Show STORY Of ELYN flY ELY 4 IN N ARROW HEAD Copperopolis of Nevada Is Reviewed in Monthly Publication Publication cation of Salt Lake Lal e Route I PERMANENT CAMP ASSURED THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIMING PROPERTIES ES The story of Ely Nev evIts its history Us Its mines and anti Its business enterprises well told tod In the October Arrowhead a month monthly ly periodical published by the passenger department of ot the Salt Halt Bal Lake route In Inthe Ine e the article artcle Ely Is referred to as I a the Copperopolis of or Nevada The story stor is IsS S well Illustrated with wih halftones of the mining properties and the leading busi bust business business bustness ness houses house of Ely In an Interesting manner the growth of or Ely from Us Its Is humble beginning In ISO to the rank of or the worlds greatest cop copper copper per camp Is la traced In the story The ge geological geological history and the formation and history of ot the mines Is also entertaining ly told Among the largest mining prop properties properties ertEs In and about Ely EI discussed in full fullIn tul fullIn In the review of ot the mines are re the prop properties ertes of ot the Nevada Consolidated Copper company the te Giroux Consolidated Cop Copper Copfer Copper per fer company compan the the Ely Eb Witch Uch the te Ely Central and the Steptoe Stepto Valley VaIley aley Mining Smelting company compan companA A portion porton of ot the story of or Ely as told in fn the Arrowhead follows The Discovery Discover About forty years ear ago a lone pros prospector prospector prospector with wih a pack horse hore as his sole com corn companion companion panion wending his way through the sage sagebrush sagebrush brush of White Pine county Nevada evada Sevada in ina Ina Ina a patent patient search for tor gold stumbled upon a ledge lege of or rock which bore indications of ot containing that tt which he sought sought He lie staked out a claim and named the th dis district Robinson The Te man ma was Thomas Robinson one of the pioneer r pathfinders of the desert and his claim was located in Robinson canyon at the mouth of or which Is built buit the present city cl of ot Ely EI That was in 18 For many years year mining men paid pai little attention to this section or of the mining minim region of or Nevada principally on account of ot the fact that the ore was heavily im impregnated impregnated with wih copper which did not ap appeal appeal appeal peal to them They hey were after atter gold and silver siver and the red rd metal was looked upon with disfavor as a the methods for ex extracting extracting the gold gh were too costly costy and crude hardly paying them for their trou trouble trouble trouble ble and not worth while handling on a commercial basis So for many years ea miners came located claims worked them for a short time and finally gave up These claims were In turn tur re relocated relocated located by b others other who also abandoned them There were some men however who had faith in the district and stuck by it expending large sums of ot money In the erection of two tw cyanide plants for forthe forthe the he purpose of treating the gold and sit sil silver sl ver oer ores of the camp Today Toda these thle plants stand deserted pathetic monuments monument of ot attempts to te do the then impossible The Dawn of Ely 0 Thus it went on for years and it i was not until the spring of 1906 10 that the world realized that burled buried deep in the moun mountains mountains mountains of or White Pine county count were to be b found millions milons of ot tons of copper ore Be Before Be Before fore this however howver a small camp had been made mae at the mouth of ot Robinson can canyon yon yen In is and it I was waS wa called caled Ely It I probably had a population of or between ZOO 2 and 40 people who stayed on hoping against hope that sooner or later the camp Camp would amount to something That their dreams have come true tre is evidenced hr b the present day city cit of Ely EI Today roda the copper opper magnates of or the world orld are n deeply interested in Ely EI and Its Is mines The large deposits depois of at copper ore that were passed laed J sed up as being of little value lue on ao go aoi ao i of not being able to extract the ore were vera ere quickly taken over by b men who knew a good thing when they the saw paw it i Competent mining engineers of international international tonal reputation wre were bent Hent into the dis district district district to pass paRS upon its it deposits and came back hak to their principals astounded at what they the had seen giving as al their esti estimates est estimates mates of the tonnage of ot low de cop con conj c copper j per er ores oro in the district in sight as ap al approximately approximately proximately tons and an the th rush for Ely Eb was s on Early Eary History The history of Ely is very ver similar In Inmany Inmany many respects to that of hundreds hundres of or oth other er fr mining camps cam s throughout the country When hen th the of or silver took place th result was that a large number of the mining camps of or Nevada went to lIeLS lil This however was wa not the th case wih with Ely i There was as a good reason for tor torf this f is Thel had never oever been ben a rush to this his f district In the full ful meaning of the term and anil the reaction in silver siver mining following the crime of or 73 0 did not af at affect affect Ely Placer mining was waa a being car carried cr ried ned on in a desultory way wa by a few and the small smal values vales alie of of sliver silver found in the theore theore ore ere In that section had not enticed a very large larg number to cast their fortunes in inthe inthe Inthe the district Even during the days das of or orthe the greatest depression the camp ramp at Ely boasted a population of ot over WO 4 people Appears n the Map It I was in that the town of or Ely re really real really ally al appeared on the map mall and at that time a stage route was Inaugurated and the he government honored the camp with witha a postoffice which was located in the Riepe building This building was the first firt one to be b erected on the the property proper now flow embraced by h the Ely Townsite com corn company zany pany Rny and is still sti being used use for business purposes By Br an a act ac of or legislature le passed during the session of IS 7 the county seat was removed tom from Hamilton Hamiton to Ely El and this gave the town own its Is first evidence of per permanency permanency and assured assure its is future I Early Mining Brom om l until t mining was n car ctr carried ried rl on in a haphazard manner the chief reliance being placed on the gold values Occasionally bunches of or silver sier ore are were encountered sufficiently rich to warrant art the th expense of ot freighting to To To ana sma and then taken to Salt Sal Lake City to be leaving a small margin of or profit The charges charge for tor freighting In those host days das were enormous and the ore bad to be of or very ver rich quality to stand the he expense The whose faith In the future of the camp was wac greater than the amount of ot money mone in their pock pocketbooKs pocketbooks made their expenses by b send sending sendIng ing lug out shipments of rich lead led ore to the outside smelters smelter With Wih the proceeds from these lead shipments they the would return tji t their work on the mines with wih renewed hope that some day lay they would strike It rich First Attempt at Copper Smelting One of ot the first persons I to attempt to 4 smelt the copper ores or s of this district was wasA wa wasA A D Campion Campton who was wa the owner of ot the Kly 1 1 townsite tonsie Mr r Campton Campion was W handi handl handicapped capped d from the th very e start on account of at atthe the lack of proper fuel tuel wood wod being the orly thing available Consequently his hl efforts ful to smelt the te ore were unsuccessful fulFor For for many ma years cars it I was wa known that cop copper copl copPer per l r ore are was W to bo be b found In the district in large quantities but it was nOt no until l that its possibilities as a a copper camp were appreciated when Joseph Bray Br took tok over a n group of or claims at Copper Flat Flat up the canyon anyon purchasing them from Thom Thomas Thoma as a and Newton Boyd After working the th property lot for tor a number of years ear a company was formed forme for develop development development ment purposes now known kown as the Ne Nevada Neada Nevada vada ada Consolidated Copper Cpr company un under under under der the management of ot M 1 L eun Geology of the Ely District The Te formation In In the Ely district Is lime and porphyry the ore bodies occurring In Ina int Ina a t bed of ot intrusive porphyry which has hasS S been forced tor up through the he lime lime Tile Trie Te Teore ore Is the th portions of or the porphyry miner mineralized mineralized with copper In quantities sufficient 1 t to pay for tor mining This his porphyry intrusion Intrusion intrusion sion is about six ix to eight miles mie long and from two to three miles mU s wide wid extending under the lime at the of or the In Intrusion for some distance ro To what ex extent tent tet tet however remains to be ba determined by b development It I is II a proven fact tact that tat tatal all al of or the properties located on this por porphyry porphyry porphyry bed and have done any IY of or development work work have hae demonstrated the fact fat that the ore deposits deposit are ar there The rhe exact size extent and richness of these ore bodies s have not as yet et been ben determined but it has been conclusively I shown that in places plaes the ore cornea comes dl di directly I to the surface while In others Jt t tI extends to a depth ot of over 1000 10 feet where c I some of the richest ore In the district has been found This would ledone le one t think values alues Increase with wih depth The Coming of the Railroad There Is an important factor in the success of any mining camp second to that of ot the discovery discover and demonstration of the fact that the ore is I there and that thatis is transportation facilities It I might be stated stared stat d with wih a great get deal of or truthfulness that Elys real growth goh began when the railroad crossed d its is borders border Sept Sept 29 2 19 1906 It I was wa on that date te that the Nevada Nea Northern ran rn its Is first passenger trin train Into Ely EI and Us Its Iron rails ris linked the Copper Copperopolis Copperopolis opolis of Nevada Neada with the outside world word The building of ot the Nevada Northern railway was wa begun on Sept Sept 9 1905 ground being broken at Cobre on the tho main line lino of or the Southern Souther Pacific railroad HO miles mies to the north of Ely EIX Work was prosecuted vigorously and within one year ear and twenty days from the time the ground gund was broken me te whis whistle I tie tle te of the locomotive was heard at Ely and the railroad was an accomplished I fact tact For many years ars several severa projects looking to the construction c of a rail railroad rai raIlroad road have been set on foot but they came cameto cameto to roa It I was not however until those thosE Interested in some of or the larger large properties saw the absolute necessity nees for economic transportation facilities that the Ule matter was taken faken up earnestly earest and push pushed ed to completion I The Te company compan is I erecting a handsome stone depot dept which will wi also aso be used as a the general offices of f the company at Ely Ehy ElyA Ei EiA A modern hospital l is 15 also under course coure of construction and is almost ready read for tor od o Ely being the southern terminus te mi minus nus of or the line has been chosen as tho the lne site sIe for tor the company roundhouse shops and mechanical department and gives employment workmen to a large number of ot skilled I The Ely of Today The Te Ely of or today Is a thriving progressive progressive sive town Its Is streets well vell eI laid out ou ou lined in the business section with wih modern stong and brick blocks Its it residential residental see sec section se tion ton is made up of beautiful homes green gen lawns and streets Evidences of prosperity are shown on en every hand at Ely All AI mining and all al construction Is being done on a big scale sale It I promises promise to make one of the largest copper camps of the world and since nil all al of the operations will wi be conducted conduced conduced In and around Ely it is bound to make a me metropolis It I Is reasonable to suppose then that Ely EI will il make a city cl as large Jarge as Butte Bute and possibly larger The Adjoining Country The country count adjoining Ely Is about the f best watered and nd timbered country countr in Ne Nevada N vada vada The Steptoe valley valey running from t south to north has ha an abundance of ot water for every ever purpose In some places the wa water water water ter is a running stream but at most moat any an point in the valley valey water In abundance can an be developed by sinking yells wells eIs The hills his around Ely I ly are ar covered with wih cedars cedar and In a great get many man places pines which are large enough eno to Rake mine timbers and even timbers for the construction of mills mis Back of the town of Ely Ey a series seres of or springs bubble from the earth and form forma for a beautiful mountain stream Mountain trout live lye there and ferns terns and watercress grow along Us Its Is banks To the Nevadan it itis itis itis is truly an oasis in the desert Its Is future is assured a It I has ha the ore it has the mines and it has as its citizens men who are alert progressive and ever eyer ready to take up and push to a success successful successful successful ful completion anything an that wilt will wi advance the ti interests of their city Ely Eb has all al the hallmarks of or becoming a city of ot ma majestic jostle jestic proportions and to those who have stuck 16 the camp through the early lays clays of Its Is struggle struggle for an existence too to much Ilch praise prise cannot be ivin but thoy they are am amply amply ply pl rewarded In knowing that their faith I and confidence in the t e future of the dis district district was not misplaced |