| Show SAGA OF ALTAS ALTA'S 7 t t Ji 1 oi P. t 1 1 Emm M Mine oe AIt wi 4 L 1 I Ut h. h J j 1 tJ 70 Nt t i 1 F i 1 I.- I. i t s l b. b t. t i k JI- JI 5 t. t t 7 i 8 1 o i 1 M 1 I i 7 P. P r. r I r- r i n i 4 1 I oio i r 1 h 4 j j t t. t ii j Ii n 1 L tf t l 7 rf i y t jk F f I tf 6 7 i J Cob 4 i t a Ii Ir I 4 f t 1 i B S S t 4 s ift c. c i 4 rr Itt Wf 1 w r Md ctr l U I 3 ir i hV 11 I By B COL GEORGE H. H WATSON I I President and Gen Manager Alta United Mines Co of or mines crowning theW the DOZENS D W Wasatch satch mountains look down on S Salt Lake City CUy 25 miles northwestward from Big and Littie Little Lit Lit- tIe tle Cottonwood districts generally referred to as Alta AHa In honor of their first town In before the Ontario mine began to flood the world with allver sliver sli all ver vel Alta AHa Was as a busy little camp disseminating reports of sliver sliver lead lead strikes and antI backing the reports with occasional small shipments of ore Who first stuck a pick Into the ground is not known though It Jt Is related that root grass exposures exposures ex ex- of mineral were made at atthe atthe atthe the instance of the Indefatigable Gen Patrick E. E Connor of Fort Douglas as early as 1864 The strike which gave Alt Alta its Us first million and incidentally led to International notoriety was made by James F F. Woodman assisted as as- by three companions companions holm holin Woodhull and Reisch A stained mineral surface streak tempted Woodmans Woodman's pick and 93 feet down become a fabulous ore body The Emma Emm mine had been discovered For flour bacon and other supplies the miners had gone in debt to Salt Lake merchants Now the Emma Mining Co was formed and a large Interest In it taken by u Walker Valker Bot Brothers ers store store- ana anu o bankers Litigation Litigation Liti Liti- gation gatlon over an option on this mine its purchase by a British company In 1872 and an investigation of charges that the American minister minis minis- ter to London used his official position tion to boost the stock are printed printed print print- ed his history to r For two years beholders be be- holders were dazzled by the size and richness of or the Emma Scarcely Scarce Scarce- ly Iy less impressive were wera the slopes of ot the Flagstaff Just west of ot the Emma also taken over by a British company Claims were located all along Little Cottonwood Big Cottonwood the next canyon north and the ridge between the tho two A multitude multi multi- tude of or tunnels and shafts nosed Into the outcrops and presently several prospects were shipping ore Tho The Emmas Emma's great shoot was terminated by a fault which cutoff cut cutoff off the tho ore oro like a knife but not before some three million had been mined and hundreds of ot thousands paid as dividends Meanwhile rich veins had bad been discovered in the Prince of Wales and Maxfield mines on tho the Big Cottonwood side and the tho Albion on the divide to tho the south where tho the zone extended extend ed over into American Fork can can- yon Ore deposits of Importance were uncovered in tho the City Hocks Rocks Columbus Col Cal umbus North Star Grizzley Toledo Tole role do do Reed Benson and man many others During the first year of production ore was hauled by ox team down do Little Cottonwood canyon can can- yon you and to Ogden thence by rail rall nto n- n to San Francisco and by water to Swansea Wales where It was smelted and refined three Seventy was a big year car forthe for tho the town of ot Alta Five breweries assuaged the thirst of ot tho the miners six sawmills cut lumber for buildIngs buildIngs buildIngs build- build Ings and timbers Umbers for the Iho mines The population swelled to lo Saloons and dance halls hails did a flourishing nourIshing business So did the Iho cemetery south of town Tradition has It that more than a hundred men were killed in fights over mining claims Tho The of the Emma vein followed b by i ie of silver in 1873 was a serious blow to the camp Then In 1 1874 came camo camoa a catastrophe which was to reduce Alta AHa for a generation to the status of a ghost camp An enormous swept down dow from Emma hill at tho north The life was crushed from CO GO men in buildings on the main street There Thero tho the snow was 40 feet deep Fire broke out and added to the ruin Ore discoveries continued but rejuvenation o of tho the town was discouraged discouraged dis dis- dis b by the lack of transportatIon transportation tation facilities Alta AHa is about ft above sea level leyel In 8 S Smiles miles the road to Salt Lake valley drops ft Ore of any but the highest highest highest high high- est grade could not be moved mo profItably profitably prof prof- by wagon A narrow-gauge narrow railroad gave some relief until high operating cost forced its ab ab- ab The solution has been found in federal highways and J Splendid roads up the canyons aro are nearing completion Medium grade grado ore soon will be marketable A mine as prolific as the tho Emma was developed on the Big Cottonwood Cottonwood Cotton Cotton- wood sIde Bide in 1914 It is called the Cardi Cardiff EconomIcs Economies effected by the merging of older workings and coordinated operations point to an era of low cost production With all Its handicaps the Alta AHa I ore zone has produced a about out 37 gross and many thousands of dollars have hayo gone to ers era Dividends up to 1917 1017 reported report ed by the U. U S. S Geological Survey Include from the Em Emma inn from the Vallejo and 78 73 from the South Hecla all nil now owned by the Alta United Mines Co Ca from the Fla Flagstaff and from tho the Columbus Con on b both a 0 t Ii h belonging to the Wasatch Mines Co Ca from I the Iho Maxfield from the Card Cardiff If and from various smaller properties silver Lead-silver ore has been Altas Alta's most Important contribution to the world though considerable copper and some gold have figured on the settlement sheets In some somo mines bismuth is a promising resource Recently the high proportion of or gold In the wesl western rn part o of the I f area has inspired much activity there The Tue feeling Is general that the greatest obstacles to lo production from Alta AHa have o been overcome and that tho the zone is entering an epoch of ot unprecedented prosperity |
