" Reformers," in their first zeal, erected a building", and dedi-
cated it to the " Church of- Zion ; " but, with the change in
their sentiments, they have rechristened it "the Liberal In-
" stitute," and there lecturers, male and female, of every shade
of opinion in religion, politics, or science, can hold forth for
the edification of Saint and sinner. The Liberal Institute is
the Faneuil Hall of Utah, and from its platform will go forth
facts of history and science that will work in a few years a
grander revolution among the Saints than would the presence
of ten thousand troops, or any other movement that could pos-
sibly be construed into " persecution."

In the gradual disintegration that is now going on, and
whose progress is being daily accelerated, the Churches will
find a few Saints seeking communion again within the folds in
which they once rejoiced in their Redeemer; and a much larger
number of the dissatisfied will repudiate all religious associa-
tions for the remainder of their lives ; but the great bulk of the
Mormon people, who are tired of Brigham and Polygamy, and
who have still the remembrance of their past experience, without
the change of thought that the present light of the world might
bring, will turn their eyes towards young Joseph Smith as the
successor of his father, and the head of the Mormon Church.

The building of the Utah Central Railroad, from the junc-
tion of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads at Ogden to
Salt Lake City, was completed in January, 1870 > and from that
time the city has much improved in appearance and in its com-
merce. The exorbitant charges for overland freight no longer
heavily tax the pockets of the poor nor cool the ambition of the
rich for the improvement of their homesteads ; and the Munici-
pal Council, too, has shown some ambition to add to the com-
fort and security of the city. Water and gas-works are being in-
troduced, and the steam fire-engine is to be seen in the streets
of Zion. Cars are now running through the streets, from the
depot past the hotels, and everything has the air of progress
and not of retrogression. There have always been several good
hotels in the city, both Gentile and Mormon, and to their num-
ber has been added this year the Walker House, which will do
much to make the chief city of Zion a pleasant resting-place
for the tourist who is visiting Utah.



PROSPERITY AND PROSPECTS.



707



Numerous elegant private residences have recently been
built, that tell of wealth, and the appreciation of a better life
than that predicted by the
Prophet.* The wealthy pro-
prietors of city property vie
with each other in the erec-
tion of elegant stores, and the
past poverty and rough build-
ing are fast passing away.
Some conception of the en-
ergy and enterprise of both
Mormon and Gentile mer-
chants may be gleaned from
the fact that edifices are now
being erected with brick from
Philadelphia, and iron fronts
from New York. The First
National Bank has met with
rare prosperity, and very prop-
erly has taken the lead in in-
augurating the " iron age " in
building.

With such indications of
the stability of commerce,
and the inevitable growth
and development of the Ter-
ritory, how strangely read the
prophecies of the Taberna-
cle! Twenty-five years ago,
when the exiles were poor and

needy, and but a little higher in the scale of social life than
the Indians, it was natural enough for Brigham to prophesy of
the dissolution of all society. The end seemed near enough to
him then, but he has since become wealthy, and his name is
found to railroad bonds, whose redemption is dated later than
the time when he professes to believe the second coming of
Christ will be !

* For several years the Tabernacle sermons abounded with predictions about
famine and desolation.
43




The First National Bank of Utah.



708 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS.

Whatever follies have been committed by enthusiasts in
fixing the date for the reappearance of the Son of Man, Brig-
ham is fully resolved that the whispering of the " Spirit " to
Joseph Smith * shall in no way interfere with his own mun-
dane affairs. Instead of preparing for this great event, which
was, in the beginning of Mormonism, a matter of faith with all
the Saints, Brigham is bent on the accumulation of everything
of worldly value, as if this " wicked world " were to " wag "on
for ever. Every act of his life shows that he has no faith in
the predictions of his predecessor.

Had Brigham Young been a man of benevolence, intellect,
refinement, and consistency, and had he cultivated the better
qualities of the human nature that he once had in his power
to mould, the present age would have seen recorded in the
history of the world the establishment of another powerful
sect a sect which would probably have become one of the
distinctive religions of the ages yet to come. As it is, Brigham
has shorn the faith of the Saints of its strength, and robbed it
of the charm of its early days ; and the lesson left indelibly
inscribed upon his work, and upon that of the latter days of
his predecessor, is that the civilization of the world is progres-
sive, and that the whisperings of that still, small voice from
the Mount opposite Jerusalem, and not the thunders from the
Mount in the Wilderness, will influence and direct the advanc-
ing mind of the nineteenth century.

* In his Autobiography, Joseph Smith says :

" I was once praying very earnestly to know the time of the coming of the Son
of Man, when I heard a voice repeat the following : * Joseph, my son, if thou liveet
until thou art eighty-five years old, thou shalt see the face of the Son of Man ; there-
fore, let this suffice, and trouble me no more in this matter ! ' "

Joseph was born in 1805, consequently the great event is fixed for 1890.



CHAPTEE LYI.



THE MINES OF UTAH.

THE FOTOSI OF THE "WEST. Early Anticipations of the Treasures of Utah-
Ore discovered in the Mountains First Discovery of Argentiferous Galena En-
terprise of General P. E. Connor The United States Soldiers " prospect" for
Mines Mr. Eli B. Kelsey lectures on the Wealth of Utah Incorporation of the
West Jordan Mining Company First Sinelting-Furnace erected at Stockton
Eush Valley Smelting Company formed Waiting for the Eailroad First Ship-
ments of Ore The Utah Central Eailroad Eich Ores in Ophir District Silver-
opolis Valuable Mines in East Canon Colonel E. D. Buel's Works in Cot-
ton-wood Numerous Furnaces erected Eesults of Inexperience First Mill in
Utah Extraordinary Success Large Shipments of Bullion and Ores The Emma
Mine Formation of Veins of Ore The Action of Water and Volcanic Force-
Statistics of the Emma Mine Its Immense Value Bonanzas Extraordinary
Dividends to Proprietors Southern Mines True Fissure-Veins Their Im-
portance Solfataric Action The Mineral Springs The Staples of the Utah
Mines Silver and Lead Gold in Bingham Canon Gold in Sevier Eiver
Quartz Mines Gold near Ogden Iron and Lead Ores Supply of Fuel Gradual
Improvements Scarcity of Wood Discoveries of Coal Building Material-
Importance of a Valid " Title" Development of Locations Contested Claims
Commissioner Drumm end's Decision The Vast Mineral Eesources of Utah Im-
portance of the Territory Its Beauty, Wealth, Capabilities, and Claims to At-
tention.

IN launching the timber logs down the mountain sides,
occasionally a piece of lead ore, that had been disintegrated
from ledges of that mineral, would be revealed to the sight of
" the brethren," and from these accidental circumstances arose
the impression among the Saints that there were valuable min-
erals in the mountains. It was also seriously believed that
there were large numbers of gold ledges somewhere ready to
be revealed for " the building up of Zion," the embellishment



712 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS.

of the Temple, and the general comfort and pleasure of the
Saints, whenever they had gained the experience necessary to
make a prudent use of the precious ore.

When the furore created by the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia attacked the Saints and was drawing some of them away
to the Pacific coast, the Prophet used to hold the victims of
that fever up to ridicule in his sermons, and promised the Saints
who stayed at home greater wealth there in the harvest-fields,
and a far greater amount of wealth in the time to come, for he
knew where the article was in such grea't abundance that he
could " go out and bring in a wagon-load of gold " if it were
necessary to do so. But " the Lord " wanted the Saints to
build themselves homes, make themselves farms, and, when
they had been well tried in poverty, He would reveal to
them " the hidden treasures of His storehouse."

Many years ago, the Author stood by the side of Brigham
at his office door when he told a prominent bishop of the Meth-
odist Church, who was passing through the city, that, from
where they then stood and chatted, he could see where there
was more gold than ever the Saints would want to use, unless
it were in the manufacture of culinary vessels, ornamentation,
or for " paving the streets of the New Jerusalem." Brigham
doubtless believed what he said. He could from his office
door look to a range of mountains where a " great discovery
" of pure gold " had been made, but its locality was to be sa-
credly kept a secret which no one knowing would divulge.
Years later, the " pure gold " turned out to be a large body of
pyrites of iron in a crystallized form, which to the inexperienced
eye had all the appearance of gold ! The belief that large
quantities of gold exist in the mountains still remains ; and
that " the Lord " would not permit the Gentiles to discover it,
was a frequent theme in the Tabernacle.

Many a time Brigham has ridiculed, in Sunday sermons,
the Gentile prospectors, and told them that they were blind
and could not see the precious metals when they were even
lying before their eyes, and frequently they would " stub their
" toes " against the ores and knew not what hurt them ; and
then, with a dash of inspiration, he would comfort them with
the assurance that they would never discover them until he



THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF SILVER ORE. 713

[Brigham] was willing that they should be discovered. " If ever
u they discover them, it shall ~be over my faith"

While confidence was entertained that " the Lord " would
guard the treasures of the mountains for His Saints, and the
Prophet was mocking the would-be miners, the first discovery
of a ledge of argentiferous galena was made by a lady the
wife of a surgeon of the California Volunteers, under the com-
mand of Colonel Connor.

A portion of the horses of the California Yolunteers had
been sent to Bingham Canon to graze, and with them a Com-
pany of men as a guard. A picnic party of officers and their
wives from Camp Douglas was improvised, and Bingham was
selected, as the troops were there. During the rambles of the
party on the mountain-sides, this lady, who had a previous ac-
quaintance with minerals in California, picked up a loose piece
of ore. The Yolunteers immediately prospected for the vein,
discovered it, stuck a stake in the ground, made their location,
and from that hour Utah has been known to the world as a
rich mining country.

Colonel Connor, elated by this discovery, published to the
world that there were minerals in Utah upon the domain of
the United States ; and all were free to prospect ; and that his
troops should afford all necessary protection to the prospector
and miner. He had had no occupation for his troops they
were eating the bread of idleness, and were discontented at
being detained in Utah, and not taking part in the war. The
discovery in Bingham was opportune, to favour prospecting, and
it would appease th.e men and give them the chance of possibly
enriching themselves and the country. An order was pro-
mulgated that a certain number of men would be furloughed
to prospect, and every facility afforded them to travel within
certain boundaries. Wearing the blue, and the honourable
sign " U. S.," they could enter what canons they pleased.
Thus to Colonel Connor, and the California Yolunteers under
his direction, is the honour due for the first discoveries in Utah.

Mr. Eli B. Kelsey, thoroughly breaking off from Mormon-
ism, and believing that the hour had fully come to develop the
mineral resources of the Territory, started out in the old mis-
sionary style to lecture upon Utah in the Atlantic and Pa-



714 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS.

cific 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 capitalists, and was the means of send-
ing into the mining districts a hundred thousand dollars in the
fall of 1870. The first of Eastern capitalists who, at this time,
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 valuable
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 labour employed as to
justify the hope that Utah will yet be the first mining country
in the world.

The following article has been written and compiled ex-
pressly for this work by a gentleman well acquainted with
mining work, who visited and studied the

MINES OF UTAH.*

On the 17th of September, 1863, Captain A. Heitz, with a number of
soldiers, found the first vein of argentiferous lead ore in Bingham Canon.
The first mining record is that of the West Jordan mine, in favour of one
Ogilvie, and some others. In the following December, a mining district was
formed and named the West Mountain Mining District. It covered all the
Oquirrh range of mountains, from Black Rock at the southern end of Salt
Lake, south of the 40th parallel of latitude. But little work was done in
the new discovery until the following spring. In the interim two other
ledges had been discovered, namely, the Galena mine (on the 26th of Jan-
uary, 1864), and the Empire (February 6, 1864) ; both contiguous to the
original discovery.

In the month of March following, a military post was established,
known as Camp Relief, near the present site of the town of Stockton, in
Rush Valley, Tooele County, and several companies of cavalry were posted
there, who, excited to a high pitch by the recent successes of some of their
comrades in arms in mineral discoveries, availed themselves of every pos-
sible opportunity when off duty to explore for ledges, or to develop such
mines as they had already located. On the llth of June following, at a
miners' meeting held at the camp, the Rush Valley Mining District was
formed, embracing all the western slope of the Oquirrh range from its
northern to its southern limits. The eastern side, sloping into Salt Lake

* Colonel E. D. Buel kindly placed at the Author's disposal a voluminous and
valuable manuscript on the " Mining Districts of Utah," from which much informa-
tion has been taken for this article.



EARLY MINING OPERATIONS. 715

Valley, still retains the original name of West Mountain District. In the
summer of 1864, the West Jordan Mining Company was incorporated
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 $25 a keg ; now it is less than
one-sixth of that price, and labour is also more abundant.

The first smelting-furnace in the Terntory was erected at Stockton, in
1864, by General Connor. He at this time became aware of the impor-
tance of having the mineral interest developed to the fullest possible
extent, and induced a large number of his California friends to enter into
the enterprise. The Kush Valley Smelting Company was organized at
the same time, by the military omcers 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 par-
ties, in and around Stockton and Rush Valley (mining prospects innumer-
able having by that time been located in the neighbourhood), viz. : The
St. James ; Finnerty ; J. W. Gibson ; Nichols & Brand ; Hartnet ; Davids
& Company ; and one cupola blast-furnace by Johnson, Monheim & Com-
pany. 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 Cali-
fornians, 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 materials of which the furnaces were built,
and those used in the daily operations, were very dear. These are circum-
stances 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
organized 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



716 TI] E ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAINTS.

now be filled by the regulars the rebellion by this time having been sup-
pressed 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 else-
where. Their method of solving the difficulty 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 cer-
tain but very small amount of work done upon them. For the perform-
ance of this work, a certificate was given by the district recorder. This
certificate prohibited all subsequent relocation of the ground. In conse-
quence of this provision, the mines of Stockton long lay under a ban,
and it is only since the wonderful discoveries made in neighbouring
canons, that mining has been energetically resumed there. While the
operations, detailed above, drew attention chiefly to the Rush Valley
mines, discoveries were gradually becoming numerous in other districts.

The first discovery of silver -bearing lead ore had been made in the
Wahsatch range, in Little Cottonwood Canon, 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 products 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 embarking 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 their first discovery they were not only
self-sustaining, but highly remunerative ? The first shipment of ore to
market having proved a success, work was pushed on with the utmost
'vigour on the mines already discovered. This was especially the case
in Little Cottonwood district, on such mines as the Flagstaff, Emma,
North Star, Savage, Magnet, Monitor, and others. Thus an impetus was
given to the business of prospecting for mines all over the Territory ; and
this led to the 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 1,363
tons of silver-bearing lead and iron, were sent out of the Territory. The



DISCOVERY OF "HORN" SILVER IN EAST CA^ON. 719

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 u horn,"
or chloride silver ores, of a very rich character, were discovered in East
Canon now known as Ophir District. The first location in this district
was made on the 23d of August, 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, Moun-
tain Lion, Mountain Tiger, Petaluma, Zella, Silver Chief, Defiance, Vir-
ginia, 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 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 remark-
able distinction is to be noticed in the character of the ores on either side
of the canon, the bottom of which appears to be the dividing-line. On
the north side, at the distance of not 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 canon about one mile, in a direct line, the silver occurs as chlo-
ride,, with little or no base metal. But, small as the quantity of the other"
minerals is, they contain lead, rnolybdanum, antimony, and zinc, and there-
fore few of the mines yield ore tha.t can be well treated without roasting.
Probably 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
Canon, 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 concen-
trations, 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 impregnated with chloride of
silver. These frequently assayed from $5,000 to $20,000 a ton ; * though
their value would vary very much in different parts of the same mass. As


* The Walker Brothers shipped west from the Silveropolis 40 tons of ore, which