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Show THE BOX ELDER Mineral Wealth of Box Elder County BEDS MARL a mine of great importance. Experts claim that with depth the iron of this lode will cut out and copper take its place. This change predicted particularly for that part of the lode that is so prominent on the mountain east of Willard and also at the head of Willard canyon, where much of the specular iron has altered into limonite ore, and where a considerable quantity of copper sulphate is exposed along the course of the iron vein. Notwithstanding the fact that for 50 years, the existence of this iron lode has been known, all that is time no use has been made of it ; and yet it presents one of the largest and easiest worked bodies of iron known to exist in America. Although coal is not yet found within the boundaries of BoxElder county, its associated minerals, and natural gas are present in many places. Immediately west of Brigham City natural gas was successfully used some years ago where drawn from a well sunk there while prospecting for water. Its flow was sufficient to burn several hundred thouand bricks and also large quantities of lime, but the pipe that was driven to lead it to the surface being defective, the flow was cut off and since that time no other efforts have been made to open this gas field that lies in the valley of Great Salt Lake, and as above stated, quite adjacent to Brigham City. The known areas in which occurs in the county lie chiefly west of the Promotory along the shores of Great Salt Lake and also along the north lake shore where it skirts the desert. There we find a considerable flow of asphaltum, exuding from small springs along the lake shore and from little mounds situated out in the lake and fragmentary masses of it in a dry state are found scattered fo'r miles along the lake m shore. The salt fields of Box Elder of course, associated county are, with Great Salt Lake whose waters contain at present about 20 per cent salt in solution. Along the shores in the dry season it may be gathered at many places in immense quantities. Especially is this so northwest of Plain City and along the north shore west of Promontory. The salt deposits of this part of Utah are very extensive and the quality good. They lie chiefly in the Wasatch mountains north of Brigham City, and also in the Promontory. Samples of these slates have been used and proved to be of the best commercial class. The expense of opening slate quarries is great no matter where situ- ated, and the demand for this product being limited in Utah, no one has undertaken the work of opening to production any of these deposits. From the brief sketch given in the above space, it will be seen that the part of Utah covered by Box Elder county contains most of the metals and minerals used by civilized man. And, although up to our own day the field has been but little worked, the future is certain to bring our county into line with the other mining regions of Utah. Other hunting is afforded in Box Elder County, chief among that not already mentioned being wild This fowl is plentiful chicken. here in all parts of the county, is easily hunted and the birds are of a good quality. In writing up the attractions and resources of Box Elder county, we believe it would be a dereliction of duty to ignore what has now become familiar to residents in Brigham City and along the north string as the great Marl deposits. Along in 1893, through being called into the service of Mr. II. C. Baker of Ogden, in our business of abstracter, we became aware of the fact that there was something doing in the vicinity of Box Elder lake. Mr. Baker was busily gathering in land all around the lake, and our service in his behalf consisted of perfecting titles to the property as fast We as it was acquired by him. were naturally curious and asked him what was up. He told us, as a matter of confidence, that he wanted to secure that land because he believed he had detected elements in the clay that held commercial values. That was the last we heard of it until early this year, when we met Mr. Baker and asked him, in an manner, to what stature his idea conceived a few years previously, had attained. Mr. Baker thereupon gave us the story of the project, dished up in his delectable manner, about as follows : Within the memory of the earliest inhabitant, the barren flat north of Brigham City which is crossed by the Oregon Short Line railway has been called alkaii. and indeed the surveys of the barrens, as the dry area of Box Elder lake has been termed, does have the appearance of alkali, but in this instance it has been proven that the deposit within a certain off-han- area of the lake-be- d, 1,300 acres, with a d amounting 1o depth from the surface of nine feet, shows by a chemical analysis to carry uniformly 81 per cent carbonate of lime, 7 3 per cent silica, per cent alumina and iron oxide ; and there are no objectionable rebellious elements in the deposit. This deposit of marl, by itself, has not the chemical elements in proper proportions to make Portland cement, but fortunately, directly underlying, there is a blue clay, which by analysis shows that it contains 49 per cent in silica, 14 per cent in alumina, and 3 per cent in oxide of iron. This clay mixed in the proportion of practically one part of clay to four parts of marl, makes a cement equal to the best English or Portland cement. An investigation was made 1-- 1-- by the Henry S. Spackman Engineering company, who are the leading scientific cement engineers and experts of the Lehigh Valley district in Pennsylvania, with headquarters and laboratories in Philadelphia. Their man spent some time on the barrens of Box Elder lake, made a thorough test of the deposit, and shipped some of the material in casks to Philadelphia, where they made it into Portland cement. We asked Mr. Baker how he accounted for the presence of this marl deposjt in such quantities in this particular locality and were further enlightened as follows: Ages ago, and during the Lake Bonneville period a deposit of Blue Clay was made over the surface of Salt Lake valley during the period of recession of the waters whose high level can be seen along the sides of our mountains and which today are commonly termed benches. Subsequent to the Lake Bonneville waters having found the present level of the Great Salt Lake, springs broke forth in the mountains, and formed creeks of greater or smaller volume, and where many creeks join together at some point in their channels large rivers were formed like the OF NEWS, SEPTEMBER BOA Weber and Ogden rivers and Box These streams of Elder creek. water took up different chemical in solution the nature of which elements largely depended upon the nature of the rock formations in which the springs forming these creeks and rivers had their origin. It is a well known fact that springs having their source in limestone formations will first naturally take up in solution the to the rejection of any other element that may be in the lime formation, and if the stream is small in volume the water may become thoroughly saturated with lime in solution. In the case of larger streams the water will take up other elements simply from the fact that the stream may percolate through rock formations carrying Silica Alumina and Magnesia, so that when the waters in the larger stream find the level of the valley and a quiet resting place the solime-elemen- 16, 11 1908. handling ore and concentrates on a small scale, compared with the larger works of Salt Lake valley, yet the returns are all that could be desired or asked for, and the smelter management is so well thataddi-tion- s pleased wLh the results aygo Portland Cement company of to the plant are already uncomwhich Newaygo, Michigan, der consideration. pany makes cement from marl, lias The Independent Smelting Co. engaged to become manager of is the successor of the ih is company. Utah Smelting company whose closedown, after a short period of Smelters in Box Elder Co. operation, was chronicled in these than two years ago. An institution that has added columns less the new' management Under no small amount to the taxable was smelter the again placed in property of Box Elder county is commission during the latter part the Utah Smelting companys of July of the present year. plant near Hot Springs in the This plant was designed and southern part of this county. built for the treatment of gold, Some years ago a number of silver and copper corbonate and poultry fanciers in Brigham City ores. At present the conceived the idea of putting in a sulphide but one furembraces equipment poultry plant at this point, utilizfor three call nace, but the plans ing the hot waters from the spring more units, and a second furnace on the county road, for heating inbe added in the cubators and brooders. . This plan will doubtless while one or more near future, was regarded as feasible, and it are in contemplafurnaces lead would be a great saving in the matter of fuel, requiring little or tion. The plant of the Independent no attention to regulate. is reached by About four years ago, Lee & Smelting company the track of the main a from spur Dunn, abstractors and real estate which Line railroad Short men. seeing that the property Oregon from Ilot Springs. off branches must some day be put to practiOres and concentrates for treatcal use, secured an option. Somement are being daily received from time thereafter an offer was made mining camps in Utah, Nevada, them for the property by the Utah Montana, Colorado and Wyoming; Smelting company, and the offer the location of the plant being sewas accepted. This was the bebecause of the fact that this lected ginning of the smelting industry is centrally situated for the in Box Elder county. As to its site quick and economic delivery of all present condition we present herenorthern and western ores, and for with excerpts from an article in the further fact that this section Vol. 10, No. 9 of the Salt Lake is barren and unproductive agriAlining Review, written by Will culturally and, therefore, virtualC. Higgins: free from posible litigation as While the smelting situation ly and smoke regards smelter in Utah has been in rather an unfumes. satisfactory condition for some The power utilized in the optime past, there is one plant at least which is working up to its eration of all the departments of the Independent Smelter is obcapacity and with most gratifying results. This plant is operated by tained from the wires of the Brigham City Municipal Electric Light the Independent Smelting Com(Continued on page 17) pany of Ogden; and while this is ELDER COUNTV comparatively, relative to the deposit of Marl, and the depression constituting the lake bed at the point where the small stream empties is located close up to the foothills and the steady and continuous flow of the waters of the creek for some hundred of years has carried the Carbonate of Lime sediments down to their resting place and created this Marl as it now exists. t lutions are precipitated and consist of a mixture of elements that would not be in the required proportions necessary to make Port- land cement. Another tendency of large streams and rivers in rushing down the foothills, in their channels, is to carry along coarse sand and gravel even down to the valley itself, and any chemical element that might be useful is so intermixed with sand and gravel that it is not available. In the case of very small streams there is not the tendency in flowing down the mountain side and along down the foothills to the valley to carry sand auu gravel, and therefore the water in the small streams finds a quiet resting place in the valley and precipitates its solution in a fine sediment that is unmixed with coarse sand and gravel, and if the deposit so made is of value it can be made available. Attention may be called to the fact that there are very few small streams that rise in the mountains that find their way ultimately to the quiet level of the valley, and that are permanent streams. Most of the streams finding their way to the valley are large in volume. There is one small stream, that has its source in a canin Section 25, Township 10 yon North, Range 2 West, and that is In comparison with lime stone rock for making cement this deposit of Marl can be handled more economically and a barrel of cement can be produced at much less cost with the Marl and clay due to the fact that there is no quarrying of rock necessary ami the expense of pulverizing machinery required in a rock cement plant is entirely eliminated. The quality of the cement more than meets the standard requirements of the United States government. The reason that the Barrens are free of vegetation is, that the 81 per cent in Carbonate of Lime in the deposit of Marl, is such an excess of Lime that vegetation cannot grow. When the area of this deposit is quite dry it appears nearly white on the surface, but this is simply due to Lime contents and not due to alkali. Mr. Baker has organized a company called the Wasatch Portland Cement Company, and it is proposed, as he informed us, to expend between $600,00 and $700,-00- 0 in building a plant on the western edge of the farm land of Lake View ranch, and about one thousand feet west of the county road, with a proposed daily capacity of 1,500 barrels of PortlancJ cement. Mr. W. J. Bell, who has been superintendent of the New B. F. BOOTHE, F9 President . M. A. BOOTHE IW. Hi BOOTHE fc Vice-Presid- Secretary and Treasurer ent Boothe Mercantile & Produce Co. how--eve- r, the water that constitutes the water right connected with Lake View ranch and which belongs to Mr. Baker. This stream has its source in springs rising the lime stone ledges and in the section mentioned, and has for hundreds of years been carrying its burden of Carbonate of Lime in solution which has been leached out of these lime stone formations and finally deposited in the bowl-lik- e depression of Box Elder lake. The slope from the mountain to the bed of the lake incidentally is neither too steep nor too level in its descent, but has been steep enough to allow the small creek to convey in solution its Carbonate of Lime free of coarse sand or gravel, due to the reason that natural conditions of source of the springs in lime stone, volume of water carrying the solution, and grade of descent to the level of Box Elder lake were all in favor of making the deposit carrying the chemical elements free of coarse material. Had the descent down the mountain canyon through which this creek has its channel been steeper than it is, or had the creek been of larger volume even with the same descent the waters would have had more speed and force and would have filled up the bed of the lake with sand and gravel mixed with this Marl. It would then have been unavailable and without value. Box Elder lake is geologically quarternary and very modern I ESTABLILHED INCORPORATED 1906 1899 General Merchandise and Produce an Groceries and Notions, Dry Goods, Clothing, Shoes, Coal, Etc., Etc. non-Silicio- UTAH GARLAND, j fjr ;, ; ; ; i Where You Get the Best |