Show THE MINING INDUSTRY having been requested by many persons persons to give an idea of the mining resources of southern utah having had fifteen years experience in prospecting in this southern country I 1 now venture to respond to the wish in stating the real conditions of the country and the manifold opportunities port unities for the advancement of the interests of the southern people of this territory I 1 do not wish to convey a false notion of the numerous advantages which this southern country actually affords to its aple people in regard to its early history the he hon parley P pratt was sent south in june 1852 as an apostle of the mormon church to search out agricultural lands for the settlement of the incoming emigrants from the states and elsewhere in those researches mr pratt disson ered the great iron regions of iron county on the day of june 1852 and from that particular discovery has originated every other in the mining interests of southern utah ever since in september 1852 an emigration train passed through to the lower portion of Cali california califern forn ia and some of the people settled in Ban bardine county one of them mr james howden then a lad of eighteen found south of the place now known as mountain meadows some very rich ore running running in n gold and silver one assay in the il e mint in san francisco many years after was computed at per ton in silver and since then another away assay in gold aggregated per ton these enormous figures created certain distrust instead of confidence in these real discoveries of the mineral productions of this part of the country and in the year 1857 after the disbandment of the amerlean american army under the command of andrew sidney johnson job tison the mines of pioche were brought to light later on the great wonder of cottonwood was discovered and utah began to forge ahead in mining california was rushing gold was plentiful and the retard was felt by many of the miners on their way through the wide west in quest of gold in all our western territories nothing however was accomplished in the way of mining in southern utah proper until I 1 myself discovered the bonanza mine and the buckeye mine in march 1875 simply silver in sand of which the whole world has since been apprised in these mining reefs now known as the silver reef came from my first researches and the peculiarities attending them in regard to those mines nave ave often been denied but recorded reflex ideas cannot destroy the magnet of truth silver reef was nothing until I 1 showed its mineral elements to some of the learned of pioche and san francisco pioche rushed in many claims were taken the world was astonished at the phenomena of nature science ws WM dumbfounded criticism was rife and we were actually called fools by some persons for stating in the pioche ke be oord that this ore was in a sand reef those days of criticism are past and most of the people in this locality are now willing to accept the irishman logic that where it is there it is we now dow have a phenomena quite as picturesque to set forth as silver in sand gray gra T copper in alloy with free gold in decomposed lime of the bull valley mountains placed on the uplifts of the eocene at foot wall capped with a green and surrounded by the tertiary the eocene being a promontory wound which the tertiary is f ormed formed the great black prince mine on the north side of eagle mountain the general genera grant mine of slaughter creek and the lady morton mine west of butcher knife canyon in the bull valley mountains are now in process of development and the vast output of ore is truly something to look at the great discovery of the emigrant boy james howden in 1852 is not now a m mystery the black prince mine is one of the uplifts of the mineral output that has been looked forward to for nearly thirty five years the great southern wasatch from mount baldy to eldorado canyon is more or less possessed of rich mines I 1 do not make this statement blindly for our pedestrian qualities are known throughout the entire length of this mountain chain the mines of iron county yield iron lead silver gold and immense deposits of coal while from kane county come petroleum coal oil antimony bismuth cro gium and many other minerals which will yet be brought into use among the people of this fair territory I 1 do not care for the poo pooh h hoohing of those individuals who think that everybody should be afraid of them and that no one should form an opinion without their dictation I 1 say hurrah for southern utah for its enterprise for the incoming railroads for its mines and for its people 11 JOHN S FERRIS |