timber except on mineral lands, and then only for domestic purposes, they obtained all that they needed without even paying stumpage, except in a few localities. In 1883 there were a hundred or more saw-mills in operation in various parts of Utah, the price of building and fencing lumber generally ruling at from $20 to $25, and of flooring and finishing lumber $40 to $45, per thousand feet.²⁵

²⁴For further mention of sericulture in Utah, see Id., 115-16; S. L. Dy Tel., Dec. 5, 1868; S. F. Bulletin, July 22, 1868; Sac. Union, Nov. 25, 1868.

²⁵Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 18; Utah Gaz., 11. See, for remarks on the scarcity of timber, Utah Early Records, MS., 20; House Ex. Doc., 46th Cong. 2d Sess., xxii., p. 504; Beadle's Life in Utah, 461-2; for extent, character, and statistics of timber-lands, Powell's Lands of the Arid (cont.)

    Bunch-grass, on which the countless flocks and herds of Utah mainly subsist, first makes its appearance on the western slope of the Black Hills, and thence is found at intervals as far as the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. Growing in clumps, as its name implies, and on the most unkindly soil, in thirsty sand or on barren hills, it gives value to millions of acres which would otherwise be absolutely worthless. Its growth commences in early spring, and though in May or June it dries up, it is still nutritious, having then the appearance of a light-yellow straw. Within its withered stalk it puts forth a green shoot after the first autumnal rains, and its pyriform seed, resembling the oat but of smaller size, is the favorite food of cattle. In winter it gathers juice and nourishment beneath the snow, and except in the late summer months, when it is still of fair quality on the mountains and high in the cañon ravines,²⁶ serves as pasture for stock the year round, producing large, sinewy limbs and strong, elastic muscles, and giving to the beef and mutton an excellent flavor.²⁷

    As elsewhere on the Pacific slope, before 1886 the range for cattle decreased, lands once common for grazing²⁸ being taken up for agriculture, while sheep-raising was found to be a more profitable industry. Hence the introduction of alfalfa, in which many thousands of acres were seeded, the yield being three to four tons on inferior and poorly irrigated land, and ten tons under more favorable conditions.

²⁶L. B. Adams, in 1884 a resident of Ogden and the owner of one of the best winter ranges for stock about 20 miles south of Rozel, says that feed is plentiful throughout the summer.

²⁷Burton's City of the Saints, 171-2; Beadle's Life in Utah. For further mention of pasture-lands in Utah, see House Ex. Doc., 42d Cong. 2d Sess., 325, 233 et seq., no. 326, 243 et seq. In 1877 the islands of Great Salt Lake were used as herd-grounds.

²⁸In 1856 several acts were passed granting 'herd-grounds' to various parties. See Utah Acts, 1855-6, passim. In 1860 more than 30 of these grants were revoked. Id., 1856-60, 26-30.

    The herds which the Utah settlers brought with them from Illinois were largely increased, as we have seen, during the California-bound migration, especially between 1849 and 1854, when thousands of steers and cows, broken-down and sore-footed, but of excellent breed, were bartered for provisions, mules, and Indian ponies. The emigrant roads from the Sweet-water to the Humboldt were lined with enterprising traders, who secured this lame stock on their own terms; and after fattening their cattle on the rich grasses of Utah, sent them to California, where they were exchanged for gold-dust or for Mexican mustangs, which were again traded off for cattle. Thus herds multiplied rapidly in the land of the saints; moreover, the natural increase was enormous, for as yet pasture was abundant and the inhabitants consumed but little meat. There was no difficulty, however, in disposing of the surplus. When California became overstocked, large numbers were driven to Nevada,²⁹ afterward to Idaho and Montana, and still more recently to Wyoming and Colorado. Gradually, however, some of these markets became glutted, though there was still a considerable demand, and in later years farmers who had before paid little attention to grading, as they found that an inferior beast sold for almost as much as a well-bred animal, made some effort toward raising better and larger stock, such as would find ready sale in eastern cities.³⁰ Short-horn, Devon, Hereford, Jersey, or Ayrshire cattle crossed with other breeds were then to be found on most of the principal ranges. In 1883 the total number of cattle was estimated at about 160,000,³¹ and their value, at an average of $30 per head, at $4,800,000. At that

³⁰Stock-Raising in Utah, MS., 5. Burton remarks that stock-breeding was one of Brigham's hobbies, and that the difference between Utah cattle and the old Spanish herds of California was very remarkable. City of the Saints, 285.

³¹According to a carefully compiled table in Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 296. In the governor's message of 1882 the number was placed at 200,000, probably too high; in the census report for 1880 at 93,581, certainly too low.

date there were fewer cattle in Utah than for several preceding years,³² the operations of large stock companies³³ having forced the price to a maximum figure, and caused large droves to be sent out of the country.³⁴

    The dairy products of Utah for 1883 were about 630,000 gallons of milk, 1,300,000 pounds of butter, and 125,000 pounds of cheese. Of eggs the yield was more than 1,100,000 dozen, of honey more than 130,000 pounds, and of wax about 2,300 pounds. The home consumption of all these articles was very large, yet heavy consignments of eggs were made to San Francisco, where they sold at much higher rates than eastern eggs. Some of the butter found a market in Idaho and Montana, though imports of eastern butter were still considerable.

    The number of horses and mules in the territory at this date was estimated at not less than 75,000,³⁵ the most prominent breeds of horses being the Norman, Clydesdale, and Hambleton. From the cross of the mustang with the American horse were produced animals

³³Among them may be mentioned the Weber Co. Land and Live-Stock Co., organized in 1884 by J. M. Langsdorf, of which F. A. Hammond was president, and J. W. Guthrie vice-president, with Langsdorf as secretary and treasurer. They secured a large tract some 15 miles from Ogden, intending to raise the Hereford breed of cattle. Langsdorf's Stock-Raising in Weber Co., MS.

³⁴For further particulars as to the cattle interests of Utah, see Stock-Raising in Utah, MS., passim; Land-Office Rept, 1869, 173; Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 47-8; Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 19-20; for cattle-raising on Green River, in northern Utah, and Tooele co., see House Ex. Doc., 46th Cong. 2d Sess., xxii. 500, 509, 514-16; in eastern Utah and Col., Id., 42d Cong. 2d Sess., xv. 248-57; for general sketch of cattle and sheep interests, S. L. C. Tribune, Apr. 2, July 18, 1879; for act equalizing taxes on passing herds, Utah Laws, 1878, 49. In 1860 there was a recorder of marks and brands, who rendered annual accounts to the legislature. Utah Jour. Legisl., 1869, 68. In 1874 the church owned large herds of stock. Tullidge's Mag., i. 560. In 1879 church sales of stock amounted to $58,557.85. S. L. C. Tribune, Apr. 7, 1880. In 1873 the epizootic appeared in Utah. S. F. Alta, Jan. 25, 1873. Among the prominent stockmen of Utah may be mentioned Ezra T. Clark of Farmington, Davis co. Mr Clark came to Utah in 1848, crossing the plains in charge of a company, and the same year settled on his farm. About 1869 he engaged in stock-raising in Idaho. He was the owner of a fiouring mill in Morgan co. He crossed the plains eleven times, and travelled 50,000 miles as a missionary, always paying his own expenses.

³⁵In Stock-Raising in Utah, MS., 4, the number of homes alone is given at 70,000.

with remarkable powers of endurance; and it was claimed that those raised in Utah had better lungs, hoofs, and muscles than could be found in most parts of the United States. The lungs gain strength from the mountain air, the hoofs from the dry climate, and the muscles from the distance to be travelled for grass and water.³⁶

    Until 1870 most of the sheep gathered in Utah, apart from the few herds which the early settlers brought with them, came from New Mexico. Since that date ewes of the Spanish-merino breed have been introduced from California, together with long-wool bucks from Canada, and fine-wool rams from Ohio, the Cotswold, Kentucky, and other breeds being also represented.³⁷ Though Utah wool sold at higher rates than that produced in neighboring states, the breed still might be better. The fleece was dry and dusty, readily absorbing alkali, though after the introduction of the merino the wool improved considerably as to fineness of texture. In value it usually ranged from 15 to 20 cents a pound, and as the number of sheep in Utah was estimated, in 1883, at not less than 450,000,³⁸ the clip, allowing five pounds per fleece,³⁹ may be estimated at about $500,000. For many years sheep were exempt from taxation, and hence large amounts of capital were invested in this industry, some of the largest ranges being in Cache Valley, where they get little fodder in winter, and under favorable conditions this industry yielded a profit of 40 per cent a year.⁴⁰

³⁷In 1869 $5,000 was appropriated for importing improved breeds. Utah Compiled Laws, 186.

³⁸Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 296. Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 1882, 20, places the number at about 400,000; the governor, in his message of 1882, at 600,000. In Stock-Raising in Utah, MS., 6,800,000 is given as the number.

³⁹Although there are many herds that shear 10 lbs to the fleece. Id., 6, where the average is placed at 6 lbs. For wool-clip of 1884, see S. L. Dy Tribune, Aug. 16, 1884.

⁴⁰In former years, especially in 1860-1, sheep were sometimes almost destroyed (cont.)

    About one fourth of the total clip was used for manufacturing purposes, supplying not more than one eighth of the demand for textile fabrics, most of the remaining three fourths being sent out of the territory, not only unworked but even unwashed, to be returned in the shape of clothing and blankets, with all the added charges of freight, commissions, and manufacture. In 1882 Utah possessed ten woollen-mills, which were worked only to half their capacity, one of which—the Rio Virgen Manufacturing Company—also produced cotton fabrics. They contained at that date about twenty sets of cards, with 120 looms and perhaps 5,000 spindles, the value of goods produced being estimated at $300,000. For several years the Provo Manufacturing Company had the largest woollen-mill west of the Missouri. It was built in 1872, on the coöperative plan, the people of Utah county being asked to contribute money or labor for the purpose, and the material obtained at small expense.⁴¹ Utah also claims to have established the pioneer woollen-mill of the Pacific slope, for in the Deseret News of April 19, 1853, we read that Mr Gaunt "has commenced weaving satinets at his factory at Western Jordan, and very soon he will full and finish some cloth."⁴²

⁴¹For further mention of the Provo Manufacturing Company, see Stanford' s Ogden,, MS., 7; Hittell's Com. and Ind. Pac. Coast, 447-8; Utah Sketches, MS., 60-1; for grant of water rights, Provo City Revised Ordinances, 129-30.

⁴²For further mention of woolien-mills, see Deseret News, Sept. 14, 1881. In Sloan's Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 53, it is stated that Brigham brought the first carding-machine into Utah in 1849. Others were imported between 1852-4. After the latter date they were manufactured in the country. The Deseret mills, located in Parley Cañon, were built by Brigham Young; the Wasatch woollen-mills by A. O. Smoot, Jolla Sharp, and R. T. Burton. In 1870 mills were built at Brigham City and Beaver. John R. Murdock took a prominent part in establishing the latter. Mr Murdock came from California in 18t7, having been honorably discharged from service in the Mexican war. In 1883 he was president of the Beaver stake. In 1871 there was (cont.)

    The volume of manufactures in Utah increased from about $300,000 in 1850 to at least $5,000,000 in 1883, the value of all materials used at the latter date being estimated at about $2,400,000, of labor at $700,000, the number of hands employed at 2,500, and the amount of capital invested at $3,000,000. The chief items apart from textile fabrics were flour, lumber, furniture, leather and leathern products, machinery, lead and leaden pipes, and malt liquors.⁴³ There were at least seventy-five flour and grist mills, 100 lumber-mills, eighteen furniture factories, twenty boot and shoe factories, and seven founderies and machine-shops.⁴⁴

    A great drawback to the leather interests is that nearly all the materials used for tanning have to be imported in the shape of extracts, at a cost that leaves

⁴³The Utah breweries by 1886 made about 20,000 barrels a year. In 1864 Henry Wagener started the first large brewery in the territory, about a mile and a half from Fort Douglas. The first year he made only 400 barrels, and in 1884 7,000 barrels. Mr Wagener, a German by birth, came to Utah in 1864, having previously resided in California and Nevada.

⁴⁴According to the census returns between 1850 and 1880, which cannot, however, be accepted as the exact figures, there were in the former year 14 manufacturing establishments, with 51 hands, $44,400 of capital, and $291,223 of products; in 1860, 48 establishments, with 389 hands, $443,356 of capital, and $900,153 of products; in 1870, 533 factories employing 1,534 hands, $1,491,848 of capital, and producing $2,248,519 of goods; and in 1880, 1,066 factories, 3,221 operatives, $2,839,463 of capital, and $4,217,434 of products. See, for list of saw-mills in 1865, Pac. Coast Direct., 1867, 153-4; of gristmills in 1869, Id., 1871-3, 151-2; for further mention of saw and grist mills and lumber manufactures, Utah Sketches, MS., passim; S. L. Dy Tel., Dec. 16, 1868; Tullidge's Mag., i. 558-9, iii. 34-6. As early as 1850 there was a machine-shop in the temple building. Deseret News, Sept. 14, 1850. For account of the Deseret Iron Co. in 1852, see Bertrand's Mem. Morm., 81-2; of wagon and carriage manufactory in 1868, S. L. Dy Tel., Dec. 12, 1868; of soap factory in 1878, S. L. C. Herald, Dec. 29, 1878; of boot and shoe factories, Deseret Ev. News, Jan. 2, 1884; S. L. C. Herald, May 2, 1879; Tullidge's Mag., i. 205-8. The first nail factory in Utah worthy the name was built under the superintendence of James Finlayson in 1859, a little south of S. L. City. Before this date nails sold at 50 cents a pound. Mr Payson, a Scotchman by birth and a millwright by occupation, came to the country during this year and settled at Payson, of which town he was elected mayor in 1882.

little profit for the manufacturer. Pine barks are used to a small extent, but chestnut, oak, hemlock, and sumac are not found in Utah. Nevertheless there were in 1883 about 25 tanneries in operation, producing leather valued at $250,000. During this year some 200 car-loads of hides and pelts were shipped to the eastern states, sufficient to supply almost the entire demand of Utah for leathern products. The leather used for harness and saddlery, trunks and valises, of which the manufacture amounts to not less than $150,000, is almost entirely imported. The same condition of affairs exists among the furniture and carriage and wagon factories, which import nearly all of their material, paying for it the same rates of freight as on imported vehicles and furniture, while labor is considerably higher than in the eastern states.⁴⁵

    Under such disadvantages, it was greatly to the credit of the settlers that they undertook to compete to any considerable extent with eastern manufacturers, and that the production of goods should increase steadily from year to year, with occasional set-backs caused by dull markets and over-production. Manufacturing is seldom a profitable industry in new countries, even from materials native to them, and under the most favorable conditions. It is doubtful whether this branch of enterprise, throughout the Pacific slope, yielded, on an average, six per cent on the entire capital invested, and it is doubtful whether even this average was obtained in Utah.

    The production of iron—not only of pig-iron, but of iron and steel rails—and of mill, mining, smelting, and railroad machinery, bids fair in 1886 to be foremost

among the manufactures of Utah. In 1883 the product of her founderies and machine-shops was estimated at over $360,000, being second only to that of her flouring and grist mills. With suitable and abundant fuel, there is probably no state west of the Missouri with better facilities in this direction, among them being a great variety of rich and pure ores, labor and supplies at moderate rates, a climate that seldom interferes with out-door work, a central location, a network of railroads, a fair demand, and a freight tariff⁴⁶ that almost prohibits the shipment of crude or manufactured iron from more distant sources of supply, whether to Utah or the surrounding states.

    At a very early date it was ascertained, as will be remembered, that there were immense deposits of iron in various parts of Utah. At Smithfield, in Cache county, there were beds of hematite sixty feet in thickness. On the Provo near Kamas, on the Weber in the neighborhood of Ogden, on the Wasatch near Willard and Bountiful, at Tintic, at City Creek cañon in the Cottonwoods, on many of the mountain slopes, and on much of the desert land, ores were found in almost every variety except in the form of carbonates. The largest deposits were in Iron county, and in what may be termed the southern prolongation of the Wasatch Range, about two hundred miles south of Salt Lake City. The most remarkable outcrops were in the neighborhood of Iron Springs, Iron City, and Oak City. In the Big Blowout, as it is termed, a solid mass of magnetic ore near Iron Springs, with a length of 1,000 feet and half that width, it is estimated that there are 3,000,000 tons near the surface. Other deposits have each 1,000,000 in sight, and in this district there are probably some 50,000,000 tons above or near the surface, while the ledges are practically inexhaustible and of excellent quality.⁴⁷

⁴⁷Blodgett Brittan, a prominent Philadelphia iron-master, who analyzed five specimens of ore from this district, the analyses being only for iron, phosphorus, and sulphur, reports that they averaged 64 per cent of iron, 12 per cent (cont.)

    Between 1872 and 1882 about 70,000 tons of coke were brought into Utah at a cost of $1,800,000, and during the same period 500,000 tons of coal were brought from Wyoming at a cost of nearly $4,000,000. The future of the iron interests of Utah appears to depend mainly on the question whether coking coal call be produced of sufficient consistency for the smelting of pig-iron. As yet it has not been produced, or not in considerable quantity; but the coal regions are of vast extent, have been but slightly explored, and it would seem almost a certainty that deposits will somewhere be found that answer the purpose. It is well known that the best coal for coking is that which has been subjected for ages to pressure under the application of heat. The coal-beds of Utah are of recent and not of what is termed the true coal formation, but such coal sometimes makes excellent coke. At Wales, in Sanpete Valley, in Pleasant and Castle valleys to the east and south, on Cedar Mountain, and elsewhere, coking coal has been found which serves for the smelting of lead, but not for iron,⁴⁸ though it is believed that coke will soon be produced that can bear the weight of the charges in pig-iron smelting.

    In January 1854 the Utah legislature offered a reward of $1,000 to any resident who would open a vein of coal not less than 18 inches thick within 40

⁴⁸From an analysis of Castle Valley coal, Mr Brittan reported 48.21 per cent of fixed carbon, 1.88 of ash, and 40.61 of volatile matter; from coke produced from this coal, 94.05 of fixed carbon, 3.25 of ash, and 2.70 of volatile matter. From an analysis of Sanpete Valley coal, the samples being taken 40 feet below the surface, A. P. Bouton obtained 50.7 per cent of coke, 34.2 of bitumen, 13.3 of ash, and 1.8 of moisture. Hollister's Res. of Utah, 47.

miles of Salt Lake City, and where it could be profitably worked.⁴⁹ Between that date and 1880, 126,000 acres of coal-lands had been surveyed in various counties,⁵⁰ and in 1883 the total area of such lands was estimated at 20,000 square miles. The largest deposits are found on the eastern slope of the Wasatch, extending at intervals from the Uintah reservation through Sanpete, Pleasant, and Castle valleys, as far south as Kanab, and its vicinity. In considerable areas the formation is broken or destroyed by erosion, among others, in the neighborhood of Iron City, where veins are plentiful, though too small to be profitably worked. On the Weber and its tributaries in Summit county, for 12 or 15 miles above Echo City, there is coal of fair quality for household and steam-making purposes, which has been worked since 1867, some of the mines being opened in 1883 to a depth of 1,100 or 1,200 feet. From the Coalville mines, a few miles south of Echo, were drawn until recent years most of the supplies needed for Salt Lake City and the northern settlements. At, Evanston, also in Summit county and on the line of the Union Pacific, there is a vein of bituminous coal from 17 to 19 feet in thickness. In 11 out of the 24 counties of Utah coal-lands had been surveyed in 1880, varying in extent from 120 to 35,696 acres, and in several others it was known that coal existed. Perhaps the most valuable deposits are in the Sanpete Valley, where the seams vary from 6 inches to 6 feet of bituminous coal, which, when a better plant is used in the mines, may produce a serviceable coke, while in the mountains to the

⁵⁰For list of counties, locations, and number of acres in each, see Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 62. For coal-lands taken up in 1876-9, according to the surveyor-general's report, see S. L. C. Herald, Nov. 26, 1879.

south and east veins are being worked from 10 to 12 feet in width.⁵¹

    In estimating the value of these deposits, it must be remembered that veins less than three or four feet wide can seldom be worked at a profit, except when near to market and under favorable circumstances, and that the Utah veins are of smaller average width. Thus the yield for 1869, though there were several mines in operation at that date, was but 4,500 tons, in 1876 and 1877 45,000 tons, and in 1878 60,000 tons,⁵² or little more than one half of the consumption, even for the last of these years. It will be observed, however, that there are large coal-beds in close proximity to the principal iron deposits; and with a ready market, cheap and reliable labor and supplies, access by railroad, and other advantages, it is probable that the coal and iron industries of the territory, far removed as it is from the manufacturing centres of Europe and America, will rank among the foremost.

    There are few of the metals or minerals known to science which are not represented in Utah.⁵³ Copper is found, usually in connection with other metals, in

⁵²House Ex. Doc., 46th Cong. 1st Sess., 3, 157. In Balch's The Mines, Miners, and Mining Int. of the U.S. in 1882, 1040, the output for 1880 and 1881 is given at 275,000 tons. This statement is taken from Saward's Coal Trade, and is no doubt very much above the actual figures.

⁵³In Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 67-8, is a complete list of the minerals and metals found in Utah. It does not include tin, which, however, is said to have been discovered near Ogden in 1871. See S. L. Rev., Oct. 27, 1871; S. F. Call, Oct. 10, 24, 1871; Scient. Press, Oct. 28, 1871. Other lists will be found in Wheeler's Surveys, iii. 652-61; S. L. Semi-Wkly Herald, Jan. 3, 1880; Silver Reef Miner, Jan. 10, 1880.

most of her mining districts, from the Weber to the Colorado, where, in the sandstone formations, some very rich ores have been discovered. It is most abundant in southern Utah, but the only mines developed in 1883 were in the extreme north-western portion of the territory, where veins averaging seven or eight feet in width, enclosed in micacious shale and intermingled with porphyry, yielded in spots as much as fifty per cent of metal.⁵⁴

    Beds of sulphur were found both in northern and southern Utah, the largest, with an area of about 300 acres and a depth of not less than twenty feet, being in Millard county. In the hills of Beaver county, some fourteen miles south of Frisco, there are also large deposits of singular purity among fissures of silicious flint; but though much of it would yield fifty per cent, and some even 98 per cent, of pure brimstone, it has no commercial value, and is not even utilized for local consumption. Near Brigham City there are sulphurets of antimony, averaging at least four feet in thickness, and yielding from twenty to thirty per cent of metal. In Pluto and Garfield counties are purer and larger deposits. Gypsum and mica abound in southern Utah, the latter being found also in Salt Lake and Davis counties. East of Nephi, in Juab county, is a vein of gypsum 1,200 feet long and 100 in width. In Washington and Sanpete counties it is also encountered, both in the crystallized and oxydized state. Cinnabar, cobalt, and bismuth, the last in paying quantities, are met with in Beaver county and at Tintic.⁵⁵ Near Salt Lake is a solid mountain of rock salt.⁵⁶ West of the lake are large deposits of saleratus.

⁵⁵For further mention of bismuth deposits, see S. F. Bulletin, Apr. 27, 1872.

⁵⁶For description, see Niles' Register, lxxv.

At Emigration cañon carbonate of soda is found on the surface, and was used by the first settlers for making bread. In the iron-beds red and yellow ochre are abundant. Under the shale-beds, which cover a surface of 1,000 square miles, occurs what is termed mineral wax, some of it being rich in gases and paraffine.⁵⁷ At Promontory Range, so called because it projects into Great Salt Lake, and in Sanpete county, are vast beds of alum shale, alum in combination with other minerals being found in all parts of Utah, though as yet without value.

    Building stone is exceedingly plentiful throughout the territory, and in great variety. At Little Cottonwood there is granite; at the Red Buttes near Salt Lake City there is red sandstone; in Sanpete county is white sandstone; and at Logan, limestone, easily quarried and strongly impregnated with iron. Marbles, black, white gray, cream-colored, variegated, and some of them capable of receiving a fine polish, are found among other points on the islands of Great Salt Lake, near Provo, at Logan, Tooele, Frisco, Alpine City, and Dry cañon, the Logan marbles being in most demand. On Antelope Island, also in Great Salt Lake, there is a large quarry of green and purple slate, which for some purposes is preferred to eastern slate. Clays of various descriptions, as brick clays, potter's clays, and porcelain clays, are found in Beaver, Davis, and Sevier counties, west of Utah Lake, and at several of the mines.

    Mining of most descriptions, and especially of gold and silver, was discouraged, as we have seen, by the dignitaries of the church, partly with a view to prevent the rush of gentiles which would surely follow the discovery of gold, and also because the very existence of the Mormons as a community depended on their unremitting exertions in producing the necessaries

of life. The first systematic efforts at prospecting, made by permission of General Connor, when in command at Camp Douglas, were ridiculed in the tabernacle;⁵⁸ and later, when mining projects were brought forward by gentiles, they were steadily discountenanced. In 1863 Captain A. Heitz and a party from Camp Douglas discovered argentiferous galena and copper in Bingham cañon, on the east slope of the Oquirrh Range, near the Jordan, and about thirty miles south of Salt Lake City. A mine was located in September of that year by a man named Ogilbie, and in December following, a mining district was established, named the West Mountain, and including the portion of the range between Black Rock, at the southern end of Great Salt Lake, and the fortieth parallel. In 1871 this district contained thirty-five mines.⁵⁹

    The first shipment of ore from Utah was a car-load of copper ore from Bingham cañon, hauled to Uintah on the Union Pacific, and forwarded by the Walker Brothers to Baltimore in June 1868. In 1864 free gold was discovered in this district by a party of Californians returning from Montana to pass the winter in Salt Lake City. Between 1865 and 1872 the production of gold was estimated at $1,000,000, and up to 1882 the total product was 500,000 tons of ore and 100,000 of bullion, from which was extracted $1,500,000 in gold, $8,800,000 in silver, and $5,000,000 in lead. The surface was a broken quartzite formation, the mineral belt broad and containing many fissure veins believed to be permanent, the ore being partly galena, largely silicious, and decomposed on or near the surface.⁶⁰

⁵⁹A list of them with particulars will be found in Murphy's Min. Res. of Utah, facing p. 14.

⁶⁰For further information as to this district, see Id., 2; Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 28-30; S. L. C. Tribune, July 13, Aug. 3, 13, 1879, Jan. 3, 1880; S. L. C. Herald, July 18, 1879; Mining and Scientific Press, July 17, 1875.

    On the western side of the Oquirrh Range, on the margin of Rush Lake, in Tooele county, the Rush Valley district was organized in 1863, being segregated from the West Mountain district, and two years later about 400 claims had been taken up, 40 of them being in what was afterward known as the Ophir district, though both were more commonly termed the Stockton mines, from the town built near their location.⁶¹ The ores were sulphurets and carbonates of argentiferous lead, with occasionally a trace of gold, selected specimens assaying over $1,200 per ton, and the average being $50 to $60. In the Ophir district rich chloride ores, assaying in spots $500 to $5,000, were afterward discovered.⁶²

    The first discovery of silver-bearing rock in the Wasatch Range was made by General Connor in person, at the head of Little Cottonwood cañon. The first ore encountered was galena, and afterward carbonate of lead, both being found in chimneys. The first shipment was made by the Walker Brothers in July 1868; but it was not until the completion of the Utah Central to Salt Lake City, early in 1870, that the mines were systematically opened. Among them were the Emma, of evil fame, and the Flagstaff, the latter producing up to the close of 1882 more than 100,000 tons of ore, averaging $30 to the ton.⁶³ The former was located in 1869, the vein for the first 100 feet being only eight to twelve inches wide, but increasing with depth to thirty-five feet, and yielding from $135 to $250 per ton in silver, the output for the eighteen months ending with the close of 1872 being over $2,000,000.⁶⁴ The unsavory transactions connected

⁶²For further mention of the Rush Valley and Ophir district, see Id., 20-1, 29-31; Hollister' s Res. and Attract. of Utah, 31; Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 89-91. In 1882 the town of Stockton was destroyed by fire. S. F. Call, Sept. 5, 1882.

⁶³In 1872 the production was about 80 tons a day. Paul's Utah Incid., MS.

⁶⁴The first year it paid in dividends $1,000,000. Godbe's Statement, MS., 4-5. The Walker Bros purchased a fourth-interest for $30,000, and furnished money and supplies for opening it. Walker's Merchants and Miners of Utah, MS., 4.

with it after its sale to a party of English capitalists, for the sum of $5,000,000, have no parallel in the history of mining swindles, except perhaps in connection with the Comstock lode.⁶⁵ The Big Cottonwood district lay immediately to the north of its namesake, both being near Alta, in Salt Lake county, and from 8,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea-level. In 1871 none of the mines promised well, but a year later several were yielding largely, and some hundreds of claims were located.⁶⁶

    In the American Fork district, south of Little Cottonwood, many locations were taken up in 1870 and 1871, some of considerable value—one mine, named the Pittsburg, being afterward sold for $20,000, and one called the Miller for $190,000. The most prominent mine in 1882 was the Silver Bell, in which a strong vein of milling ore was encountered at a depth of 300 feet. In geologic features this district resembled the Cottonwoods, and was on the same mineral belt.⁶⁷ In connection with it may be mentioned the Silver Lake district, on Deer Creek, containing several promising locations, and now merged in the American Fork district.

    On the extreme southern end of the Oquirrh Range, and on its western face, was the Tintic district, overlooking the Tintic Valley, where the first mine, named the Sunbeam, was located in 1869, the district being organized a few months later. On the Sunbeam

⁶⁶For further mention of the Cottonwood mines, see Godbe's Statement, MS., 4-5; Paul's Utah Incid., MS.; S. L. C. Tribune, Jan. 1, 1881; Tribune, Jan. 3, 1880; S. L. Herald, Jan. 3, 1880; S. F. Alta, Feb. 9, 26, 1873; Hayden's Geol. Surv. Rept, 1872, 106-8.

⁶⁷For further details, see Murphy's Min. Res. of Utah, 32-4. In this work are descriptions of all the mining districts of Utah up to 1872, and of the leading districts to 1882, in Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 1882, 22-41. In the former are also the names of the productive mines in each district, with no. of feet, assays, etc. In Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 73-104, there is also a description of the various districts.

ledge there were in 1882 nine locations, selected ores from all of them carrying 80 to 100 ounces of silver, besides gold, copper, and lead. Among the leading mines at that date were the Crismon, Mammoth, and Eureka Hill, the former with an ore-chimney 100 feet wide, averaging about $35 per ton in gold and silver, and 7 or 8 per cent of copper, the latter producing ores of several descriptions, which yielded about the same average, and paying occasional dividends.⁶⁸

    In the Uintah and Blue Ledge districts, both at Park City, near tributaries of the Weber and Provo rivers, is the famous Ontario mine, discovered in 1872,⁶⁹ and in 1883 developed to a depth of 800 feet. the vein is in a quartzite formation, the pay-chute being several hundred feet in length, and about three in width. Up to the close of 1883 the total output exceeded $17,000,000, of which about $6,250,000 had been disbursed in dividends, the ore producing on an average about, $106 per ton in silver, and the yield being remarkably uniform. The cost of mining and milling, with other expenses, was $33 to $34 per ton, and was largely increased by the flow of water, which was at the rate of 2,000 gallons per minute. A huge pumping-engine of the Cornish pattern had been erected at the mine, with power to drive a double line of 20-inch pumps at a depth of 2,000 feet.⁷⁰

    In the San Francisco district in Beaver county, fifteen miles west of Milford and about 240 south of Salt Lake City, the leading mine was the Horn Silver, the outcrop of which resembled the top of a hay-cock,

⁶⁹For account of discovery, see Balch's The Mines, Miners, and Mining Int. of the U.S. in 1882, 788; S. L. Wkly Tribune, Dec. 4, 1880.

⁷⁰In Aug 1885 this mine paid its 110th monthly dividend, the amount being $75,000, and the total tothat date $6,650,000. S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 28, 1885. Additional items relating to the Ontario mine will be found in Rept Ontario Silver Mg Co., Apr. 1, 1881, to Nov. 30, 1883; Robinson's Sinners and Saints, 249-59; Utah Gaz., 6; Vallejo Chronicle, May 14, 1880. For other mines in these districts, see S. L. Tribune, Jan. 3, 1880.

and was discovered by accident.⁷¹ In 1882 it had been opened to a depth of 500 feet, the ore being a decomposed argentiferous galena, some 50 feet in thickness, from which at the close of that year about $6,000,000 worth of silver and lead had been extracted,⁷² and $1,500,000 paid in dividends. The Frisco Mining and Smelting Company, in the same district, owned the Carbonate mine at the town of Frisco, the Cave, Bigelow, and other locations in Granite Range, and a large tract of auriferous ground in Osceola county, Nevada. The vein of the Carbonate was found to be composed of one part of rich argentiferous galena to three or four of trachyte, and it was of course necessary to concentrate the ores. The Cave mine, which was in the neighborhood of the Horn Silver, and consisted of a series of limestone caves, containing limonite ore near the surface and argentiferous galena at greater depth, produced a considerable amount of bullion, and in 1884 was capable of yielding 100 tons a day, but was not worked to its full capacity pending the construction of a branch railroad.⁷³ The mine in Osceola county covered an area of 700 acres, and was believed to contain very rich deposits of gold, but lay idle for lack of water, the nearest supply being 17 miles distant. During the year 1885 it was expected that arrangements would be made for working the ground by the hydraulic process.⁷⁴

    The Harrisburg or Silver Reef district was in Washington

⁷²J. E. Dooly, express agent at S. L. City, gives as the product for 1881, 1,259,903 oz. of silver and 16,343,995 lbs of lead, valued at $1,807,092.20. After losing his property, W. S· Godbe obtained a contract for smelting ore from this mine, rcducing in all some 20,000 tons. Godbe's Statement, MS., 7.

⁷³The Cave mine originally belonged to Mr Godbe, who in 1885 was still largely interested in it. Id., 7, 9. In 1884 there were 300 men employed by the Frisco company. Rock was shipped to the reduction-works near Salt Lake City, and most of the bullion to Chicago. Hill's Mines and Mg in Utah, MS. In 1881 the company's mines at Frisco produced 221,846 oz. of silver and 2,023,213 lbs of lead, worth $330,329.38. For further particulars, see S. L. Wkly Tribune, Jan. 3, 1880.

⁷⁴The owners of this mine were W. S. Godbe and three others, the former being confident that the deposit was worth several millions of dollars. Godbe's Statement, MS., 10-11.

county, south of Milford, and in the basin of the Colorado. The town of Silver Reef in this district was so named from a silver-bearing sandstone reef 100 miles in length, and yielding in places $30 to the ton. The Leeds Silver Mining Company, a San Francisco organization, was the pioneer location of this district, and from its ground about $800,000 have been extracted. From the Christy Mill and Mining Company's locations, 16 in number, about 50,000 tons were taken out during the four and a half years ending with the close of 1882, the yield of bullion being over $1,275,000. At that date the Stormont Silver Mining Company and the Barbee and Walker Mill and Mining Company, both New York organizations, had produced each a round million, the former having disbursed $145,000 in dividends. The silver-bearing part of the reef was at least 15 miles in length, and there were hundreds of locations as yet unworked, which, if consolidated and provided with mills, could probably be developed into dividend-paying properties.⁷⁵

    For 1869 the product of all the Utah mines in gold, silver, and lead did not exceed $200,000. In 1871 it had risen to $3,000,000, and in 1875 to $7,000,000. For 1883 it was $7,017,682. Between 1870 and 1883 there were produced $2,150,000 in gold, $45,790,272 in silver, 258,000 tons of lead, worth at the Atlantic seaboard $23,220,000, and 1,000 tons of copper which sold in New York for about $300,000. The total output for this period was $71,502,772, or an average of more than $5,500,000 a year.⁷⁶ At the close of 1883 there were at least 95 districts in Utah where mining of various descriptions was in progress, all of them contributing more or less to the total yield, though the great volume of production was confined to a few. The entire annual expense of these districts may be roughly estimated at $10,000,000, while the output is far below that figure. It does not follow, of course, that this industry has proved unprofitable, for the amount of capital invested was trifling when compared with other states on the Pacific slope, and the difference between output and outlay may be fairly considered as so much money expended on

⁷⁶Professor J. E. Clayton, in Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 56. In Gov. Mess., for 1882, 8, the average output of gold, silver, and lead between 1870 and 1882 is given at $6,500,000. This is probably too high, as between 1870 and 1874 inclusive it was less than $3,000,000 and in no year did the product much exceed $7,000,000. For other estimates during portions of this period, see Balch's The Mines, Miners, and Mining Int. of the U. S. in 1882, passim; Hayden's Gt West, 317-18; New Mex. Mg World, Dec. l, 1882, 83, Nov. l, 1884, 136; S. F. Bulletin, Jan. 3, 1882; Utah Direct. and Gaz., 1879-80, 36.

developments. That as a rule "it requires a mine to develop a mine," of whatever nature, is, however, no less true of Utah than of other mineral sections.

    Of mining at Carson Valley and other districts in Nevada which were formerly portions of Utah, mention is made in my History of Nevada. It is worthy of note that from the tailings of the Raymond and Ely mine, near Pioche, W. S. Godbe and his associates had extracted bullion to the amount of $750,000 up to the close of 1884, and it was believed that the value of that which remained in the pit exceeded $1,250,000. The tailings were worked by Russell's leaching process, the distinctive feature of which is the use of sulphate of copper as an extract solution. By this process, which has now been in use for several years, it is claimed that a very high percentage of metal can be extracted, and that ores of low grade can be profitably worked.⁷⁷ At an earlier date Kustel's process of leaching chloridized ores with a solution of hyposulphide of soda was somewhat in favor, and it is the opinion of many practical miners that the leaching process will eventually be substituted for the usual pan amalgamation.⁷⁸

    At the close of 1883 there were seventeen smelting and reduction works in Utah, producing more than 2,000 tons of bullion per month, and twenty quartz-mills, with at least 350 stamps, the cost of a chloridizing-mill being $3,000 to $4,000 per stamp, and of a gold-mill perhaps $1,000 per stamp.⁷⁹ All of the

⁷⁸In 1871 Joshua R. Nichols, who came to S. L. City with the exclusive right for Krom's patent separating and concentrating machinery, organized a company for the introduction of this process in connection with smelting, amalgamation, and chlorination. Mr Nichols, a native of Onondaga co. , N.Y., followed at Detroit, Mich., the several occupations of farm-boy, errand-boy, clerk, and store-keeper until 1865, when he engaged in the railroad-supply business until July 1869, being then appointed assistant superintendent on the Union Pacific. Removing to Utah in 1871, he became engaged in mining and railroad enterprises. Nichols' Minting Mach., MS.

⁷⁹The Pioneer quartz-mill of 15 stamps, for the reduction of silver ore, the (cont.)

smelting and reducing works were of modern pattern, and with modern improvements, their capacity varying from 20 to 250 tons of ore per day. The largest in operation at this date were the Germania lead-works, where most of the base bullion was refined, and the Francklyn smelting-works. The former were at South Cottonwood, seven miles from Salt Lake City, and on the line of the Utah Central and Denver and Rio Grande railroads. Their refining capacity was forty tons a day, and they contained all the apparatus needed for converting galena ores into Doré bars, litharge, and marketable lead.⁸⁰ The refining capacity of the Francklyn works, a mile distant, was 55 tons a day, or about 250 tons of crude ore.⁸¹

    The average cost of mining and hauling in Utah, including dead-work, up to 1884, was probably not less than $10 per ton; and of milling silver ore at least as much, though there were districts where it did not exceed $4 per ton.⁸² When purchased at the smelting-works, the silver and lead in the base bullion were estimated at New York prices. Five per cent on silver and ten per cent on lead were deducted for loss in smelting; $10 to $12 per ton for the cost of smelting, $16 to $18 for refining, and about $25 per ton for freight to New York. When it is remembered that

⁸⁰Including common, refined, white, sheet, pipe, shot, and test lead. Hollister's Res. and Attract. of Utah, 43. For further mention of the Germanin works, see S. L. C. Tribune, Dec. 14, 1872, Jan. 4, 1873.

⁸¹For description of other smelting and refining works, see Utah Gazetteer, 1884, 70-1. The first smelting furnace was erected by Gen. Connor at Stockton in 1864. Murphy's Min. Res. of Utah, 2. Among the sampling-works may be mentioned these of J. C. Conklin at S. L. City, and Scott & Anderson at Sandy, the former with a capacity of 200 and the latter of 500 tons a day.

⁸²As in the Silver Reef district.

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