Show PARK CITY s FAMOUS SILVER CITY OF UTAH e. e m a 5 d r J f-J ti By HOWARD V. V ALSTON ALSTONE VERY county in Utah contains E EVERY valuable minerals It Il Is calculated calculated calculated cal cal- that t almost half hair the people of ot the state normally depend on mining for tor their livelihood It furnishes the largest Industrial payrolls payrolls pay par rolls and more moro than three fourths of ot the total freight tonnage In the state It provides cash markets for the states state's other products and disburses within the I state stale more than three fourths of Its total gross income for far labor supplies taxes and other services Park City In the Wasatch moun morn mountains talus 42 miles southeast of ot Salt Lake City alone has has' contributed of which investors I have received about I The average net Income Is considerably considerably con con- less than 5 percent of gross production In earl early days Park City was a amere amere amere mere sylvan glen It received Its name from a grassy park surrounded surrounded sur sur- rounded by a grovo grove of ot quaking aspen Discharged soldiers from the command of oC Gen Patrick Connor Connor Con Con- nor nor at Fort Douglas were the first to find minerals In the vicinity Rufus RuCus Walker ns DS early as 1869 1369 located the Walker and Webster claims Others staked the Young American Yellow Jacket Green Monster Flagstaff and aud McHenry lodes But mining really began when Rector Steen a prospector found a rich specimen of oC silver ore on a d mountain trail With his partners John Kain Kala and find one McDowell he lie located the Ontario An offer ol of the claim for tor was disregarded disregard disregard- ed but a n scout for San Francisco bankers put up his last 20 20 bill for tor fora tora a day 30 option He lIe interested some Californians and In hi August 1872 1372 Hearst Tevis and Chambers Chambel's paid for the prospect pros pros- The Ontario proved rich In silver sliver In Iii nine nino years rears it produced more than four million dollars worth of ore For six years more it was the only shipping mine In Inthe Inthe inthe the district Profits from its operations oper oper- furnished much of the money needed for development of other prospects The Tho West Daly-West New York Crescent Anchor Mayflower Alliance Mc- Mc McHenry McHenry Henry Silver King and other ml mines es were wore opened In succession In the late lato SOs David Keith Thomas Reams Reams' and Col V. W. M. M Ferry took a lease on 25 acres of ot the old Mayflower workings In Woodside gulch Without capital and with much privation these men sank a shaft at a point they thought to be mineralized After Arter going about feet they finally struck an ore-bearing ore vein This discovery led to the organization in 1892 of oC the Silver King Mining company From a n nucleus of four claims the original company has grown through purchases and consolidations consolidations consolida consolida- to a property with thousands of surface acres and more than miles of underground workings which have yielded approximately worth of ot ore But for Park City and other mining mining min min- ing lag camps Salt Lake Lako City might still be a struggling village In the desert Such buildings as the Me- Me Cornick Kearns Ness Utah Savings Sav Save Savings ings Trust Judge and others i were built with mone money from Park City Those These buildings and other city property Improved b by mine revenues form a substantial basis for present and future taxation Several western mining districts after periods of or flush production faded Into ghost camps Not so with Park City Activity and population pop necessarily have varied I widely as mine production has Increased Increased In In- creased or diminished However after each boom period there has remained sufficient ore deposits and prospect leads lends to keep a goodly good ly Iy number of men employed even though profitable production was temporarily curtailed or entirely discontinued Perhaps the most noteworthy example of ot curtailment occurred during the recent depression Collapse Col lapse of ot the metal market made mining an In industry of loss For the time in the history ot of Park City dire want and poverty stalked through the streets One Ono large company ny chose to operate at a loss and provide a few development Jobs lobs rather than add to the general general gen gen- eral oral miser misery This company in three years' years time lost three million dollars For 01 many years the population population tion of ot Park City has varied between be between e. e tween and Dwellings stores theaters ore-loading ore terminals terminals ter ter- ter minnIs schools churches and depots depots depots de de- pots had to be constructed to house and serve a rapidly growing number number num num- ber bel of ot people a and d to care for their economic and social welfare The people veople of ot the city are and always have been a cultured and cosmopolitan group They comprise com corn prim prise ever every phase a o. of civic religious and political opinion First settlers came from the Pacific Coast Salt L Lake ke valle valley eastern and midwestern west mid ern United States Spates These were followed fol lowed by northern Europeans chiefly Irish and English to be joined later hater by a sprinkling of Danes Norwegians and Swedes Present large metal producers are Silver King Coalition Minos Co Park Utah Mines Co Park City Con and Park City Development Develop Develop- Development ment Co A newcomer which la Is just beginning to ship Is the New Park Mining Co Their principal products are au load lead 1 and zinc |