.1)5+
BANCROFT
LIBRARY
0-
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
...UTAH...
A Complete and Comprehensive Description
OF THE
Agricultural and
mineral Hesourees,
Stock H&ising and
Manufacturing Interests
Its Attractions, Institutions, Etc.
WITH STATISTICS IN REGARD TO ITS
Climate, Population, Industries, Finances, Etc.
Compiled from the Latest Reports.
of tJie ...
TENTH mSSffSism I i\ * EDITION.
Mavoh 1901.
UTAH
ITS
1901
COMPLIMENTS OF THE
PASSENGER DEPARTMENT
TENTH EDITION
A
COMPLETE AND COMPREHENSIVE
REVIEW OF THE MINERAL AND AGRICULTURAL
RESOURCES, THE STOCK GROWING AND MANUFACTURING
INTERESTS, THE SCENIC AND CLIMATIC ATTRACTIONS, THE FAMOUS HEALTH;
BATHING, AND PLEASURE RESORTS, AND THE COMMERCIAL,
INDUSTRIAL, FINANCIAL, SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL,
AND RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGES
OF THE
STATE OF UTAH
WITH TABLES
OF TEMPERATURE AND PRO-
DUCTION, STATISTICS OF POPULATION AND
WEALTH, THE ANNUAL OUTPUT OF MINES, RANGES, AND FARMS,
TOGETHER WITH MUCH GENERAL INFORMATION AND MANY HERETOFORE UN-
PUBLISHED FACTS ABOUT THE NEW STATE WHICH WILL BE OF
INTEREST TO TOURISTS, CAPITALISTS, HOMESEEKERS,
AND OTHERS, COMPILED FROM THE
LATEST REPORTS.
TENTH EDITION.
In compiling the book, the pages of current Utah publications have been frequently drawn
upon, and much that other writers have said about the State has been used entire or
with such changes as were needed to make their statements applicable to present
conditions.- Copious extracts have also been taken from special editions of the
Salt Lake Tribune. Herald, and Deseret Evening News; from the "Resources
and Attraction^ of Utah," a publication prepared by Mr. H. L. A.
Culmer, of Salt Lake City, for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce;
from the official report of Prof. Marcus E .Jones, an United State
Treasury expert; from files of statistics collected by the
State, and from Union Pacific publications, and numer-
ous other pamphlets and special articles; and the
Union Pacific is specially indebted to Mr. E. F.
Colborn, ex-Secretary of the Salt Lake {
Chamber of Commerce, for his
invaluable assistance in
this compilation.
OMAHA, MARCH, 1OO1.
Copyright 1901, by E. L. Lomax, G. P. & T. A., Union Pacific Railroad Co.,
Omaha, Neb.
Bancroft Ubraiy
INTRODUCTION.
Because publications of this class frequently contain exaggerations, which
-^ mislead persons seeking conservative and reliable information, it does not
^f follow that the statements in this book is untrustworthy. No advantage
^ could be gained from either misrepresentation or exaggeration when the plain
. truth about Utah's resources, advantages, and attractions entitle her to a cer-
-. tificate of greatness, such as no other State in the West can claim.
^ Strangers to the real wonders of Utah often find it difficult to accept the
* most truthful descriptions of them. For instance, many people find it hard
A to believe that the human body will not sink in the Great Salt Lake, although
,_) that fact is demonstrated every day in the summer season at Garfield Beach.
ff* Ordinarily it is easy to tell the truth, but when the truth is stranger than
O fiction, it is sometimes difficult to tell it in a way to carry conviction.
The statistics and tables herein were made up from reliable authorities,
^ and may be depended upon, and the hope is expressed that they will be of
service to inquirers about Utah, and be the means of attracting immigration
and capital to the State.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
INTRODUCTORY 11
GENERAL HISTORY 12
Utah prior to 1847 12
FIRST SETTLEMENT 11
Early immigration 11
Settlements since 1847
Early agricultural development 13-14
POLITICAL HISTORY 14
Organization of the Territory 14
Early efforts for Statehood 14
Admission to the Union 14
UTAH GENERALLY 14-15
Geographical location 14
Topography 15
Productiveness and future possibilities of the State 15-16
IRRIGATION IN UTAH 16-17
The Mormon land system 16-17
Utah irrigation commission 16-17
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS 17 to 20
GEOLOGY AND MINING IN GENERAL 21-22
Mining methods 21
Capitalization and dividends of twenty-three leading mines 22
CURIOUS MINERAL PRODUCTS 22 to 26
Silver sandstone 23
Asphaltum 23
Gilsonite 23
Elaterite 23
Ozocerite 23
Chloride of gold 24
Sulphur 24
Crystal salt mines , 24
Saltpeter 24
Alum 24
Gypsum 24
Petroleum 25
Clays 25
Marbles 25
Onyx 25
Alabaster 25
Building stone 25
(5)
6 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
COAL 26 to 28
Product of 1900 27
Anthracite 27
Salt Lake's coal consumption and prevailing prices. , 28
SALT 28
Sales of 1900 28
IRON 28-29
UTAH MINEEALS, LIST OF 29 to 31
GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, AND LEAD MINING 32-33
Dividends for 1900 33
Mineral product to 1901 34
Mineral product for 1900 35-36
THE MINING COUNTIES 36
Summit County ' 36
Park City 36
Ontario Mine 36
Ontario Drain Tunnel 36
Daily Mine 36
Daily West Mine 36
Silver King Mine 36
Other Mines 36
Juab County 37
Geology of 37-38
Eureka, town of 38
Centennial Eureka Mine 39
Eureka Hill Mine 37
Bullion-Beck Mine 37
Mammoth Mine 39
Gemini Mine 39
Ajax Mine 39
Grand Central 39 ,
The Swanseas 39
Other Mines 39
Salt Lake County t 39
Bingham, town of 39
Geology West Mountain District 39-40
Old Jordan and Galena Mines 40
Winnimuck Mine 40
Highland Boy Commercial 40
Dalton and Lark Mine 40
Old Telegraph Mine 41
Alta, town of 41
Emma Mine 42
Flagstaff Mine 42
MaxfieldMine.. 42
TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 7
The Mining Counties Continued. Page.
Tooele County 42 to 46
Stockton and Ophir, towns of 42
Honorine Mine 43
Camp Floyd Mining District 43
Mercur Mine 43-14
Golden Gate Mine 43-44
Mercur District, history of 44-45
The cyanide process 46
Geology of Mercur .... 46
Ore bodies, extent and character of 46
Percentage of values saved 46
THE DEEP CREEK COUNTRY 46-47
Mineral and other resources 46-47
Wasatch County 47
Uintah County 47-48
Utah County 48
Millard County 48
Beaver County 48
Horn Silver Mine 48
Piute County 49
Marysvale, town of 49
Dalton Mine 49
Sevier Mine 49
Iron County 49
Washington County 49-50
Sandstone Silver Mines 49-50
San Juan County 50
AGRICULTURE AND FRUIT GROWING 51-52
THE AGRICULTURAL COUNTIES 52
Cache County 52-53
Logan, town of 52
Box Elder County 54
Brigham City 54
Weber County 55
Ogden 55-56
Morgan County 57
Morgan, town of 57
Davis County 57-58
Farmington, town of 58
Salt Lake County '! 58-59
General agricultural resources 58-59
Utah County 59-60
Utah Lake 60
Provo, town of ... 60
Lehi, town of 60
Springville, town of 60
Spanish Fork, town of 60
8 v TABLE OF CONTENTS.
The Agricultural Counties Continued. Page.
San Pete County 60-61
Manti, town of 61
Sevier County ' 61-62
Richfield, town of 62
Piute County 62
Millard County 63
Beaver County 63-64
Beaver City 64
Iron County 64-65
Cedar City : 64-65
Little Salt Lake 65
Kane County 65-66
Garfield County 66
Grand County 66-67
Tooele County 67
Juab County 67-68
Nephi, town of 68
Washington County 68
St. George, town of 68
Wayne County 69
Wasatch County 69
Heber City 69
Emery County 69
Castledale 70
Carbon County 70
Rich County 70
Beets, Sugar 71
LIVE STOCK, 1900 71-72
Cattle and horses 71
Sheep and wool 72
Two INDIAN RESERVATIONS Uintah and Uncompaghre 72
MANUFACTORIES AND INDUSTRIES 72-77
Woolen mills 73
Sugar works 74
Soap works '. 74
Boot and shoe manufactories 74
Clothing manufactories 74
Silk manufactories 74
Canneries 75
Electric power plants 75
Teeluride Power Transmission Co 76
Hercules Company 76
Pioneer Electric Power Company 76
Big Cotton wood Electric Company 76
Other power companies 76
Irrigation companies 76
TABLE OF CONTEXTS. 9
Page.
COMMERCE 77-78
CLIMATE 78-79
Opinions of experts , 78-79
Tables of temperature 79-80 85-86
Table of rainfall 82
ATTRACTIONS 87
Great Salt Lake 87-88
Early history of 87
Its discovery by the pioneers ^ . . . . 87
Its supposed origin 87
Its characteristics 87-88
Effect upon climate 88
Salt companies 88
Estimated value of its contents 88
Garfield Beach 88
Bathing in Great Salt Lake 88
Hot Springs 89
Utah Lake 89
Mountain resorts 89
"The Hot Pots' ' 89-90
Fishing and hunting 90
THE MORMON QUESTION 90
THE SCHOOL QUESTION 91
State University 91
RELIGIOUS, SOCIAL AFFAIRS, AND AMUSEMENT 92
CITIES AND TOWNS' OF UTAH 93
Table of population of leading towns 93
SALT LAKE CITY 93-95
DEMAND FOR LABOR 95
BRIEF INFORMATION. . 96
UTAH.
The exodus of the followers of Joseph Smith (then but lately dead at the
hands of the Carthage mob) from their city of Nauvoo, and their sorrowful
pilgrimage to the Missouri River, is the preface to the interesting story of
the first settlement of Utah. This was in 1846, and the weather was bitter
cold. Crossing the Mississippi upon the ice, with only such property as in
the haste of departure they could secure, they moved on to where Omaha
now stands, and gave to the spot the name of Winter Quarters. Of that
exodus history contains no perfect parallel, but it has been compared to the
flight of the Pilgrim Fathers from England to the New World. They rested
at Winter Quarters until the spring of 1847, when, on the 6th day of April,
began the first journey of the first company to Utah. Behind them were all
the comforts and pleasures of civilization; before them was an unknown and
mysterious solitude, a land with slow-flowing streams, rushing torrents, mas-
sive mountain ranges, illimitabe prairies and dangerous deserts the hunting
grounds and battlefields of savage tribes. Into this they plunged the 143
men, 3 women and 2 children under the leadership of Brigham Young, with
an abiding faith in the guiding hand of God. The story of that journey has
been told in Utah for fifty years, and will be told as was told in Rome "how
Horatius kept the bridge in the brave days of old." The little train of 121
wagons crept along day by day until the plains were crossed, the mountains
were passed and the deserts were traversed, and until, on the 24th day of
July, the immortal company reached its journey's end on the shores of the
Great Salt Lake. Strange to say, not one perished by the wayside. Before
the day of their arrival was done the foundations of the great empire of the
West had been laid. From that beginning unfolded the present civilization
of the trans-Missouri region. Over the trail made by the pioneer train soon
followed other companies, and before the close of the year 1847 two thousand
people were actively engaged in the reclamation of the Utah deserts.
Whatever may be said of the religious belief of the Mormon people, no
one well informed will deny them the credit of having first broken the bar-
riers of the Western wilderness. They first employed irrigation to water the
deserts, and under their unselfish system of using the streams undoubtedly
more lands were reclaimed than would have been reclaimed by people undis-
ciplined by religious creed. Their achievements not only in agriculture, but
in the general business of empire-building, are exemplified today all over the
great State of Utah. The wonders they have accomplished within fifty years,
when we consider their poverty and the odds with which they contended,
might well have required double the time. Their pioneer train was the pre-
liminary survey of the great Union Pacific Railroad; their manufactories
were the first in the West to utilize home raw material; their soldiers sub-
'dued the savage tribes around them; their toilers built many of the wagon
roads and railways that now carry the commerce of their State; they helped
build the first telegraph line into the intermountain country, and within that
country they built a system of their own whereby communication was made
possible between all their" settlements; their organized bands were sent to
redeem the desert valleys, that are now the most productive portions of
Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. To mining only did they seem indif-
ferent, and perhaps to the so-called "Gentiles" is due the credit of having
given to Utah that most valuable industry.
(11)
12 UTAH.
GENERAL HISTORY.
Prof. Marcus E. Jones, an United States Treasury expert, lias this to say
of the conditions and population of Utah prior to the first Mormon settle-
ment:
"Its primitive inhabitants doubtless came into it by way of the natural
highways formed by the great rivers the Columbia on the north and the
Colorado on the south for Indians have small facilities for carrying water,
and therefore could not have crossed the arid regions on the west. The
Indians, like their white successors, built their wickiups along the streams
where the waters broke from the mountains and flowed out on the more level
valleys below. They had inhabited the land long enough to spread over all
the territory that had water to supply them and their animals with drink.
There was an abundance of the most nutritious grass over plains, mountains,
and deserts; water alone was lacking on the latter. Game was everywhere
abundant. The large rivers and streams were thickly bordered with Indian
villages of the most primitive description, there being, even at the time of
the white occupancy, no attempt at even barbaric civilization. The tribes
were various and generally at war with each other. Some commerce was
carried on with the Apache and Navajo Indians of the south, and some with
the tribes of the tributaries of the Columbia River, but Utah's people were
more or less cut off from the rest of the world by their peculiar surround-
ings desert and mountain barriers and only vague reports got to the ears of
the outside world about its rivers and great salt sea.
"The restless spirit that pervaded the New World at and after its dis-
covery led hundreds of fearless men to set out into the wilderness to explore
its fastnesses. The number of these men increased year by year until, in less
than a century, the borders of Utah were reached. It will always remain
a mystery as to who saw Utah first, and what white man first beheld the
green waters of Great Salt Lake, but it is sufficient to say that those who are
credited with being the discoverers were not the first ones who traversed
the land and saw the lake. The first who have left records of their travels
were Spaniards. About 1540 Cardenas reached the banks of the Colorado
River in what is now a part of Utah. In 1776 Father Escalante traveled
down the Dolores River, crossed the Upper Colorado, probably followed near
the Green River, and struck one of its tributaries, the Duchesne, following
it up and crossing over to the Provo River and down to Utah Lake, but he
never seems to have seen the great salt sea thirty miles farther north, though
he heard some strange tales about it. Undoubtedly both before and after
Escalante's time, many trappers and hunters traversed Utah and saw all its
wonders, but the first records that we have say that in 1824-25 Capt. James
Bridger, with several other men, came near the lake, and Bridger first saw
and tasted its waters. In 1826 four trappers explored the lake. From that
time forth many people visited Utah on their way to the Pacific Coast. In
1832 Bonneville came near, if he did not visit the lake. He published a map
of the lake, and an attempt was made to name the lake after him, but it
failed, justly. ***********
"Gen. John C. Fremont visited the lake in 1843, and on his return pub-
lished a very truthful and interesting account of it and the present settled
portion of Utah. Brigham Young read this some time after it was published,
and as his people weye being hard pressed by those of the States, he decided
to remove to a region out of their reach, where he could build up a theocracy
according to his own ideas."
EARLY DEVELOPMENT.
Utah was settled by a systematic process and for the definite purpose of
building up, far from the prejudiced East, a State after the model of Brigham
UTAH. 13
Young. It was intended to be the headquarters of the Mormon Church and
the home place for the oldest as well as the newest converts to that faith.
As soon as the first settlers were certain of their ability to maintain
themselves in their new home, they began systematically to induce immigra-
tion from among those of their religious belief. Emigration societies were
organized, the Perpetual Emigration Fund was established, and mission-
aries were sent into every part of the civilized world. The work thus done
produced early results, and a steady stream of Mormons poured into Utah.
To this systematic work the State is indebted for a great part of its
present population, which by the census of 1900 is fixed at 276,749, a gain of
68,844, or 33 1-10 per cent, over the population of 1890. At the close of
1848 there had arrived in the Territory 2,090 people, 649 wagons, 164 horses,
2,468 oxen, 993 cows, 358 sheep, 37 hogs and 716 chickens, and the work of
redeeming the desert was fairly under way. The Perpetual Emigration Fund
was a strong factor in the settlement of the Territory. From this fund ad-
vances against their future earnings were made to those unable to bear the
expense of the journey to Utah. Immigrants with some money paid it into
the fund, and later, from their earnings, made good the difference between
their credit and the cost of the journey.
The effect of the work of inducing immigration by these and other
methods is well illustrated in the census reports of the United States, which
show that less than three years after the arrival of the pioneers the Terri-
tory had a population of 11,380. This number had increased in 1860 to
40,273; in 1870, to 86,786; in 1880, to 143,963; in 1890, to 207,905, and in
1900 to 276,749. Prior to 1870 practically all of the immagrants were of the
Mormon faith, but the mining interest, which began actively to develop
that year, and which has continued unabated unto this day, and the de-
velopment of railroad and other enterprises since 1870, are responsible for a
considerable portion of the increase in population since that time.
The advantage of systematic over desultory methods is strikingly illus-
trated in the history of Utah's growh. The prophet Brigham Young, what-
ever else he was, was a wise and able leader. He was looked upon by his
folowers as an Angel of Light, and was believed by them to be under divine
guidance. He was especially equipped to command men and dictate meas-
ures, and, in the language of a well-known historian, was:
"A practical and far-seeing man, one who, by his will, ability and intui-
tive knowledge of human nature, was fitted to combat the difficulties that
beset each step in his path of life, and to give cohesion to the heterogeneous
elements of which his people were composed.
From the greatest details connected with the organization of this church
(the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) down to the smallest
minutiae connected with the work, he has left upon it the impress of his great
mind."
The prophet proceeded with deliberation and ability to bring about the
speedy settlement of Utah. This he did, not only by sending missionaries
throughout this and other lands in search of converts to his faith, but by
continually enlarging the circle of settlement. Whenever a new band of
converts arrived in Utah he located them upon desert lands, and charged
them with the task of their reclamation. In this way the land was rapidly
possessed, and settlement spread out farther and farther from the "Central
Stake of Zion." The march of agricultural development is, perhaps, best
told in the following language t)f Professor Jones:
"When all the good land was taken up around Salt Lake City, settlements
sprung up along the base of the Wasatch Mountains, both north and south.
In 1847 one place had been occupied some miles north of Salt Lake City.
In 1848 the population streamed northward as far as forty miles, Farming-
ton, Centerville, Bountiful and Ogden being settled, while the tide began to
set in southward by the settlement of Mill Creek, some ten miles from the
14 UTAH.
city. The next year Brigham Young began his 'missions' by sending out
a party to San Pete Valley, 100 miles south; to Tooele Valley, thirty miles
west, and to Provo, in Utah Valley. In 1850 most of the immigrants
swarmed into Utah Valley, thirty miles south of Salt Lake City, and founded
Alpine, American Fork, Pleasant Grove and Springville. In 1851 the ham-
lets began to go northward from Ogden. Brigham Young still kept making
new 'missions' by the founding of Parowan, Cedar and Paragonah, 150
miles south, along the western base of the Wasatch Mountains, near the
great iron and coal deposits, which at that time were unknown. In 1852
the towns had extended as far south as the rim of the Great Basin, a dis-
tance of 200 miles or more, while all the places already located expanded by
the addition of neighboring towns. From 1853 to 1856 most of the locations
were along the Weber, on the east side of the Wasatch, directly east of Salt
Lake City, in Cache County, in Northern Utah; along the west side of the
Wasatch and in the southern part of the Territory, beyond the rim of the
Great Basin at Saint George and vicinity, where our best raisins, nuts
cotton, etc., are raised now. The best of the land having now been taken,
it became necessary to go into the colder and more mountainous regions,
and to take up the poorer clay lands of the valleys. The population had
now (1870) reached 86,786, of which one-third were foreigners. The year
1869 was the year of the completion of the Union Pacific Kailroad. A great
influx of Eastern people now began. Mines were opened at the same time,
and the industrial development of Utah may be said to have started."
Thus was settled Utah during the wagon-train period of her existence.
The history of this settlement has been repeating itself ever since.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
In 1849 an attempt was made to organize the State of Deseret, but Con-
gress refused to recognize the proposed sovereignty. On September 9, 1850,
Utah was organized as a Territory, and Brigham Young was appointed Gov-
ernor. The history of the Territory is punctuated by many atempts on the
part of the people to secure statehood. From time to time constitutional
conventions were held and many appplications made to Congress for admis-
sion, but the efforts of the people in this direction were fruitless until 1895,
when, acting upon the almost unanimous demand of Gentiles and Mormons,
Congress passed the Enabling Act, under which the State was admittted to
the Union on January 4, 1896.
UTAH GENERALLY.
Utah occupies an important position in the trans-Mississippi group of
States. It is situated between the parallels of 37 and 42 degrees north lati-
tude, and the meridians of 109 and 114 degrees west of Greenwich. On the
same parallels are Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Kentucky,
Virginia, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Corea. The State adjoins Colo-
rado, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho. It is 275 miles in width and 345 miles in
length. Its total area is 84,970 square miles; its land area is 82,190 square
miles (52,601,600 acres); its water area is 2,780 square miles (1,779,200 acres).
Its valleys are elevated from 2,700 to 7,000, feet above the sea. Some of
its mountain peaks reach a height of from 12,000 to 13,500 feet. The
Wasatch Mountains sweep down its center, and Uintah's cross its upper
half. It is a region of snow-clad mountains and broad, beautiful valleys.
Many streams flow from the elevations and meander through the vales. Its
largest body of water is the Great Salt Lake, covering an area of about
2,500 square miles. This is a far-famed feature of its topography; but it has
UTAH. ]5
a number of fresh-water lakes of considerable size, the largest being Utah
Lake, with a surface area of 125 square miles.
Within the lines of the State there exists a remarkable diversity of coun-
try, containing many unique features, some of which have given it world-
wide fame, such as the Grand Canon of the Colorado and other wild scenery
in the southern portion.
Extending from Idaho to Arizona, southeasterly through the State, is a
chain of fertile valleys, some of which are twenty miles wide. These valleys
differ in altitude each growing the products of field and orchard to which
the climatic conditions are most favorable. The most northern in this chain
is Cache Valley, having an altitude of 4,400 feet, and a population of about
18,500. Here are raised the hardier fruits, grains and vegetables. In all of
Utah is not found so beautiful a pastoral scene as that presented to the be-
holder who looks down upon the Cache Valley from the temple top at Logan.
The little Mormon farms, some green, some golden, and all dotted with cozy
houses and ample barns, lie side by side as regular as the squares on a checker
board. Streams, natural and artificial, lined here and there with rows of
stately poplars, bound the farms. The whole scene is one of contentment. It
covers 600 square miles, and, framed with the snowy summits of the
Wasatch, is among the prize spectacles of Utah. The southern valley in the
chain is the Rio Virgin in Washington County, where the land is exceedingly
productive, and where there are twenty or more settlements having a pop-
ulation in the aggregate of from 6,000 to 7,000. This portion of the State is
semi-tropical, and its soil and climate adapt it to production of not only many
of the hardier fruits, but "of nectarines, almonds, figs, grapes and pome-
granates. Flowers bloom in this valley in December, and cotton is exten-
sively grown. Outdoor gardening begins there in the latter part of January,
and snow and frost are almost unknown. Washington County is the South-
ern California of Utah, and St. George, its capital, is certain to become a
famous winter resort. Between these extremes of the chain are situated
many valleys under a high state of cultivation. These different portions of
the State will be more extensively discussed in connection with the subject
of agriculture.
The eastern half of the State is drained into the Colorado. The mountain
ranges usually run north and south, and nearly all of them contain zones of
precious metals. Probably no other State in the Union has within its borders
such a variety of resources. No other State could be so nearly independent
and self-supporting. If intercourse with the outside world were totally cut
off there are very few of the necessaries or luxuries that could not be pro-
duced in abundance within the boundaries of Utah. It is an empire within
itself. This fact will be easily realized by a study of the endless varieties of
products it annually yields. Although but half a century has been devoted
to its development, the extraordinary scope of its possibilities in mining, agri-
culture, ranch and range production and internal commerce, already estab-
lished, proves beyond question that the State is destined to be one of the
greatest commonwealths in the West, and that even now much of what is
imported into the State might easily be produced at home should it become
necessary.
Almost every variety of climate, which is generally salubrious and agree-
able, can be found in Utah. There are valleys for the farmer, the gardener
and the fruit-grower; low mountain land, slopes and terraces for the sheep-
raiser; mountains for the miner; scenery, hunting, fishing and bathing for the
pleasure-seeker; hot springs and pure air for the invalid, and plenty of oppor-
tunity and occupation for men of business and enterprise.
16 UTAH.
IRRIGATION.
Water has been a potent factor in the redemption of Utah from, desert
desolation. Here irrigation was first begun in the United States by the
Anglo-Saxon race. On the very day of the arrival of .the first band of pioneers
in the Salt Lake Valley (July 24, 1847) work began on the first irrigation
canal ever built in the nation, and then and there was commenced the de-
velopment of an irrigation system borrowed by the pioneers from Spain and
Egypt, which has grown into what is said to be the most perfect of any in
the world outside of Spain. This system has been modeled after by all the
surrounding States and Territories, and under its influence Utah has reached
a high state of cultivation.
Fear of drought does not oppress the Utah farmer. He has no need to scan
the sky for signs of rain, for he knows that in the arms of the mountains are
held the snows, the waters of which will melt and descend to his lands ready
to be given to the thirsty crops at just the right periods in their progress to
insure not only their sturdy growth, but their perfect development. The life
of the farmer is said to be an independent one. If this is true of the Eastern
farmer, whose success is dependent upon rainfall, it is doubly true of his Utah,
brother, who may water hjs crops whenever and to whatever extent he desires.
Under irrigation lands are more productive, and they retain their fertility per-
petually because of fertilizers which are constantly brought to them by the
irrigation waters. It can be demonstrated that ten acres of irrigated Utah
land will produce more income during a period of years than five times the
same area in portions of the country dependent entirely upon rain for
moisture.
In the earlier stages of Utah's development irrigation systems were put
in by the co-operation of the people, but during later years incorporated
companies have undertaken the construction of extensive systems, which
have reclaimed or will reclaim immense areas of arid lands. These com-
panies own great tracts tributary to their canals, and offer land for sale in
small parcels at low rates and upon easy terms. To the Mormon Land Sys-
tem much of the success which has attended the Utah farmer is due. Under
this system the holdings are small, five acres being not an uncommon-sized
farm, and forty acres being considered an extensive holding. Thus, the
agricultural area of Utah is made to support a large population, and the indi-
vidual owner is not possessed of more land than he can successfully irrigate
and cultivate.
In the report of the Special Committee of the United States Senate on the
irrigation and reclamation of arid lands, published by the Government in
1890, the following interesting statements are made:
"The conditions surrounding irrigation in Utah deserve the most careful
review. They differ in many respects from other sections of the arid region.
This difference begins with the physical features, and runs into all the social
and economic aspects also. The industrious people who
have held this Territory since early in the '50s have made available in de-
tached portions of Utah a considerable area of arable lands, by the careful
use of every spring, pool, creek or mountain stream that can, by simple
means, be coaxed down to the valleys and plains below. * * * *
"There are about 800,000 acres under cultivation in Utah, a considerable
area being benefited by natural sub-irrigation. An estimate of 200,000 acres
more will cover all that can be cultivated by the present ditches, and 3,500,-
000 acres is the outside estimate given in the evidence of the amount reclaim-
able under reservoirs proposed by witnesses and in country reports.
"Irrigation has prevailed in Utah for nearly forty years. Not one-fifth
of the present population could be sustained without it upon the soil of the
Territory. As it is, Utah feeds not only its own population, but has a consid-
erable surplus for sale to others. * * * It will be seen that Utah
UTAH. 17
supports a considerable farming population more, perhaps, per acre than
elsewhere in the United States. *. * The largest farm
reported to the committee had but 200 acres in it. The average Utah
farm is about tweny-five acres. Very few Utah farms are under mort-
gage. The average length of the ditches does not exceed three miles.
* * * One cubic foot of water has supplied, during the past year,
about seventy-five acres of land. The cost of water is less per acre to the
Utah farmer than elsewhere in the arid region, ranging as it does from 25
cents to 60 cents per acre. In a few instances only it will cost $3 per acre,
but it seldom reaches even $1. * * * Nearly every mile of canal
or ditch in the Territory has been constructed by combined and neighborhood
effort. In actual cash these ditches have cost not to exceed $2.50 per acre;
counted as paid in labor, however, the cost has been about $4 per acre.
That will make a nominal cost for 650,000 acres, $2,600,000; the actual or
cash cost may be put down at $1,625,000. There has never been a lawsuit
over water rights."
The following statistics are taken from the report of the Utah Irrigation
Commission, published in 1895:
The total acreage of irrigable land in Utah, outside of present
(Indian) Reservations 2,304,000
The total acreage of irrigable land in Utah, inside of present
(Indian) Reservations 1,350,000
3,654,000
The total acreage covered by present ditches is 1,035,226
The total additional acreage susceptible to irrigation and, for
which water can be had is 2,518,774
Number of acres entered under all U. S. laws 2,542,836
Estimated number of acres of surface land still subject to entry
under the public land laws 6,919,840
Estimated number of acres, unsurveyed, subject to entry 26,882,853
In the same report Mr. C. L. Stevenson, an irrigation engineer of Utah,
estimates the average present value of the irrigated lands of the State at
$84.25 per acre.
Instances innumerable might be given where competences and fortunes of
considerable magnitude have been made by the Utah farmer, but space in
this account will not permit fuller discussion. It is enough to say that there
are no more prosperous farmers in the United States than those of Utah, and
that crop failures, droughts, devastations by insects and the other calamities
which come to the farmer in different portions of the country are not enumer-
ated in the Utah farmer's category of ills.
The following discussion of the
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
of Utah, condensed from the Government publication (1879) on "The Lands
of the Arid Region," by Major Powell, will acquaint the reader with the
number and flow of Utah's principal streams, and give him some further
information in relation to irrigation to Utah:
"The eastern part of the Territory is drained by the Rio Colorado and its
tributaries; the western part by streams that head in the Wasatch and the
high plateaus of the central part, and find their way into the salinas and
desert sands of the Great Basin. Thus we have thp Rio Colorado drainage
area and the desert drainage area; the former about two-fifths, the latter
about three-fifths of the total area. The Rio Colorado drainage area is sub-
divided into the Uintah-White Basin, with 280,320 acres of irrigable land,
and tie Canon Land, with 213,440 acres. The desert drainage area is sub-
divided into the Sevier Lake District, with 101,700 acres of irrigable land,
and the Great Salt Lake District, with 837,660 acres.*
*NOTK Further investigation indicates that the irrigable land was at that time
considerably underestimated.
18 UTAH.
"GREAT SALT LAKE DRAINAGE SYSTEM. Three rivers enter Great Salt
Lake, namely, the Bear, the Weber and the Jordan, 'and upon their water,'
says Mr. C. K. Gilbert of the Geological Survey, 'will ultimately depend
the major part of the agriculture of Utah.' They rise close together in the
western end of the Uintah Mountains, and cut through the Wasatch. Bear
River flows northward, now in Utah, now in Wyoming, and into Idaho as
far as Soda Springs. Here it bends round like a fish-hook, and returns on
a more westerly line. Re-entering Utah in Cache Valley, it passes thence by
a short canon to its delta-plain on the northeastern border of Great Salt
Lake. Its principal tributaries are received in Idaho and Cache Valley.
"Cache Valley, in Utah and Idaho, contains upward of 400 square miles
of irrigable land. The left bank (of the Bear) is served by Logan River and
tributaries; the right bank by a canal (not yet constructed) entirely in Idaho.
The expense of the latter will be great, but well warranted. The valley is
higher and somewhat colder than the Salt Lake Valley, but the soil is good,
and the climate admits of the growth of wheat, oats, corn, rye, apples, pears,
cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, etc. The valley is about ten miles in width
by fifty miles in length, dish-like in shape, walled in by mountains, but
pretty well farmed all around at the foot of the mountains. It sustains nearly
a score of flourishing towns.
"The mean annual flow of Bear River, where it enters Salt Lake Valley,
is about 5,000 cubic feet per second. Its delta-plain contains about 220 square
miles of unsurpassable soil, upon which the Bear River Canal Company has
diverted 2,000 second-cubic feet of water through upward of 100 miles of
canals, at a cost of nearly $3,000,000. The soil is rich and ideally adapted
to irrigation, having a gentle fall, being smooth as a floor and well and
deeply drained by the Bear and Malad rivers.
"As if to forever bar a water famine in Salt Lake Valley, nature has pro-
vided a natural reservoir in Bear Lake, situated near Bear River, and con-
nected with the river by a narrow outlet high up in the mountains. The
lake has an area of 150 square miles, and can be raised ten feet by. a dam
thrown across the outlet at slight expense. Thus enough water can be stored
during three-fourths of the year to flow 5,000 feet per second during the
other fourth of the year. Bear River itself can be turned into the lake by a
short canal and upon its upper tributaries, on the northern slope of the
Uintah Range, there are many glacial lakes which can be made use of for im-
pounding water.
"The Weber River runs in a general northwesterly course from the
Uintah Mountains to Great Salt Lake, entering the latter at the middle of its
eastern shore. The Ogden is its only important tributary. Its delta-plain
comprises about 220 square miles of farming land. If the river prove in-
competent to water its delta-plain, the Bear at the north and the Jordan at
the south have each a great volume of surplus water, and either supply can
be led without difficulty to the lower levels of the delta of the Weber. Be-
sides the delta of the Weber, there are forty to fifty square miles of irrigable
land on the Weber and the Ogden rivers within the mountains.
"The Jordan River is the outlet of Utah Lake, and runs northward, enter-
ing Great Salt Lake at its southeastern angle. On the right it receives a
number of large tributaries from the Wasatch. The largest tributary of Utah
Lake is Provo River, which rises near the source of the Weber and the Bear
in the Uintah Mountains. Minor tributaries of Utah Lake are American
Fork, Spanish Fork, Hofible Creek, Payson Creek, Salt Creek, etc. On all
the tributaries of Utah Lake there are about 320 square miles of irrigable
land; and in Jordan Valley, below Utah Lake, inclusive of Bountiful and
Centerville, there are about 250 square miles. In addition, the water can be
carried around the point of the Oquirrh Range on the southern shore of Great
Salt Lake, and be used to water fifty square miles in Tooele Valley.
UTAH. 19
"Utah. Lake is a natural reservoir, 125 square mile in surface area. With
suitable headworks its volume can be controlled, and the entire discharge be
concentrated in the season of irrigation. The mean volume of the outlet is
about 1,000 second-cubic feet, but one-fourth of this must be assigned to
watering lands on the tributaries of the lake and to evaporation, leaving a
perennial flow of 750 second-cubic feet, which, if concentrated into four
months, would irrigate for that period 350 square miles.
"There is thus water enough forever assured to irrigate every acre of the
eastern border of Great Salt Lake Basin, from Nephi on the south, to Bear
River Canon on the north, a distance, as traveled, of about 180 miles. This
fringe of the desert, between the Wasatch and Great Salt Lake and be-
tween the Wasatch and Utah Lake, is, in location, resources, climate, fer-
tility, potentially the glory of the earth. It is easily the garden spot of
Utah. It supports more than thirty settlements or towns, and more than
half the population of Utah. Every acre of the land is intrinsically worth
$100, although it ranges in price all the way from $5 to $225 per acre. The
average, away from the suburbs of larger towns, is perhaps $50 an acre.
Altogether, about 10,000 second-cubic feet of water perennially flows into
Great Salt Lake.
"Westward of Great Salt Lake there are sixty small tracts of land blest
with water. On the east of the lake the rivers carry the melting snows of
the elevated zone to the valleys, and fertility is the result. West and north
of the lake the mountains are too insignificant to store up snow-banks until
the time of need. These streams are spent before the summer comes, and
only a few springs are perennial. The result is a desert, with little oases a
day's journey apart.
"SEVIEE LAKE DKAINAGE BASIN. According to the accomplished geol-
ogists of the United States Geological Survey, which this sketch follows, the
Wasatch ends with Mount Nebo, which overhangs Nephi. The elevated
lands southward these gentlemen term the High Plateaus, divided by great
longitudinal faults into three ranges, each made up of different members,
as the San Pete, the Pahvant, the Tushar and the Markagunt, facing the
Great Basin; the Sevier and Paunsagunt between Sevier and Grass val-
leys; and the Wasatch, the Fish Lake, -the Awapa and the Aquarius, east of
Grass Valley. The Pahvant and the Tushar, says Captain Dutton, present
a curious admixture of plateau and sierra, but the others are true tables,
made and kept so by the lavas which cap them and successfully resist erosion.
"The Wasatch Plateau is east of San Pete Valley, above which it rises a
full mile. Sanpitch River, the largest tributary of the Sevier, furnishes water,
and the oats and wheat grow higher than the fences. There is coal in the
valley, fine building and flagging stone, a score of towns and settlements,
and 50,000 to 100,000 acres of irrigable land. The Sanpitch empties into the
Sevier at Gunnison, the latter coming down from the south, the former rising
about Mount Nebo and flowing southward.
"From Gunnison to Monroe, Sevier Valley is about five miles wide by
sixty miles long, and sustains a dozen settlements. The river canons above
Monroe, and just above this canon tower the rugged peaks and domes of the
Tushar (Beaver Range), upon whose shaggy slopes, descending to the Sevier,
is the mining district of Marysvale, just now rousing itself, or being roused,
from a Rip Van Winkle sleep of twenty years.
"Twenty miles above Marysvale is Circle Valley, where the East Fork
joins the South Fork through a mighty chasm, cutting the Sevier Plateau in
two. The mural walls of the opposing plateaus rise she'er above Circle Valley
4,000 to 5,000 feet. From this junction the two forks continue on through
canons and valleys, ascending higher and higher the best part of a hundred
miles to the springs of the basalt fields which divide the drainage of Sevier
Lake from that of the Rio Colorado. There are valleys up there, says Captain
Dutton, 7,000 to 9,000 feet high, with the palisades of the plateaus rising half
20 UTAH.
a mile higher, and on the great mesas forests of straight, slender pines ancl
spruces a hundred feet to a limb and standing so thick as to be almost im-
penetrable.
"Just below Juab the Sevier River breaks through the Pahvant as though
the latter were a fog-bank, runs far out on the desert and sinks in what is
called Sevier Lake. Without storage, for which Captain Dutton says the
High Plateaus offer extraordinary facilities, the Sevier and the Sanpitch
rivers water less than 100,000 acres. With storage, if there is sufficient water
to be stored, a thousand square miles of land might be reclaimed from the
desert on the course of the Sevier River.
"Probably a hundred square miles are served by the small streams of
Southwestern Utah, as at Levan, Scipio, Holden, Fillmore, Oak City,
Kanosh, Beaver, Minersville, Paragoonah, Parowan, Cedar City, Pinto,
Hebron, etc. In this region the water is inadequate to supply the arable
land, but it can be largely increased by storage without doubt.
"COLORADO RIVER DRAINAGE. Of the Rio Colorado drainage system,
the main channel is the river Colorado and its proper continuation, the
Green River. The principal tributaries of these streams from the east are
the White, the Grand and the San Juan, the White entering the Green, the
Grand uniting with the Green to form the Colorado, and the San Juan enter-
ing the latter about 125 miles below the confluence of the Grand and the
Green. The tributaries from the west are the Virgin, the Kanah, the Paari,
the Escalante, the Fremont, the San Rafael, the Price, the Minnie Maud,
the Uintah and the Ashley Fork.
"The climate is extremely arid, the elevation between 2,500 and 11,500
feet, giving great range in temperature. The limit of successful (hay) farm-
ing is about 7,000 feet. Aside from the Uintah-White Basin, which contains
more than half of the irrigable land of the entire district, and which is an
Indian Reserve, the lands are generally on benches or terraces, or in restricted
valleys between the higher courses of the streams and their canons, and from
4,500 to 6,000 feet in altitude. The Price, the Uintah, the Green and the
Grand have plenty of water, but, excepting the Uintah, the land upon which
their waters can be diverted is very limited. On the Virgin, which is far
south and low in altitude, there are .thirty to fifty square miles. In the
entire district there may be a thousand square miles of irrigable arable land.
"From a cursory examination and estimate of the water supply, made
under Major Powell's auspices in 1877, the land in Utah which may be irri-
gated was tentatively put at 1,433,060 acres. Later and more thorough
investigation by the Utah Irrigation Commission places the number of acres-
capable of irrigation at 2,304,000.
"Upon the high mountain slopes and mesas are the forests. All the timber
trees proper are coniferous, and belong to the pine, fir and juniper families.
There will doubtless always be enough timber and lumber for domestic use,
as the new growth should replace the consumption. The farming lands,
on the lower courses of the rivers and near the mountains, are limited in
extent, and coal is so plentiful as to be universally used for fuel. No
timber or lumber should ever be exported from Utah, nor are they likely to be.
Major Powell estimates the timber region at 18,500 square miles, standing
timber at 10,000, milling timber at 2,500 square miles, sufficient, he says, for
the industrial wants of the country if it can be preserved from forest fires.
"The elevated regions not only store the moisture to fertilize the adjacent
lowlands, but they contain the mines of silver and gold, of lead and iron, and
of other metals and minerals, and the coal.
"The grazing lands lie, in the main, between the high timber lands and the
low farming lands. The grass is scanty, but in great variety and nutritious.
"Wherever grass grows, Major Powell says, water may be found or saved
from the rains in sufficient quantity for all the herds that can live on the-
pasturage."
UTAH. 21
GEOLOGY AND MINING IN GENERAL.
The following condensation is made from Professor Jones' admirable book
upon Utah:
"The deposits of the precious metals of Utah all belong to the early geo-
logical ages, with the exception of a few small outcroppings in Southern
Utah, in a very unique deposit. The minerals are generally contained in
fissures of varying width and richness, running, not along the line of a moun-
tain range, but directly across it, stretching from one range of mountains to
another, and doubtless going underneath the valleys in a direction nearly east
and west. These veins seem to traverse nearly the whole of the Great Basin
from east to west. The most valuable deposits are generally found in the
earliest granites, quartzites or palaeozoic limestone. One of the most impor-
tant mineral belts of Utah runs from the Uintah Mountains on the east
through Park City and Alta in the Wasatch, thence across the Salt Lake
Valley to the Oquirrh Mountains on the west at Bingham, the original point
of discovery of mines in Utah, and then turning a little northward, crossing
diagonally through the Aqui Mountains, and thence out on the desert.
"The second mineral belt begins in the Wasatch Mountains, in the vicinity
of Mount Nebo, and runs a little north of west, reaching its climax in the
extension of the Oquirrh Range at Tintic, thence it passes through various
ranges until it goes out of the State at Deep Creek, which" is destined to be
one of the greatest mining camps in Utah.
"The third belt is located some 200 miles south of Salt Lake, beginning
at Marysvale and Beaver, running a little north of west through various
ranges, Teachings its climax at Frisco, where the great Horn Silver Mine is
located. The belt extends westward from there to the boundary of the State.
"Near the southern boundary of the State, on the rim of the Basin, is a
very unique mineral deposit in sandstone of the Triassic or later date. The
ore is chiefly chloride of silver, found in reefs of sandstone which are tilted
at a high angle.
"The eastern portion of the State, being of a very recent geological age,
is almost destitute of precious metals. There are some limited areas of vol-
canic outbursts in this region, where there is some mineral. This is pre-emi-
nently a coal country, having thousands of square miles of coal fields, with
veins in some places forty feet thick. This region has other forms of carbon
besides coal, the principal ones being natural gas, paraffin, heavy oil and
asphaltum of all grades. Here also are found large deposits of the hydro-
carbons, gilsonite, elaterite and ozocerite, which electrical development is
rapidly bringing into general use."
Mining in Utah is conducted in much the same way that it is elsewhere.
In most portions of the State lode claims are 1,500 feet long by 600 feet wide.
In the absence of a State law fixing the amount of labor necessary to hold a
location, the customs of miners and the rules of mining districts regulate the
amount. This, of course, is additional to the annual labor or improvements
required by the Acts of Congress.
The spirit of boom and hurrah has always been noticeably absent from the
mining men of Utah. These men, or a large proportion of them, obtained
their preliminary training in Nevada and California, where mining is, and
always has been, conducted upon legitimate lines, and where results count
for more than anticipation. The history of Utah contains no record of great
mining excitements. Other States can and do have their Cripple Creeks and
Creedes, where excitement runs high and everyone seems possessed to keep it
up. But Utah never has had, and probably never will have, a genuine mining
craze. The people are not built to produce and keep up mining excitements.
They are conservative and unboastful. They regard mining as a legitimate
business, and prefer to look to dividends rather than to the rise of specula-
stocks for their profits.
22 UTAH.
No special effort is made by the people of Utah to have the news prints
of the country advertised, by news or paid notices, the progress of mining
development, and for that reason the mining fame of the State is not so
widespread as that of other States whose output and mining dividends do
not compare with those of Utah. An examination of a table which appears
elsewhere in this account will show that this State has a total metal product
valued at $234,703,580.23. For many years a steady stream of dividends
has been flowing from the mines to their owners, as will be seen by accom-
panying tables.
These figures are given to the reader that he may judge of the mineral
greatness of Utah, a greatness which the work of development now but
fairly entered upon will make phenomenal in the near future. The tables and
mining statistics presented are complete to January 1, 1901, and of the show-
ing they make the State may well be proud:
TABLE OP MINING DIVIDENDS.
Mines. Capital. Total Dividends.
Ajax (Copperopolis) $3,000,000 $1,000,000
Bullion-Beck 1,000,000 2,535,000
Centennial-Eureka 1,500,000 2,447,700
Crescent 1,500,000 280,000
Chloride Point 500,000 5,000
Consolidated Mercur 10,000,000 110,000
Carisa 85,000
Daly 3,000,000 2,397,500
Dalton and Lark 2,500,000 87,500
Daly- West 3,000,000 487,500
Eureka Hill 1,000,000 1,850,000
Grand Central 250,000 631,250
Geyser-Marion 1,500,000 96,000
Gemeni-Keystone 500,000 825,000
Grand Gulch 4,800
. Horn Silver 10,000,000 5,290,000
Mercur 5,000,000 1,481,000
Maxfield 3,000,000 117,000
Mammoth 10,000,000 1,780,000
Ontario 15,000,000 13,662,500
Silver King 3,000,000 3,475,000
Sacramento 5,000,000 118,000
Swansea 500,000 271,500
South Swansea 150,000 162,500
Silver Shield 30,000 1,500
Rocco-Homestake 300,000 4,500
Petro 1,500,000 33,000
Utah 1,000,000 179,000
Utah Consolidated 750,000 63,000
Galena 1,000,000 71,000
The mines named in this table are those which exhibit their dividends and
are but a few of the many great producers of the State. There are hundreds
of properties under private or corporate ownership in Utah, about the annual
profits of which we are left entirely to conjecture. Our Eastern friends who
take statements concerning the West with a grain of allowance are urged to
verify the figures contained in this table.
UTAH'S CURIOUS MINERAL PRODUCTS
are of many kinds, the most noteworthy being the sandstone silver mines
of Southern Utah. The discovery of silver in sandstone was made by Judge
Barbee at Leeds, in Washington County, over a quarter of a century ago.
The mines he located have paid to this time over one million dollars in
profits. The sandstone deposit contains the petrified remains of a prehistoric
forest, and the richest ores found have been portions of these petrified trees.
Utah alone possesses this mineralogical curiosity. Its existence contradicts
old geological theories and teaches us how little, after all, we know of na-
ture's wonderful methods.
UTAH. 23
Utah illustrates perhaps better than any other part of the world the truth
of the couplet
"God moves in a mysterious way
4 His wonders to perform."
He seems to have selected the State for the exhibition of the utmost
powers of creation, and has given to it almost every form of mineral wealth.
Less curious than the sandstone mines, but very interesting, are the great
bodies of asphaltum and the hydrocarbons, which occur generally over a
thousand square miles or more of the region in Northeastern Utah, in part
reserved to the Uintah and Uncompahgre Indians.
The asphaltum is found in limestone, sandstone and in flowing springs
and lakes. In quality it is the equal of any in the world, and in quantity
there is sufficient of it to pave all the streets in America and still leave
enough for the uses of mankind for centuries to come. Aside from a small
amount mined in California, practically all of the asphaltum used in the
United States is imported from the Island of Trinidad. This importation is
carried on by a company, which, because of its control of the source of the
material, has grown into a gigantic monopoly, and dictates terms to most of
the great municipal corporations of the country. With Utah's enormous
bodies of asphaltum, there need no longer be any reason for maintaining this
monopoly or for veneering the streets of American cities with a foreign
product.
GILSONITE, of which the largest known vein is forty feet wide and twenty
miles long, is peculiar to Utah. Its discovery in the State is attributed to Mr.
Sam Gilson of Salt Lake City, after whom it was named by the Smithsonian
Institution. This material is used in the manufacture of black japan and
other varnishes, in making insulating compounds of various kinds, in covering
iron plates on ship bottoms and to protect pilings subject to the ravages .of
toredo and other salt-water insects. This form of asphaltum was formerly
imported from Egypt to the United States, commanding a price of $250 per
ton. The Utah product has driven the Egyptian article out of our market,
as it can be delivered on the cars at Price for $40 per ton.
The Gilsonite Asphaltum Company of St. Louis, Mo., shipped from Price
4,587,630 pounds of asphaltum in 1900, an increase of 1,500,000 pounds over
the output of the preceding year. This nets the company about $40 per ton
on board the cars at Price.
Shipments were made from other properties, of which there are many in
the great hydrocarbon field, but exact figures are not obtainable.
Of the hydrocarbons mentioned there is enough to supply all the uses for
which they are employed for all time to come, but little seems to be known
of one of these products (elaterite) and the purposes for which it can be
used. The world's supply has heretofore been obtained principally from
Austria and Syria, where the ouput is comparatively limited, and therefore
they have commanded a high market price. All of these several forms of car-
bons are found in Utah in exceedingly pure condition, and when they can be
sent to market they will undoubtedly drive out the imported materials.
ELATERITE is a sort of mineral rubber, and is awaiting a cheap means of
reducing it to solution, so that it can be economically used upon the bottoms
of ships. It is said to furnish complete protection against the barnacle, and
that it will save millions of dollars annually to the ship-owners of the world.
The Government has recently caused experiments to be made for the dis-
covery of a cheap method of reducing it, and the claim is made by one chem-
ist that this can be done at a cost of 30 cents per gallon. The substance is
difficult to mine. It cannot be drilled, being like gutta-percha, $nd augers
are used to prepare it for blasting.
OZOCERITE, or mineral wax, is similar in many respects to paraffin, and is
an extreme product of petroleum. The chief supply now comes from Galicia,
the mines of which are said to be wholly inadequate to supply the demand for
24 UTAH.
the product. This is the material used by Mr. Edison for the cylinder of his
phonograph. In crude condition it is dark-colored, but it can, by chemical
treatment, be made white and used in the manufacture of candles. As a
material for waxing ball-room floors it is said to have no equal, and it is a
valuable element in the manufacture of acid and water-proof paper. Its chief
use, however, is for insulation, for which purpose it is said to be more valu-
able than any other substance.
In enumerating Utah's mineral curios, mention should be made of the
peculiar form in which gold is deposited at Mercur, a camp fully discussed
later in this account. It is contended that the chloride of gold has never
been found in nature, but there are many men of high scientific attainments
who insist that the gold found at Mercur is in that form, and that the ores
are therefore most easy of treatment by solution methods.
The Great Salt Lake is a mine as well as a health and pleasure resort.
Its interesting features and supposed origin are treated under a separate
head in this book, but in this connection it should be given its place among
Utah's mineral marvels. The large per cent, of salt contained in its waters
makes the lake a fruitful source of revenue to Utah, and the lake itself is
a curiosity of ever-increasing, interest. Nature has deposited in its waters
salt enough, which, if extracted and sold at the market price, would realize,
it is said, a sum ample to pay all the national debts in Christendom, and still
leave a fair fortune for every man, woman and child in the United States. A
gentleman handy with figures recently computed the bulk of this salt to be suf-
ficient, if extracted, to load a train long enough to reach 196 times around the
earth and leave an 8,000-mile string of cars on a sidetrack. These figures are
given in order that the reader may approach to a comprehension of the
wealth carried in solution by the waters of this inland sea. The lake is cer-
tainly one of the marvels of creation, and is entitled to a place among the
freaks in Utah's museum. So much for the rare and curious.
Next to be considered are some of the other mineral treasures in the State,
which are being mined and marketed, but which do not belong to the same
family of metals as gold, silver, copper and lead to the production of which
the mining of the State is principally directed.
SULPHUR is found, of course, in many parts of the world, but it is
doubted whether any known deposit exceeds in richness and size the deposits
found in Beaver and other counties of Utah. An expert from the mines of
Sicily once told the writer that there was then more sulphur in one mine now
being operated in Beaver County than in the whole sulphur field of Sicily.
Near Black Rock is the crater of an extinct volcano filled with a sulphur
deposit going from 60 to 90 per cent. pure. Works at this point have a
capacity of twenty tons per day, and lump and other forms of refined sulphur
are produced. The output of these and other works in the State is limited
solely by the demand. Other deposits are found near Frisco, where the ma-
terial occurs in crevices, and is very pure. A fine deposit, running 67 per cent,
pure, has also been opened in the Uintah Mountains.
On the Rio Virgin River, in Southern Utah, exists veins of pure salt which
might easily be taken for veins of the clearest ice. One of these veins
stands like a crystal mountain above -the valley, and the material is so clear
that print can be distinctly read through a block of it. The writer is indebted
to Mr. Stanislaus de Yurski, an eminent expert of Austria, for the informa-
tion that this peculiar form of salt is found only in Utah and Galicia.
SALTPETER is found in a valuable bed in the south end of the Salt Lake
Valley.
ALUM SHALES occur in many localities.
DEPOSITS OF GYPSUM, practically inexhaustible, have been located in
several portions of the State. One outcrop at Nephi is 1,200 feet long, and
contains enough gypsum to supply all possible demand for many years. Upon
this deposit is situated the mill of the Nephi Plaster of Paris Manufacturing
UTAH. 25
Company, which manufactures and ships to all portions of Utah and to Cali-
fornia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia large
quantities of plaster of paris. This gypsum is said to be the purest known,
and shows the following analysis:
Lime 33.60
Sulphuric acid 43.07
Water... . 23.33
100.00
The output of the Nephi plant for 1900 was 200 cars.
Selinite of great purity, rotten stone, sometimes called tripoli, the real
tripoli, mica, antimony, quicksilver, asbestos, graphite and many other of the
less common minerals, mineral paints and the gems, topaz, garnet, ruby,
chalcedony and amethyst may all be enumerated in Utah's inventory of
mineral wealth.
Indications of PETROLEUM that are likely to lead to a profitable develop-
ment are present in Emery County, near Pleasant Valley, and on the Green
River. Stimulated by the oil development in Southern California, many pe-
troleum locations were made in the Green River country during 1900 by peo-
ple who freely predict the existence there of a rich and extensive field.
CLAYS. A great variety of rich and beautiful clays exist in Utah, almost
every county having a deposit of some kind. In Salt Lake County, near
Draper, is a vast bed of kaolin, from which articles of delicate and purest
white pottery have been made in an experimental way. At the base of
the Wasatch Mountains throughout Utah County is a deposit of black clay
of the finest quality. Brick clays, from which first-class pressed and
common brick are manufactured, are found nearly everywhere throughout
the State. The brick produced is of almost every color and tone. From Salt
Lake fire-clays are produced a first-class quality of fire-brick. Brick man-
ufacturing is extensively carried on at Salt Lake, and brick of exceptionally
fine quality and appearance was turned out to the number, in 1900, of
23,200,000, of which 18,200,000 were sold.
PORTLAND CEMENT. The Portland Cemen1> Company of Utah is now
making a true artificial Portland cement, and during the year 1900 sold
60,000 barrels. The plant is now manufacturing cement at the rate of 400
barrels per day, the company having expended 30,000 for improvements
during the past year.
Veins of BISMUTH have been found in Beaver County, near Beaver City,
carrying from 1 to 6 per cent, of the metal. This metal has also been found
in the mines of Bingham, but there are at present no reduction works spe-
cially designed for its extraction.
SODA and NITRE exist in Weber, Utah and other counties, and ALUM in
abundance in Iron County.
MARBLE. Of this Utah possesses great quantities and many varieties.
White, mottled, pink, geodic and black marbles are found in large deposits
and in many localities. The largest marble deposits are at Frisco, in
Beaver County, but workable bodies occur in Spanish Fork Canon, on Deep
Creek, and in other portions of the State. Geodic marble, composed of a
mass of impacted little geodes, is found in large quantities, and when
polished makes a novel and beautiful finishing material. A large deposit of
this peculiar marble is now being opened on Hobble Creek by the Hobble
Creek Marble Company. For ornamental purposes in building, the geodic
marble is considered by many equal to onyx. The writer knows of no deposits
except those found in Utah. The building done in Salt Lake during 1900
evidences a greater use of stone than ever before. For fine residences es-
pcially it seems to be leading its less expensive brick competitor.
OXYX. The Utah product differs from the onyx imported from Mexico,
in that it is free from the checks and fractures which mar the appearance of
26 UTAH.
the imported article. It exceeds in beauty all other local building materials,
and is found in a great diversity of colors and in practically inexhaustible
quantities. The largest mines are situated in Utah, Cache, Millard and Box
Elder counties. This material was used in wainscoting the million-dollar
city and county building in Salt Lake, and its interior is offered by Utah in
evidence that Utah has the finest onyx in the world. The most beautiful
colors and forms are blended in its texture, and for mantels, pillars and
interior ornamentation it is fast coming into general use among local builders.
Some outside shipments have been made, but the value of the material has
not become sufficiently known to Eastern builders to secure for it a market in
competition with the Mexican product. Pieces four by six feet are easily
mined and are polished at a low cost.
ALABASTER, of the pink variety, occurs in Utah County in extensive
deposits. This material is too soft to be susceptible of a high polish, but pre-
sents a very pretty appearance when finished, and will no doubt in time be
extensively mined.
PUMICE. Near Black Rock station, Beaver County, there is an immense
bed of pumice stone, more being in sight than can be used in the next twenty
years. This is quarried out and sent in car lots to Chicago, where it is pulped
and manufactured into various articles for polishing wood and other sub-
stances, smoothing paint surfaces, scouring bricks, etc. This article is shut-
ting 1 out importations which formerly supplied all he United States with
pumice stone, and it promises to become an important manufacture.
BUILDING STONE. Utah excels in the quality of her red and gray sand-
stone, of which there are inexhaustible quantities. These sandstone crop out
for several hundred miles on the eastern side of the Wasatch, and are in much
demand for general building purposes. The stone also occurs at Spanish Fork
Canon, where it varies in color from a red to a light brown, and at Kayune,
from whence it is extensively shipped to Denver and other Eastern points.
Of limestone Utah has a surfeit it is everywhere. It is employed in mak-
ing lime, and much of it seeks the smelters for fluxing purposes. Granite is
not generally used, though the Mormon Temple at Salt Lake, a building
which cost $4,000,000 and which will stand the wear and tear of time for
centuries to come is built of it. The material for the Temple was quarried
from a large deposit at the mouth of the Little Cottonwood, near Salt Lake
City.
SLATE occurs in many places, the finest in quality and color being on
Antelope Island, in the Great Salt Lake. Near Utah Lake there is also a fine
deposit from which slabs from an inch to several feet in thickness and per-
fectly uniform in texture can be taken. One of the most beautiful of build-
ing stones possessed by Utah is the oolitic sandstone of Manti. This is com-
posed of minute shells, compacted, and is so soft that when first taken out
it is readily cut with a saw. Being very white, it is in demand for trimmings,
and is very ornamental.
Discoveries of LITHOGRAPHIC STONE have been made in various parts of
the State, but so far none has been marketed. Millard, Utah and Salt Lake
counties each claim to possess deposits of superior quality. Near Cisco, in
Grand County, the West American Agate Company have been operating the
agate fields, and have spent several thousand dollars in development. Large
boulders of CHALCEDONY, big enough to make table tops, are there found,
ranging in color from bloodstone to carnelian.
COAL.
Professor Jones has this to say about Utah's coal fields:
"Geologically, our coals belong to the cretaceous age. After the basin was
upheaved in which the coal was formed, a large lake was left in the center,
UTAH. 27
the waves of which, gradually wore away the shores until the coal deposits
cropped out in precipices 1,500 feet high. The streams also cut box canons at
right angles to the shore line, thereby exposing the nearly horizontal coal beds
in multitudes of places, so that to take out coal it is necessary only to run a
tunnel in on the bed and cart out the fuel.
"This does away with all the costly hoisting machinery so common else-
where. This coal belt enters Utah near Evanston, Wyo., forms a large basin
near Coalville; then runs east along the north side of the Uintahs to and
around the eastern end of the mountains; thence west back along the south
side to the head of Spanish Fork Canon, where it forms the Coal Range, the
watershed between the Colorado and the Great Basin; thence it runs in a
southerly direction for many miles, and then bends westward past Cedar
City (near which are the iron deposits) and Kanarrah; thence west until it
passes out of the Territory (State) above Saint George. * * * In
the southwestern part of the Territory (State) the deposits are small, while
between Iron City and the Uintahs they are very heavy.
"This coal field, 600 to 1,000 miles long, is ten miles wide in the narrowest
place, while in others it may run up to twenty-five miles. It is estimated
that we have 20,000 square miles of coal lands in Utah, but this is an exag-
gerration; still we have immense bodies of thousands of square miles, and
of such thickness as to supply the whole United States for centuries. Another
valuable feature of our coal is its proximity to the mineral deposits, both
iron and the precious metals. There is no coal to the west of us except
some poor lignites, scarcely used, in Southern California; so we shall always
supply the Great Basin, and at least part of California, with coal. At Coal-
ville the workable vein is 10 to 13 feet thick; at Pleasant Valley there are
two veins, one 13 and the other 28 feet thick; at Castle Gate the largest vein
is 14 feet."
The Union Pacific made the following excellent showing with the output
of their several mines in Wyoming and Utah in 1900:
OUTPUT OF UNION PACIFIC COAL MINES FOR 1900.
Tons.
Rock Springs, Wyoming, Mine No. 1 479,801
Rock Springs, Wyoming, Mine No. 7 201,051
Rock Springs, Wyoming, Mine No. 8 273,905
Rock Springs, Wyoming, Mine No. 9 292,783
Carbon, Wyoming, Mine No. 2 93,416
Carbon, Wyoming, Mine No. 7 50,351
Hanna, Wyoming, Mine No. 1 340,000
Almy, Wyoming, Mine No. 7 22,431
Weber, Utah, Mine 42,644
Total Union Pacific Mines 1,796,382
PRODUCTION OF UTAH COAL MINES FOR 1900.
Tons.
Pleasant Valley Company 984,399
Grass Creek Company 32360
Sanpete County 7,500
Uintah County 6 500
Emery County 8,000
Grand County 1,000
Other Small Mines 52,500
Total tons Utah Mines (exclusive of Weber U. P.) 1,092,259
ANTHEACITE. 1895 marked the discovery of anthracite coal in Utah.
The stratum of this valuable fuel was found between walls of carboniferous
limestone, on a bedding of shale in the mountains east of Provo. The analysis
shows 65 per cent, fixed carbon, 15 per cent, ash and 20 per cent, moisture and
volatile matter. The vein is from three to five feet in thickness and shows a
widening tendency. The outcrop can be traced nearly the entire length of
Utah County, and a number of locations have been made upon the vein. An
.28 UTAH.
excellent quality of coke is made from Castle Gate coal. Something like fifty
coke workers are employed at the coke ovens connected with these mines, and
the amount shipped approximates 25,000 tons per year. The largest local
market for coal in Utah it at Salt Lake City, which consumes about 120,000
tons annually. The following are the prevailing Salt Lake prices (October,
1898):
Retail Whole-
Deliv. sale.
Rock Springs, Weber, Castle Gate, Diamond and Kemmerer. .$5.00 $3.75
Winter Quarters and Pleasant Valley 4.75 3.50
Nut Coal, all kinds 4.75 3.50
Mine slack 2.50 2.00
Anthracite 9.50 9.00
SALT.
Utah is most generously supplied with salt, not only in veins of rock salt
.and in the brine of the Great Salt Lake, but also in many springs and small
lakes. A company at Nephi is engaged in the manufacture of refined salt
from the rock salt, and from springs found near by, and another company is
doing a large business in the sale of rock salt, as mined. The principal source
of supply, however, is the Great Salt Lake, the waters of which carry from 18
to 20 per cent. Around the lake are numerous salt farms, provided with
ponds a few feet below the level of the lake, into which the lake water is
pumped or drained early in the season to a depth of two or three feet.
When this water evaporates a deposit of several inches of salt remains; this
is shoveled into piles for use in silver mills and on stock ranges, or to be re-
fined for table, dairy and packers' use. The Inland Crystal Salt Company,
the Nebo Salt Manufacturing Company and the Nephi Salt Mining & Manu-
facturing Company are leading institutions engaged in the salt business, the
latter having mined 3,000 tons of rock salt last year. The production for
1900, according to the best obtainable figures, was approximately 150,000
tons, of which 20,000 tons were refined. Analyses have shown this product
to be 99.927 per cent, pure, the nearest approach that has been made to ab-
solute purity; so close, in fact, that Professor Ludeking, editor of the Medical
Review, pronounces it "absolutely pure." This salt meets the Eastern arti-
cle in Western Nebraska, and finds ready sale in all the country westward
to the Pacific Coast. Practically all salt used in this region for stock and
milling purposes is supplied by Utah. As the supply is inexhaustible and the
demand constantly increasing, the salt industry promises to become a source
of great revenue to the State. Further reference to the salt industry on the
shores of the lake will be found under the head of "The Great Salt Lake."
IRON.
There are iron deposits that can be worked with profit in Cache, Weber,
Wasatch, Salt Lake, Morgan, Juab and many other counties of Utah, but the
greatest of all is in Iron County, which possesses one of the most remarkable
deposits in the world. Near Cedar City is the so-called "Iron Mountain,"
estimated to contain 50,000,000 tons of fine iron ore. Professor Newberry has
said of this mountain: "The deposits of iron ore near Iron City, in South-
western Utah, are probably not excelled in intrinsic value by any in the world.
The ore is magnetite and hematite, and occurs in a belt fifteen or twenty miles
long and three or four miles wide, along which there are frequent outcrops,
ach of which shows a length and breadth of several hundred feet of com-
pact, massive ore of the richest quality. There are certainly no other
deposits to compare with them west of the Mississippi for the manufacture of
pig and bar iron and steel, and it would be difficult to estimate the influence
they would have on the industries of the Pacific Coast."
UTAH. 2
Another acknowledged expert has said: "Utah's iron resources much
exceed those of any other section of the Union." All the iron ore so far mined
in Utah has been red and brown hematite, of which some 12,000 tons are
annually used for flux in the smelters, but when it is realized that the largest
and best of our iron deposits are located close to great coal measures, it is
safe to predict that the day will soon come when the iron and steel required
in the western half of this country, at least, will be produced within the State
of Utah: We shall have big blast furnaces and foundries, and the railroads
of the West will be equipped with rails made of Utah steel; we shall make
all the stoves, machinery, iron pipe and miscellaneous ironware of the trans-
Mississippi country. The consummation of this hope will be reached as soon
as a line of railway opens this field to Salt Lake and Southern California.
At this writing this railroad has been incorporated, with ample capital for
its construction.
In this account it will be impossible to mention all of the different kinds
of minerals found in Utah. Professor Jones makes the'statement that most
of the minerals found in the West, except tin, occur in the State. The fol-
lowing is his
LIST OF UTAH MINERALS.
GOLD:
Placer gold telluride of gold.
SILVER:
Argentite, cerargyrite horn silver, chloride of silver.
Embolite chlorobromide of silver.
Frieslebenite sulphuret of antimony and silver.
Miargyrite sulphuret of antimony and silver.
Polybasite.
Proustite.
Pyrargyrite dark ruby silver.
Native silver.
LEAD :
Anglesite sulphate of lead.
Cerussite carbonate of lead.
Leadhillite sulphato-tricarbonate of lead.
Galena sulphuret of lead, galenite.
Wulfenite molybdate of lead.
Boulangerite sulphuret of antimony and lead.
Pyromorphite phosphate of lead.
Linarite cupreous sulphate of lead.
Phosgenite carbonate and chloride of lead.
Binnite sulpharsenide of lead.
COPPER:
Atacamite chloride of copper.
Azurite blue carbonate of copper.
Blue vitriol sulphate of copper.
Chalcocite vitreous copper.
Chalcopyrite copper pyrites.
Chrysocollas silicate of copper.
Cubanite sulpheret of iron and copper.
Cuprite oxide of copper, melaconite.
Erubescite variegated copper pyrites, bornite.
Linarite cupreous sulphate of lead.
Malachite green carbonate of copper.
Tetrahedrite fahlerz, gray copper.
Enargite sulpharsenate of copper.
30 UTAH.
ZINC:
Calamine silicate of zinc.
Smithsonite carbonate of zinc.
Sphalerite zinc blende.
IRON:
Hematite specular iron, micaceous iron, red ochre.
Copperas sulphate of iron.
Cubanite sulphuret of iron and copper.
Limonite brown hematite, brown and yellow ochre, bog iron.
Dufreynoisite sulphate of copper and arsenic.
Franklinite.
Ilmenite titanic iron.
Magnetite lodestone.
Mispickle arsenical iron pyrites.
Pyrites bisulphuret of iron, marcosite, white pyrites.
Chrysolite olivine.
Siderite carbonate of iron.
Iron silicates.
ALUMINUM.
ANTIMONY:
Stibnite gray antimony, sulphuret of antimony.
Miargyrite, cervantite, pyrargyrite.
Frieslebenite sulpheret of antimony and silver.
Stephanite sulphuret of antimony and silver.
Boulangerite sulphuret of antimony and lead.
ARSENIC:
Arsenopyrite mispickle.
Olivenite.
Orpiment yellow sulphide of arsenic.
Arsenolite native arsenic.
Realgar protosulphite of arsenic.
Polybasite sulphuret of copper and arsenic.
Proustite.
Tetrahedrite fahlerz.
BISMUTIT:
Sulphuret, telluride, bismuthite.
MANGANESE:
Bosjemanite, manganese alum, wad.
Pyrolusite binoxide of manganese.
Khodochrosite carbonate of manganese.
Sulphate of manganese.
Hausmannite oxide of manganese.
MERCURY:
Cinnabar, selenide of mercury.
MOLYBDENUM :
Molybdenite sulphide of molybdenum.
Wulfenite molybdate of lead.
TITANIUM:
Ilmenite.
UTAH. 31
TELLURIUM :
Telluride of gold.
Phosphate of unranium.
FORMS OF CARBON:
Coal, cannel coal, anthracite, lignite (soft coal), graphite plumbago,
ozocerite, gilsonite, wurtzellite, crude asphaltum, petroleum, natural
gas, wheelerite, amber.
BUILDING STONE, ETC.:
Augite, calcite limestone and marble.
Dolomite magnesian limestone.
Hornblende tremolite and actinolite.
Ooolite oolitic sandstone, basalt, lava, rhyolite, trachyte, sandstone,
slate, quartzite, feldspar, granite.
SAND, CLAY AND PLASTER:
Glass sand, oolitic sand, brick clay, potter's clay, fire clay, kaolinite
kaolin Gunnison paint, fuller's earth, cement, lithomarge.
Gypsum alabaster, plaster of paris and selenite.
GEMS, ETC.:
Agate, almandine, amethyst, carnelian, cat's eye, chalcedony, corundum,
dentrite, epidote, garnet, jasper, jet, moss agate, obsidian, onyx, opal,
petrified wood, ruby, sapphire, sard, sardonyx, spinel, topaz, tour-
maline.
SALTS :
Epsomite epsom salts.
Glauberite, halite rock salt and lake salt.
Nitrocalcite.
Niter saltpeter, nitrate of potash.
Soda saleratus, sulphate of soda.
ALUM:
Kalinite alum, alum shales, alum tufa.
Pinkeringite magnesian alum, chiolite.
MISCELLANEOUS MINERALS, ETC.:
Albite, anthraconite fetid limestone, apatite, argonite, asbestos, barite,
barytocalcite, chalk, fluor spar.
Geyserite, hydrargyllite (alumina and water).
Hydrosteatite talc.
Lithomarge.
Magnesite carbonate of magnesia.
Mica biotite muscovite.
Phenacite silica and glaucina.
Pyroxene anhydrous silicate of magnesia.
Stalactites, soapstone, sulphur brimstone.
Tripoli tripolite.
Witherite carbonate of baryta.
Strontianite carbonate of strontia.
Geodes.
Mineral springs.
32 UTAH.
GOLD, SILVER, COPPER AND LEAD MINING.
Although much energy and capital is employed in producing the various
forms of mineral wealth already mentioned in this account, the largest
amount of capital and labor is devoted to the extraction of gold, silver,
copper and lead, of which the State seems to have inexhausible quantities.
Mining is, and always will be, the leading industry of Utah. According to
Professor Jones, silver was first discovered in Utah in 1857, but no prac-
tical attempt to mine was made until 1863, when the Old Jordan Mine
the first staked in Utah was located in Bingham Canon by Gen. P. E.
Connor, then the commanding officer at Fort Douglas, and a party of ladies
and officers belonging to his command. Prior to this time, however, it is
said that the Mormons obtained some lead from melting down galena ores
in forges. The Old Jordan Mine is one of the famous mines of the State,
and has been worked almost continually since its discovery. In 1864 rich
placer ground was discovered in the neighborhood of the Old Jordan, from
which, throughout succeeding years, large amounts of gold-dust were taken.
Only an approximate estimate can be made of the output of these placers.
It is of record, however, that Wells, Fargo & Co. shipped out over $500,000
in gold-dust, and the total figures are probably not far from $1,000,000.
Real mining may be said not to have begun in Utah, however, until 1870,
at which time news of the discoveries in Bingham CaSon had reached
Nevada, and produced an immigration of prospectors from that State. That
year Buell and Bateman, from Virginia City, Nev., bought a group of claims
at Bingham, which are now included in the Niagara group of mines, and in
connection with these claims erected a smelting furnace. They soon opened
up large bodies of good ore, and their enterprise having attracted wide at-
tention, a bustling camp sprung up. The following year a smelter was built
in connection with the Winnemucka Mine, which, during several years fol-
lowing, treated a large tonnage of ore from that mine, the Spanish Mine and
oher properties.
Prospecting was not long confined to Bingham, but extended, year by
year, into other portions of the State, until Utah's whole mineral domain
was dotted with mining camps, mines and smelters.
In 1868 the celebrated Emma Mine, at Alta, made her first shipment of
ore, and soon after Stockton, Ophir, Big Cottonwood, Park City and other
camps, since famous for their great annual output, sprung into life. The
advent of the Union Pacific Railroad into Utah in 1869 gave to the mining of
the State a stimulus which can never be fully estimated, and laid the founda-
tion for the development of what then seemed to be a purely agricultural
region into one of the greatest mining States of the Union. In 1869-70 there
was a stampede of miners into Utah. Mining districts were organized all
over the then Territory, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were reck-
lessly thrown away by those who knew but little about mining. As a result,
a' stagnation in mining occurred in 1874, continuing for some years, but this
could not keep back the really good mines from producing their regular
quota of bullion, which gradually increased until the value of the total annual
output was many million dollars.
The table on the next page, of Utah's mineral output from 1877 to 1900,
is made up from the records of Wells, Fargo & Co., bankers, of Salt Lake
City. This table truthfully presents each year's production of gold, silver,
copper and lead, and the value of the same as determined by the average
market price prevailing during-each year reported. This statement does not
show the product of these metals prior to 1877, but I have added thereto
Prof. Marcus E. Jones' estimate of the value of the bullion product of Utah
from 1869 to and inclusive of 1876.
UTAH. 33
This enormous total of $234,703,580.23 represents the value of the product
computed according to the average market price during each year of pro-
duction.
DIVIDENDS FOR 1900.
Centennial-Eureka. . . $317,500
Carisa 35,000
Consolidated Mercur 110,000
Daly- West 487,500
Dixie 15,000
Gemini 125,000
Golden Gate 420,000
Grand Central 25,000
Grand Gulch 2,400
Horn Silver 20,000
Mammoth 220,000
Mercur 115,000
Ontario 90,000
Rocco-Homestake 4,500
Silver King 1,000,000
Silver Shield 1,500
Swansea 70,000
Utah 2,000
Total $3,060,400
Scarcely any portion of these dividends averaging $255,333 per month
leaves the State; they flow into the pockets of home people, and go to the
development and upbuilding of Utah.
This table includes only those companies which have made public an-
nouncement of their dividends or the amount of dividends of which have
been secured from reliable sources. In addition to these there are a number
of close corporations which have made handsome earnings, the amount of
which it is impossible to ascertain. Among these may be mentioned the
Uncle Sam, Humbug and Star Consolidated, well-known large producers.
All the mines mentioned in the table are located in Utah, except the Rocco-
Homestake, located in Nevada, but which is owned entirely by Salt Lake
capital.
34
UTAH.
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UTAH.
35
WELLS, FARGO & CO.'S ANNUAL STATEMENT Of THE MINERAL
PRODUCT OF UTAH FOR 1900.
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Smelters in Utah
12,495,913
47,958,900
4,740,184
50,332
Mercur District
139
97 103
Park City District
561001
46 900000
200 000
3 993 684
450
9 148
Tintic District
3 223 732
406 000
68 016
1 049 613
94
36 294
Other Districts (part of Tintic)
823,200
32,727
112,455
6,283
6,557
Total
18 354 726
96,088 100
300 882
9 895 936
103 930
102331
RECAPITULATION.
18,354,726 pounds copper at 13 70-100 cents per pound $2,514,597.46
96,088,100 pounds unrefined lead at $65 per ton 3,122,863.25
10,196,818 ounces fine silver at $0.6128 per ounce 6,248,610.07
206,261 ounces fine gold at $20 per ounce 4,125,220.00
Total export value $16,011,290.78
Computing the gold and silver at their mint valuation, and other metals
at their value at the seaboard, it would increase the value of the product to
$17,686,462.38.
The value of the foregoing table as a measure of the march of mining in
Utah is very great. It marks, year by year, the steady advance of our min-
eral output, and for the accuracy of the figures the great banking-house of
Wells, Fargo & Co. stands sponsor. Attention is particularly directed to the
indisputable evidence this table gives of the advance of the copper and gold
production since 1897. As against 80,467 ounces of gold produced in 1897,
the year 1900 comes forward with 206,261 ounces, an advance of over 150
per cent. The copper showing for 1897 was 3,920,966 pounds, of the value
of $313,677.28. In 1900 this product increased to 18,354,726 pounds, having
a value of $2,514,597.46, about 350 per cent, advance in pounds, and nearly
700 per cent, advance in value. The silver product advanced during the same
period from 7,561,971 ounces to 10,196,818 ounces.
Much gratification is felt over the prominent place Utah is taking as a
producer of the red metal. Within the past three years enormous bodies of
copper-bearing ores have been opened in some of the older camps, notably
in Bingham, where Boston capital has been particularly interested in their
development.
, While, perhaps, not properly classified at this place, it is well to present
here a summary of Utah products for the last year of the century in the fol-
lowing table, published in the New Year's (1901) edition of the Salt Lake
Herald:
36 UTAH.
SUMMARY OP UTAH PRODUCTS IN 1900.
Gold * $4,125,220
Silver... 6,248,610
Lead;:: 3,122,863
Copper 2,514,597
Sheep and Wool 4,000,000
Cattle, Horses and Hogs , 3,500,000
Wheat 1,848,553
Dairy Products 2,000,000
Fruit '. 1,000,000
Other Farm Products 5,868,800
Coal 3,140,040
Manufactures 9,000,000
Beet Sugar 1,000,000
Asphaltum 300,000
Miscellaneous 1,500,000
Total $49,168,683
THE MINING COUNTIES.
Perhaps there is no county in the State of Utah wherein some mining is
not carried on, as the whole State may be said to be a mineral field. The
counties of Summit, Tooele, Salt Lake, Wasatch, Uintah, Utah, Juab, Millard,
Beaver, Piute, Iron, Washington, Box Elder, Cache and San Juan, while
having both agricultural and mineral resources, are prominent mining coun-
ties, and within them are located the leading producers of the State.
Indications of mineral are not wanting in every portion of Utah where
there are mountains, and valuable mineral deposits are being found in every
portion of the State. Ores of good quality are known to exist in many of
the isolated ridges which fringe the desert in Western Utah, and mining in
that section is taking on a new impetus on account of the probable early
construction of a railroad to Southern California. For convenience in making
up this account, the several counties of the State wherein mining is a leading
industry will be discussed separately in the order of their importance.
SUMMIT COUNTY lies immediately east of Salt Lake County, and is
almost entirely devoted to mining.
The mining field begins near the heads of the Cottonwoods and the Amer-
ican Fork, almost within sight of Salt Lake City, and extends ten miles east-
ward over the first ridge of the Wasatch, where it is distributed by the
winding mountain crests which culminate in that vicinity over four districts,
the most important of which are the Uintah and Blue Ledge. These are in
reality but one district, being divided only by a county line to which the
mineral veins pay no attention. Park City, a town of 3,759 inhabitants,
connected with Salt Lake by the Union Pacific Railroad, is the principal
town. It has an excellent city government, churches of various denomina-
tions, public, free and private schools, various benevolent and other socie-
ties, many large business houses, good banks and an excellent water-works
system, largely supplied with water flowing from the leading mines; it is
lighted by electricity, is the location of many of the great mineral mills of
the State, and is in every way a bustling, busy and prosperous town. Its
altitude is about 7500 feet, and, while in many respects a typical mining
cami, it is free from the disorder and "hurrah" which usually characterizes
mining towns.
The principal mines in this county are the Ontario, Great Drain Tunnel,
Daily Mine, Daily West, Silver King, Glencoe, Woodside, Lucky Bill, Creole,
Putnam, Comstock, Crescent, Alliance and Anchor.
Summit County has for many years been one of the most important por-
tions of Utah's mineral field. There mining is conducted in the most prac-
tical and scientific way, and as the ore bodies show no sign of exhaustion,
and new and valuable ones are being opened every year, the county will prob-
ably retain its lead for a long time to come.
UTAH. . 37
JUAB COUNTY. In every part of this county mining is conducted, but
the principal production is in and about the mining. camp of Tintic, which,
in the possession of rich mines and in the amount of its annual output ranks
next to Park City as a mining camp. In Tintic are located many of the great
mines which have given fame to the State, among which may be named the
Centennial-Eureka, Eureka Hill, Bullion-Beck, Champion, Gemini, Key-
stone, Ajax, Godiva, Mammoth, Lower Mammoth, Grand Central and
others.
A correspondent of a Salt Lake paper gives the following excellent de-
scription of the country:
"The mountain mass in the Tintic District is composed almost wholly of
folded-up strata of limestone, which is also the mineral-producing formation
of the region. A thick bed of quartzite extends along the slope of the range,
but the higher central portion of this has been removed by erosion, leaving a
broad belt of the underlying limestone exposed.
"North of Eureka Gulch some eruptive rock (probably trachyte) is also
found, covering a limited area, and one prominent peak is composed of this
material. But this formation is not very extensive, and, I believe, is the
remnant of a once intrusive sheet (lacolite) between the limestone and
quartzite.
"Crossing the range then from west to east along the transverse ridge,
of which Eureka Hill forms the central and highest point, and which fur-
nishes an excellent cross-section, we pass over a continuous limestone forma-
tion for a distance of a mile or more of strata standing nearly vertical.
"This distance represents a number of folds, or rather, I think, three anti-
^linals and two synclinal folds, for I doubt if the limestone strata is more
than 1,000 feet thick, although, during my short stay, I could not enter into
details of accurate measurement.
"The ore deposits are found in vertical sheets or veins, very irregular,
faulted, and 'pockety,' as limestone deposits always are, yet following the
strata of the rock, and consequently have a strike of nearly north and south,
and probably a very slight general dip toward the east.
"These limestones are highly crystalline and very hard, ranging in color
from a grayish white to a dark blue, the latter greatly predominating. For
lack of lithological data and proper time to investigate, I am not prepared to
give their geological position, but should judge them to be very old, and
probably belonging to the lower carboniferous, or even older.
"I had been told that the ore deposits of Tintic are identical with those
of Leadville, Colo., with which I am quite familiar, and this is to some
extent true; but they differ in some essentials, the most important of which,
to the practical miner and prospector, is their mode of occurrence.
"The deposits, as before stated, being vertical, tunneling would be in
order, but the country, being quite flat, does not permit of this to good
advantage, and the most common way of prospecting therefor is by shaft and
cross-cuts. But as there is no outcrop, it is not easy to determine where to
sink in order to obtain good results.
"Two theories may be advanced regarding the manner in which these
ore deposits were made, either of which, or both combined, would probably
have given the existing results:
"First. The ore may have been deposited in and aloiig the top of the
limestone floor before the disturbance, and carried along, taking its proper
place in the folded-up strata, probably being altered to some extent later.
"Secondly. The deposits may have been made altogether after the dis-
turbance, as a fault-fissure, by far the most common form of vein. In the
first case, we may expect the ore to continue to the bottom of the limestone,
and there break off abruptly. In the second, it may continue downward far
beyond the limestone and into the underlying rocks.
38 UTAH.
"In either case, I have little doubt that the ore deposits follow along or
close by the contact plane of the synclinal fold, and this would tend to prove
the first theory, but it does not disprove the second, as the folding plane
would most likely also be the plane of faulting and rupture and consequent
mineral secretion.
"It is not easy to distinguish on the surface the plane of contact between
the various folds, but to the practical and careful observer this can be done,
and may greatly assist prospecting.
"During the long period this enormous limestone bed was being deposited'
on the bottom of the sea the conditions varied slightly; hence the composi-
tion of material also varied from the bottom to the top, and especially so in
the amount of silicious matter it contains, some being highly silicious, *f a
light color, and very hard, while the bulk is more soft, darker in color, and
contains less silica, and these conditions still exist.
A thin layer of shale was also formed toward the top, which can be seen
in various places, and may be used as a landmark.
"The ore deposits are, as a rule, large, easily mined, and of a high grade.
****** The mines are not troubled with water, but
rather with the lack of it, for even those mines which have reached a depth,
of nearly a thousand feet have none excepting what is brough there by
human effort and ingenuity. Most of the water, for all kinds of uses, is
derived from springs.
"As the population of Eureka and the various other camps is steadily
increasing, and more mines are being opened every year, the question of
water supply cannot be far distant, for, when the section receives the atten-
tion it surely merits, the few local springs will be far inadequate. But Utah
Lake, being distant only a few miles, may be counted upon to supply the
means; the end can be easily found."
Another observer, namely, Mr. ,T. E. Rockwell of Pueblo, Colo., has the
following to say of the Tintic District:
"I spent five days there. I found a lime belt, well defined, standing on
edge, from half a mile to three miles in width, and many miles in extent.
The line of porphyry on the east and the quartzite on the west is clearly
marked, and between these two great walls there is a vast lime zone. It
is best illustrated by a book standing on its back, with its pages turned up.
Between these leaves extend, in a course generally north, 15 degrees east,
great channels of ore. In sinking down between any of these layers of lime,,
one is liable to find ore, and when found the bodies are extensive sometimes
breaking off from one layer of lime into the adjacent, but always at some
place connected so as to be easily followed. Necessarily, this ore, through
leaching, would be found at some depth from the surface, and for this reason
it is not a poor man's camp. But it possesses *the advantage of great certainty
of finding ores to one who is able to sink to the requisite depth. * * *
It has been demonstrated that the quality of ore is high-grade and continues
in depth. It is typically a high-grade camp, although quantities of low-
grade ore are necessarily found, which some day will be worked.
"The mountains surrounding the place are easy of access, and there is
every facility for mining operations, which can only be carried on by com-
panies and men of means.
"It is assured that vast wealth is stored in this belt, only awaiting devel-
opment."
EUREKA, sometimes called Tintic, having a population of 2,335, is the
mining town, and is well supplied with business houses, hotels, saloons and
other business institutions. The town is very much scattered, being built
upon the surface of several mining properties, and is at an altitude of about
6,500 feet. The output of the district, measured in money, is something
enormous, and its shipping mines, many of them, have attained to national
fame. One hundred and fifty thousand tons were marketed by the following
UTAH. 39
leading properties during 1900: The Centennial-Eureka, Grand Central,
Mammoth, Gemini, Godiva, Carisa, Ajax, Humbug, May Day and the two
Swanseas. A large additional tonnage may be estimated as coming from
lesser properties, of which there are many. Tintic is a dry camp; the mines
are entirely free from water, and the supply for domestic and milling pur-
poses is brought in and distributed by pipe lines. This fact has been
and continues to be one of the most remarkable features of the region. While
in other camps at corresponding depths mine owners are expending fortunes
in contending with water, here he is required to reach into his pocket and pay
for every drop he consumes in kitchen and mill. All the riches so far dis-
closed are in country as dry as a bone, and no one is able to even approximate
the level at which water will be encountered.
Other less important but valuable properties in this remarkable district,
of which detailed notice cannot, for lack of space, be given here, are the
Snowflake, Carisa, Spy, Star Consolidated, Dana, Sioux and Utah, Hum-
bug and Uncle Sam, Yankee Consolidated and May Day, Emerald, Sunbeam,
Four Aces, Showers Consolidated, Illinois, Shoebridge Bonanza, the Joe
Bowers and others.
The characteristics of the Tintic District are great ore bodies, entire free-
dom from mine water, low altitude, the absence of snows, the possession
of many thoroughly equipped mills and the large per cent, of gold and copper
present in the ores. This latter characteristic has enabled many of the mines
to work profitably during all the period of silver depression, as the gold and
copper extracted was sufficient to give the ores a market value high enough to
justify their mining.
Millions have been extracted from the earth at Tintic, and there are mil-
lions of tons of ore yet in sight, awaiting the pick and blast. There can be
no question that the productiveness of the camp will continue for genera-
tions to come.
SALT LAKE COUNTY. As Utah civilization commenced in Salt Lake
County, so did Utah mining. The oldest camp in the State is Bingham, situ-
ated in the Oquirrh Mountains, about twenty-five miles west and south of
Salt Lake City. Mention has been made in this account of the discovery of
mines in Bingham, its early history, and of the location of the Old Jordan
Mine the first mineral vein opened in the State.
THE Town OF BIXGHAM, having a population of 2,989, is scattered along
the sides of a winding gulch, from the bottom of which the gold-dust was
washed in the "sixties." Bingham makes no pretensions as a business cen-
ter, being too close to Salt Lake to enjoy anything other than local trade;
but it has good hotels and stores, and its business men do a large business
with the miners employed in the surrounding mines. For years the town
was content with the happiness of possessing lead, silver and gold bearing
ores and annually presented a tonnage and bullion showing which earned
for it the name of "Old Reliable." However, all the while, down below the
deepest workings, were sleeping undisturbed vast bodies of copper ore never
dreamed of by the most enthusiastic Binghamite. The discovery of this rich
reserve dates from about three years ago, when the owners of the Highland
Boy, busy with development for cyaniding values, encountered the copper
bodies. Then came the great advance of interest in Utah copper in Boston
and the organization of the Utah Consolidated Mining Company and the other
great corporations which have since opened mines and built smelters in the
district. Bingham is no longer only a lead-silver camp, but has attained a
greatness on account of its production of copper which is growing every day
as new depths are reached and new zones disclosed.
Speaking of the West Mountain District, by which name the region is
known, the Bingham Bulletin says:
"West Mountain District has in its history developed but few sensations
calculated to attract the class who are looking for 'something for nothing,'
40 UTAH.
and who constitute the majority in a boom. It has half a dozen mines, each
of which have produced millions, but it was by careful management and able
direction that the results were obtained. It has a hundred other properties
that are either now in process of outputting forunes or in condition to do
so whenever the owners begin operations for production. And there are
the idle ones, among which are, without a doubt, some that will prove as
good as the best."
Bingham is essentially a "poor man's camp," not in the sense that it is a
haven for a man without means, but as the term is commonly used and under-
stood in mining countries. Very many of the claims now showing mineral
were opened and made their first shipments on grub stakes. There are many
idle properties in the camp, owned by persons of small means, which, without
furher development, are capable of outputting a fair tonnage per day.
Many of these mines, with the assistance of capital could easily increase
their output to ten, twenty and fifty tons per day, as the case might be, and
could be made a source of profit. One of the characteristics of the camp is
the permanency of the veins. It is said that no prospect in Bingham has
ever lost its mineral by petering out.
Mr. A. F. Holden, manager of the Old Jordan and South Galena mines,
speaking of the geology of the district, says in a recent article:
"The mineralization of the West Mountain Mining District is of two
classes: First, the veins lying conformably to the strata; second, the true
fissure veins, that cut the strata at different angles.
"The first class contains most of the principal mines in Bingham, and
it is from this class that by far the largest portion of the production has
come.
"It is probably safe to say that there has been over five times as much ore
taken from the contact veins as there has from the fissures, although the
famous Galena and Winnemuck are both on fissures.
"The main mineralization of Bingham is confined to a belt about 1,500
feet wide by four miles long. In this belt are two beds or dolomitic lime-
stone, one about 150 feet, the other about 100 feet thick. Both of these beds
are highly mineralized. On the first of these are the famous Brooklyn, Old
Telegraph, Spanish, Utah, Old Jordan and Stewart No. 1 mines, named in
order from east to west. On the other belt are the somewhat less famous
Richmond, Dalton, Lead Mine, Hamlin, Commercial and Stewart No. 2,
named irr a similar way.
"Above and below these main mineralized belts are narrower beds of cal-
careous shale and limestone, some of which are mineral bearing. On these
smaller beds are situated the Lark, Sampson, Yosemite Nos. 1 and 2, the
Highland, Petro, York and many others. Among the mines located on true
fissures are the Northern Chief, Bully Boy, Live Pine, Galena, Steamboat,
Last Chance, Nast, Dixon, Winnemuck and others. These are all on fissures
that cut the country approximately at right angles to line of upheaval.
"The eruptive rocks found in Bingham Canon and the immmediate
vicinity are mainly classed under the very cumbersome and weighty scien-
tific name of augtitic-biotite quartz porphyrite, or, in miners' parlance, simply
'porphyrite.' These eruptive rocks have played a most important part in the
mineralization of the district. Taken as a whole, the largest ore bodies in the
bedded veins occur near large masses of porphyry, while the richest and
largest ore bodies on the fissures occur right in the porphyry.
"The fissure veins are younger than the bedded or contact veins, and also
younger than the porphyries. This is shown in many of the mines located
on the fissures, some of which have been traced through and across the big
bedded veins. In every case the fissures fault the bedded veins, cutting off
the ore and vein matter in the beds, often leaving very brilliant 'slick and
slides.'
UTAH. 41
"As to the source of the mineralization in the West Mountain Mining
District, little can be said, save alone that it came from the depths. The
lateral secretion advocates would have little consolation in visiting Bingham
Canon. The vast and unusually general mineralization could not have come
from the porphyries, as is claimed by the lateral secretion theorist, as it is a
question whether the mineral in the big veins does not exceed in amount the
porphyry that lies near it. This is, of course, not including the tremendous
porphyry masses that divide Bingham, Butterfield and Tooele canons. But
the mineralization could not have come from that source, as a microscopical
examination of that rock shows it to be practicaly unaltered, proving con-
clusively that it has been subjected to no extended leaching.
"As to the depth to which mineralization continues, we have to show a
section from the top of No-You-Don't Hill, the discovery point of the Old
Telegraph Mine, down to the 1,500-foot level .of the Brooklyn, a total distance
of over 2,500 feet. Throughout that entire distance the mineralization is con-
tinuous, and throughout that entire distance marketable ore has been taken.
Further, there is ore going below the 1,500-foot level of the Brooklyn in large
quantities. Taken as a whole, there has been no diminution of mineralization
for this entire distance, nor has there been any indication of any change in
the character or grade of the ore since the sulphide zone was reached.
"There can be no reasonable doubt that the present grade of ore will be
found in undiminished quantity as far down as miners find it possible to
work. Few people realize the enormous quantity of low-grade ore that is
exposed in the bedded veins. The Old Jordan Telegraph vein, as the largest
lime zone is called, is a wider vein than the famous Anaconda of Butte.
There are stopes in this vein still open that are twice as thick as any stope
ever opened in Leadville, Colo. The fissures, too, show a strength of min-
eralization second only to the famous Ontario and Daly fissures. There are
levels nearly a mile in length on one of the fissures in this camp that show
marketable ore for practically the entire distance."
As a lead camp it is now the greatest in the State. The largest gold nug-
get ever found in Utah was discovered there by Dan Clays about 1869, and
many of the mines are distinctly gold mines, but gold, silver and lead are
associated in most of the properties. The Interior Deparment at Wash-
ington completed in 1900 a survey of the camp. This will be distributed in the
autumn of 1901, and promises to be of much interest to the miner and
student.
Electrical energy is now conveyed to Bingham by one of the big com-
panies in the Salt Lake Valley, and the power thus secured is of great value in
the treatment of ores by electrical methods, and effects a great saving to the
miners and mine owners of the district in displacing fuel for the creation of
power.
The number of important mines in this district is so great that no attempt
will be made to discuss them severally. Reference has been made to a few of
the principal properties in order that an idea may be had of the character and
value of the ore bodies. Bingham has never abated her mineral production,
and will continue for a long time to be one of the leading camps of the State.
The camp has good railroad facilities, and is convenient to the smelters in the
Salt Lake Valley.
ALTA. This region lies in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains, at an
elevation of 8,500 feet above the level of the sea. In early days the camp was
so prosperous that a railroad was built to Sandy, a point in the valley eigh-
teen miles distant. Steam as a motive power was used a portion of the dis-
tance; the remainder of the distance mules were employed to draw up the
cars, which, when loaded, were returned a portion of the way by gravity. The
region embraces all of the glacial basins which head in the heart of the
mountains around Clayton's Peak. There are included within it the mining
districts of Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, American Fork and Draper-
42 UTAH.
yille. The mineral deposits were first discovered by General Connor in 1864.
There are some 6,000 mining claims recorded in this region, and the ores are
chiefly lead and silver, although considerable quantities of gold have been
taken out.
THE EMMA MINE, famous on both sides of the Atlantic, is located here.
It was discovered in 1868, and sold later in England for several million dol-
lars. Almost equally famous is
THE FLAGSTAFF MINE, which is on the same general vein as the Emma.
The ore is almost identical with that of the Emma, and occurs in the same
way. The production of this mine in he past has been very great. Another
well-known property at Alta is
THE MAXFIELD; for years shipped ores regularly, and was oper-
ated without machinery. Of such famous mines as the Emma, Flag-
staff, Joab Lawrence, Miller, .Prince of Wales, Reed & Benson, etc.,
much of interest could be written if space did not forbid. "Work has
never ceased altogether, however, although it has ceased on hundreds
of prospects and on scores of mines. This is due to, the same inci-
dents that everywhere embarrass mining lack of means being the prin-
cipal. It takes a mine to make a mine, Spaniards say, and it is true. Some
of our greatest mines would now be dead and unknown had they not at an
early stage passed into the hands of men of ample means; men able to put
in a good deal of money before they took any out. There ought to be 200
producing mines around Alta, and some day there will be. Some accidental
strike will call attention to this mining ground, so accessible from the valley;
men will again flock in there; work will be resumed on properties partially
developed by men full of pluck and with means. Fifty mines might be named
in the district that need nothing but work and exploitation to become profit-
able producers. And there are four times fifty more, probably equally meri-
torious, which have never been worked enough to be known.
The revival of mining which has taken place all over Utah within the past
two years has been particularly manifest in the Cotton woods .nd the sur-
rounding mineral region, and the districts of the region are commencing to
take on some of the life and bustle which characterized them in the heyday of
their prosperity years ago. The accessibility from the valley of these mines
and the facilities which are furnished for the treatment of ores by near-by
smelters make this region particularly attractive to the miner and pros-
pector. It has been the history of mining that but few mining camps reach
their greatest production during the era of first discoveries. The salvation
of their ores is frequently dependent, like the salvation of the soul, upon a
new birth. Leadville has passed through three seasons of activity, each re-
sulting from the discovery of the precious metals in new form. Aspen had
her second coming as the result of unexpected discoveries on Aspen Mountain.
Cripple Creek was first given to fame as Mount Pisgah, and was abandoned
and almost forgotten when lucky finds built Cripple Creek on the site of
the old workings. It was so with Creede, and it will probably be so with the
region around Alta and "The Cottonwoods." The forgotten camps of
Nevada are springing into new life under the stimulus of the hope of cheap
transportation and the certainty of the application to their ores of new milling
methods. The Alta region has produced millions of dollars in the past, and
that millions more are buried in the massive sides of the Wasatch, within
sight of the old mines, is conceded. Perhaps, within this century, there will
be another boom at Alta, and the old camp will have greater prosperity than
ever before.
TOOELE COUNTY. Stockton and Ophir are among the oldest camps
of the State. The districts in which they are situated were organized in the
early days of Utah mining, and fabulous stories are told of the production of
some of their mines. The Hidden Treasure was discovered in 1865, and
28,000 tons of the product of this property once sold for $988,700. The
UTAH. 43
Chicago was once another great mine. It has over eight miles of openings,
and its total production is said to have been over $1,000,000. Another mine
with a past production of $1,000,000 is the Mona, which sold in early days for
$400,000. The Kearsarge, another old-timer, produced several tons of $10,000
per ton ore, and is credited with a total production of more than $1,000,000.
The Great Basin Mine, now called the Honorine, is said to have produced
$3,000,000, and many years ago had nearly 12,009 feet of epenings. This
mine under new management is taking on new life. Recent discoveries of
copper-bearing ore in its lower workings indicate that the great bodies of
ore in Bingham are continued into this district. There are some 1,200 min-
ing locations in the neighborhood of Ophir and Stockton. Most of these
properties, of course, are dormant, and await only the coming of capital for
development to become steady producers. This region, like the region around
Alta, is destined for a new birth. Its proximity to the mining camp of
Mercur, where the cyanide of potassium process is working such wonders
in the production of gold, gives promise that the gold-bearing ore bodies of
Mercur extend also into this region.
In a westerly direction, and but a few miles distant from Ophir, partly in
Tooele County, partly in Utah County, and within three hours' ride of Salt
Lake, lies the
CAMP FLOYD MIXING DISTRICT, of which Mercur, with a population of
2,351, is the central town, has long been familiar to the Utah miner. In the
early seventies it was called Lewiston. The great mines of that day were
the Sparrowhawk, Carrie Steele and Mormon Chief, which produced large
quantities of silver within a brief time and then ran out. Many characters
that belong to frontier life were among the early population of Lewiston.
Bill Hickman, later known as a "Destroying Angel," had a ranch not far dis-
tant, upon which, it is said, the only thing he qould raise was water. The
late Marcus Daly built a smelter in this gulch when the excitement was at
its height, and R. C. Chambers, ex-Senator Hearst and Tom McMasters,
some of whom are yet living, were his contemporaries. Then came a time
when the gulch was abandoned, and the ruins of Lewiston and the smelter
were all that remained to evidence former activity. The silver age of the
district was complete, and years were to roll by before the cyanide process
was to come and with its magic awaken the camp from its sleep and usher in
the age of gold. In that elder day, when Lewiston was a silver camp, gold
was known to exist there, but it resisted all processes of treatment until the
autumn of 1890, when the cyanide of potassium reduced it to subjection. To
this chemical process the world is indebted for the great production of the
Transvaal, and to it is due the existence of Mercur camp. The process is a
simple one. Even a child can understand it. Given ores in which the gold
is deposited in very fine particles, it only remains to crush them to the size
of coffee grains, place them in vats and subject them to the cyanide solution.
This solution dissolves the gold. Then the solution is filtered through shav-
ings of common zinc, to which the gold adheres. Then the gold and zinc are
separated by fire, and that is all there is of it; and there you have the cy-
anide process.
Two great mines, the Mercur and Golden Gate, now united under the own-
ership of the Consolidated Mercur Gold Mines Company, and several lesser
but productive properties are the attractions of this district. Up to the time
of the consolidation the Golden Gate was the property of Captain De La
Mar, and although it had many miles of workings through tremendous ore
bodies and a mill upon its surface covering ten acres and said to be one of
the largest cyanide mills in the world, no whisper of its bullion returns ever
reached the public. Adjoining this is the former Mercur Mine, which since
1890, by the payment of $1,481,000 dividends, has raised several men from
poverty to easy circumstances. The consolidation mentioned was com-
pleted on August 1, 1900, and the new company was capitalized at $5,000,000.
44 UTAH.
Expert measurements of the ore bodies contained in the allied bonanzas at
the time of the consolidation disclosed the presence of 1,500,000 tons of an
estimated value of $8 per ton, or a gross valuation of $12,000,000. These
ores are extracted, transported, treated and the product refined for less than
$3 per ton, thus leaving a net valuation of $5 per ton, or $7,500,000 net, in
the consolidated mines. Since the consolidation 143,022 tons have been ex-
tracted, containing 39,205 ounces of gold, 'for which $810,427.36 was received.
This represents the gross earnings for five months. The distribution of
dividends was begun in October, 1900, and $110,000, the earnings of August
and September, was distributed. It is estimated that the development work
since consolidation increased the ore in sight to 1,750,000 tons.
The great mill on this property is worthy of discussion. It is believed to
be without a rival, either in points of economy or in the exhaustiveness with
which the ores are treated. The methods employed are impressively re-
vealed in the evolution of a ton of arsenical ore from the time it reaches the
elevated bins, to which it is raised by the electric plant from the mine below,
until the refined gold issues from the refinery. The ore passes over belt con-
veyors into the jaws of enormous rolls. Here it is reduced to a quarter mesh,
after which it is passed over Bartlett screens, where the soft is "shunted"
out, while the residue moves through fine crushing rolls. It is then carried
automatically to the elevators, which raise it to a second storage bin. It is
now ready for transmission to the roasters by way of automatic belt con-
veyors, which dump it into the roasting room, where it is given what is called
a "sweat roast" for the elimination of sulphur and arsenic, after which, as
an oxydized gold-bearing ore, it is transported to a central storage bin and
thence to the leaching department, where it is placed in a tank, with 249 tons
besides, and there submitted to the cyanide of potassium solution, where
it is robbed of its gold in from four to six days. Here we leave the rock and
follow the enriched solution, which is piped into storage tanks, from which it
is pumped into tanks, where the gold is precipitated by the addition of zinc-
dust. The solution is then agitated by a powerful current or air and allowed
to settle. It is then piped through a set of filter presses, in which the values
are deposited. Once each month the mud-like product is taken to the refinery.
Here the zinc is removed by acids and the residue is dumped into pots,
whence it comes as gold bullion, 950 fine, ready for the mints. The im-
poverished solution is returned by pumps to the place of beginning, re-stand-
ardized and put to work anew.
The payroll of this company includes 600 persons, and $50,000 is dis-
tributed monthly in wages.
There are other properties of great promise in Mercur, among which are
the Sacramento, Sunshine, Overland, Geyser-Marion, Ingot, Songbird and
thousands of locations besides, most of which are to become consolidated
Mercurs if the hopes of their owners are realized. Numerous mills, great
and small, dot the district. An admirable water system traverses the town
of Mercur and runs to the principal mines. For the geology of the district
the opinion of James E. Spurr, which appears in a Government publication
entitled "Economic Geology of the Mercur District," 1894, is offered.
"The Camp Floyd veins are true contacts of lime and porphyry; the
mineralization occurred from below, that of the silver vein through an
aqueous solution, and that- of the gold ledge, at a later period, through gases
and vapors; the region of greatest mineralization is the lower point of con-
tact between the second or middle sheet of porphyry and the lime, and imme-
diately below such point of contact; the form or state in which the gold was
deposited has not been determined, but it was probably a telluride, as traces
of tellurium have been found in the unoxydized ores; in the oxydized ores
the gold is probably now in a free or metallic state, but of invisible fine-
ness; the mineralized zone is about 1,000 feet wide and of undetermined
length. The opinion is advanced that as greater depth is attained the
UTAH. 45
character of the ore will change, tellurium will be found, higher values ob-
tained, and smelting will then be the method of treatment."
Prof. H. J. Lane, of London, after two visits to the Camp Floyd District,
gives his views in the following language:
"The sedimentary theory, if any maintain such a theory, as I have been
informed, is amiss in the extreme. In the first place, if such a theory should
be sound, it would be an easy matter for anyone to secure a gold mine who
might be fortunate enough to own a claim in the district, by simply doing
work sufficient to come in contact with the vein. This would be all that
might be necessary to make the owners bonanza kings, and, furthermore, in
such a case the vein would be mineralized regular and alike, and would carry
values in one place just the same as in another. Consequently, there would
have been no choice as to locations in any part of the supposed sedimentary
territory, and the thousands of dollars which have been expended in barren
locations would have been productive of as many thousands, and every claim
would have been a mine, and such a mine in Mercur, I consider, would be
a mint.
"My opinion is that the vein in that district is as well defined a contact
as I have ever seen, with the exception that it does not lie as far below the
surface as most veins of its character, and, for this reason, many have called
it a blanket vein, which is in itself an erroneous idea. Every hill in the
district has at one time carried its portion of that vein, and would today
had it not been scoured away by the action of the elements. Another feature
is that the vein is badly faulted, and it is impossible for a claim to have more
than one apex within its boundaries, and this idea has been demonstrated in
several of the locations, some of which exhibit as many as three apexes. In
other words, every fault has its own apex somewhere, and several of these
may occur in one location.
"I have seen some useless work done where the vein is evidently faulted
or broken, and this I deplore. The Camp Floyd District so much resembles
fhe Johannesburg country, where we have learned where and where not the
vein is mineralized, and its source of values, that the country in Mercur
looks very natural and familiar to me. It may interest those who are inter-
ested in Mercur to know where we find our source of values. In Johannes-
burg we have a large porphyry dyke cutting the formation from east to
west, and it is from the overflow or offshoots from the porphyry that we
find our values that is, in the channels from the porphyry. These channels
are or were the channels of hot sulpho-saline and alco-saline w^ater that
formerly contained the gold in solution, and this accounts for the mineraliza-
tion of the lime in some places, which may penetrate to a great depth. This
should always occur on the foot-wall and near the porphyry dyke, where, in
South Africa, we find our highest values. Where we find our values distant
from the dyke it is nearly always on some feeders that ultimately lead to
the porphyry.
"My observations in Mercur lead me to the conclusion that the conditions
are identical, with the single exception that the values here are greater than
in Johannesburg. The slates and talcs are similar, and in the Mercur you
have the same oxydized arsenical ores that we have in South Africa. In the
basins and near the porphyry is where you may expect to find your greatest
values, and care should be taken to avoid leaving the channels. I may say
that these channels and the general ore zone is much longer and wider than
ours in Johannesburg. The upper part of the vein is porphyry and talc, the
ore lying below the porphyry, and in many instances being mineralized to
an extent equalling the values in the true ores. These conditions have led
some to believe that there are two veins, but this is a mistaken idea, the min-
eralized porphyry having been accepted as a vein. In other words, the vein
and the ore bodies may lie distinct from each other."
46 UTAH.
Henry Reeves Ellis, of San Francisco, writes as follows of the geological
aspect of the district:
"There has been a great deal said in relation to the Camp Floyd Mining
District, Utah, concerning the condition of the gold, and also of the deposi-
tion of the calcareous quartz vein in which it is found. I had occasion to visit
the district in the neighborhood of the town of Mercur for a limited time,
and observations made under and above ground in that vicinity led me to
the conclusion that the vein is one of replacement, and not of sedimentary
deposit, as claimed by some.
"The ore, or ore zone, if I may so call it as there are two veins sepa-
rated by a few feet of mineralized lime is overlaid by a shaly rock, and
underlaid by lime, causing a waterwary through the country, through which
the alkaline sulphide solution passed carrying the silica and metallic sul-
phides, depositing them pari passu with the taking into solution a portion of
the limestone.
"The fossils, which were enveloped originally in the lime, and now in
the ore, which have led some to think that the ore was deposited by sedi-
mentation, are merely evidences of replacement; for, as the lime inclosing the
fossils was dissolved, it was immediately replaced by the ore without chang-
ing the position of the fossils, and appearing to the eye as though nothing
had taken place.
"The vein is of the bedded type, and was formed probably while the
country was flat or nearly so, and subsequently tilted, broken and eroded.
"It has been said very often that the gold in the ores of this district was
a chloride or some other form soluble in water, the alkalies or their sul-
phides. This I have proved to be erroneous, and that the gold is chemically
uncombined, but is in a metallic state."
CHARACTER OF ORES. There are in the Mercur District two distinct
classes of ores oxide and sulphide. The former is particularly adaptable to
treatment by the cyanide process; the latter requires some preliminary roast-
ing to enable the process to fully extract the values.
PER CENT. OF VALUE SAVED. The ores so far treated by the cyanide
process, except the ores of the former Golden Gate, have been princpally the
oxide kind, 85 per cent, of the values of which are saved in the mill. This is
equal to the percentage saved at Johannesburg, where the ores average about
the same in value as they do at Mercur.
One great merit of the cyanide process is its cheapness; the mills are
simple, and the reduction materials inexpensive. The cost of mining and mil-
ing the ores of the Mercur Mine during the last year, it is believed, did not
exceed $2.50, and this included hauling the ores by rail seven miles from
the mine to the mill. Where mills are located conveniently to the mines, and
the ores are handled by gravity, the entire cost of mining and milling need
not exceed $1.75 per ton. This estimate, however, has reference to the oxide
ores. Preliminary to cyanide treatment the sulphide ores require roasting,
the expense of which per ton is conservatively estimated at 50 cents, so that
even the refractory ores can be mined and milled for $2.25 per ton. It will be
seen from these figures that five-dollar rock ought to pay.
THE DEEP CREEK COUNTRY.
A large portion of this marvelous and but little-known mineral region,
destined, in the near future, to be filled with producing mines and teeming
with mining population, is located in Tooele County. Belonging to the
Deep Creek country is the portion of Eastern Nevada which received the
overflow in the "sixties" from Pioche, Austin, Virginia City and the other
great camps of "The Battle-born State." Some thirty different mining
districts, each one of which boasts of great mineral bodies, were organized
UTAH. 47
in this region at the time of the overflow, but owing to the imperfect and
expensive milling methods which then prevailed and the absence of rail-
road facilities no great production has ever characterized the country. One
of the best informed mining men in Utah, who examined this country in
detail, declares that it contains more mineral than all the rest of Utah
combined. Although the portion of this region not in Tooele County is in
the State of Nevada, yet its base of supplies will always be Salt Lake City,
and its output will always seek Salt Lake for market and treatment; therefore
it may be said to be a portion of Utah's mineral domain, and is entitled to
consideration in the discussion of her resources. There are probably a thou-
sand mines in the Deep Creek country capable of a greater or less daily
output. Among the mines now known to exist in this country are many
high-grade properties; but the country may be said to be famed most for a
vast number of large veins of low-grade silver and gold ore. The fact is
that the whole region is interlaced with these veins, which only await means
of cheap transportation to furnish an enormous daily tonnage. The Deep
Creek country is today the only virgin mining country in the United States,
and when the railroad projects now pending are further underway there
will undoubtedly spring up within it many prosperous mining camps. The
chief minerals in the region are salt, silver, gold, copper, lead, iron and
marble, and the principal districts are the Grantsville, Lakeside, Johnson's
Pass, Death Canon, West Tintic, Omega, Wild Horse, Dugway, Granite
Mountain, Detroit, Fish Springs, White Cloud, Glencoe, Antelope Springs,
Aurum, Centerville, Schellbourne, Muncey, Piermont, Osceola, Trout Creek,
Clifton, Gold Hill, Dutch Mountain, Ferguson Springs, Furber, Spring Creek,
Pleasant Valley, Kingsly, Dolly Yarden and Sprucemont. Salt Lake is the
present outfitting point for this region the usual route of travel being over
the Oregon Short Line, by way of Stockton or Oasis, and across the desert.
The latter portion of this journey is particularly difficult, and is the barrier
which prevents immigration and the shipment out of ores. At this time no
ores are being shipped except those of the highest grade, and no material
change in the volume of output need be expected until the railroad is com-
pleted. Fish Springs, in this district, is the possessor of the Utah and
Galena mines, the former of which has already afforded dividends to the
amount of $179,000. The Galena has paid an additional $78,000.
WASATCH COUNTY. The greater portion of this county is occupied
by the Uintah Indian Reservation, only about 200 square miles being under
white ownership. A portion of the great mineral belt, on which the Ontario
and other famous mines are located, extends from Summit into Wasatch
County. The ores differ but little from the ores of Summit County, although
copper is more abundant. The principal districts are Snake Creek, having
over 200 locations, and Blue Ledge, with about 250 locations. Many of the
hydrocarbon deposits peculiar to the northeastern portion of the State are
found in this county, and among them the famous mines operated by the
Salt Lake Gilsonite Company, from which is produced large quantities of gil-
sonite and gum asphaltum. This product is transported seventy-five miles to
Price Station, from whence it is profitably shipped to the pastern markets
for the manufacture of varnish and for other purposes. Owing to the fact
that a large portion of the mineral resources of this county are within the
part of it claimed by the Uintah Indians, mining development has made but
little progress outside of the districts mentioned. This reservation is known
to contain many rich mineral veins which will be worked when the Indian
title is extinguished.
UINTAH COUNTY. This county, like Wasatch, is principally given
over to Indian reservations. Gold, silver and lead ores are found in strong
veins, and in the Bullionville District is located one of the great copper mines
of the West. So vast and rich is this property that Eastern parties have spent
considerable money in its development, and the ore has been able to bear a
48 UTAH.
wagon-haul of 100 miles to the railway for shipment to smelters. Near Fort
du Chesne, on the Indian reservation, some of the largest veins of gilsonite
and other forms of asphaltum in the State have been found. There is a
steadily increasing demand for these hydrocarbon products, and, when the
Indian title is extinguished, these valuable deposits will be extensively
worked.
Here gilsonite is extensively mined. This product is chiefly used for the
manufacture of varnishes and japanning liquids. Heretofore asphaltum for
these purposes was imported from Egypt at a cost to the consumer of $250
per ton, but the Utah product has driven the Egyptian from the market. In
this county gilsonite is mined and placed on the cars at Price for $40 per ton.
UTAH COUNTY. A portion of the Camp Floyd (Mercur) District, fully
discussed under the head of "Tooele County," and a portion of the Tintic
District, treated as part of Juab County, extend into Utah County. These
alone are sufficient to make it an important mining region, but, in addition to
these productive localities, it has numerous other rich mineral fields. The
American Fork District has been an active mining center for many years.
Silver and lead are the chief products, but both anthracite and bituminous
coal are found, and along the western shores of Utah Lake are large bodies of
onyx. This onyx is declared by experts to be superior in diversity of colors
and freedom from checks- to the imported article. At Thistle and other points
sandstone for building purposes is extensively quarried. This stone is of a
bluish-gray color, has an even texture, fine grain, and is free from iron and
other elements. The regularity of the tint of this stone and the ease with
which enormous blocks can be quarried make it especially valuable for the
construction of large buildings. Asphaltum, ozocerite, slate, marble, graph-
ite, granite, soda, antimony, cinnabar, sulphur, zinc and copper are among
the other mining products of Utah County.
MILLARD COUNTY. The mineral deposits of this county are but little
developed, but lead, sulphur, gold and copper veins exist there, and promise
to make the mining interests of the county important in the future. At Cove
Creek is found a deposit of sulphur, which in riches and abundance surpasses
any other deposit in the known world. The annual output of this property is
approximately 1,000 tons. Black onyx, a beautiful finishing material, is also
produced in this county, and is being shipped by the carload to the East.
BEAVER COUNTY. This belongs to the category of unprospected
counties. It is known to have general mineral resources, but the most of its
product now comes from a district of which the town of Frisco is the center.
Lead and silver are at present the principal products, though silica sand,
suitable for glassmaking, and white marble of excellent quality are found in
abundance. At Sulphurvale*are located extensive sulphur mines, owned by
the Meyer Brothers of St. Louis. The product of these mines is reduced to
marketable condition in works upon the ground. The amount shipped during
1897 was 835 tons. But the greatest mineral possession of Beaver County is
the famous Horn Silver Mine at Frisco. This mine ranks among the famous
properties of the State. Its output for 1900 was 7,437,536 pounds of con-
centrates and 5,287,040 pounds of crude ore. At the smelter this tonnage
resulted in 3,687,521 pounds of lead, 143,208 ounces of silver, 678,351 pounds
of copper and 277 ounces of gold, all of the value of $402,019.39. The divi-
dends paid by the mine to January 1, 1901, aggregate $5,290,000. The prop-
erty is supplied with a concentrating mill having a capacity of 200 tons per
day. The Horn Silver has a history. It was sold by mining men of Utah a
quarter of a century ago, through Jay Cooke of New York, for $5,000,000
cash, and has paid, as will be seen from the list of dividend payments made
by Utah mines, which appears elsewhere in this book, more than that sum in
dividends. Its estimated output to date is about $18,000,000, and there are
still such immense bodies of ore exposed in its various levels as to give the im-
pression that it will require many years to work out the mine, which, in fact,
UTAH. 49
seems to be almost inexhaustible. Other notable properties of the county are
the Washington, the properties of the Imperial Copper Company, the Cactus
group, the Majestic, the Blackbird and others.
PIUTE COUNTY. Marysvale is the principal mining district in this
county. Discoveries have been made there of veins of high-grade gold ore,
and to that circumstance and to the incoming of a new railroad is due the
activity now prevailing. Gold was first discovered in this district thirty years
ago. At present there are many hundred locations. The best-known prop-
erty is the Dalton, from which some phenomenally rich ore has been ex-
tracted. The ore is free-milling. The Wedge, Bully Boy, W T ebster and
Glen Eyrie are among the promising properties. Other mineral localities in
Piute County are the Gold Mountain and the Henry districts, and among
the best-known properties are the Copper Belt, Chattanooga, Great West-
ern, Elsie Dean, Deer Trail, Green-Eyed Monster, Crystal, Cascade, Robert
E. Lee, Lucky Boy, Treasury Vault, Clyde, Wedge of Gold, Blackbird, Ala-
bama, Copperopolis, Rising Sun, Fraction A, Breckenridge, Old Antelope,
Golden Queen and Sevier. The eyes of many prominent mining men are
upon this portion of the State, and the Marysvale and surrounding districts
will unquestionably soon become scenes of great mining activity.
IRON COUNTY. This county claims to possess the most extensive iron
fields in the world. The iron exists in a belt extending from Union Springs to
Iron City, a distance of fifteen miles. This belt has an average width of three
miles, and culminates in Iron Mountain, which towers 1,500 feet above the
level of the valley. The ore is said to be over 80 per cent, pure iron. Captain
Foxwell, in speaking of this deposit, says: "If all the lumber in the world
and all the buildings were destroyed, and if all the buildings during the
world's existence had to be constructed of iron, there is one mountain in
Utah which would furnish enough iron for the world."
This extraordinary statement may or may not be true, but there can be no
doubt of the immensity of this iron deposit. It is located upon Clark's pro-
posed road to Southern California, and as there are extensive coking fields
in its vicinity, great iron and steel mills will certainly some. day utilize its
ores. The State Line District, in this county, is now attracting much atten-
tion. A silver and gold zone are present in the district, and a prosperous town
is building. The principal properties are the Ophir, Creole, Big Fourteen,
Gold Belt, Johnnie, Sulphide, Margaret, Willow vale, Utah, Burro and the
Sunflower group.
WASHINGTON COUNTY. Utah's "Dixie's Land" is the most southern
county. It has a semi-tropical climate, and enjoys the distinction of possess-
ing the only sandstone silver mines in the world. These mines were discov-
ered by Judge Barbee in the early "sixties," and then, and ever since, have
been looked upon as geological anomalies. Judge Barbee found a ledge of
common yellow sandstone, apparently barren, and similar in appearance to
the sandstone found in the different portions of the United States. History
does not record the particular circumstance that induced Judge Barbee to
search for silver in the ledge, but it seems he did search for it, and found it,
and carried the news of his discovery to the mining camps in Nevada, where
he at once became an object of curiosity and ridicule. For several years the
Judge was the butt of many jokes, and the silver-sandstone mines of Utah
were considered as interesting as the fables of the "golden city" which Cor-
onado is said to have left the land of the Montezumas to search for in the
unknown country to the north. But investigation proved Judge Barbee' s
discovery to be real, and these same sandstone mines have since paid their
lucky owners over $1,000,000 in dividends. More than 500 mining locations
have been recorded in this county. The ores produced are gold, silver, lead,
iron and copper. Production has been heretofore confined to the grade of ore
capable of sustaining the expense of long wagon-hauls to railroads, but there
are many hundred large veins showing low-grade values which will become
50 UTAH.
producers as soon as railway facilities are secured for the county. The prin-
cipal mines on the sandstone ledge are the Leeds and the Barbee and Walker.
In the early development of these properties the singular fact was discovered
that the depths of the sandstone ledge were filled with the petrified remains
of a primitive forest. These petrified trees were found to be very rich in the
chloride of silver, and have been mined and milled for many years. Wash-
ington County is still in the infancy of its mineral development, but the time
is not far distant when its output will be very large. Some of the principal
districts are the Bull Valley, Tutsegavit, Copper Mountain and Bentley, and
among the principal mines are the Leeds, Barbee and Walker, Mammoth,
Black Warrior, Dixie, Savannic, Cunningham, Redbud, Red Cloud, Hoot
Owl and Adams. The Adams, Savannic, Redbud, Red Cloud and Hoot Owl
mines are copper properties, and produce annually large amounts of this
valuable metal.
Enough has been said to establish the greatness of Washington County's
mineral wealth. Railroads only are needed to insure the speedy and exten-
sive development of its mineral fields. The county will be discussed further
in connection with the agricultural resources of the State.
SAN JUAN COUNTY. This county covers a vast district in the south-
east corner of the State. A large portion of it is included in the reservation
of the Navajo Indians. It has been little explored for mineral; but marble,
onyx, lime and lithographing stone, and iron, lead and copper ores are known
to exist. Some few silver veins have been located, and a year or two ago
many hundred fortune-seekers were attracted there by the news of gold dis-
coveries on the San Juan River. The coveted metal was really found in fair
quantities, but the expense of conveying water to the placers was too great for
the limited means of prospectors, and so but little gold was realized. This
county is a wild region, and the least explored of Utah's mineral domain. It
is said to furnish an inviting field for the prospector. Some good gold
ledges are being opened notably in the Golden Queen, Dream and Linn and
Duckett properties. The vein matter is porphyritic quartz, and in the Golden
Queen runs from $5 to $7 per ton free-milling.
CACHE COUNTY. The King Mine, in Blacksmith Fork Canon, thirty
miles from Logan, is at present making a most impressive showing. An-
other well-regarded property is the Copper King. Still others are the Ama-
zon, Blue Bell and Queen of the Hills. The La Plata District, in this county,
attracted considerable attention in 1891-92, but no new discoveries are being
reported from there.
BOX ELDER COUNTY. At Sierra Madre Mountain have been discov-
ered silver, lead, copper, iron, antimony, sulphur, graphite and nickel. The
veins are of all kinds, fissure blanket and contact, and the geological condi-
tions are similar to those at Alta. The El Dorado group is a prominent one,
and other leading properties are the Manilla, American Eagle, Samsons,
Red Hand, Aguinaldo, King Solomon, Uwanta, Cashings, Vulture, Mexican,
Blue-Eyed Nellie, Ben Hur, Defiance and the Pine Grove group.
The foregoing review of the mining counties will inform the reader of the
locality of the larger mineral deposits of Utah, and give him a glimpse into
the history of the discovery and output of the leading mines of the State.
The limits of this book will not permit mention to be made of every mining
district or of mines other than those that now are, or promise soon to be,
great producers. Utah contains 86,000 square miles, and within this area
almost every metal used by man is found. It is believed no other similar-
sized area in the world can show the same diversity of minerals. At the
World's Fair, Midwinter Fair and Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Utah's
mineral exhibits, prepared with the special purpose of showing the diversity
of the State's metal wealth, were the wonder of all beholders, and elicited
the highest praise from the several managements.
UTAH. 51
Utah's mining achievements have been limited to a very small portion of
her mineral domain. The tireless prospector is ever searching for new
bonanzas, and the full unfoldment of her mining resources will not occur
while there remains a single mountain-side which his searching-pick has not
investigated. Every day new discoveries are made, and every year adds
new districts to the list. With the increase of population there will be a
proportionate increase in the mining development until Utah's supremacy
over all other mining States will be generally admitted.
AGRICULTURE AND FRUIT-GROWING.
To her mines and miners Utah is indebted for much of her past and present
prosperity, and to them she may confidently look for material aid in the
future; but to the farmer her greatest debt of gratitude is due. It was his
courage and labor that redeemed her barren wastes and made almost every
valley of the State a garden spot.
From 1847 to 1870 Utah chiefly depended upon agriculture. During that
long period the energies of the people were almost entirely devoted to the
reclamation of her arid areas. These areas they quickened into fertility by
constructing through them systems of arteries through which the mountain
waters were made to circulate, and from which the thirst of the earth was
quenched. Many years of patient .toil and vast sums of money were ex-
pended to perfect this system of irrigation; but its value to the State is
incalculable in the guarantee it furnishes, for all time, of the certainty of
crops.
In discussing irrigation, elsewhere in this book, the writer has detailed the
methods employed, so that nothing further need be said upon that subject.
There are four principal reasons why agriculture has been successful in
Utah:
First. The people are intelligent and industrious.
Second. Land-holdings are small. This was Brigham Young's idea. Few
farms in Utah are larger than forty acres, and there are thousands of farms
which do not exceed five or ten acres in size. Under this system all lands
are utilized for raising crops, and the farmer is not possessed of more ground
than he can make thoroughly productive. Pasturage, for which purpose
the Eastern farmer devotes a portion of his farm, is in Utah obtained upon
the mountain-sides where farming is impracticable. The valleys of Utah are
not so wide but most of the farmers within them can obtain the benefit of
these pasturage areas.
Third. The employment of irrigation methods, and the impartiality with
which the waters of the State are divided among the people. Conflicts
between individuals over the distribution of water seldom occurs. Water
users always recognize the rights and necessities of their neighbors, and
divert from the canals no more than their just proportion of the water.
Fourth. The presence of a home market for most of the products of the
soil. By home market is meant not only the demand from Utah, but from
the surrounding mining States. Much of the flour made from Utah wheat
is consumed in Idaho and Montana, and the potatoes and fruits of Utah find
ready sale throughout the inter-mountain region.
There are no farmers in the United States more prosperous than the
farmers of Utah. Most of them have snug sums laid aside for a rainy day,
and all of them have comfortable homes, improved farming machinery and
well-graded stock. The varying altitudes of the State permits the raising of
a diversity of crops. In Cache, the extreme northern county, the hardier
grains, vegetables and fruits are grown. In Box Elder County, next to
Cache on the south, strawberries and all kinds of small and tree fruits thrive
exceedingly well, and the people of this county derive enormous annual re-
52
UTAH,
turns from their orchards and vines. Southward; through Weber, Salt Lake r
Utah, Sanpete and Sevier counties, all fruits, grains and vegetables common
to the temperate zone are abundantly produced. Washington is the extreme
southern county, and has a semi-tropical climate. This region is the "Dixie"
of Utah, and almonds, figs, pomegranates and cotton are extensively culti-
vated. In this county both soil and climate contribute to the successful
growing of wine grapes, and the wine made there has long been famous.
The cotton crop of Washington County is increasing yearly. The grade of
the cotton is equal to any produced in America, and the crop is sufficient to
maintain a cotton mill, which manufactures a large amount of batting and
fabrics every year.
Utah is a mountainous region, but the ranges are broken, and the moun-
tains rise abruptly. At the base of every mountain there is a valley, and
these valleys, winding through the broken ranges, are the agricultural areas
of the State. Every county in the State has more or less agricultural land.
The writer has given heretofore a list of the counties wherein mining is the
prominent industry. The counties of Cache, Box Elder, Weber, Morgan,
Davis, Salt Lake, Utah, Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Millard, Beaver, Iron, Cane,
Garfield, Grand, Toole, Juab and Washington, in each of which more or less
mining is conducted, are here classified as agricultural counties. The largest
and most productive valleys, stated in the order they occur from north to
south, are the Cache, Weber, Salt Lake, Utah, Sanpete and Sevier. These
valleys were once portions of the bed of old Lake Bonneville, of which no
remnant now remains except the Great Salt Lake. Seen from their sur-
rounding mountain-sides, they present pictures of pastoral beauty, such as
the world does not elsewhere produce. From their center to their extreme
limits they are checkered with farms and tinted with colors varying from the
deep green of the growing alfalfa to the golden hues of ripening grain. Within
a radius of fifty miles of the Great Salt Lake the influence of the lake upon
the fruit produced is noticeable. The luscious character of these fruits is
said to be due to the lake's agency. The Salt Lake peach is particularly af-
fected by these inflences, and for twenty-five years has been known far and
wide for its delicate flavor and perfect development.
Utah produced in 1899 in hay a tonnage of two and one-half tons per
acre, a higher tonnage than any other State in the Union, with one excep-
tion. During the past ten years 50,000 acres have been added to the wheat-
growing area, 180,505 acres being devoted to wheat in 1899. The average
yield was 20.61 bushels per acre.
THE AGRICULTURAL COUNTIES.
CACHE COUNTY.
Population
Number of
Cultivated i
Irrigated ar
Unimprovec
Average yi
Assessed vt
(cens
farm
irea
ea
ares
Id p<
iluat
us 1
s....
900)....
18 139
3 842
(acre
i "
jr ac
on,
s)
73 057
.... 38 430
34 091
re (bus
(t(
1900...
hels) wheat
19 2
corn
20 5
oats
. ... . 39 6
barley
31
rye
10 6
potatoes
149 1
>ns) lucerne
31
hay
1 5
...$5.243.976
Logan City, with a population of 5,451, is the county seat of Cache
County. Since 1890 it has increased 886 in population. The city is situated
on the line of the Oregon Short Line Railway in one of the most picturesque
portions of the beautiful valley, of which it is the trade, financial, social and
UTAH. 53
educational center. It is a thriving little city, and has the municipal con-
veniences of water and electric lights. Much wealth is centered there, and
there are many large mercantile institutions, with banks, good schools,
churches, fine homes, substantial business blocks, well-kept streets and all
the other evidences of thrift. Here is located the State Agricultural Col-
lege and the Brigham Young College, the attendance of which is drawn from
all portions of the State. The Agricultural College has thirty-two professors,
all of whom are agreed that a broad education, not a limited or superficial
one, shall be given all who take a complete college course. The buildings of
these institutions are pretentious in construction and architecture, and are
a credit to the State. One of the great Mormon temples stands upon an
eminence overlooking the city, where it can be seen for many miles about.
This striking structure is of white stone, and is one of the notable buildings
of the State. Of other churches every principal creed is represented. The
city is justly proud of a fine opera-house, of its State experimental farm,
where agricultural tests valuable to the people of Utah are in constant prog-
ress; of its beautiful school buildings, and the efficiency of its school system,
and of the large manufacturing industries carried on. During 1900 plans
were consummated for the erection of a sugar factory, and ten acres have
been selected for its site. The factory will be of the same capacity as the
one at Ogden. Estimates have shown the existence of approximately 40,000
acres of sugar-beet lands from which its material may be drawn. The Her-
cules Power Company is now completing an electrical enterprise which will
involve an outlay of $500,000. It has already in operation a plant furnishing
500 horse-power, all of which is utilized in Logan. The purpose now is to in-
crease this horse-power many times. The waters of Logan are used by this
company. The primary intention is to supply the local demand for light and
power. The remainder will be conveyed to Ogden, Salt Lake and Bingham.
The aggregate horse-power of this plant will be 5000. The altitude of Logan
is 4,507 feet.
The fruitful character of Cache County will be realized by a comparison
with other portions of the State. The county consists of one magnificent
valley bordered by high mountains, which are well timbered and snow-
crowned throughout the greater part of the year. From the canons
flow generous streams, which give to the whole valley an abundance
of water, so that the people are thrifty and well-to-do. Every few
miles there is a pleasant town or village, with a few stores and some
industrial concerns; but the capital city, Logan, has real commercial
importance, and is the metropolis of Northern Utah. The general aspect
of the county is alpine-pastoral, and excites the admiration of all who love
beautiful scenery. Six bounteous streams cross the county from east to
west, while hundreds of natural springs rise in all parts of the valley. Sev-
eral hundred flowing wells add to the water supply for market gardening.
"Wheat, rye, oats, corn and potatoes can be raised in this county without
irrigation with better results than in any other part of Utah. Seepage has
done much to increase the cultivable area, irrigation on the bench lands hav-
ing rendered the lower lands moist. Wheat yields well, and the hay crop is
astonishingly great, while alfalfa flourishes luxuriantly. Potatoes and other
vegetables yield large crops, and are not to be excelled in quality by any in
the United States. Fruits, including apples, pears, plums, grapes, straw-
berries, raspberries, etc., are raised in all parts with profit and with very lit-
tle care. Considering the fruitfulness of the soil, cultivated land is to be
purchased very reasonably usually not over $50 per acre. The winters are
rigorous, and the summers are delightful. Severe winds are unknown.
Altogether Cache County is a most attractive district, the climate being
superb and the scenery on every side full of beauty. The neighboring canons
are as grand as any in the State, and mountain streams afford excellent trout
fishing.
54
UTAH.
There are many thriving settlements in Cache County, those having the
largest population being Hyrum, 1,652; Providence, "1,022; Richmond, 1,111;
Lewiston, 955; Paradise, 695; Newton, 672; Mendon, 533; Hyde Park, 619;
Clarkston, 475.
BOX ELDER COUNTY.
Pop
Nun
Cult
Irris
Unij
Ave
Ass
ulation
iber of
ivated <
jated ar
nproved
rage yi
jssed vi
(cens
farn.
irea
ea
are
Id p
iluat
5US 1
900) ..
10,009
799
(acr<
i '
er a
ion.
is )
23,751
10,730
415,345
;re (bus
(tc
1900...
hels) wheat
12 5
corn
19.1
32.9
barley
15.1
rye
. .. 8.5
potatoes
183.7
2.4
' hay
2.9
...$4,713,595
Every cereal known to Western commerce is successfully grown, the yield
being very large.
Brigham City is the county seat, having a population of 2,859, dependent
for its commercial prosperity upon the great fruit and agricultural products
of the county and the freight from the adjoining mines. The fruit season is
a busy one, shipments being made from there to all portions of the West.
It is a pretty city, well governed, with a beautiful tabernacle and many pre-
tentious business structures, within which all the usual forms of business are
conducted. The lesser towns of Box Elder County are Corinne, with a
population of 463; Rawlins, 454; Sunset, 369; West Portage, 513; Willard,
5SO; Collinston, 340.
The county is one of the most fertile areas of the State, and is especially
adapted to fruit-growing. It offers greater inducements for new settlers
than any other county in the State. The great Bear River Canal has been
completed at an expense of over $2,000,000, and furnishes an adequate irri-
gating system. Commencing in the great Bear River Canon and running
through the Bear River Valley, the canal extends some 150 miles through as
fine a tract of agricultural land as can be found in America. The country
would undoubtedly have been settled years ago had it not been for the enor-
mous expense of establishing such a gigantic irrigating scheme. The land
adjoins the famous fruit-raising cities of Brigham City, Deweyville, Willard,
and Honeyville on the line of the Oregon Short Line.
The Bear River Valley covers 150,000 acres of the choicest lands in Utah,
proper irrigation for which is now assured. Large crops may thus be de-
pended upon yearly, instead of once in two or three years, as in States
where the farmer is compelled to depend upon rain. The water supply from
the great Bear River is unlimited. The company controls the water, and
the farmer is thus assured of an adequate supply of the same at all times.
The land is adapted to raising all kinds of fruits, especially peaches, apricots,
cherries, plums, strawberries, raspberries and prunes, while wheat, oats, bar-
ley and all kinds of roots and garden truck grow splendidly.
In this county considerable attention is also paid to small farming, dairy-
fng, cattle and sheep raising. The latter industry is of special importance,
and the sale of wool and mutton is one of the great sources of revenue. The
western portion of the county is especially adapted for grazing of sheep in the
winter, and it is estimated that not less than 100,000 sheep are wintered there
annually.
UTAH.
WEBER COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 25,239
Number of farms.
Cultivated area (acres)
Irrigated area
Unimproved area "
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat...
corn
oats
barley...
rye
potatoes,
(tons) lucerne.
hay..
1,175
27,942
24,162
33,133
24.5
25.1
37.6
30.3
11.5
157.5
3.1
1.8
valuation, 1900 $10,726,438
Weber County, second in wealth and population in Utah, contains 500
square miles, and is diversified by mountain and valley, affording fine grazing
land for horses, cattle and sheep in the mountain districts. The valley lands are
among the richest in Utah, and comprise about 200 square miles of the Great
Salt Lake Valley, lying between the Wasatch Mountains and the shores of
the Great Salt Lake. This area is watered by canals taken from Ogden and
Weber rivers, and by other canals supplied from springs rising in the valley.
East of the Wasatch Range, and in the eastern part of the county, lies Ogden
Valley, six miles wide and twelve miles long, rich and fertile, but as it is
much higher than Salt Lake Valley, it is not so well adapted to the raising of
fruit. The natural wealth of Weber County may be divided up as follows:
Agriculture, horticulture, grazing or stock-raising, mines and mining, and
great natural advantages of water-power and favorable location for manu-
facture.
In agriculture there has been uninterrupted success for forty-five years in
the production of wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, potatoes, cabbage, turnips,
carrots, mangel-wurzel, sugar-cane, celery, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers,
and every other product of the field or garden. Flax, hemp, timothy hay,
blue grass, lucerne, red top and clover are successfully raised.
The growing of sugar-beets has become within the past two years the
occupation of many farmers. This is due to the operation at Ogden of a
great sugar works, which during the year 1900 ranked second in output to
the Lehi mills.
All the fruits common to temperate regions are grown in Weber, and the
revenue from orchard, bush and vine is large. Portions of the county are
specially adapted to grazing, in that the shelter for stock is adequate and the
bunch grass peculiar to the mountain-sides and valley is an excellent feed.
The value of the stock interests are represented by millions of dollars. The
population of the county is 25,239, of which 16,313 reside in Ogden, the seat
of county goernment. Other lesser towns are Huntsville, population 1,022;
North Ogden, 850; Plain City, 829; West Weber, 822; Wilson, 650; Hooper,
886.
OGDEX CITY
Is the second city of Utah, and as a commercial, railway, financial,
educational and social center is prominent among the cities of the
West. Its location is a most beautiful one. The picturesque peaks of the
Wasatch and the fertile Salt Lake Valley frame in the city. Through its
outskirts flow the waters of the Ogden and Weber rivers to their meeting
place, just beyond the limits. All that charms the eye Ogden possesses pre-
eminently. Leading into it is Ogden Canon, the place of its great electric-
power plant and its most beautiful drive. This canon for sublimity of
scenery has no rival in Utah.
56 UTAH.
The founding of Ogden is credited to Capt. James Brown of the Mormon
Batallion, who settled on its site in 1849. Its real beginning was when the
Union and Central Pacific railroads were joined and trans-continental traf-
fic over those great highways commenced.
Today it is far beyond the experimental stage a city of schools, churches,
important manufactories and wealthy business concerns. Its retail trade
reaches into all the neighboring towns, and its wholesalers cover with their
agents the intermountain country. Of railroads Ogden has the Union Pa-
cific, Central Pacific, Oregon Short Line and Rio Grande Western and a
good union depot. One of the most expensive and effective electric plants
in the West, with a capacity to furnish 5,000 electrical horse-power, has for
its generating force the waters of Ogden River. This plant is located three
miles from the city, and the energy produced is employed in various ways
in the city, the surplus being transmitted to Salt Lake.
In the autumn of 1898 began in Ogden the operation of a great sugar
factory, representing a total cost of $500,000. Twenty-eight thousand tons
of beets were milled during 1900, for which the farmers received $4.25 per
ton, and from which 5,800,000 pounds of refined sugar of the total value of
$290,000 were turned out.
In the way of educational institutions Ogden has the Weber Stake Acad-
emy, the Sacred Heart Academy, St. Joseph's School for Boys, the Inter-
mountain Business College and numerous modern public-school buildings.
The school population is 5,000, and many teachers are employed. Nine miles
north of the city are excellent hot springs, and the Great Salt Lake furnishes
nearby summer bathing.
One of the great advantages enjoyed by Ogden is the residence there of
railroad men, whose number is estimated at 1,500. All trans-continental
passengers and freight are transferred here, and here are made up the north,
east, south and west bound trains.
A leading industry of Ogden and Weber County is the canning of toma-
toes and general fruits. There are a number of these canneries, having an
aggregate capacity of several hundred thousand cans of fruit and tomatoes
per annum.
Of manufacturing institutions there are two foundries, four wagon and
carriage factories, a tannery, three sash and door factories, one woolen mill,
one box factory, three flour mills, one pressed-brick plant, one pipe and tile
works, four brick-yards, one brewery, one vinegar and pickle works, one
soap works, one cracker factory and numerous smaller institutions.
The wholesale business of Ogden for 1900 is estimated at $10,800,000. Of
banks there are five, concerning wliich the following figures are given by the
Salt Lake Tribune of January 1, 1901: Total capital, $560,000; deposits,
$2,849,938.
Efficient telephone and street-railway systems are in operation, and an
ample water-works system distributes pure water from an adjoining moun-
tain stream.
Besides all these things Ogden has three enterprising newspapers, one of
which is a daily, two first-class hotels, thoroughly modern, a public library,
a school for the deaf and blind, two clubs, several lodges of secret societies,
the State Industrial School, and churches of almost every denomination.
Thus equipped, the thriving little city enters the new century certain of the
achievements which always follow the work of the enterprising people of
well-situated towns. It is not unreasonable to expect, now that new rail-
roads are coming into the intermountain country and Utah's great develop-
ment has fairly set in, that Ogden will double 'its population within the next
decade.
UTAH.
57
MORGAN COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 2,045
Number of farms 350
Cultivated area (acres) 6,321
Irrigated area
Unimproved area " .......................
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat
oats ......
barley...
potatoes.
lucerne..
hay ......
(tons)
Assessed valuation, 1900
5,856
13,707
33
41.8
30.5
218.3
3
2.1
$803,506
This little county occupies a district through which the Union Pacific Rail-
way passes, between Ogden and Echo. It is extremely mountainous in char-
acter, but the Weber Valley, with its several towns, Morgan, P.eterson and
Croydon, is a delightful relief, and the limited amount of land which there is
under cultivation yields good returns. Wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and
some small fruit are the principal products. The towns being within easy
reach of Ogden and Salt Lake City, the produce of the county is easily mar-
keted at good figures. Cultivated land is worth $75 and more per acre.
Morgan is the county seat.
DAVIS COUNTY.
Pop
Nun
Cult
Irrij
Unii
Ave
illation
iber of
ivated {
*ated ar
nprovec
rage yie
(cens
farm
irea
ea
are
Id p<
us 1
s
900)
7,966
879
(acr<
i '
jr a
is)
25 347
14,407
12123
re (bushels) wheat
20 7
corn
23.1
oats
37 7
barley ....
33 6
rye
8
potatoes
158
(tons) lucerne
2.4
" hay...
1.9
Assessed valuation, 1900 $3,559,179
In population and fertility Davis ranks high in the list of Utah coun-
ties. It lies along the eastern short of the Great Salt Lake and the
western face of the Wasatch Mountains. From its county-seat Farm-
ington Salt Lake and Ogden are about equi-distant. Practically all of
its 250 square miles are under cultivation, and not under ordinary cul-
tivation, either. It is doubtful whether anywhere else in the irrigated re-
gions of the world farming lands have reached a higher state of develop-
ment than the lands of this valley. One feature of its topography is Church
Island, one of the largest and most interesting of the islands of the Great
Salt Lake. Some day this island will be a great summer watering-place,
but now it is given up largely to the grazing of cattle. Cultivated land in
Davis County is worth as much as $200 an acre. This is due to its great fer-
tility and to the circumstance that the county is the market garden of Salt
Lake City. All of the settlements in the county are connected by good roads,
as well as by rail, with the Utah capital, and a large portion of the garden
products found in the city's markets are raised in Davis County. Marvelous
stories are told of the productiveness of single acres. Here is a list of the
yield per acre of garden products, with prices of each, averaged for two years:
Market gardening in Bountiful, Davis County, yield per acre and average
price for two years:
58
UTAH.
14,000 heads, @ $ .02 per head, $280.00
Early Cabbage 12,000 .05 600.00
Early Cauliflower 7,260 .10 726.00
Onions 600 bu., .75 bu., 450.00
Parsnips . 1,800 .25 450.00
CaSots. IISOO .20 360.00
Tomatoes 2,250 .40
Potatoes 350 .75 262.50
Large Peas 306 1.00 306.00
Small Peas 200 1.25 250.00
Green Beans 400 .90 360.00
Cucumbers 250 .50 125.00
Asparagus 5,500 Ibs., ,08 lb., 440.00
Rhubarb 7,000 " .01% " 105.00
Corn... . 2,420 doz., .08 doz., 242.00
Celery 30,000 stalks, .03 stalk, 90.00
Cantaloupe 1,814 doz., ' .60 doz., 1,088.40
Watermelons 862 " ' .40 344.80
Yield per Acre and highest market price in the early part of the season:
Lettuce . 14,000 heads, @ $ .02y 2 $310.00
Cabbage 21,000 " " .10 120.00
Cauliflower 7,260 " .15 1,089.00
Onions 600 bu., 1.50 900.00
Parsnips , 1,800 " *\40 720.00
Carrots - 1,800 " .25 450.00
Asparagus 5,500 Ibs., .12% 687.50
Rhubarb 7,000 " .05 350.00
Corn 2,420 doz., .20 484.00
Tomatoes 2,250 bu., 2.00 4,500.00
Celery 30,000 heads, .06 1,800.00
Cantaloupe 1,814 doz., 2.00 3,628.00
Watermelons 862 " 1.50 1,298.00
Large Peas 300 bu., 1.25 375.00
Small Peas 200 " 2.00 400.00
Green Beans 300 " 3.00 900.00
Cucumbers 350 " 2.00 700.00
Potatoes 350 " 2.00 700.00
The above figures were compiled by Ephraim Briggs and Brigham Hoi-
brook of the town of Bountiful.
Of water the supply is ample, being drawn from neighboring streams and
springs along the mountain's base. Travelers to and from Salt Lake on the
various lines leading to the north have the beautiful spectacle presented by
this valley before them for twenty miles of their journey. No more perfect
or peaceful pastoral scene can be found anywhere. It suggests to the incomer
the beauties of the city beyond, and is the last impression carried away when
he departs.
Besides Farmington, the county seat, with a population of 1,050, there
are Kaysville, population, 1,183; Bountiful, 1,680, and other smaller settle-
ments. The climate is about the same as tfcat of Salt Lake City. In this
county are located the wells which supply natural gas to Salt Lake City,
and many manufacturing institutions contribute to the prosperity of the
people.
SALT LAKE COUNTY.
Population, exclusive of Salt Lake City, 24,194; inclusive of Salt Lake
City, 77,725.
Number of farms 2,195
Cultivated area (acres) 36,708
Irrigated area " 36,683
Unimproved area " 47,492
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 27
corn 28.9
oats 30.6
barley 29.8
rye 14.2
potatoes 150.2
(tons) lucerne 3.4
hay 3.7
Assessed valuation, 1900 $38 868,099
UTAH. 59
Even if Salt Lake County did not enjoy the distinction of possessing the
capital city of the State, it would rival the most important of other counties
in many ways. The cultivated ground is as fertile as any land in the
world. The results of actual cultivation justify this statement. Greater
and better crops have never been raised in America than on the farms which
lie to the southward of Salt Lake City. This extremely productive region
is comparatively limited, and there are large stretches of land on the western
portion of the valley which have not yet proven to be so rich. From a scenic
point of view the magnificent front of the Wasatch Mountains, as seen over-
looking the valley, has been pronounced by great artists like Bierstadt and
Moran the finest which our continent affords.
Salt Lake County has an area of only 784 square miles, but it is an empire
within itself and a center of interest to the whole State. The annual agricul-
tural yield is valued at about $1,000,000. This county enjoys the distinction
of being the first one entered by the Mormon pioneers, and the one in which
the first Utah furrow was plowed. It has more manufacturing interests
located within its boundaries than all the rest of the intermountain country
combined. Although its manufacturing and commercial interests predom-
inate, the agricultural features of the county are by no means insignificant.
Over 36,000 acres of land are under irrigation, and an equal amount under
cultivation, and, generally speaking, it is in high cultivation. Besides this
there are 15,000 acres used for pasture. No valley in all the arid regions
surpasses this in its natural facilities for irrigation. The water supply comes
from the various streams which issue from the Wasatch Mountains into the
\ T alley, and from the Jordan River, which flows from Utah Lake, and the
whole area of the eastern side of the valley is one vast network of canals and
ditches. The development of this system of irrigation has accumulated
moisture in the soil, so that a far larger area is now cultivated than appeared
possible in the early history of the valley. It was on the outskirts of Salt
Lake City that the climax of wheat production in America was reached, in
a yield of over eighty bushels to the acre. The kinds of crops have the great-
est acreage in the following order: Lucerne, wheat, hay, barley, potatoes,
corn, rye, orchards, beets and vineyards. Other farm products consist of
butter, honey, dried fruits, vinegar, cider and wine. The county has large
interests in cattle, horses and sheep. The towns and cities outside of Salt
Lake are Big Cottonwood, Brighton, Bingham, Mill Creek, Granger, Hunter,
North Jordan, Pleasant Green, Sugar House, South Cottonwood, the City
of Sandy, South Jordan, Union and West Jordan.
The farms of Salt Lake County are inadequate to the production of prod-
ucts sufficient to supply the demand in Salt Lake City, and Davis and other
adjoining counties are drawn upon. This demand guarantees large and
quick returns to the farmer for his crops. Salt Lake City, the capital of the
State and the county seat of Salt Lake County, will receive extended notice
elsewhere in this book.
UTAH COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 32,456
Number of farms 2,751
Cultivated area (acres) (estimated) 86,535
Irrigated area 57,397
Unimproved area " 25,037
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 28.1
" corn 25.1
" oats 37.3
barley 40.4
rye 11
(tons) lucerne 2.8
hay 1.6
Assessed valuation, 1900 * $10,105,032
This county has increased to its present population of 23,768 in the past
ten years. Where there are so many wonderfully rich agricultural areas
UTAH.
as there are in Utah, a description of any one of them is applicable to all.
The traveler through Utah, when he enters the Utah Valley, finds it im-
possible to believe that the State can present elsewhere any more beautiful
scene. The famed vale of Chamouni and the beautiful Mohawk Valley are
celebrated in song and story. This valley, too, might well engage the pen
and the muse. Rimmed about it are the massive, snow-crested peaks of the
Wasatch. Almost at its very center, glistening on the bosom of nature, is
Utah Lake, around which, across the plain and climbing up the mountain-
sides, are little farms, divided now by the silver ribbons of irrigating
streams and again by rows of tall Lombardy poplars. Scattered everywhere
are the homes of husbandmen, hop-vined and shaded. What a scene for
artist and poet! What a paradise for the kodaker!
Any extended discussion of the fertility of the soil and the amount and
variety of the crops produced would be but a repetition of the discussion
of other Utah counties. It is enough to say upon this subject generally that
orchard, vineyard and field yield every year handsome tribute, and that the
farmers all have competencies and are content.
Sugar-beet culture is a great specialty in this county, for at the town of
Lehi there is a great sugar factory, which is the largest in the United States,
having a cutting capacity of 1,200 tons of beets each twenty-four hours.
This factory made during 1900 11,400,000 pounds of sugar. For every ton
of these beets the farmers received $4.50, and the acreage for 1901 will be
10,000. Utah is justly proud of this factory, and the people of the county
are indebted in part to it for the high degree of prosperity they enjoy.
Provo is the principal town and the county seat. It has a population of
6,185, and, besides, there are the following important settlements: Amer-
ican Fork, population 2,732; Lehi, 3,033; Payson, 2,636; Pleasant Grove,
2,460; Spanish Fork, 2,735; Springville, 3,422, with numerous other smaller
places. These are all prosperous places, with good business houses, banks
and numerous manufacturing institutions. All are laid out with broad
streets and generous lots, so that breathing space is ample. Every place has
its little church and its public school, and no more moral or industrious
people than theirs inhabit the earth.
Provo has the State Insane Asylum. It also has the Brigham Young
Academy, a great electric-power plant, operated by the waters of the Provo
River, a delightful summer resort on the shores of Utah Lake, the Oregon
Short Line, a fine system of electric lights and water-works, two or three
strong banks, a fine tabernacle, a theater and business houses that would be
a credit to a city many times its size. Surround all this with scenery as pic-
turesque as the scenery of the Alps, and nothing is left to be said.
SANPETE COUNTY.
Pop
Nun
Cult
Irrij
Unii
Ave
Ass<
ulation
iber of
ivated <
jated ai
nprove(
rage yie
issed Vi
(cenF
farm
irea
ea
are
Id p(
iluat
us 1
s. . . .
900)
16 313
1 540
(acre
i "
jr ac
ion,
s)
34 286
40 970
re (bush
(to
1900...
els) wheat
28 2
corn
87
oats
31 1
barley
40 g
rye
11 8
potatoes
91 6
as) lucerne
.. 27
hay
1 3
...$3.910.836
^ Sanpete is centrally locatedj being about 100 milej south of Salt Lake
City. Its altitude is nearly 6,000 feet, and the climate is in every way de-
lightful. Sanpete contests with Cache County for the title of the "Granary
of Utah," and it certainly is one of the most fertile and productive areas in
UTAH.
61
the whole intermountain region. About five-sixths of the population are
engaged in agricultural and grazing pursuits. Abundant water for irriga-
tion purposes is obtained from the Sanpitch River, which traverses the
valley.
Live-stock interests in this county are very important. Latest reliable
reports fix the number of horses and mules at about 6,000, cattle at 12,000
and sheep at 250,000. The wool shipments from Manti annually reach
about 3,000,000 pounds. Such fruit as apples, pears, plums, apricots, goose-
berries, currants and strawberries grow to perfection. The streams which
dash down from the Wasatch Mountains in the east of the yalley not only sup-
ply the farms with irrigation water, but furnish power for about thirty mills in
the canons, and the pine forests of the Wasatch and Sanpitch mountains
make lumber plenty and cheap. The beautiful oolite sandstone, of which the
Manti Temple is built, is a cheap and popular structural material for the
residents of the valley. Abundance of coal and firewood exists in many places
and is exported to the neighboring valleys. Reservoir opportunities are to be
found in many places. Among the mineral resources of the county fine pros-
pects of silver and lead have been opened in the west mountains, while salt,
gypsum, lime, ochre, asphaltum, fire-clay, brick-clay, alum, saltpeter and
other minerals abount. The capital of Sanpete County is Manti, settled in
1849, situated at the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains, on the east side of
the valley. Its population is 2,480, and it has fine schoolhouses and a number
of good stores. The beautiful Manti Temple, a marvel of architectural grace,
and dainty in color and design, and, indeed, one of the greatest of the Mor-
mon temples, is here located on a point of a hill, seventy feet above the level
of the town, and is a conspicuous feature of the landscape as seen from many
miles to the north or south. Manti is proud of its fishponds and of its warm
springs, its clear atmosphere and romantic scenery, and very justly claims to
be a sanitarium. Ephraim is an important town in the county a few miles
north of Manti, with a population of 2,086, and with nearly all of its homes
built of solid stone. Spring City, a few miles north, has a population of 1,135.
Mount Pleasant, with a population of 2,372, is the second city of the county in
importance. It has a bank, good schools, hotels, a newspaper, well-built homes,
flourishing farms and enterprising citizens. Pairview, Milburn, Chester,
Wales, Freedom, Fountain Green, Sterling and Mayfield resemble each other
in their principal attributes of thrift and that their inhabitants are happy,
and contented in the midst of plenty. No such thing as actual poverty is
known throughout the county. The average wealth of the citizens may not
be great in money, but they have all the means of sustaining a comfortable
livelihood, and many of them are nabobs in a small way, and are sur-
rounded by all the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. Their lives are
passed in peace and quietude, in the midst of fertile fields, surrounded by
magnificent mountains, in a healthful climate. They have good horses and
vehicles, good roads, good barns and haystacks, orchards loaded with fruit,
hives full of honey, cattle on a thousand hills, flocks and herds in the moun-
tain vales, and if they are not happy the fault lies not in their temporal con-
dition.
SEVIER COUNTY.
Population (census 1900)
Cultivated area (acres) ,
Irrigated area
Unimproved area "
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat...
' corn
oats
' barley...
rye
potatoes,
(tons) lucerne. .
8,451
26,300
26,300
21,000
28.2
28.7
13
129.4
2.7
1.2
Assessed valuation, 1900. , $1,883,897
62 UTAH.
Sevier County adjoins Sanpete on the south. Its greatest agricultural
areas are found in the Sevier Valley and its tributary and along Salina Creek.
Along the course of the Sevier River are a number of towns of some im-
portance, and between them is a great extent of arable and cultivated land,
all of which is irrigated, there being 206 miles of irrigating canals within the
county. The land is extremely fertile, the usual cereals and grasses yielding
well. The yield of wheat and barley is unusually high. In the southeastern
portion of the county the mountains are high, but among the peaks are
frequent plateaus of great extent, whose summer range for cattle is not
excelled by any in the State. The scenery among these mountain ranges
is not so wild as it becomes farther south, and is relieved by the
view of large stretches of timber and pasture land. Sevier County
has been well developed, considering its remoteness. Building stone of
excellent quality abounds in the foothills. Richfield is the county-seat,
with 1,998 people. Like nearly all of the other towns in the county, it is
surrounded by a rich agricultural area. Tradition has it that a prehistoric
city whose people were attracted there by the nearby warm medicinal springs
once occupied the site of Richfield. The town has two steam planing mills,
a steam flouring mill and a grain elevator, besides other important buildings.
Like all other Utah towns, the streets are lined with shade trees and
streams of mountain water. Another principal town in the county is Monroe,
population 1,057, with its nice residences belonging to wealthy cattle and
sheep owners, and its industrial enterprises. Mexican onyx, alum, coal and
gypsum abound in the mountains near by. A town in the southern part,
Joseph, at the mouth of Clear Creek Canon, where the soil is fertile, and in
the neighborhood of undeveloped mines of gold, silver and copper, has
a large flouring mill, a small brass foundry and a pork-packing establishment.
Joseph has a population of 626, and is supplied with water-works. Glen-
wood, east of Richfield, population 549, has good water-power, two flouring
mills and an ambition to possess other manufacturing concerns. Other
smaller towns are Redmond, Aurora, Sigurd, Central, Annabella and Burr-
PIUTE COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 1,954
Number of farms 173
Cultivated area (acres) 2,226
Irrigated area ' " 6,796
Unimproved area " 12,223
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 20.4
oats 26
" potatoes 131.7
(tons) lucerne 1.7
" hay
Assessed valuation, 1900 $419,151
This is one of the small counties in the south central part of the State. It
is almost wholly covered by high mountains, the Wasatch at this point reach-
ing an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet. Gold, silver, lead and copper are the
principal products of the surrounding mines, but more or less quicksilver has
been and is being mined. From an agricultural point of view Piute County
is not conspicuous, and yet several hundred people derive sustenance there-
from, the water being in abundance and the soil fruitful. Circle, with a
population of 538, is the principal settlement, with Bullion and Koosharen
close seconds.
UTAH.
63
MILLARD COUNTY.
5,678
470
16,036
16,389
42,750
22.8
17.7
31.4
29.7
16.4
144.7
2.8
1.4
Assessed valuation, 1900 $1,939,701
Population (census 1900)
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres)
Irrigated area
Unimproved area
Average yield per a re (bushels) wheat...
corn ..... ,
oats ......
barley...
rye .......
potatoes.
lucerne..
hay.
(tons)
This is a large county in the southwestern portion of the State. Its county
seat, Fillmore, in the early history of Utah was the capital city of the Terri-
tory. There is much land subject to entry in this county which will ulti-
mately become productive by the extension of the irrigation system.
General farming is carried on successfully, but mining and stock-raising
are the principal occupations of the people.
The climate is temperate, and cattle and all kinds of grazing stock do well.
It is a region to which hundreds of thousands of sheep are driven in the win-
ter, a circumstance which contributes as much to the good fortune of sheep-
raisers from other counties as to the well-being of the inhabitants of Millard
County. In the spurs of the Wasatch Mountains and in some of the desert
ranges a number of mines have been discovered, although but little worked.
A beautiful black onyx found here is attracting attention among builders in
Salt Lake and elsewhere. This is quite likely to become a rival for decora-
tion purposes to the lighter-colored onyx found in other portions of Utah.
Nothing to rival this beautiful stone has so far been discovered in America.
Of the minerals lead, silver, gold and copper seem to predominate, and prom-
ise to make the mining interests of the county important in the future. Fill-
more. Kanosh, Scipio, Deseret and other towns supply a thriving fanning
population. The Oregon Short Line passes through the county, affording
means of transportation for its products and its requirements. Cattle and
sheep constitute its principal exports. Filmore has a population of 1,037.
Other smaller towns are Deseret, population 500; Hinkley, 591; Kanosh, 665;
Holden, 472; Scipio, 578. At Leamington an attempt is to be made by East-
ern capitalists to divert enough of the waters of the Sevier River to the high
land to reclaim a large area, now desert and used only for grazing. Sulphnr
mining gives promise of becoming important when the development of the
deposits is further advanced.
BEATER COUNTY.
Number of farm
Cultivated area
Irrigated area
Unimproved are
Average yield p
Assessed valuat
373
(acres)
10,409
10 636
13 876
?r acre (bushels)
(tons)
on, 1900...
wheat
... 20 7
corn
17 1
oats
26
barley
34 3
rye
4.8
potatoes
110 2
lucerne
2 5
hay
1.7
.. $1.480.465
Beaver County is situated toward the southwest portion of the State, ex-
tending from the Beaver range of mountains to the Nevada line. The west-
ern portion lacks moisture, but the eastern half is well watered and most
64 UTAH.
fruitful. The Wasatch Mountains in this county are magnificent and lofty,
supplying Beaver River with numerous tributaries and securing facilities for
irrigation to a large farming population. The average altitude of the agricul-
tural land is about 6,000 feet. Alfalfa and small grains are the principal
crops, but in some localities there are a few orchards. About 2,000 acres are
in wheat, the rest being in corn, barley, lucerne, hay, potatoes, etc. It has a
great variety of mineral resources, and contains several mining districts. At
Sulphurdale are located the largest sulphur works in the State, giving employ-
ment to many men and teams. Its capital, Beaver City, has a population of
1,701; is one of the principal cities of the South; other towns in the county
are Greenville, Adamsville, Milford, Sulphurville and Minersville.
Beaver County has room for much farming population, and its mining
industries, elsewhere discussed in this account, are sufficiently important to
insure a market for a large amount of farming products.
IRON COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 3,546
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres)
Irrigated area
Unimproved area '
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 20.3
corn 12.5
" oats 35.7
barley 42
" potatoes 71
(tons) lucerne 2.4
hay 1.2
valuation, 1900 $1,097,450
Iron County is situated in the southwestern part of Utah. Its area is
about 3,400 square miles, a large portion of which is now being utilized for
grazing purposes. The great Escalante Desert on the west affords winter
quarters for thousands of cattle, horses and sheep, which return to the
Wasatch Mountains on the east in the springtime, where they remain during
the summer, subsisting upon the nutritious grass and sparkling waters of this
beautiful range. The fine pasturage afforded by the native bunch-grass and
other hardy varieties that cover the mountain slopes, and even the great
desert, has made stock-raising a valuable industry in Iron County. Great
numbers of horses and cattle are driven or shipped eastward from there each
year, and with the thousands of pounds of wool exported annually furnish
one of the most important sources of revenue to the county. The Wasatch
Mountains, along the eastern border of the county, are densely covered with
forests, and the lumber interests are important. Pan.gu.itch Lake is a splen-
did body of clear crystal water situated at the top of the range fifteen miles
east of Parowan City. It is much resorted to by pleasure-seekers during the
summer season. The settled portion of the county lies along the western
base of the mountains, a distance of fifty miles. The principal settlements of
Iron County are Parowan, population 1,034; Cedar City, 1,425, and other
lesser towns. Parowan, the county seat, is situated in the central part of
the county, near the base of the Wasatch Mountains. It is built on elevated
land, making it an observatory to the great Parowan Valley. Cedar City
is nineteen miles south of Parowan, in the Rush Lake Valley. It is one of
the leading towns of Southern Utah, and may become the metropolis of that
portion of the State. Its location is favorable in every respect, being on the
line of one of the proposed roads to Southern California, adjacent to large
deposits of coal .and the most extensive iron fields in the world. It is midway
between Denver, Colo., and Los Angeles, Cal., hence the right place for a
large city. The entire people of the county are intelligent, generous and hos-
pitable, and are in good financial condition. The people at large take a great
UTAH.
Go
interest in the cause of education. Aside from the district school, the county
has three church schools. The chief pursuits of the people are farming and
stock-raising.
The land is very productive. All that is now under cultivation is well
irrigated. Parowan Valley will, no doubt, become the agrciultural stronghold
of the county. It is comparatively level, sloping gradually from the Wasatch.
Mountains on theeast to the hills on the west. At the base of these hills is found
one of the curious features of Southern Utah Little Salt Lake, five miles in
length by three-fourths of a mile in width. Parowan Valley is twenty-five
miles long by ten miles wide, extending northeast and southwest. Its soil is
very fertile, producing wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, hay, fruit and vegeta-
bles. All the land in the valley can be utilized for agricultural purposes by
means of reservoirs and artesian wells, the latter now being used very exten-
sively. The estimated flow of water from the average well is fifteen gallons
per minute at a depth of forty-five feet. Reservoir sites are numerous and
extensive, and when developed will make it possible for the uplands at the
foot of the mountains to be irrigated, in consequence of which the lowlands
will be watered by sub-irrigation, making very profitable hay ground. Rush
Lake Valley, forty-five miles long by ten wide, lies immediately south and
west of Parowan Valley. In this valley are found the thriving towns of
Kanarra, Enoch, Hamilton Fort and Cedar City. The land is well watered
and exceedingly productive. The Northeast Canal & Reservoir Company are
taking out a canal from Coal Creek, near Cedar City, which will carry suf-
ficient water to irrigate 2,400 acres of upland and 1,000 acres of hay land.
The average price of cultivated land throughout the county is $25 per
acre. The chief products are alfalfa, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and
apples. Alfalfa predominates.
Owing to the elevation of Iron County, its situation between the lofty rain
barriers of the Sierra Nevada on the west and the Wasatch Range on the
east, and its generally mountainous character, its atmosphere is light, dry,
clear and invigorating. Notwithstanding there is a great variation in tem-
perature, the climate in all parts is very salubrious. In summer it is agree-
ably cool and refreshing in the upper valleys, mild in the lower, and de-
cidedly warm near the desert tracts. The fall of snow in winter is light in
the lower valleys, but deep in the mountain canons and upper valleys, furnish-
ing a large supply of water for irrigating.
This county will grow yearly in agricultural importance. Its wonderful
mines of gold and iron, elsewhere discussed, must soon be extensively de-
veloped, and then will follow the establishment of manufacturing industries,
employing a large number of operatives. Local demand under these con-
ditions will compel the reclamation and utilization of the vast quantities of
tillable but now unproductive lands.
KANE COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 1,811
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres) 2,235
Irrigated area
Unimproved area "
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat
corn ......
oats
barley
rye
potatoes.
(tons)
lucerne,
hay.
1,539
2,757
18.6
17
24.4
24.7
22.5
108.1
5.3
.1
Assessed valuation, 1900 $424,973
This county adjoins Arizona in the central-southern portion of the State,
but is remote from travel. A few towns Kanab, population 710, Glendale,
66
UTAH.
Mount Carmel and one or two others exist on the headwaters of the Rio
Virgin and other streams which flow into the Colorado River. The greater
part of the county consists of plateaus, suitable for sheep ranges, but the
streams flow through deep gorges cut through the alluvial soil at such depths
that the water cannot be diverted to the land. The scenery of this region is
wild and romantic, and full of interest to the explorer, yet this feature does
not contribute to its prosperity. The valleys to which water can be brought
are narrow, limiting the arable land, but in such places farms are very fruit-
ful, and the yield is correspondingly high.
GARFIELD COUNTY.
Population (census 1900)
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres)
Irrigated area
Unimproved area '
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat.
corn . . .
oats
" potatoes...
(tons) lucerne
hay.
3,400
512
6,565
6,832
10,727
17.5
10
20.6
107.2
1.8
1.1
Assessed valuation, 1900 $677,809
This is the southeastern county, situated in the midst of the wild, weird
mountains and plateaus that drain into the Colorado. It is but sparsely
settled, is remote from travel, and is comparatively undeveloped, but a few
thousand acres being under cultivation. However, these yield high average
crops.
The county is composed for the most part of high plateaus and mountain
ranges, deeply-cut canons, which rarely open to a sufficient width for agri-
cultural operations; but the county is well adapted for sheep and cattle-
raising, the chief industry. In the western portion of the county, however,
along the east and west forks of the Sevier, there are several thriving farm-
ing towns, among them Panguitch, population 833, and Orton, and the coun-
try there is more open and suitable for cultivation.
GRAND COUNTY.
Number of
Cultivated {
Irrigated at
Unimprovec
Average yic
Assessed \i
farm
irea
ea
I are.
Id pe
iluat
c;
112
(acre
i "
>r ac
on,
s)
2 842
3 142
6,839
re (bushels)
(tons)
L900...
wheat
17 3
corn
18 2
oats
20 3
barley
20.4
rye
9 2
potatoes
126.6
lucerne
3
hay
1.2
.. $1,017.224
Grand County adjoins Colorado in the middle-eastern part of the State.
Its resources are but little developed. A limited area is cultivated along the
Grand River, but the principal portion of the county is used for range pur-
poses. Several small settlements, such as Moab and Richardson, on the
Grand River, have proven the fruitfulness of the county. At Moab Mr. A.
J. Warner has a magnificent fruit farm, upon which he has demonstrated his
ability to produce the finest fruits in the State. All climatic conditions are
favorable in this county for fruit culture. A large area is open for reclama-
tion, and a great agricultural future is no doubt in store for Grand. Two
UTAH.
67
hundred and forty-five acres are in orchards, and a shipping business of no
mean proportions has already begun from Thompson Station of peaches,
apricots, plums, pears and honey. These go in boxes to the mining districts
of Colorado and to Salt Lake City. Grand County probably offers as good
inducements to settlement as any other county in the State.
TOOELE COUNTY.
Population (census 1900)
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres) :
Irrigated area
Unimproved area "
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat.
corn...
(tons)
oats
barley
rye
potatoes
lucerne
hay
7,361
517
11,243
7,118
40,129
20.7
16.6
34.4
15.9
10
113.9
2.7
2.2
Assessed valuation, 1900 $2,670,186
This county, lying west of Salt Lake County, was among the first to be
settled in the State, It is large in area, but a great portion is absolutely
desert and may never be of any value whatever. Strange to say, however,
the desert lands are all set aside by themselves in the western part of the
county, while the eastern half is as beautiful and fertile as any land the sun
shines upon. In the lovely Tooele Valley, lying between the Oquirrh and
Stausbury mountains, are some 20,000 acres' of tillable land, about half of
which is cultivated and well watered, partly from mountain streams and
partly from drive artesian wells, which yield abundantly in most parts of the
valley. Cultivated land in this valley is worth as high as $75 per acre, but
there are many tillable acres that have not been taken up. Among the chief
farming products are wheat, of which there is always a high yield per acre;
potatoes, running up to 400 bushels; lucerne, fruit, etc. A considerable
revenue is derived from the stock interests, wool, hides, beef and mutton
being shipped in large quantities. Fruit is exceptionally fine in flavor, and
the crops are large. Peaches yield as much as 300 bushels to the acre. A
fruit canning and evaporating concern could do well in Tooele City, and it
has been suggested that a fruit distillery would pay, owing to the cheapness
of the fruit and the large quantities that go to waste every season for want
of a market. The region is extremely healthful and conducive to long life,
and the beautiful scenery, with mountain, lake and islands in full view, makes
the eastern part of the county a very pleasant place to live in.
The county is reached by the Oregon Short Line. Tooele City, population
1,200, is the county seat. The largest town is the mining town of Mercur,
population 2,351, and Grantsville follows next with 1,058.
JUAB COUNTY.
Pop
Nun
Cult
Irri|
Unii
Ave
Ass(
illation
iber of
ivated i
fated ai
nprovec
rage yie
?ssed va
(cens
farm
irea
ea
are
Id pf
luati
us 1
s
K)0)
. .. 10082
320
(acre
i "
r ac
on, ]
B)
10,933
7.383
15,852
re (bushels)
(tons)
1900...
27.8
corn
22
oats
35.8
barley
43.8
rye
9.1
potatoes
133 5
lucerne . .
2.6
hav
1 3
.. $3,998,743
68 UTAH.
The county is situated in the center of the western side of the State, and
consists of a long, narrow strip, extending westward from the Wasatch
Mountains across the desert to the Nevada line. The greater portion of its
population is engaged in mining in and about the Tintic Mining District,
the mines of which have been discussed in this account under the head of
"The Mining Counties." The greater part of the western portion is almost
entirely without water, and some of it is covered with the Great Salt Lake
Desert. Nevertheless, it offers winter range for innumerable sheep, which
are able to find moisture sufficient for their needs among the gorges of the
desert ranges which break across the plains in lines from north to south at
intervals a few miles apart. The eastern part is well watered by numerous
streams, and a great part of its area has been under cultivation for many
years. The county seat is Nephi, population 2,208, designated by its enter-
prising inhabitants as the "Little Chicago." It is one of the most important
towns south of Salt Lake City, and has extensive manufacturing interests.
In this county is located the extensive irrigation enterprise of the Mount
Nebo Irrigation Company. A geat reservoir near the foot of Mount Nebo
furnishes water for the redemption of thousands of acres of land in Goshen
Valley. This company has in contemplation the building of a beet- sugar
factory equal in capacity to the one at Lehi.
WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 4,602
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres) 5,642
Irrigated area 5,555
Unimproved area " 2,327
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 23.8
" corn 18.5
oats 27.3
barley 28.7
potatoes 122.2
(tons) lucerne 3.4
hay 1.8
Assessed valuation, 1900 $793,378
Washington is the most southern county. It is a semi-tropical region,
and cotton is grown there enough to supply a local mill of considerable
capacity. It has long been known as "The Dixie of Utah," and the wines
made there and the almonds, nectarines, grapes, figs, pomegranates and
other unusual fruit and nuts grown there have given the county a character
unlike that of any other Utah county.
Several years ago, in response to an application from the Salt Lake
Chamber of Commerce, a committee of citizens appointed for that purpose
by a public meeting held in St. George, the county seat, furnished the fol-
lowing statement in reference to the county:
The climate and soil south of the "rim of the basin" is admirably adapted
to the production of all kinds of peaches, nectarines, almonds, plums, apples,
pears, grapes, figs, pomegranates and other fruits. A large per cent, of what
is now produced, however, goes to waste for lack of transportation facilities.
The county is also well adapted to the growth of all kinds of early garden
stuff, such as radishes, lettuce, asparagus, celery, tomatoes, beans, cucum-
bers, melons, onions and Irish and sweet potatoes; also flowers of the choicest
varieties, many of which bloom in December. In the settlements along the
Rio Virgin and lower Santa Clara rivers the season for out-door gardening
begins in the latter part of January or the beginning of February. The cli-
mate of St. George and vicinity, with its delightful winters, often without a
flake of snow, except what can be seen on the distant mountains, is unex-
ceptionally healthful. St. George enjoys an ideal climate, and is destined to
be the winter resort of the inter-mountain region. One of the four great
UTAH. 69
temples of the Mormon Church is here. It is a structure of beautiful de-
sign, and is one of the notable buildings of Utah.
Washington County is an interesting and productive portion of the State,
and will in time furnish the means for many thousand people to cultivate
the rare products for the growth of which its soil and climate are so admira-
bly adapted.
WAYNE COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 1,907
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres) ; 5,732
Irrigated area 6,116
Unimproved area " 9,679
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 18.6
" ' " " " corn 23.5
" ' " " " oats 24.6
" " " barley 14
" potatoes 114.6
" ' " " (tons) lucerne 2.2
" " " hay 1.3
Assessed valuation, 1900 $425,056
Wayne is a central-southern county, and is watered by the Fremont River.
Much tillable land is open to setlement, and cultivated farms with water
right and good title vary in price from $20 to $80 per acre. A great variety
of products are raised. Sheep, wool, lumber and orchard fruits bring the
farmer much annual revenue. The cimate is delightful, the winters mild and
the summers cool. It is an ideal fruit county, and its agricultural possi-
bilities are very great.
WASATCH COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 4,736
Number of farms
Cultivated area (acres) 12,995
Irrigated area " 12,443
Unimproved area ' 16,360
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 19.2
" oats 30
" " " ' " barley 41.3
" potatoes 151.4
" (tons) lucerne 3.2
' " hay 1.7
Assessed valuation, 1900 $1,200,174
The greater portion of Wasatch County is occupied by the Uintah Reser-
vation, which at present excludes from settlement from occupation one of
the best watered and most fertile regions of the State. When the reservation
is opened for settlement, as it will be when effect is given to an Act of Con-
gress already passed, the agricultural development of the county will be
speedy. Heber is the county seat, and the county is best reached by way of
the Union Pacific from Park City. The reservation mentioned is known to
contain many fertile valleys wherein successful agriculture will in time be
extensively carried on.
EMERY COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 4,657
Number of farms 552
Cultivated area (acres) 12,964
Irrigated area " 15,622
Unimproved area ' 28,574
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 19.3
corn 12.4
" oats 25.5
barley 34.4
" potatoes 64.9
(tons) lucerne 2.1
Assessed valuation, 1900 V.'.'.'.V.V. *.".*.'.'. '.".'.! !'.".".'.".*.'.".". $1,292,399*
70 UTAH.
The county lies in the middle-eastern part of the State. It is drained by
Green River, from which it obtains its irrigation waters. In time its large un-
improved area will be made available by water obtained from, storage reser-
voirs in the mountains to the westward. This will, however, involve consider-
able outlay, but the outlay will yield ample returns to the investor. Castledale,.
population 718, is the county seat, which is surrounded by a large farming
settlement. This county is destined to be developed into a productive
agricultural region, and will in time have a mining output, especially of an-
thracite coal and copper.
CARBON COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 5,004
Number of farms 108
Cultivated area (acres) 7,679
Irrigated area " 7,679
Unimproved area " 10,301
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 21.3
corn 22.3
" " " " oats 28.3
barley 16.2
" potatoes 68.5
" " " (tons) lucerne 3
Assessed valuation, 1900 $2,012,764
This county was taken from Emery by the last Territorial Legislature of
Utah. Thirty or more irrigation streams, owned exclusively by farmers, are
in operation, and water is ample for all purposes. Its agricultural charac-
teristics are much the same as Emery County, and the large amount of unim-
proved land offers opportunity for a considerable increase in population.
Within it are the coal-mining towns of Castlegate, population 1,109; Clear
Creek, Scofield, Winter Quarters, the commercial town of Price and the
railroad town of Helper.
RICH COUNTY.
Population (census 1900) 1,946
Number of farms. 269
Cultivated area (acres) 19,776
Irrigated area 20,460
Unimproved area " 57,793
Average yield per acre (bushels) wheat 30
" " oats 41 . 1
barley 41.5
rye 20
" potatoes 194.4
" (tons) lucerne 3.3
hay 1.1
Assessed valuation, 1900 $752,960
Randolph is the county seat, having a population of about 821.
This county lies in the northeast corner of Utah. It is not very large, but
it is nearly all agricultural land. Thirty thousand acres are cultivated and in
pasture, the tributaries of Bear River furnishing an abundance of water. The
elevation of Bear Valley -is about 7,000 feet, rendering the climate somewhat
cold, but the hardier crops flourish. A beautiful feature of the northern part
of this county is Bear Lake, a magnificent sheet of water about fifteen miles
in width by thirty or forty in length. This is one of the largest bodies of fresh,
water that exist at such elevation in the mountain regions, and is the natural
reservoir upon which the great Bear River Canal depends for its permanent
summer supply. The population of the county is not great, but the people
are generally well-to-do, owing to the success which usually attends their
stock-raising enterprises.
The following counties, not classified as "Agricultural Counties," have the
following assessed valuation for 1900:
UTAH. 71
San Juan $262,750
Uintah 1,057,273
Summit 4,292,250
The total assessed valuation of the State for 1900 was 105,629,041
NOTE. The figures given in the foregoing review of agricultural counties, with
the exception of the figures referring to the present population, and the assessed
valuation for 1990, were made by Joseph P. Bache, Territorial Statistician, and
include the year 1894. They are taken from the official territorial publication, are
the latest obtainable, and are believed to be the best estimates so far made. It is
hoped the statistics as to the average yield per acre of the different crops reported
will be of value to the reader in showing the effect of altitude in different localities
upon the production of these crops. The statistics as to the number of farms, cul-
tivated, irrigated and unimproved area, will no doubt assist the homeseeker in de-
termining which counties offer the greatest opportunities for settlement.
THE SUGAK BEET. The growing of the sugar beet is becoming one of the
leading occupations of the Utah farmer. Especially is this true in Utah and
Weber counties, where are located great sugar works. These two plants
turned out in 1900, according to figures given in the Salt Lake Tribune, 17,-
200,000 pounds of sugar and sticed 18,000 tons of beets. The farmer received
from $4.25 to $4.50 per ton for the beets, from which it will be seen a large
sum of money annually goes to the beet-raisers of Utah. A mill is to be built
in Logan during 1901, and several others are in contemplation elsewhere in
the State.
LIVE-STOCK.
Mr. H. L. A. Culmer, in his "Resources and Attractions of Utah," thus
discusses the advantages enjoyed by the stock-grower in Utah:
"If our climate is too dry for the luxuriant growth of grasses in the valleys
throughout the summer, the conformation of our Territory (State) is such
that it fully offsets to the stock-raiser whatever drawbacks may be laid to
the want of summer rains. As the feed begins to give out on the lower
benches in the spring, the snow-line is receding on the foothills, and stock is
pastured at higher altitudes as the season advances, until, in the midsummer,
they graze among the grassy valleys of the mountains and on the cool, high
plateaus. When \vinter approaches they gradually retire again, and by the
time of general snowfall are roaming over low, wide ranges, w'here they can-
not exist in summer for heat and want of water. This changing life brings
them health and hardihood. They have a 'summer out' every year, and are
thus developed into the sturdiest races of America. The ranges of one
season are held in reserve at another. During the summer, on the millions
of acres of the interior basins, too dry for summer ranges, the native bunch-
grass is maturing and cures, standing, ready for the immense flocks and herds
which will winter there. In these regions the snowfall is light enough to
furnish water for the stock, but not to bury the dry, fattening bunch-grass,
famous for its nutritive qualities."
CATTLE. The cattle interests are receiving much attention, and marked
improvement in the breeds has been noticed during the past few years. The
tendency is to handle few cattle but better ones. Those engaged in the busi-
ness seem to be convinced that there is more money in keeping up the breeds
and keeping the number down to a hay cutting and feeding proportion. Much
beef is consumed in the State, but the shipping business is growing rapidly,
and great numbers are sent to the markets of the East and surrounding
States. The holding of the convention of the National Live Stock Associa-
tion at Salt Lake in January, 1901, v brought about 5,000 stockmen to Utah,
and evidence the State's growing importance in the stock industry. The
dairy interests are by no means unimportant, it being estimated that they
return from $800,000 to $1,000,000 annually.
HORSES AXD MULES. Of these useful animals the State has from 80,000
to 100,000 head. They are better animals for their weight and size than
72 UTAH.
any others in America, and have been graded up until they boast the blood
of the leading breeds of America. They are said to excel in wind, endurance
and fleetness, and for several years past work and farm horses, fancy road-
sters, fine carriage and heavy freight horses have been extensively raised.
The qualities of strong feet and lungs remain with the horse after he has
been exported, and for this reason Utah horses are in steady demand.
SHEEP. Exact figures are not obtainable, but the number of sheep in
Utah is placed at 2,500,000. The sheep shipments for 1900 were about
400,000, which, according to an estimate of Mr. Clinton, an authority, sold
for an average price of $3.25 per head. The wool crop for 1900 was 14,000,-
000 pounds. The original Mexican stock has given place to fine breeds, such
as the Cotswold, Spanish and French Merinos, and now wool of a superior
quality is produced. The receipts of the Union Stock Yards, Salt Lake City,
for 1900 were as follows:
Sheep 165,492
Cattle 36,816
Hogs 221
Horses and Mules 12,625
TWO INDIAN RESERVATIONS,
The Uncompahgre and Uintah, are located in the northeast portion of Utah,
and comprise most of the counties of Wasatch and Uintah. An Act of Con-
gress was passed in 1894 providing for the opening of these reservations to
settlement. The announcement in the press dispatches of the enactment of
this law produced numerous inquiries from different portions of the United
States, and the following information about the region is given: The two
reservations contain an area of 6,207 square miles, or 3,972,480 acres the
Uintah 3,186 square miles, or 2,039,040 acres, and the Uncompahgre 3,021
square miles, or 1,933,440 acres. There are now 2,000 Indians on the reser-
vations, and the head of each Uncompahgre family will receive 320 acres, and
the other members of the family 160 acres each counting five Indians to the
family. The Uintahs will probably receive the same. It is estimated that
384,000 will be needed to supply the Indian demand, and that 3,598,480 acres
will remain for white settlers. Probably 50 per cent, of this land is suitable
for agricultural or stock-raising purposes, the other 50 per cent, being moun-
tainous, and believed to be rich in a diversity of valuable minerals. The great
asphaltum fields of Utah and the larger deposits of ozocerite, gilsonite and
elaterite are located within these reservations. No title to any of the lands
in either reservation can be secured until the Act goes into complete effect,
which will be when the allotment of lands to the Indians, now going on under
the direction of a special United States commission, is complete. The country
is well watered, the climate is delightful, and when the lands become availa-
ble these reservations will materially add to the wealth and production of the
State. Persons contemplating settlement in this portion of Utah are advised
not to come until assurances from Washington are received that all legal ob-
jections to the entry of the whites upon the reservations are removed. It is
probable that the asphaltum deposits will not be subject to entry under the
mining laws these deposits, it appears, are to be held by the Government
pending legislation for their sale at special prices.
MANUFACTORIES AND INDUSTRIES.
Mr. Culmer, in discussing this important branch of the business of the
State, says, among other things, in "The Resources and Attractions of Utah:"
"The subject of home industries has commanded the attention of the
people of Utah from the time of its first settlement. Isolated as it was in the
UTAH. 73
beginning, necessity compelled the production of many articles which other
communities import, and drove the people into finding means to manufacture
them. It was thus revealed that from the many resources that lie about us a
large proportion of the materials used at home could be made here, and in
early times the self-supplying faculty of the residents was developed under
great difficulties, and they learned to do many things in a primitive way that
have since been refined upon and expanded, until the quality and quantity
of the goods manufactured are by no means insignificant. 'Home manufac-
ture' has been so long and so steadily a familiar watchword with the people
of Utah that there are not many communities in the West that have at-
tempted such various lines of industry. Not all of these have succeeded, yet
we will bear comparison with many older States. There is a genuine deter-
mination among the people of Utah to establish and sustain the manufactur-
ing interests of the State. We accuse ourselves and each other of a lack of
interest in these matters, but this only shows that we are alive to the neces-
sity. The volume of manufactured material produced is a proof of our sin-
cerity in this direction. The leaders of the people in early times told them
that they had all the material necessary to make them one of the most pros-
perous and independent peoples on earth if they would only make use of the
material that nature had placed at their disposal. Repeated efforts under ad-
verse circumstances gave the start to a manufacturing community, and as
early as 1850 the industrial products of Utah amounted to $291,220. In 1860
this amount had increased to $900,153. Ten years later, according to the
census returns, it was $2,343,019, and in 1890 the returns showed that there
were 310 enterprises of this character in operation, turning out a product
valued at $5,836,003. The capital invested was $4,405,881. The plants cost
$3,215,511, and they used that year raw material worth $2,137,291. Three
thousand two hundred and seventy-four hands were employed, and the wages
paid were $1,597,177. We have good reason to believe these figures to be un-
derstatements, even for 1890, but, were the data of today obtainable, a con-
siderable increase would now be shown; but these dry figures must impress
every thoughtful reader that the people of Utah engage heartily in the de-
velopment of their industrial possibilities, and by this means maintain their
prosperity and contribute to the well-being of the population."
The Territorial statistician, on the 1st of January, 1895, makes the fol-
lowing figures. These are the latest obtainable from official sources:
Number of enterprises, 1,880; annual product turned out, $6,678,118;
capital invested, $5,476,246; cost of plants, $5,986,215; raw material anually
used, $2,640.038; number of hands employed, 5,054; wages paid, $2,027,118.
Thus will be seen how rapidly increased in importance the manufacturing
interests of Utah during the first five years of the last decade. It is re-
gretted that manufacturing statistics of Utah for the census year of 1900
have not at this writing been announced by the Government. Of manufac-
tures there is almost an infinite variety. One great stimulus to these indus-
tries has been the continued encouragement of the Deseret Agricultural and
Manufacturing Society of Utah, which for many years has exhibited to the
people, at its annual fairs at Salt Lake City, the products of the different
manufacturing institutions.
In the limits of this book it will be impossible to enumerate all of the in-
stitutions now doing a thriving business. The writer will content himself
with the mention of the larger manufactures and industrial mills.
WOOLEN MILLS. Woolen mills are in operation in Salt Lake, Utah,
Beaver and Washington counties. The most important of these is the Provo
Woolen Mills, having an annual output valued at $250,000, employing 175
hands, and consuming yearly 700,000 pounds of Utah wool, for which during
1900 the mill paid an average price of sixteen cents per pound. This mill
was erected in 1872, and is the largest woolen factory west of the Missouri
River. It has survived all panics, is free from mortgage, has paid dividends
74 UTAH.
regularly, and enjoys the distinction of being the first woolen mill erected
west of Chicago. Its power is derived from steam and from a canal, devel-
oping at the mills 150 horse-power. Eighty-five per cent, of the product of
1900 \vas delivered to Eastern markets. The mill is to be greatly increased
in capacity during 1901. Near Springville, in Utah County, is located a
woolen mill of about one-eighth the capacity of the Provo Mills, in the
operation of which results equal to those of the Provo Mills are obtained.
The cloth manufactured in these mills finds ready sale in Colorado, Cali-
fornia and the States of the inter- mountain region. Everywhere it is sold it
compares favorably with the product of the finest mills of the East. The
Deseret Woolen Mills in Salt Lake, which manufactures woolens, dress
goods, flannels, yarns and fine grades of white blankets, is another extensive
establishment. It employs sixty operatives, and consumes 200,000 pounds
of Utah wool annually. In connection with this mill a large knitting
factory is operated. There are smaller but not less complete mills than the
Provo at Beaver, St. George, Ogden, Brigham City and Hiram, Cache
County. Their product is chiefly consumed in the neighborhood of their
location.
SUGAE WORKS. The Lehi Sugar Mill, in Utah County, now ten years
in operation, is one of the largest manufacturing institutions in the State.
The factory produced in 1900 11,400,000 pounds of refined sugar. This resulted
from the cutting of 50,400 tons of beets, for which the factory paid $4.50 per
ton, 6,000 acres being necessary to the growth of beets for the supply of this
mill. Two hundred and twenty-six thousand eight hundred dollars went
into the pockets of the beet-raisers during 1900, and 250 employes were on
the payroll. Ten per cent, annual dividends have been paid for several years,
and the capacity of the plant is now 1,200 tons per day. The product for 1900
at $5.50 per hundred will amount to $575,500, all of which goes into Utah
pockets.
During 1900 operations were active in the new sugar factory at Ogden.
This factory has a capacity of 350 tons of beets per day, and the output for
1900 was 5,800,000 pounds. Here are employed 214 men. The selling value
of the 1900 product was approximately $300,000. The entire demand of
Utah for sugar is 18,000,000 pounds, 16,200,000 pounds of which were sup-
plied in 1900 by Utah mills. Next year every pound used in the State will
be made at home. Other plants at Gunnison and Logan are in contempla-
tion, and the time is probably not far distant when our neighboring States,
north and east, may look to Utah for their sugar. An attempt was made by
the sugar trust to kill the Lehi industry some years ago, but the Utah people
were loyal to the home product, and the trust retired in disgust.
SOAP WORKS are in operation in different portions of the State. There
are three factories in Salt Lake and one in Ogden, and the output is almost
equal to the demand of the State.
BOOT AND SHOE MANUFACTORIES. Many hundred hands are employed
in Utah in the shoe factories, which are located in Salt Lake, Ogden, Provo,
Logan, Lehi, Spanish Fork and in many of the country towns. The largest
concern is in Salt Lake City, conducted by Zion's Co-Operative Mercantile
Institution. The concern employs about 200 hands, and turns out annually
from $200,000 to $250,000 worth of manufactured material.
CLOTHING MANUFACTORIES. There are several institutions in the State
devoted to this industry, the output of the largest of which, that operated by
the Z. C. M. I. in Salt Lake, is valued annually at $60,000.
SILK MANUFACTURING. This is a growing industry in the State. The
exhibits of Utah's silk at the World's Fair attracted widespread attention.
The industry began in Utah in 1855, and in the past has been carried on
mostly in the homes of the people. There are thousands of mulberry trees in
the State. The climate is perfectly adaptable to the silkworms, which are
free from the diseases so fatal to them in damp climes. The time is coming
UTAH. 75
when Utah's silks will be extensively manufactured. The Legislature of
1896 created a State Silk Commission, and offered a bounty of twenty-five
cents per pound for cocoons produced in the State and fed entirely on mul-
berry leaves. The law is working well. The mulberry tree, of which there
are thousands in the State, thrives in all parts of Utah.
Of flouring mills, oatmeal, cracked wheat and cracker establishments,
there are several in the State. Breweries exist in many towns, three of the
largest being situated in Salt Lake. One of these has a capacity of 20,000
barrels per annum, and bottles 600 dozen per day. Brickmaking and charcoal-
burning industries exist in many places.
Portland cement is manufactured in Salt Lake City, one plant having
made in 1900 60,000 barrels and added betterments to the value of $30,000.
The product is all taken in the inter-mountain States.
CANNERIES. Four large institutions, chiefly devoted to the putting up
of tomatoes, consumed the product of 700 acres of tomatoes in 1900.
Among the other manufacturing establishments may be mentioned ma-
chine shops and foundries, saw-mills, lath and planing mills, stone quarries,
lime-kilns, potteries, tanneries, factories for polishing gems, knitting fac-
tories and concerns which manufacture brooms, brushes, vehicles, ice, con-
fectionery, mattresses, crackers, showcases, vinegar, plaster of paris, steam
boilers, harness, paper boxes, rubber stamps, coffins, mosaic tiles, picture-
frames, upholstery, chemicals, fur goods, gloves, picks, iron fencing, lead
pipe, etc.
Notwithstanding the great variety of manufacturing concerns which have
been mentioned, opportunities are open for still others to be inaugurated,
which can undoubtedly be made to pay good returns on the cost of plants.
Among them have been suggested cotton mills, a carpet factory, paper mills,
to replace those recently burned in Salt Lake County, works for the manu-
facture of agricultural implements, white lead, gunpowder, whiting, iron
pipe, sewer pipe, window glass and bottles, soda-ash, putty, starch, candles,
paints, etc.
Crude materials exist on every side in abundance. Labor is plentiful and
willing, and industrial developments in Utah promise in the near future to
be of great magnitude.
Coal has heretofore been an essential to the production of power in the
State, but its use is being rapidly lessened by the employment of electricity.
The waters of several mountain torrents have been harnessed and utilized
for the production of electricty for power purposes.
ELECTEICAL POWER PLANTS. The Pioneer Electric Power Plant at Og-
den ranks among the great electrical enterprises of the country. It was com-
pleted in 1897 at a cost of 1,500,000. and the electrical force generated ag-
gregates 10,000 horse-power. The water is carried along the side of the
mountain for a distance of seven miles in a steel and wooden pipe seventy-
two inches in diameter to the entrance of Ogden Canon, where it is used to
furnish motive-power for the generating machinery. On the flat at the base
of the mountain an immense power-house has been built, where power is pro-
duced and sold at a cost enabling factories to run at a minimum cost. The
bulk of this power is utilized in Ogden, but a portion of it is transmitted to
various other cities for motor cars, street-lighting and other purposes. This
plant, together with that of the Big Cottonwood Power Company in Cotton-
wood Canon, near Salt Lake, and the Salt Lake and Ogden gas and electric
plants at Ogden and Salt Lake, have been recently consolidated, and are now
operated and owned by the Utah .Light & Power Company, having head-
quarters at Salt Lake. This company's system is the largest for the distribu-
tion of light and power in Western America, having a total of 11,000 horse-
power and 100 miles of high-tension transmission lines. Ogden is located in
the midst of a region rich in agricultural and mineral resources, and is well
supplied with railroad facilities, so this enterprise cannot fail of success.
76 UTAH.
After the water is utilized for the generation of electricty it will be con-
veyed to the valley and made to redeem thousands of acres of arid lands.
In Big Cottonwood Canon, twelve miles from Salt Lake, another great
enterprise for the generation of electrical energy is situated. This is one of
the plants now owned by the Utah Light & Power Company. Nearly two
years were consumed in the construction of this plant, a great dam was
built and a long tunnel driven to bring the water to a connection with the
pipes leading to the generating mill below. The expenditure is estimated at
$500,000. Current is conveyed over copper cables to Salt Lake, where it is
employed for general house and street lighting purposes, for the running of
electric railroads and for innumerable other uses requiring power. Another
company, the Pioneer, of ample capital, has completed an equally large
plant below the Big Cottonwood plant, using the same water now employed
by the Big Cottonwood Company. The current of the Pioneer Company is
conveyed to Salt Lake and is used for operating the Salt Lake City Rail-
road system and for other purposes. The aggregate of current produced by
these three great plants is sufficient to enable Salt Lake to take on no end
of new manufacturing enterprises, the raw material for which is found all
around it in limitless quantities. The writer regards these power plants of
the utmost importance to the future development of Salt Lake, which, by
their aid, will become the manufacturing center of the inter-mountain coun-
try. These electrical companies propose to transmit power to Park City and
other mining camps, where it will be utilized in operating pumps, mills, hoist-
ing plants and for numerous other purposes.
THE TELLTJRIDE POWER TRANSMISSION COMPANY has a plant in Provo
Canon, from which power is transmitted to the mining camps of Mercur and
Tintic, a distance in lines of 115 miles. When plans laid out for 1901 are
completed the feat of transmitting electricity over a continuous line of alumi-
num wire 224 miles long will be accomplished by this company. This will be
double the distance ever before attempted. Great expenditures are now be-
ing made to improve the plant and harness anew the waters of Provo River.
THE HERCULES COMPANY, which in 1900 absorbed the Logan Light &
Heating Company, is building a mammoth plant in Logan Canon, and with
the power of Logan River is developing a large amount of energy, which will
be increased during 1901 many-fold. This company in consolidation with the
Provo Company is the newest candidate for the patronage of the cities and
towns between Provo and Logan and adjacent mining camps. The horse-
power of these two plants will be equal to that of the Utah Light & Power
Company.
SALT LAKE CITY WATER & ELECTRICAL POWER COMPANY. This com-
pany has its power plant and installation in the Jordan narrows, nineteen
miles south of Salt Lake City, close to the lines of the Rio Grande Western
and the Oregon Short Line railways. Its water-power is derived from the
waters of Utah Lake flowing through the Jordan River. The total amount
of power available under a head of seventy-five feet- at the company's power-
house is estimated at from 6,000 to 7,000 horse-power. The company is cap-
italized at $1,000,000. The distance from the power station to Bingham is
twelve miles and to Mercur eighteen miles, to both of which points power-
transmission lines are now in operation.
It will thus be seen to what an advanced stage the development of elec-
trical energy by water-power in Utah has progressed. Soon the use of coal
for power-making will be obsolete, and every great mining camp and impor-
tant city and town in the State will have ample power, cheaply delivered, for
all purposes.
IRRIGATION COMPANIES. In the early portion of this work, under the
head of "Irrigation," reference was briefly made to the fact that many large
companies have undertaken the development of irrigation systems whereby
vast areas of unproductive land will be redeemed and made available. These
UTAH. 77
companies construct reservoirs of immense area, and lead therefrom canals
along levels sufficiently high to bring the lands sought to be redeemed under
the influence of the water. They exchange a perpetual water right for each
farm for a nominal sum per acre, and thereafter charge a small annual
water rate per acre. The entire cost to the farmer is but little compared to
the benefit received. The water is delivered to his farm without any ex-
pense to him other than that mentioned. These companies are responsible
for a great part of the recent increase in the cultivated area of the State.
They usually own or control large amounts of land, which they sell at rea-
sonable prices and upon excellent terms. Those who are able to purchase
lands will find it to their interest to investigate the advantages offered by
these companies.
COMMERCE.
The trade and commerce of Utah is not limited by the boundaries of the
State, but extends over the surrounding inter-mountain States. The follow-
ing discussion of this subject in a book recently issued by the Salt Lake
Chamber of Commerce is here inserted:
"In these matters, as in most others, while the proportion of our opera-
tions may not be so great as to excite wonder and admiration, it must be
admitted that in point of variety no other State or Territory can view us with
disdain. We have examined into the commercial activities of many States
separately, and have been struck with the prevailing feature that each State,
as a general proposition, maintains its activity in special lines, but in Utah
this is not the case. The range of subjects which the man of trade in this
State is called upon to consider is bewildering, and as varied as the number-
less resources mineral, agricultural and industrial that are briefly referred
to in these pages. If each of these interests can be developed, as we believe
they will be, in proportion to their merits and the opportunities that exist in
this State, the future of trade and commerce in the years to come will be ex-
ceedingly great. The demands of an active people, somewhat lavish in their
requirements, endowed with energy, and learning to demand the luxuries as
well as the necessaries of life, call for an increasing supply of the staples
that engage the attention of commerce in every country. Not judging of trade
by fluctuations in prosperity which affect every country, but marking the
progress of commerce by years instead of by months, the trade of the whole
State has increased steadily, until the volume of today bears an astonishing
relation to that of a few years ago. This results principally from the fact
that year in and year out, with as little oscillation as obtains in any other re-
gion, the State has enjoyed a continuous run of comparative prosperity for a
great number of years. We do not wish to repeat our statements, but we
cannot refrain from claiming that this is essentially due to the variety of
means by which the well-being of the residents of Utah can be sustained.
"In the larger cities, such as Ogden, Provo, Logan and Salt Lake City, a
genuine jobbing trade is supported. We have wholesale jobbing-houses,
devoted exclusively to dry goods, or clothing, or groceries, hardware, fruits
and produce, grain, boots and shoes, machinery and other single lines. Their
trade is not confined to this State alone, but extends for hundreds of miles
into other regions. In Salt Lake City the mercantile agencies, Dun's and
Bradstreet's, have important offices. Reports are made daily to the trade,
and hundreds of subscribers maintain this important feature of a commercial
center. Not a few of the central cities of the State have traders and mer-
chants engaged in gathering together the products of the State for export to
remote distances. Grain, seeds, hides, wool, live-stock, tallow, furs, skins,
eggs, butter, poultry, green fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, and such
things, usually sent out in carload lots, return a considerable revenue to many
78 UTAH.
of the towns and cities adjacent to the railways. Besides this, those engaged
in developing the mineral and other resources of the State ship a great many
carloads of stone, marble, onyx, asphaltum, plaster of paris, fire-brick, etc.,
both east and west. The shipment of ores and bullion, gold, silver and cop-
per, is confined principally to the work of the banks and smelters, and this,
more than all else, brings the ready money into the avenues of trade and
finance. Our imports are large much too large when we consider the oppor-
tunities for manufacture that exist but are neglected in our midst but it is
not to be supposed that our net imports are measured by the railroad returns,
because a large proportion of what we bring in is again sent out into the
surrounding country by our jobbers. In a number of the larger cities some
of the retail stores are as fine as any in the West."
The general credit of the merchants and traders of Utah is first class.
Failures are comparatively few. The daily returns of the Salt Lake clear-
ing-house furnish a fair means of measuring business. The clearances for
1900 were $120,676,183.18. By the Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1901, the
deposits of thirteen Salt Lake banks are given as $16,747,874.96, an in-
crease of $1,801,083.50 over 1899, and the loans and discounts of the same
banks as $6,905,239.09, an increase of $1,498,633.04. To the conservative
methods employed by the business men of Utah is due- the resistance they
offered to the direful effects of the panic of 1893. During this panic, when
the banks of the nation were going to the wall and business institutions all
over the land were crumbling into ruin, the banks and business houses of
Utah, with one or two exceptions, were able to continue without inter-
ruption. In Salt Lake City not a single failure occurred among the banks,
and on the dangerous days which succeeded the failure of the banks of
Denver, Cheyenne and the cities of the Pacific Coast, not so much as the
suggestion of a run was apparent in any banking-house in the city. About
this time bonds of Salt Lake City, of the par value of $600,000, were sold in
the markets of the East at a premium. But few foreclosures of mortgages
occurred, and the writer is informed that, during the year which \vitnessed
the greatest effects of the panic, some of the largest loan and trust com-
panies doing business in Utah reported not a single default of either principal
or interest by their debtors. These striking illustrations of business sta-
bility and credit result from the methods which prevail among Utah's busi-
ness men. They are and always have been inherently opposed to doing busi-
ness on credit or indulging in speculation. Conservative and careful, they
never permit themselves to inaugurate booms or utilize their credit beyond
the certain point of their ability to make their payments.
Nearly every year shows some increase in the railway mileage of the
State. Salt Lake City and Ogden, both wholesale centers, send their goods
throughout Southern and Eastern Utah, and have been brought into auspi-
cious trade relations w r ith the Northern and Northwestern inter-mountain
States and the Puget Sound country by one of the component parts of that
great Union Pacific system, the Oregon Short Line.
CLIMATE.
The climate of Utah belongs in the list of its resources and attractions,
and has received the attention of some of the best writers on the subject in
America, many of whom admit that it approaches very near to the ideal
climate for which mankind is constantly in search. Father Silvestre Velez
de Escalaute, who reached Utah Lake on the 23d day of September, 1776,
and who was the first white man to set foot on Utah soil, wrote in the diary
of his journey: "Here the climate is so delicious, the air so balmy, that it
is a pleasure to breathe by day and by night."
The most fastidious taste for climate can be satisfied in Utah, for the
State has as many different climates as it has different altitudes. In some
UTAH.
79
localities springtime will be found in winter's season, in other the seasons are
distinctly marked, and there are localities where the climate is fully de-
scribed by the expression "winter and late fall."
But on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, and for fifty or more miles there-
from in every direction, is the climate of climates found. Within that region
altitude is present and the air of the ocean belongs to the fortunate dweller,
for the breezes born in the pure atmosphere of the encircling peaks are
salted by the sea as they are wafted across the 2,500 square miles of its
surface.
If the climate-hunter expects to find in Utah the equability of tempera-
ture such as the resident of Southern California pretends to enjoy, he will be
disappointed. The climate is characterized by extremes of temperature in
summer and winter. But these extremes are, happily, no greater than are
necessary to good health. In climates where the average of temperature is
about the same throughout all seasons of the year the people are said to
soon become weary of the monotony, and to long for the genial warmth of a
summer day and the invigorating air which comes with the snows of winter.
If we are to take the judgment of men who have made different climates and
their effect upon the human family a distinct study, we must conclude that
climates which maintain an average temperature throughout the year are not
conducive to the well-being of humanity. Such climates are said to promote
lassitude and indolence, and under their influence the human mind, it is
claimed, does not develop as fully as it does where extremes of temperature
are recorded. These writers contend that the majority of the great men of
the United States were born and reared in portions of the country where ex-
tremes of temperature occur.
MEAN TEMPERATURE.
The following table compiled by Prof. James Dryden, of the State Agri-
cultural College, Logan, from scattered monthly weather reports of the
Uniivd States Weather Bureau, shows the average mean temperature for
each month of the year and the average for the year for twelve different sec-
tions of Utah. This fairly represents the different portions of the State:
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AND NUMBER OF YEARS RECORDED.
= i
Corinne 4232 24.9 29.6 40.2 51.0 61.7 72.0 80
Fillmore 510027.027.739.448.657.765.973
Fort Duchesne 4941 9.8 18.9 36.6 49.2'57.3 65.6.71.
Heber 5440 18.4 16.5 31.5 43.5 53.2 59. 1J66
Levan 501020.522.635.145.856.1:64.172
Loa .... 23.224.533.141.251.459.366
Logan 477522.720.834.746.955.661.570
Moab 400028.335.545.655.1 65.672.078
Ogden 4307 28.0 32.5 41 .3 52.8 62.3 71 .4 79
Parowan 5970 27.6 29.0 38.6 46.9 56.2 63.5 71
St. George 2880 36.0 40.2 49.5 56.8 64.4 72.9 79
Salt Lake Citv 4354 27.8 32.8 41.6 49.2 58.5 67.8 75
State ." 24.527.538.949.058.366.273
6 65
471
464
3 70
774
977
070
379
874
872
866.251.636.329.151.
465.252.841.1:29.1 50.
8i62.6|47.833.820.545.
4i55.345.435.:
2J62. 2|47. 5 35. 2 24. 5 46.
454.742.932.432.743.
OJ61.351.037.'
,4 64.6 52.4 88.8 32.ft53.
,4 66.2 52.4 88.8t. 6)52.
9!59.9 1 49.239.5->7.S4S.
067.956.345.7:34.2.56.
,864.353.340.132.251.
5J62. 5150.2 38.8 28.4 49.
25
31
80 UTAH.
EXTREMES OF TEMPERATURE.
The mean temperature, however, gives at very best a very imperfect view
of the temperature conditions of a locality. The extremes must be studied if
we wish a full knowledge of the subject. The following table gives the high-
est and lowest maximum and minimum temperatures at Salt Lake City
for each month of a period of five years (1891 to 1896), and may be taken as
indicative of the extremes to be expected from year to year:
1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. Average.
January-
Maximum 46 45 48 50 52 482
Minimum 12 2 4 *1 3.4
February-
Maximum 55 60 49 43 54 52.2
Minimum 3 12 5 6 3 5.8
March
Maximum 64 68 73 67 76 69.6
Minimum 12 26 23 20 16 19.4
April
Maximum 79 73 72 77 79 76.0
Minimum 24 26 26 30 23 25.8
May-
Maximum 86 85 86 85 83 85.0
Minimum 38 36 34 33 33 34.8
June-
Maximum 84 98 92 89 90 90.6
Minimum 41 38 42 49 38 39.8
July-
Maximum 98 96 99 96 95 96.8
Minimum 45 55 52 53 52 51.4
August-
Maximum 95 100 96 95 97 96.6
Minimum 50 45 52 56 52 51.0
September-
Maximum 89 90 86 85 90 88.0
Minimum 38 48 33 37 29 37.0
October-
Maximum 77 80 77 77 81 78.4
Minimum 30 30 30 28 32 30.0
November
Maximum 72 66 64 64 66 66.4
Minimum 20 18 13 19 20 18.0
December
Maximum 51 55 57 56 46 53.0
Minimum *1 18 9 2 5.6
Year
Maximum 98 100 99 96 97 98.0
Minimum *1 4 *1 .4
*Below zero.
This table shows that the highest temperature reached at Salt Lake City
during the five years was 100 degrees (July, 1892). The average maximum
for the five years was 98. The average minimum is four-tenths of, a degree
above zero. The lowest point reached during the five years was 1 below zero.
RANGE OF TEMPERATURE.
The average monthly and yearly range of temperature at the points
named below for the five years is as follows:
Monthly. Yearly.
Corinne 49.0 111.6
Fillmore 68.5 119.7
Fort Duchesne 59.6 121.4
Heber 62.3 115.6
Loa 63.0 113.9
Logan 53.7 109.6
Moab 56. 9 106.2
Ogden 44.8 99.0
Parowan 57.9 103.2
St. George 60.6 104.4
Salt Lake City 48.2 97.6
Average 56.8 109.3
UTAH. 81
SENSIBLE TEMPERATURE.
There is another kind of temperature that we must not omit mention of in
discussing Utah's climate, and that is the "sensible" temperature. In the
humid States this sensible temperature might be called senseless temperature,
when it comes to a comparison with Utah. The sensible temperature means
the temperature that is actually felt, because we do not feel the degree of
heat that the air thermometer indicates. For instance, the air temperature
in midsummer may be 100, but the temperature actually felt by the body
may be 25 or 30 degrees lower, depending upon the condition of the atmos-
phere and other things. We know that in certain sections of the country we
feel the heat more than we do in Utah, though the thermometer may be
higher in Utah.
To illustrate this difference in fact we may turn to the records of the
warm spell of August, 189G, at New York City, and compare the same with,
the warmest month at Salt Lake City. The highest temperature at New
York during that summer was 94 degrees, at Salt Lake City 96 degrees.
At New York there occurred during this week, as shown by the reports of
the Health Department, 648 deaths from sunstroke, and in Brooklyn 215,
while at Salt Lake City during the .week ending July 14 no fatalities are re-
corded. At the former city a weekly maximum temperature of 90 degrees
resulted in a frightful mortality, while a weekly temperature of 93 at Salt
Lake City was not unduly oppressive. During the w r eek ending August 22
there were 66 deaths from the same cause in New York, and 99 in Brooklyn.
It is a question of evaporation. Evaporation is a cooling process, and it is
constantly going on from the surface of the body. The moisture that is per-
spired by the body is evaporated with greater or less rapidity; it is greater
when the surrounding atmosphere, in addition to being warm, is also dry.
Evaporation is also accelerated by the wind, and in a windy day the evapo-
ration is greater, and there is a consequent greater cooling of the surface of the
body. The use of a fan in an audience illustrates this fact. The action of the
fan, no matter how vigorously applied and in what numbers, will not reduce
the temperature of the auditorium. It sometimes increases the temperature
of the preacher, but it will reduce the temperature of the person using it by
accelerating the evaporation of moisture from the skin.
It has been found that the temperature of the wet bulb thermometer cor-
responds to the temperature of persons standing in the shade of trees and
exposed to a natural breeze of at least six miles an hour; so that the wet bulb
temperature, which is the temperature of evaporation, has come to be known
as the sensible temperature, and the recording of this temperature alongside
of the air temperature has now become a part of the work of the United
States Weather Bureau observers. This departure from the usual custom
of taking observations should be appreciated by the citizens of the arid
States.
It is shown in this way that the sensible temperature of Salt Lake City
corresponds to about that of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Sault Ste. Marie and Hal-
ifax during the months of July and August. New York City has a sensible
temperature 10 degrees higher than Salt Lake City, or 65 degrees. At the
same time, the maximum air temperature at New York is about 80, and at
Salt Lake City 85 So that we have the phenomenon of a higher air tempera-
ture at Salt Lake City than at New York, but a lower sensible tem-
perature. Salt Lake City's sensible temperature for July and August is
about 55 'degrees or a reduction of 30 degrees, due to evaporation. Chicago
and Boston have each a sensible temperature of about 62 degrees, San
Francisco about the same. San Francisco has a humid atmosphere like
Chicago, and hence its sensible temperature is also high.
This is all very satisfactory to the arid region. It is seen that though the
air temperature in our dry climate is considerably higher than that of the
82
UTAH'
humid States, the sensible temperature, the temperature actually felt by the
human body, is so much lower in the arid region that it may be positively
pleasant in the mountain valleys and at the same time decidedly oppressive,
often fatally so, in the humid East.
It will, therefore, be appreciated that although the readings of the ther-
mometer may be the same at sea level and in the altitudes o*n the same day,
the sensible temperature of the two places will be widely different.
PRECIPITATION.
STATEMENT SHOWING THE AVERAGE MONTHLY AND ANNUAL PRECIPITA-
TION IN INCHES, AT STATIONS or THE UTAH WEATHER SERVICE SINCE
RECORDS HAVE BEEN KEPT.
r/2
fc
1
.
<D
,0
v
,0
O .
r*
g
t
5
|
a
cS
r^ ^
-
cS
I 1
|
cS
a>
3
's
^
p
s
<D
O2
1
o
o
o
o>
ft
c
p
P
Corinne
1.27
1.261.291.12
1.12
.58 .44
.31
.63
.84
1.07
1.80
11.73
24-26
Fill more
1.47
1.68 1.65 2.25
1.11
.53 .51
.83
QU
45
73
1.41
13.60
6-8
Fort Duchesne
.38
.50 .71 .77
.79 .25 .48
.631 .60
.24
.23
6.35
6-8
Heber
2 89
2 16 15 1 01
Qn
35 75
61 1 08
94!
16 97
3
1 63
1 83 9 93 9 99 9 (Y7
69' 40
77 1 39
1 04
76
3 3 >?
18 45
6 7
57
fiS, IK 33
08 87
1 08 49
46
43
45
6 28
4
Logan
1 55
1.522.05 1.1212.06
.78 .27
.21 1-60
30
74
1 55
13 81
3-5
c.s
73 86 88 .33
.08' 64
.51
7<>
42
50
1 07
fi Q^
6 7
1 65
1 511 57 1 47 1 4Q
58 5
40
68
1 42
1 12
1 88 14 02
24 26
Parowan
1.27
1.562.031.35
.95
.171.09
1.06
1.04
.71
.57
1.00 12.55
5
St George
1 01
91
60 27
oo
03' 33
29
41
31
44
1 38
6 31
11-15
Salt Lake City
1 46
1 31
2 01 9 9d
1 76
78 1 **
75
1 60
1 48
1 68
16 53
09.03
State Average
1.31
1.49
1.11
.55
^S
1.63
1.32
1.19
.41
.62
.75
11.96
Those interested in this subject will bear out the assertion here made
that Utah thus discussed and illustrated by the foregoing tables will be an
interesting study to those who make good climate a condition precedent to
permanent location. All of the tables and much of the foregoing discussion
was prepared by Prof. James Dryden of the State Agricultural College, to
whom credit is here given. Truly, there is no better climate in the world
than that of Utah and the famous Salt Lake Valley. As Utah has varying
altitudes, so Utah has varying climates, and from the stock on hand a perfect
fit is guaranteed. In Northern Utah, where the altitude is between 6,000 and
7,000 feet, the winters are longer and colder, and the summers shorter and
cooler. In Salt Lake City, where the altitude is 4,260 feet, autumn and spring
rob winter and summer of many of their opening and closing days. The
Great Salt Lake, with its peculiar influence, tempers the severity of all sea-
sons, and makes them genial and pleasant. At Salt Lake the average sum-
mer temperature is 72 degrees, and the average winter temperature 32 de-
grees. On an occasional day in summer, perhaps once each year, the mer-
cury reaches 100 degrees, but it seldom falls below zero, and when it does, 4
degrees below is the usual limit. On any summer day, with a good horse,
the resident of Salt Lake City can, by driving up any one of its picturesque
canons, obtain, within two or three hours, all of the different climates in the
category. The limits of his drive may be the eternal snows on the one side
and the flowers blooming on the banks of the Jordan on the other. In Wash-
ington County, Southern Utah, where the altitude is only a few hundred feet
above sea-level, the climate is semi-tropical. There geraniums and other
UTAH. 83
tender plants thrive out of doors throughout all the winter season, and figs
and almonds are grown. Saint George is the chief city in this region, and
the time is coming when it will be the Mecca of seekers for a perfect winter
home.
It is a safe assertion to make that no one in Utah is dissatisfied with
Utah's climate, and that when the wonders of it are better known the State
will become the abiding place of thousands who are wearied with the rigor-
ous climates of other portions of the United States. The funnel-shaped
cloud which comes without warning and scatters ruin and death along its
trail, has never invaded Utah. A safe barrier against the approach of this
dreaded monster of the air is the mighty system of mountains which encom-
pass Utah about. Here are some interesting facts gleaned from the records
of the United States Weather Bureau at Salt Lake:
The average velocity of the wind per hour is 5.2 miles. In Boston it is
9.2; in Sandusky, Ohio, 12.8; in St. Louis, 9.8; Cheyenne, 10.6; Denver, 6.3;
San Francisco, 9.3. This velocity is less in winter than in summer. High
winds are very rare, whereas in many Eastern cities a velocity of 60 to
70 miles per hour is frequently recorded. Damp winds are unknown. The
relative humidity is 48.3. In Los Angeles it is 66. In New York it is 68.
The mean temperature at Salt Lake for 1900 was 54 degrees, or three de-
grees above the normal. The annual average mean range of temperature is
51.5; the average monthly range is 47, and the average daily range is 20.2.
This means that we have spring, summer, autumn and winter. Showers and
blossoms in spring, warmth and fruitfulness in summer, bracing open
weather in the autumn, and snowfall and frost, sleighing and skating in
winter. Professor Jones says:
"It is undoubtedly true that the climate where there is no difference be-
less than 90 degrees than it is more than 100. At Montral the annual range
tween Christmas and the Fourth of July, where every day is like every other,
except for the dust, is a first-class place to die in, but to live we want a cli-
mate that will hold up all our energies, that will bring out all our powers,
and keep us alive and progressive without making us suffer because of its
rigor. This we have in Utah."
The records show that the extreme yearly range of temperature is oftener
is 140 degrees; New York City, 114; St. Louis, 113; Chicago, 132; Denver,
Colo., 126. The number of clear and sunshiny days at Salt Lake averaged
for twenty years was 287. Winter seriously begins about Christmas time,
and ceases about the 1st of March. The first light frost generally comes
early in October, and there is none later than April. With these general
observations, the writer offers the testimony of individuals familiar with the
climate of Utah, and of eminent physicians who have made it and its effect
upon diseases a study.
Prof. Marcus E. Jones reviews the climate of Salt Lake City for a single
year as follows:
"Suppose a stranger comes here from the East; the first thing he notices
is the buoyancy and elasticity of his step; he can hardly get enough air into
his lungs, and he expands them and takes long draughts with as much relish
as he would do so much cool water when nearly famished with thirst; his
clothing feels warm and dry, all his vital powers are quickened, and he enjoys
everything with a keen relish. Suppose he comes here in October. The air
is delightful, just cool enough to give spice to everything. At first the day
temperature runs from 70 degrees up to 80, but each day it grows a little
cooler. The skies are clear, and just as the haze is beginning to accumu-
late we are favored with a shower, which clears the air and drops about
a quarter of an inch of rain in the valley, and tinges the lofty mountain
peaks with white. These showers occur on an average once a week during
October. Following the rain we may have a slight frost, which gradually
tains, till at length the painting is gorgeous wherever the eye falls upon the
turns the aspens into gold and the maples and, oaks to crimson on the nioun-
hills. Each day is a little cooler than its predecessor, but there are no chill-
84 UTAH.
ing blasts, no snow, nor drizzling and drenching rains; it is more like the
Indian summers of the States, but with far less haze. October shades off
into November; the showers come every four or five days, but not so much
in quantity each time; the snow creeps down the mountains; the night tem-
perature goes to or a little below the freezing point, and the day at first is
about 45 degrees, but gradually lowers to 32 at the close of the month, while
the night is from 5 to 10 degrees lower, but yet no storms other than the
brief showers. The streets continue dusty through this month and up to
Christmas. December is a continuation of the preceding month, but still
colder, with showers or, rarely, a flurry of snow, seldom exceeding a tenth of
an inch at a time, but coming every third day till Christmas, when, either
just before or just after it, we have our first snowstorm, which ushers in our
'cold snap,' as Salt Lakers call it, which last for two or three days, or
even a week, when the thermometer goes down nearly to zero for a night
or two. Sometimes our cold spell comes in November and sometimes in
January. In January the flurries of snow come every third day, sometimes
melting as fast as they fall, and at other times remaining on the ground till
we have four' or five inches, but the snow soon melts off, so that by the close
of January the ground is bare and spring weather begins. During the whole
of our six weeks of what we call winter there are no blizzards. The sun is
shining brightly most of the time, and the cold is quite steady, what there is
of it; the mean daily range is about 20 per cent, less than that of Los Angeles
during the same time. In the early part of February there are more or less
falls of snow, that usually melt as they fall, but by the middle of the month
flowers are generally in bloom on the bench back of the city. The number
of rainy or snowy days is about the same as in the preceding month. What
wind there is comes from the south or east, and is warm. The average
movement is less than five miles per hour. March warms up gradually; there
are about two showers per week in the valley, and if they come in the night
there is a little snow on the ground at sunrise, but it is gone quickly. The
streets soon get dusty, only to be moistened up by the next shower, and by
the latter part of the month, or the first of the next, the fruit trees are in
bloom and the gardens are all made. The wind movement is less than five
miles per hour. We do not experience those proverbial March gales so com-
mon in the East. The average temperature has now risen to nearly 60 de-
gree. With the advent of April come the warm showers, averaging a quarter
of an inch at a time, and coming a little more often than twice a week, but
lasting only a few hours at a time. The warm south winds also help greatly
to bring all the vegetation into full blast. By the 8th of the month the last
frost has come and gone. The wind is but slightly over five miles per hour.
Everybody looks for the showers with delight. A hard clap of thunder is a
curiosity. No one fears a tornado, for we never have any. The drizzling
rains, lasting for a week, and the somber clouds obscuring the sun for many
days, we never have. Fogs occur perhaps once or twice for a part of a day
during the year, enough to show us what we have escaped by coming to
Utah. In May there is one shower a w^eek, and on a number of other days
we have little sprinkles. By the close of the month the temperature has
risen to 70 degrees, and the bathing at the lake has begun. In June there
are three showers every two weeks. The daily temperature has risen to 75,
and even 80 degrees, by the end of the month. The wind movement still
continues about five miles per hour. The snow has disappeard from all the
mountains, the streams are running full with water from the melting snows,
fruits begin to ripen, the crops are coming on excellently, the schools are
closing, and everybody is getting ready for the summer holidays. Before the
month is up there are many camping parties scattered all through the moun-
tains, fishing, hunting and enjoying the cool and even frosty nights, while
those remaining in the city are going by thousands daily to enjoy the de-
licious bathing in the lake. In July there are about two showers every three-
weeks. The average temperature is abou 76 degrees, and the night tempera-
ture often goes below 60 degrees, so that there is seldom any inconvenience
UTAH.
85
'Or difficulty about sleeping well. The dry air, which gets heated up during
the day, cools off rapidly as soon as the sun goes down. August has more
-showers than July, and is cooler. September is still cooler than August, and
is about as showery. People begin to return from their vacations refreshed
and ready for another year's work. This is the round of Salt Lake's climate,
and it differs but little from year to year. One great feature of our location
is our proximity to the mountains, where we can get any weather we may
^desire. Suppose a person should become tired of the summer weather, as is
very liable to be the case in the East. His only solace there is that it can-
not be helped, and he must sweat it out; but here all that is necessary is to
ride twenty-five miles on the train, and he is in the heart of the mountains,
at an elevation of 8,500 feet above the sea, where it is so cool that it freezes
every night in the year, and so he can roll up in several blankets and enjoy
nature's sweet restorer, sleep. The value of such opportunities cannot be
reckoned nor overestimated in comfort or health. Is it any wonder that
Utah people are proud of their climate and position, which combine the ad-
vantages of the seacoast (bathing), the cool mountain retreats, the products
of agriculture and the conveniences of advanced civilization all in one?
How pleasant it is to camp in the mountains or fish and hunt with the knowl-
edge that we shall not be troubled with mosquitoes, gnats, fleas or jiggers;
that there will be no dews, or very little, to wet our feet and clothing; that
if we are caught in a storm it will last but an hour or two, and then clear off
as fine as ever; that if the sun gets too hot we can stand in the shade for a
few minutes and cool off to our satisfaction, and that on our return from the
day's jaunt we can be sure of a refreshing sleep and full recuperation for the
duties of the morrow!"
Doctor Standard, for many years an authority in Utah upon the climate
of the State, speaks of it as "the most unique and wonderful climate on the
face of the globe."
TABLE
OF MEAN, EXTREMES AND RANGE OF TEMPEEATURE ANNUALLY AND
AMOUNT OF PRECIPITATION FOR PERIOD EXTENDING FROM 1875 TO
1897, INCLUSIVE, PREPARED BY THE OBSERVER OF THE U. S. WEATHER
BUREAU AT SALT LAKE CITY.
Years.
Mean.
1875 51.3
1876 50.6
1S77 51.0
1878 51.3
1879 53.2
1880 54.0
1881 51.5
1882 49.2
18S3 50.8
1SS4 50.9
1885 52.3
1886 51.6
1887 52.7
18S8 53.0
18S9 52.7
1890 51.3
1891 50.6
1892 52.7
1893 50.2
1S94 50.8
1895 50.2
1896 51.5
1897 50.2
.. 51.5
Temperature.
Maximum. Minimum.
101
5
97
no
7
y<$
97
5
97
10
95
2
100
2
96
100
20
93.2
13
100.3
4.6
99.1
2.9
97.9
8.7
98.2
16.7
102
5
100
6
98
100
1
99
4
96
1
97
97
2
98
2
Precipitation,
Range. Inches.
96
23.64
90
21.28
95
16.35
92
19.75
107
13.11
93
10.94
98
16.88
96
15.98
120
14.24
106.2
17.52
95.7
19.69
102.0
18.89
89.2
11.66
114.9
13.62
97
18.46
106
. 10.33
98
15.92
101
13.35
95
17.35
97
15.27
97
11.95
99
18.42
96
16.74
98.1
9
94.8
16.15
Average
Dr. Thomas J. Mays states: "It may be truthfully said that there is no
other element in our environment which modifies the bodily structure more
palpably than mountain elevation. This influence pertains especially to the
86
UTAH.
respiratory organs, and is principally, if not entirely, exerted by the thinness
or attenuation of the atmosphere, and by a diminution of air pressure on
the outside of the body. It is estimated that, at an elevation of 6,000 feet,
the air contains about 25 per cent, less oxygen than it does at the seashore,
and that the body is relieved of nearly 7,000 pounds of outside pressure.
Hence, ascending into a rarefied environment, the pulse is accelerated from
fifteen to twenty beats per minute, the respiration is quickened, in order to
obtain the required amount of oxygen, and evaporation from the skin and
lungs is increased. Protracted residence in such a region enlarges the chest
capacity to a marked extent."
Doctor Niles says: "The physiological action of the climate is that of a
strong stimulant tonic to the whole constitution, and especially to the nervous
system. It is difficult for one who has never experienced the effects by com-
ing from a low to a very high place to understand the wonderful exhilaration
that follows breathing this dry, rarefied air. Those in health feel and enjoy
the powerful tonic almost intoxicating effect, but not to the marked degree
that the invalid does. It seems to supply a necessity in his case; nor are the
effects limited to a temporary stimulant, to be followed by a corresponding
depression. Very soon his appetite is better, his digestion improves, the
feeling of lassitude disappears, exercise becomes a pleasure, and he is able to
enjoy the outdoor life to which he is invited by new scenes, sunny skies and
bracing air. With the increased exercise there is a more rapid gain in weight
and strength.
"Dryness, equability, plenty of sunshine, absence of high winds, and cool-
ness are all valuable and necessary high-altitude climatic features, and
no place should be chosen where these conditions do not exist. But it is un-
doubtedly the stimulus of the lessened atmospheric pressure that exerts the
most profound influence, and, more than anything else, it is the adaptation of
this factor to the needs of the patient that decides the result."
AVERAGES AT SALT LAKE CITY OF EACH MONTH FOR SEVEN-
TEEN YEARS, OF SEASONS AND YEARS.
TEMPERATURE.
WIND.
PRECIPITATION.
02
.2
>
oj
fee
2
<D
YEAR.
1
l|
Is
O fl
W CJJ
!|
1
1*i
o
'
o
*
p
1
0)
l|
1
o
a
O
^
^o
^>
&
^2
^ !>>
t>
r^H I " H
o|
oS
j>,
3
ft
3
||
1
M
13
g c
S o
o
fl 'S
g
>
^i-H
"*
a
a
S 1 ^
A
a"
oa,
S
1
1
2
fi
1^
1
I
s
I s
December,. .
33.3
51.1
13.6
44.7
25.0
14.6
SE
4.1
3,032
65.9
1.73
5.7
January
28.0
47.2
10.5
48.1
24.3
15.7
SE
4.1
3,155
63.8
1.48
5.1
February
33.6
53.1
13.6
46.1
26..S
15.7
SE
4.6
3,163
61.7
1.35
5.2
March
41 9
65 5
23 3
47.8
32.6
18.5
N W
5 5
4,151
53.7
2.00
4 9
April
49.9
72.5
81.0
47^0
35.2
20.1
N W
6.1
4^435
49.7
2.39
5.0
May .
58.1
82.7
37 4
50
38 8
22 2
N W
6 3
4 647
45.7
1.66
4.3
June
67.4
90.9
45.2
49.9
40.4
24.4
N W
6.2
4^425
39.5
0.77
3.1
July
75.7
95.4
53.6
45.9
41.5
24.8
NW
5.6
4,131
37.4
0.40
3.2
August
75.0
95.0
52.5
46.7
40.4
24.1
SE
5.5
4,418
37.5
0.75
3.1
September . .
64.6
87.1
48.3
49.5
39.5
23.6
N W
5.4
3,846
38.2
0.88
2.8
October
51.9
75.6
30.8
49.6
35.0
20.5
N W
4.9
3.630
47.6
1.67
3.7
November...
39.2
61.6 * 18.6
46.2
30.0
17.5
N W
3.9 2,815
56.3
1.36
4.4
AVERAGE OF EACH SEASON.
Winter
Fall
31.6
51.9
50.6
73.6
12.6
30.9
46.3
34.8
25.3
34.8
15.3
20.5
SE
N W
4.3
4.7
9,350
10 291
63.8
47.4
4.56
3.91
16.0
10.9
Summer
72.7
50
93.8
74 8
50.4
30 6
47.5
48 3
40.8
35 5
24.4
20 3
N W
N W
5.8
6
12,674
13 233
38.1
49 7
1.92
6.05
9.4
14.2
Tear
51.5
73.1
31.1
47.2
34.1
20.1
NNW
5.6
45,548
49.7
16.44
50.5
UTAH. 87
The above table, prepared from the records of the Signal Service, exhibits
the average of the extreme range of temperature, not of the maximum and
minimum of each day in the month, but of the single highest and lowest read-
ing in each month, and also of that day .in each month on which the range
was greatest; the mean temperature by months; the mean daily range; direc-
tion and velocity, and total movement of the winds; relative humidity; pre-
cipitation, etc., by months, period of observation covering seventeen years.
The figures under the head of "average cloudiness" give the total actual
cloudiness from daily observations. For the purpose of observation the day
is divided into tenths, the cloudy tenths noted, added together, and divided
by the number of days in the month. Thus the figures represent not 50.1 full
cloudy days in the year, but the equivalent of 50.1 full cloudy days distributed
throughout the year.
ATTRACTIONS.
Utah, costumed in the gray of her mountain sides and the green and gold
of her fertile valleys, her head crowned with the white of the never-melting
snows, and glorified with tints from the palette of the sun; her bosom decked
with the beautiful jewel, her mysterious and salty sea; with her rivers
winding like ribbons of silver about her showy form, and her lakes and
springs sparkling amid the undulations of her wondrous attire is an attrac-
tion in herself.
THE GREAT SALT LAKE has long been accounted one of the marvels of
creation. Baron La Hontan, in 1689, gathered from the Western Indians
some vague notions of its existence. His imagination led him to tell strange
tales of a bearded people who dwelt in powerful cities on its fertile shores,
and navigated its briny waves with boats 130 feet long. About 1776 Father
Escalante reached Utah Lake, and was there told by the Indians of another
and greater lake to the north, the waters of which were "noxious and ex-
tremely salt," producing "an itching sensation in the moistened part." In
1820 Mr. Miller, of the Astor party, saw and visited the lake, and the same
year Prevost trapped in its vicinity. In 1824 James Bridger looked upon its
waters, and to him, according to some writers, belongs the honor of its dis-
covery. In 1826 four trappers sailed around it in hide canoes, searching for
beaver. In 1831 or 1832 Captain Bonneville examined and wrote an account
of the lake. Washington Irving thereupon gave it the name of "Lake Bonne-
ville," which it bore until 1843, when John C. Fremont, with Kit Carson
and others, explored it, determined accurately its latitude and longitude, and
gave it the name which it now bears. In 1847 the Mormon pioneers laid the
foundation of Salt Lake City on its shores, and since then all that is known
concerning its peculiarities has been given to the world. Much speculation
has been indulged in as to its origin. Geology has traced far up the moun-
tain sides, from Idaho to Arizona, the high- water line of an ancient lake, to
which the Government has lately given the name "Lake Bonneville." Some
say this ancient lake shrunk gradually as the centuries retreated, the saltiness
of its waters increasing in the proportion that evaporation exceeded inflow,
until Utah's Dead Sea is all that is left of old Lake Bonneville. Some say
it was once a fresh-water lake, and that inflowing saline streams have given
it its present density. But it is idle to speculate on this subject. Utah has
the lake, and numbers it among the greatest benefactions she has received
from nature's hand. The area of this body of water varies with the seasons.
Having no outlet, it loses none of its volume except by evaporation. Its
waters ebb and flow as the seasons are wet and dry. Since the settlement
of the pioneers the extremes have been, lowest water in 1867, highest water
in 1887. Owing to these variations, it is impossible to give an accurate
statement of the width and length of the lake. Professor Jones says it is
seventy-five miles Jong by fifty miles wide, in the widest place, and that it is
88 UTAH.
350 miles in circumference. Two thousand five hundred square miles is its
generally accepted area. Its average depth is about fifteen feet, and its
greatest depth about thirty-three feet, though these depths vary in different
years. In density the lake is about 20 per cent, solid matter. This also
varies with the oscillations, being greatest when the lake is shallowest. Three
rivers and several small streams comprise the inlets. The water is a beau-
tiful green, and so clear that objects can be distinctly seen at a depth of from
fifteen to tw r enty-five feet. Ordinarily the surface of the lake is placid, but
it has "times of noble energy," as well as "times of perfect peace." Occa-
sionally storms rage over it, and then its waves roll high and dash upon the
shore with almost the force of the waves of old ocean. Tales have been
told of schools of whales that disport themselves in the waters of the lake,
but these are fables. Nothing lives in the lake except a minute shrimp, from
one-quarter to one-half an inch in length, whicli Professor Jones compares
to "a small minnow with a feathery tail." Of the feathered tribe none
seek the lake but the seagull, of which there are thousands. These describe
graceful circles above it, or dance upon its billows, seeking at certain seasons
the mountain islands, of which the lake has eight, and there hatching and
raising their young. Upon the climate of the surrounding region this strange
body of water exercises a peculiar influence, tempering the extremes of sum-
mer and winter, and giving to the air a delightful softness. Residents for
250,905,600,000. Estimating this vast volume of salt at the present market
price, he gives it a total value of $103,483,296,000. This salt, the same
many miles about it enjoy the anomaly of a sea breeze at 4,000 feet above the
tide. The lake's value to Utah, in a material sense, is known to be very great.
Thousands of tons of salt are evaporated from its waters every year by com-
panies operating plants along its shore. This salt finds its way in a crude
state to the stock ranges of the West, and vast amounts of it are consumed
in chlorodizing the ores of "Silverland." Much of it is refined and sold for
table and dairy use. To compute the present value of the salt it contains
is to drive mathematics to the limits of endurance. A writer in the Utalmian
states the number of cubic feet of salt in the waters of the lake to be
writers says, loaded in cars, ten tons to a car, would fill 958,424,960 cars,
and make a train long enough to reach over 200 times around the earth.
But to appreciate the grandeur of the lake, and the blessing it is to the
people of Utah, the reader should visit Garfield Beach, where thousands an-
nually lave in its briny waters and float upon its buoyant waves. Garfield
is a model pleasure place. The architecture of its commodious and well-
appointed structures is in every way attractive. A beautiful dancing and
observation pavilion is situated out in the lake, several hundred feet from the
shore, and here the finest music is furnished for dancers. On the shore are
restaurants, drinking places, shaded walks and all the other accompani-
ment of a well-conducted resort. Close at hand is a roomy, open pavilion,
wherein summer opera is given and other stage amusements presented. Gar-
field is the only resort upon the lake having a sandy shore, and the great
patronage it receives from women and children is due in part to this circum-
stance. Beyond the pavilion the luxury of deep-sea bathing may be had,
but near the shore the water murmurs over the shallows, and there the timid
and the untried, the ladies and the babies, may watch
"The waves that reach
Their jeweled fingers up the sanded beach,"
and alternate between a bath in the velvety sand and in the waters along the
shore. Much has been written descriptive of the bath in the Great Salt Lake,
but neither pencil nor pen can adequately describe it. Those who indulge in
in it have a sense of perfect security and strange exhilaration. Strengthened
by the salt, the arms of the waves bear the bather on their surface. While
the men lie prone upon their backs with folded arms, and smoke as the waters
rock them, and the women grace the swelling bosom of the sea with their
UTAH. 89
floating forms, the liappy children play and paddle in the shadow of the piers.
But the pleasure of a visit to this delightful resort does not cease with the
bath it affords. The lover of nature will here find a scene of exquisite love-
liness. Behind the pavilion, and yet so near that a walk of five minutes will
plunge you into the cooling depths of the canons that seam their sides, rise
the lofty, picturesque and cloud-festooned peaks of the Oquirrh. Stretching
away in the other direction are miles of the green, island-dotted surface of the
lake, beyond which, mellowed by distance, are the far-off summits of the
mountains that fringe its western brink. To the south sweeps in graceful
circles the shore line, and to the north lies the many-hued and fertile valley
of the Great Salt Lake, with the "City of the Saints" in the distance. Garfield
is easily reached from Salt Lake City. Another lake resort near Salt Lake
City is Saltair Beach. The Syracuse bathing resort is much patronized by
the people of Ogden and the surrounding country, and the bathing there
afforded is in every way delightful.
HOT SPRINGS. These curative agencies of nature are found in many por-
tions of the State; indeed, so common are they that they are convenient to
almost every settlement of importance. Ogden maintains a fine establish-
ment a few miles north of the city. Salt Lake City has three different bath-
ing places where you can boil out in waters heated over .nature's furnaces.
Beth's Hot Springs are four miles north of the city, and are much resorted
to by invalids and pleasure-seekers. The Warm Springs, within the settled
limits, enjoy a large patronage. The chemical elements in these several
springs do not differ materially. Their waters contain such ingredients as
chloride of sodium, iron, sulphur, magnesia and lithia, and possess peculiar
healing qualities. The ailments most relieved by them are rheumatic, kidney
and stomach troubles. The temperature of the different springs vary, some
being as low as 95 degrees, and some reach as high as from 128 to 140*
degrees F. The springs of Ojo Caliente, of Glenwood and of Arkansas have
long been resorted to by invalids of the Eastern States, but the hot springs
of Utah are equally efficacious, and when their wonderful curative properties
are better advertised they will attract to the State many invalids and
pleasure-seekers.
UTAH LAKE, a beautiful sheet of fresh water near Provo, must not be
omitted from the list of Utah's attractions. The lake is the source of the
River Jordan, which meanders among the grassy fields of the Utah and Salt
Lake valleys, and flows into the Great Salt Lake. Boating is a popular
amusement on Utah Lake, and during the hunting season hundreds of duck-
hunters and myriads of ducks visit it. The lake is stocked with black bass,
whitefish, trout and common food fish, and is resorted to by the State's fish-
ermen. The lake receives the waters of the American Pork, Provo and
Spanish rivers, is twenty- five miles in length by five miles in breadth, and is
encircled by picturesque mountains. Around its shores is exemplified, per-
haps more perfectly than in any other part of Utah, the high degree of suc-
cess attained by the Utah farmer.
MOUNTAIN RESORTS. With these the State is bountifully supplied. In
the vicinity of almost every settlement of importance are deep canons
wherein the people at home, as well as those from abroad, seek, in the sum-
mer season, the coolness and pleasure of camp life. Near Salt Lake City,
high up the mountain sides, on the shores of mountain lakes, or on the banks
of mountain streams, summer hotels are conducted for the convenience of
those who prefer to have all of the recreation and none of the labor incident
to summering in the mountains. It may be said that wherever there is a
mountain in Utah there is also an interesting canon, and the searcher for a
spot in which to summer will find no difficulty in suiting his taste, no matter
how critical it may be.
THE HOT POTS. Near Park City will be found a natural curiosity of
Utah, called familiarly "THE HOT-POT REGION." Here innumerable hot
90 UTAH.
springs have built up around their mouths cylindrical-shaped affairs which
very much resemble inverted pots, from the top of which overflow the waters
of the springs. These pots, some of which are many feet high, are scat-
tered all over the surface of the country, and present a singular and inter-
. esting spectacle. This region is annually visited by many strangers, who in-
dulge in bathing and mountain-climbing.
FISHING AND HUNTING. The angler will find in Utah ample opportuni-
ties to indulge in his favorite sport. The mountains streams are stocked with
gamy trout and the but little less gamy black bass abounds in the waters of
Utah Lake. In season good duck-hunting can be had on Utah Lake, the
Jordan and around the pools and lagoons of the Salt Lake Valley. On the
mountain sides grouse are plentiful, arid now and then a deer is seen, but to
find any amount of larger game the hunter must seek the mountain ranges of
the Uintah and Uncompahgre reservations. Salt Lake City is the usual out-
putting place for fishermen and hunters, and most of the fishing and hunting
grounds can be conveniently reached over the Oregon Short Line. There are
many other attractions in Utah which cannot be particularly described in this
book, but which can be easily found by the pleasure and health seeker. Dur-
ing the summer season the Oregon Short Line runs frequent excursions from
points along its line to the different resorts of the State. These excursions
are popularized by cheap rates and a liberal ticket limit.
THE MORMON QUESTION.
The Mormon question belongs largely to the past. It has long since
ceased to be a frequent subject for discussion. Once in a while in the midst
of political excitement it breaks out and is talked of for a time, but interest
in it soon subsides, and the people, Mormon and Gentile, continue their trade
and social relations, which every year are more firmly establised. The ques-
tion no longer affects the State's future growth or prosperity. The hatred
and uncharitableness once provoked by it have passed away, and but for
the fact that there are in the East persons who still believe that it is -a
factor in the social, religious and business life of the State, the discussion
of the question might well be eliminated from every book and article con-
cerning Utah. It is confessed that during the first thirty-five years of
Utah's Territorial existence the relations between the Mormons and the Gen-
tiles were more or less strained. How could they well have been otherwise?
The Mormons had fled from what they believed to be the persecutions of the
Eastern people, and, unmindful of the danger of the effort, had moved 1,000
miles into the wilderness, there to build up a commonwealth wherein they
could manage their own affairs business and governmental. Naturally,
they felt a proprietorship over the region they occupied, and looked with
disfavor upon the coming of those whose religious belief and methods were
different from their own. Again, the Mormon creed, as then professed, was
in many important respects entirely at variance with other religious creeds
of the United States, and its influence early became apparent in local, social,
business and governmental affairs. For many years after the first settlement
was made the Mormons were alone in the wilderness, but the discovery in
and around Utah of great deposits of valuable minerals, and the building of
the Union Pacific into the West, attracted to their country the adventurous
spirits who, during that period of Western development, were breaking over
the border line of civilization and blazing trails for those who were in time
to follow them. The new-comers were Gentiles, and with their arrival
began the friction which first called attention to the Mormon question, a
question which for many years, more than anything else, retarded Utah's
progress. This friction resulted from Gentile antagonism to Mormon political
control, to polygamy and to the alleged teaching by Mormon leaders of the
supremacy of the church over the State. National politics at this time re-
UTAH. 91
ceived no attention, but two local organizations the People's party, repre-
sentative of the Mormon element, and the Liberal party, representative of
the Gentile element for over thirty years contended for political mastery.
The animosities engendered during this long period need not be discussed
here, as they have long since passed away. For many years before the long
conflict closed it was apparent that these animosities were decreasing, and
that the contending classes were gradually drawing nearer together. These
signs indicated the beginning of the end, and the end came when the Mormon
people disbanded their party, surrendered polygamy and proclaimed the per-
petual dissolution of church and State. These concessions were at once
received by the mass of the Gentile people in the spirit with which they were
made. The Liberal party disbanded with but one dissenting vote, old antag-
onists shook hands, old hatreds were dissipated, and there began in Utah an
era of peace and good w r ill far more perfect than could have existed had it
not have been preceded by years of conflict. Today no one well informed
about Utah will dissent from the writer's statement that there is not else-
where in the United States a more loyal x progressive and law-abiding people
than the people of the "Forty-fifth State." The name "Gentile" and "Mor-
mon" are seldom now heard in Utah. The two classes intermingle in social
and business affairs, and are united in effort to further the growth and
herald abroad the glory of the State.
SCHOOL SYSTEM. Bancroft Library
In 1890 the Legislature of Utah enacted a law establishing a system of
free public schools for Utah. Prior to that time the children of the State
were dependent upon sectarian schools or upon schools supported to a greater
or less extent by tuition charges. The law of 1890 has been followed by other
legislation, the effect of which has been to give the State as perfect a public-
school system as is enjoyed by any other State in the Union. Space will not
p'ermit the discussion of the details of this system. It is enough to say that
the schools of Utah are already far-famed for their excellence, and that they
have attracted to the State from the surrounding States and Territories
many thousand people who desire to have their children receive instruction
therein. In Salt Lake City the school property acquired since 1890, and now
held by the school board, is valued at $1,098,451.85. This sum is represented
by twenty-six commodious, modern, thoroughly ventilated and completely
equipped palatial school buildings, wherein the most improved methods
known to the science of education are daily employed. The present enroll-
ment of the Salt Lake City schools (January 1, 1901) is 12,584. The growth,
not only of the schools, but of Salt Lake, since 1890 will be appreciated when
the statement is made that the enrollment of 1890 was 6,368, representing
72 per cent, of the entire school poulation. The astonishing development of
the public-school system as a result of the law of 1890 is, however, not con-
fined to Salt Lake City. Every school district in the State can make propor-
tionately an equally good showing. Utah is justly proud of her common
schools, which will influence to a marked degree her future growth and the
intellectual development of her people. The total school population (1900)
was 84,419; total value of all school property, $2,932,745.14.
THE STATE UNIVERSITY. This institution is located at Salt Lake City,
on a sightly eminence east of the limits. The grounds, sixty acres in extent,
were set out of the Fort Douglas Military Reservation by a recent Act of
Congress. Two hundred thousand dollars of State appropriations have been
expended within two years in erecting normal, physical and library buildings,,
which are attractive and modern, and which are in general use pending the
completion of the scheme of construction, which includes several additional
structures. This institution is supported by the State, and furnishes instruc-
92 UTAH.
tion in all branches of popular education. It has a thoroughly-equipped
chemical laboratory, a gymnasium and museum, the latter having received
from the Utah World's Fair Commission the gift of Utah's mineral exhibit
at the World's Fair, which makes it of great value to those seeking instruc-
tion and information upon the mineral resources of the State.
THE STATE AGKICULTTJRAL COLLEGE at Logan has thirty-two professors,
a strong attendance and buildings attractive and adequate.
Other schools, academies and colleges have been mentioned elsewhere in
this report.
RELIGION.
The belief is still much too general that the creed of the Latter-Day Saints
is practically the only religion professed in Utah, and the question is fre-
quently asked, "Will I have an opportunity of attending my own church if
I remove to your State?" To this the answer can be made, "If you belong
to any of the religious societies usually present in the cities of the United
States you will find your church there." The Mormon people have many
meeting-houses, and have built four magnificent temples wherein they teach
their followers and conduct their peculiar services, but in almost every city
and town in the State other denominations have their houses of worship.
Salt Lake City is a city of churches, and some of the edifices would be a
credit to the larger cities. Sunday schools are conducted by all of the differ-
ent denominations, and the religious tone of the people is as pure as in any
other place in the country.
SOCIAL AFFAIRS, ART AND AMUSEMENTS.
A more music-loving and pleasure-seeking people than the people of Utah
will not be found elsewhere in the United States. Salt Lake sent to the
World's Fair its great Tabernacle choir, where it competed in open contest
with the greatest choirs in the world securing the second prize. This choir
is said to be the largest company of church singers in the world, and its fame
has extended throughout the nation. One of the teachings of Brigham Young
was that the people must be amused, and so in the very dawn of Salt Lake's
history the Home Dramatic Association, an association which lives to this
day, was organized. This company of players entertained the people through-
out all the trying times of the city's infancy, and many of its actors became
celebrated. In 1862 the Salt Lake Theater was built, an amusement house
theater seats 1,700 people, and Booth and other great actors spoke their lines
from its stage when to visit Salt Lake meant a long and tiresome stage ride
from the Missouri River. In this theater "the Immortal Artemus" gave one
of the last lectures he delivered in America, and in Salt Lake he gathered the
material for his quaint account of "The City of the Saints," which he gave
to delighted London almost up to the very day of his unhappy death. Utah
which then and now compares favorably with any in the United States. This
has given some distinguished artists to fame. Dallin, whose work as a sculp-
tor has passed the scrutiny of the art critics of European salons, was born
and raised in Utah. Maud Adams, the charming actress, first saw the light
in Utah, and began, when a child, her artistic career in the Salt Lake Thea-
ter. There are at this time two opera-houses in Salt Lake, one in Ogden,
one in Logan, one in Park City and one in Provo, all of which are commo-
dious and properly equipped for the appearance of large companies. Utahians
are imbued by long years of training and opportunity with the desire for
relaxation. This is evidenced by their enthusiastic patronage of their amuse-
ment houses, by the encouragement they give to societies organized for
pleasure purposes and by their daily visits in season to their lake and other
UTAH. 93
resorts. In all social matters they are up to the standard in every way.
Inviting the people of other States to come and live among them, they make
acquaintance easy and hasten to extend to every new-comer the fullest hos-
pitality. All religious classes mingle without friction, and a place in society
is always open to the deserving.
THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF UTAH
have been described with some detail in the portions of this book devoted to-
the mining and agricultural resources of the several counties. The towns
and cities of 2,000 or more population, stated in the order of their rank,
according to the census of 1900, are as follows:
Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County 53,531
Ogden, Weber County 16,313
Provo, Utah County 6,185
Logan, Cache County 5,451
Park City, Summit County 3,759
Springville, Utah County 3,422
Murray, Salt Lake County 3,302
Eureka, Juab County 3,085 .
Brigliam City, Box Elder County 2,859
Springville, Utah County 2,735
American Fork, Utah County 2,732
Lehi, Utah County 2,719
Payson, Utah County 2,636
Mill Creek, Salt Lake County 2,498
Pleasant Grove, Utah County 2,460
Manti, Sanpete County 2,408
Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County 2,372
Mercur, Tooele County 2,351
Nephi, Juab County 2,208
Ephrairn, Sanpete County 2,086
Besides these there are many thriving villages throughout the agricul-
tural and mining districts having a population of from 500 to 2,000 souls.
These villages are all well governed, have good business houses, and many
of them are supplied with fire apparatus and other municipal conveniences.
SALT LAKE CITY.
On July 24, 1847, in the morning, after the first band ("The Immortals")
of Utah pioneers had unyoked for the last time on their memorable journey
their tired oxen, Salt Lake City was founded.
The story told is that Brigham Young, under whose leadership they were,
and whose genius was later to be written on every page of the history of
early trans-Missouri settlement, planted his cane on the eminence now
crowned with the most wonderful of all Mormon edifices, and said, "Here
will we build the temple of our Lord." Since then the great Empire of the
West has been growing, and all the while Salt Lake has looked on at the up-
building and measured its progress day by day and year by year by its
growth. From the beginning it burned its little light of civilization far out in
the wilderness and encouraged onward with its beams those who were to re-
deem the wastes. It was present when the treaty of 1848 gave us our pos-
sessions from Mexico. It witnessed the map-making of half a continent and
saw the lines of the great Western States marked out. It was a sturdy in-
fant when Marshall discovered gold, and in its 'teens when Denver was born.
It welcomed the first pony express rider on his way to the Pacific, and re-
ceived Ben Holliday's first overland conch. Its toilers erected the poles and
strung the wires on the first transcontinental telegraph line, and built the last
section of the road which as the great Union Pacific now links Omaha to-
94 UTAH.
San Francisco. With all this in its background, may not Utah's capital
justly claim a place among the historic cities of our country?
Viewed today, Salt Lake is one of the most beautiful cities of the United
States. Artists with pen and brush, kodaks and cameras, have pictured the
exquisite scenes within and around it. Its founders and all followers of their
religious faith attribute to God's direction every act of their lives, every re-
sult of their effort, and when one contemplates the marvelous beauty of Salt
Lake's situation and considers the extraordinary diversity of rich resources
surrounding it, the thought comes to him that a Guiding Hand greater than
that of any man must have had to do with its creation.
The city lies about midway between San Francisco and Denver. The
majestic peaks of the Wasatch tower above it on the east, and the lovely and
fertile valley of the Great Salt Lake stretches away towards the west in
vernal billows.
As a commercial and railroad point Salt Lake has no competitor in the
inter-mountain country. Indeed, it may be said in every sense to be the
center of that great region. It is the headquarters of many great mining
companies, and is the location of some of the largest smelters and mineral
mills in the West. From it is distributed the products of the farmer and
manufacturer, and its wholesale houses send their goods for hundreds of
miles in every direction. It is, and always will be, the chief city between
Denver and San Francisco. That its future growth will be rapid and sub-
stantial no one who reaches an understanding of its resources and attractions
will deny. No mining, agricultural or industrial development can occur
within 500 miles of it in any direction without favorably affecting the city's
growth. No transcontinental railroad to be built through the center of the
republic can avoid it. To it must inevitably come, either directly or indi-
rectly, a vast tribute of trade from Utah and the surrounding States. Money
paid out for labor in the thousands of mines within its immediate mineral
domain will always flow in a steady stream to Salt Lake. These are its
general advantages. Considered in detail, the city will compare favorably
with any other of its size in the country. Its founders laid it out upon a
generous plan, making the blocks ten acres in size, the lots 165 feet front by
330 feet in depth, and the streets 132 feet wide. No change has since oc-
curred in the lines originally drawn except that the lots have been divided
into smaller parcels, but all that human effort could do to make the city beau-
tiful has been done. There are trees and lawns everywhere within its limits,
and the city is threaded with over 100 miles of shaded brook-lined avenues.
In the business portion the streets are paved with Utah asphaltum, and sub-
stantial cement walks lead through the residence portions. In 1890 the city
entered upon a season of municipal improvements which included the con-
struction of everything necessary to public health and comfort, and these
improvements are still going on. Since their commencement a great system
of sewers, with a gravity outlet five miles long, has been placed in operation,
miles of sidewalks and street paving have been put down, a great public
building, which cost over a million dollars and which is classed among the
finest public structures in the West, has been constructed and completed,
and many other similar advantages have been secured. The Rocky Moun-
tain Bell Telephone Company, having headquarters in Salt Lake and con-
trolling Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, maintains an extensive sys-
tem. Over its 5,000 or more miles of wire communications may be had with
250 cities and towns in the four States. Connection was made in 1900 with
the Pacific Coast cities and with Denver, and during 1901 Kansas City and
the entire East will be on speaking terms with Zion. Salt Lake's population,
as given by the census of 1900, is 53,531, but at the risk of criticism the
statement is ventured that the figures are a decided underestimate. Checked
by school attendance, directory publications, registration and polling lists,
65,000 would be nearer right. Tre governmental canvass was made during
UTAH. 95
the summer season, when thousands were absent in the prospecting fields
and at pleasure resorts. The city now boasts of many fine business blocks,
and these blocks, it is gratifying to note, ar all occupied and on a paying
basis. Salt Lake's growth is not dependent entirely upon the East, although,
of course, it receives every year an influx of population from distant States
where either business or climatic conditions are unfavorable. Being in the
center of a vast region wherein large operations are conducted in mining,
stock-growing and other enterprises, and having a perfect climate, the Great
Salt Lake, hot thermal springs, the lowest death rate of any city in the
nation, good public schools, fine social conditions, beauty of location and
environment and many other essentials of a perfect home place, it naturally
attracts to it wealthy people from neighboring States who desire to give their
families these advantages, and who arrange to carry on their enterprises from
Salt Lake. So it is that while adverse national financial conditions have in-
terfered with emigration to the West during the past few years, Salt Lake
has beon steadily growing. It is essentially the home city of the inter-
mountain country. Every Utah miner who realizes his hopes invests his
money here, and the city is filled with stately homes and business buildings
which have been "dug" from the mines of this and adjoining States. As a
a place for permanent homes no city in the West can compare with Salt Lake.
The advantages it offers are legion. Property values are not exorbitant, the
rate of taxation is moderate, almost every creed in Christendom has its
-church here, a perfect system of electric rapid transit permeates every portion
of the city, the people are broad-minded, progressive and sociable, the laws
are well-executed, crime is not common, and pauperism does not exist among
those who are willing to work.
What the limits of Salt Lake's future are cannot be guessed, but that it
will grow and expand with the certain growth and expansion of the great
country around it cannot be questioned. While this account is being cor-
rected (January, 1901) the building of a road from Salt Lake to Los Angeles
is regarded as one of the certainties of the near future. This road will be to
Salt Lake what the wonderful lamp was to Aladdin, and through its magic
influence the city's future wealth and greatness will be secured. But there
are other railroad movements in the air. At least two of the great Eastern
lines threaten early building into Utah, and present indications are that Salt
Lake is to become the center of interest to Western railroad builders. The
large area given to Salt Lake by its founders is already occupied, and addi-
tion after addition has been added to the original limits. It is easier to as-
sign a hundred reasons for the city's advancement than it is to offer one for
its decadence.
The history of investment in Salt Lake real estate is replete with accounts
of profits made, and the suggestion is offered that money conservatively in-
vested now will certainly be returned many fold. Nothing can stop the prog-
ress of Salt Lake except the cessation of the progress of its great tributary
country, and no one will contend that the development of the vast wealth of
a region larger than all the Middle States is in danger of ceasing.
DEMAND FOR LABOR.
In justice to those resident in other States who are looking to Utah in
search of employment, it is but fair to state that there is no unsatisfied de-
mand for laborers or skilled employes. The farm labor of the State is largely
supplied by the sons of land-owners and by those who, from long residence
and experience, understand the peculiar methods employed in irrigation
farming. Mining labor belongs to the skilled class, and those who have not
had experience in the excavation of ores must not expect to secure employ-
ment readily. Of common day-laborers the State seems now to be well sup-
96 UTAH.
plied, and there is no dearth of bookkeepers, accountants, stenographers,
clerks or others who follow similar vocations. To all who are looking this
way for employment the advice is given, "Do not come expecting immediate
work. Do not come at all unless you are sufficiently supplied with funds to
tide you over the period of acquaintance and adjustment to local conditions
which must precede the securing of work."
There is at present in Salt Lake no dearth of either skilled or unskilled
laborers, or of stenographers, clerks and other similar employes. Persons
seeking these and other kinds of employment cannot expect success until
after they have passed through the period of acquaintance.
IMPORTANT FACTS.
The population of Utah is, according to the last census, 276,749.
Utah is within the arid region of the United States, and most entries of
public land have been made under the provisions of the Desert Land Act,
although some entries have been made under the pre-emption, homestead and
timber culture acts.
There is but one land office, that at Salt Lake City, by writing to which
information can be obtained as to how to take advantage of the Acts of
Congress in location to public domain.
All crops common to the temperate zone are raised in Utah; but wheat,
barley, rye, oats and lucerne are the leading products. Utah is not a corn
country, although some is raised.
Of the fruits, apples, peaches, plums, cherries, pears, apricots; and of the
small fruits, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries and cur-
rants are the leading products.
Nine-tenths of the farming is done by irrigation, water for which purpose
is furnished from community ditches or from the ditches of organized irriga-
. tion companies at a nominal cost.
Utah's farm and fruit products are largely consumed in the State and sur-
rounding States. The excess of potatoes and barley go as far east as Chi-
cago.
Railroads make access to almost every part of the State easy, and round-
trip rates are made between local points.
BRIEF INFORMATION.
The corner-stone of the Temple was laid April 6, 1853, by President
Brigham Young, assisted by his counselors, Heber C. Kimball and Willard
Richards. It was forty years under construction, and was dedicated April 6,
1893, by President Wilford Woodruff, assisted by his counselors, George Q.
Cannon and Joseph F. Smith. This building is one of the most beautiful and
massive in the United States, being constructed of gray granite obtained near
the city. Its exterior dimensions are as follows: Length, 186% feet; width,
99 feet. It is surmounted by six towers, three on the east and three on the
west end of the structure. Other measurements may be summarized as fol-
lows: Height of central east spire, 221% feet, upon which stands the golden
figure of the angel Moroni, 12 feet 5% inches high. The idea conveyed by the
statue is that of a herald or messenger in the act of blowing a trumpet an
embodiment of the fact of Moroni bringing the gospel to the earth in this lat-
ter-day dispensation. This figure, by the famous Utah sculptor, Dallin, is of
hammered copper, is gilded with pure gold-leaf, and surmounting its crown is
an immense incandescent lamp of 100 candle-power. Height of west towers,
219 feet; height of east side towers, 200 feet; height of west side towers, 194
foot:; thickness of foundation wall, 16 feet; thickness of wall at the bottom,
9 feet; thickness of wall at the top, 6 feet. This building is estimated to have
UTAH. 97
cost about .$4,000,000. It is not open to the public, nor is it used as a place
for general worship. Within it the different rites of the priesthood and the
ceremonies of marriage and baptism are celebrated. Its interior decorations
and furnishings are said to be the most magnificent of any building in the
United States.
The great Tabernacle is 250 feet long, 150 feet wide and 100 feet high in
the center of the roof, which is a single mighty arch unsupported by pillar
or post, and is said to have but one counterpart on the globe. The walls are
twelve feet thick, and there are twenty huge double doors for entry and exit.
The Tabernacle resembles in appearance the back of a vast terrapin, or half
of a prodigious egg cut in two lengthwise. This building seats 13,462 people,
and its acoustic properties are so marvelous that a faint whisper or the drop-
ping of a pin can be heard all over it. The Tabernacle is used as a meeting-
house, and there every Sunday afternoon the Mormon people gather for re-
ligious worship. Within this building stands the famous Mormon organ,
for many years the largest organ in the United States, and now the most
sweet-toned. Around this organ assembles every Sunday the famous Mor-
mon choir, the largest organized church choir in the world.
To the tourist interesting places to visit are Temple Square, Brigham
Young Monument, the tithing yard, the Lion House, Bee Hive House, Ame-
lia's Palace (former houses of Brigham Young), the Eagle Gate, Brigham
Young's grave, the Salt Lake Theater (built in 1868), the Deseret Museum,
the county and city buildings (cost $1,000,000), Saltair and Garfield bathing
resorts on the Great Salt Lake, Fort Douglas, four miles east of the city, and
the warm and hot springs at the city's northern limit.
Street-car lines reach all points of interest. The ride to Fort Douglas,
where a fine view of the city, valley and lake can be had, is a pleasant one.
Southbound cars afford a look at the perfection of agricultural development
in the Salt Lake Valley.
The great Tabernacle is open to visitors, and an attendant will illustrate
its marvelous acoustic properties upon request. Free organ recitals are here
given on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The great organ is world-famed for its sweetness of tone.
Visitors are not admitted to the Temple.
Saltair Beach has the largest bathing pavilion in the world. It rests
upon piles 4,000 feet from shore.
You cannnot sink in the Great Saft Lake. The water is about one-fifth
salt. A quarter of a million people bathe in the lake every year. Round-
trip fare to all resorts, twenty-five cents; baths, twenty-five cents additional.
Distance of lake from city, eleven miles. Hourly trains are run during the
summer season on the Oregon Short Line and Salt Lake & Los Angeles rail-
ways.
Altitude Salt Lake City, 4,260 feet.
Average summer temperature, 72 degrees; average winter temperature,
32 degrees.
The death rate of Salt Lake for 1900 was 9.77 per thousand of population.
The area of Salt Lake is sixteen square miles.
Of churches Salt Lake has one of about every creed.
Salt Lake's school population for 1900 was 12,584; number of school build-
ings. 24, valued at $1.098,451.85; State school population, 84,419.
The tax rate for all purposes is about twenty-eight mills per dollar of valu-
ation, which is about one-third full.
An appropriation has passed Congress for a $500,000 Federal Building,
work upon which will begin on a site lately agreed upon and near the busi-
ness center early in 1901.
The climate of the State varying with its varying altitudes, being coldest
in Cache County and warmest in Washington County, but at no point are
more than moderate extremes common.
98 UTAH.
Consumption does not orginate in Utah, and the climate is among the best
in the world for the cure of that disease and for the relief of general throat
and lung troubles. This is said. to be due to the anomaly of sea air 4,000
feet above tide-water.
Distant from the larger towns, in productive valleys, good land under irri-
gation can be obtained from $10 to $100 per acre. Values increase materially
if the lands are close to large centers of population. Several large irrigation
companies of the State are offering land under their ditches at reasonable
prices and upon good terms. Persons seeking farms are recommended to
apply to them for information or to the land agent of the Union Pacific at
Salt Lake City.
The laws of Utah have been very largely copied from those of other States,
and will be found to afford ample protection to property and persons.
Women are qualified voters at all elections in Utah. <
WRITE TO
B. A. McALLASTER,
LAND COMMISSIONER, U. P. R. R. CO.,
OMAHA, NEB.
For Maps and Prices of
FARMS, RANCHES,
GRAZING LANDS F ,s a ,eb y
Union Pacific Railroad Company
in Kansas, Nebraska,
Colorado,
Wyoming, Utah.
Prices :
FARMS, $4.00 TO $1O.OO PER ACRE.
RANCHES, $1.50 TO $5.0O PER ACRE.
CRAZING LANDS, .50 TO $1 .50 PER ACRE.
New Terms of Sale of Union Pacific Lands*
TEN YEARS' CREDIT.
One tenth of the purchase money is payable at time of purchase. At
the end of the first year interest only, at the rate of six per cent per annum
on the deferred purchase money, is payable. At the end of the second
year, and each year thereafter, one-tenth of the purchase money becomes
due, together with interest on the deferred amount at the rate of six per
cent per annum.
Contracts may be paid up in full at any time before maturity, and
interest will be charged only to date of final payment.
Five per cent discount will be allowed upon the unpaid, n umat ured install,
ments of principal which have more than nine months to run, where final pay.
ment is made upon a contract within five years after its date.
Ten per cent discount will be allowed from list prices upon cash sales.
INFORMATION
REGARDING
THE TERRITORY TRAVERSED BY THE UNION PACIFIC, TICKETS, BAGGAGE, PULLMAN
OR TOURIST SLEEPING CAR BERTHS, MAPS, TIME TABLES, ETC., WILL BE
CHEERFULLY FURNISHED ON APPLICATION TO ANY REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE UNION PACIFIC PASSENGER DEPART-
MENT AT THE AGENCIES NAMED BELOW.
ALBANY, N. Y 23 Maiden Lace
BOSTON, MASS .176 Washington Street
BUFFALO, N. Y 301 Mam Street
CHEYENNE, WYO Union Pacific Depot
CHICAGO, ILL 193 South Clark Street
CINCINNATI, OHIO 407 Walnut Street
CLEVELAND, OHIO 211-212 Williamson Block
COLUMBUS, OHIO 35 S North High Street
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA Union Pacific Transfer
DENVER, COLO 941 Seventeenth Street
DES MOINES, IOWA 401 Walnut Street
DETROIT, MICH 67 Woodward Avenue
INDIANAPOLIS, IND 7 Jackson Place
KANSAS CITY, MO 1000 Main Street
LEAVENWORTH, KAN 228 Delaware Street
LINCOLN, NEB 1044 O Street
LONDON, ENG 122 Paul Mall
LOS ANGELES, CAL 250 South Spring Street
NEW YORK CITY 287 Broadway
OAKLAND, CAL 1160 Broadway
OGDEN, UTAH , Union Depot
OMAHA, NEB 1324 Farnam Street
PHILADELPHIA, PA 802 Chestnut Street
PITTSBURG, PA Park Building
PORTLAND, ORE 135 Third Street
ST. JOSEPH, MO Board of Trade Building
ST. LOUIS, MO 903 Olive Street, Century Building
ST. PAUL, MINN 376 Robert Street
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 201 Main Street
SAN FRANCISCO, CAL i Montgomery Street
SIOUX CITY, IOWA 603 Fourth Street
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN 4 \Vater Street
GERRIT FORT, A a. p. A., OMAHA, NEB.
E. .DICKINSON, E. L. LOMAX,
General Manager. General Passenger and Ticket Agent.
OMAHA, NEB.
UNI0N PAGIFIO
sn^jKg
"THE OVERLAND ROUTE"
IS THE
MOST DIRECT LINE FROM
TO ALL
The flissouri
T
Principal Points West
And on account of the varied character of the country it traverses, offers
to those who contemplate going West a more greatly diversified
territory to select from than does any other
TRANSCONTINENTAL LINE
. PASSING AS IT DOES THROUGH,-
OR REACHING VIA ITS CONNECTIONS, NEBRASKA, KANSAS, TEXAS, NEW
MEXICO, COLORADO, WYOMING; UTAH, IDAHO, MONTAN ,
OREGON, AND WASHINGTON.
EVERY BUSINESS INTEREST IS TO BE FOUND ALONG ITS LINE.
* f-
tho FartYlOr thousands of acres of rich agricultural
UIC rcumci, land al , e yet open foi , settlement.
Fnr thp <\tnrif-Rakpr immense * areas of excellent
ror me oiDCK-naiser, grazin g *i a nds can ye t i> e
secured.
thP MiflPr tlie ^ reat mountains of the West wait
IMP iflillCI , but tne opening to become the source
of large fortunes, and
Fnr thp RIIQIHPQQ Man tlle ^ rowin ^ cities an(1 towns
rur IB DUbifiUbb mdii, of tne West are daily offer .
ing unequalled opportuni-
ties for investment of capital and location of industries
which are unsurpassed by older sections of th- United
States.
DICKINSON, E. L. LOMAX,
General Manager. General Passenger and Ticket Agent.
OMAHA, NEBRASKA.