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Show 10A Emery County Dale, Utah Tuesday December 11, 2001 Progress Castle Looking Back Continued from PAGE 1 A. letters went to his sweetheart Miss Eva Larsea These letters told of the surveying work that he was doing and the road he was working on in the Temple Mountain area Oscar Beebe asked Royal to work at his mine on Temple Mountain and Royal agreed. This was at North Temple Wash on Nov. 21, 1912. Mark H. William's book Utahs Scenic San Rafael 2001 describes it in this way, Ura- nium mining ass umed economic importance w hen Madame Marie Curie discovered radium. She became famous for her research into radioactivity; and was the first women to win the Nobel Prize. Madame Curie and her husband Pierre who taught physics at the University of Paris, teamed up to conduct research on radioactive substances. They found that the uranium ore contained much more radioactivity than could be explained solely by the uranium content. The Curies began a search for the source of the radioactivity and discovered two highly radioactive elements, radium and polonium. The Curies won the 1903 Nobel prize for physics for their discovery, Madame Curie sent men all over the w'orld seeking uranium so she could extract radium from it which is used in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Beautiful carnotite uranium w as found in the base of Wingate Sandstone on Temple Mountain, e ore was mined This with metal spoons with long handles. A lower grade form of high-grad- Meal time for horses in 1 935. on the north side of Temple Mountain and drilled little holes going back in. It almost looks like a cathedral there," ore was found In the Chinle formation just below the Wingate formation. ore Only the high-graw as of any value as the uranium content had to de average 10 percent. said Swasey The uranium boom in Emery County was tv o fold, the initial Madame Curie era and the beginning of the atomic age. Swasey said, When the radium boom started Byron Howard from This ore would yield 200 pounds to the ton for which Madame Curie paid $10 per pound or $2,000 per ton. It was the richest of the mineral that was ever shipped. Several sources including old newspaper articles say Madame Curie visited Temple Mountain during the initial uranium boom. There is a rock house still left in the area where Madame Curie stayed," said Williams. Monte Swasey in an interview with Kathleen Truman of the Emery County Historical Preservation Commission said, Granddad Swasey and old Wyatt Bryan had a road out the Perron down to Temple Mountain and what they called the Cow boy Mine and that was back in 1900. Madame Curie was doing a bunch of experiments with radium. They couldnt ship anything to Madame Curie that was under 2 percent. In 1906 Madame Curie came clear over from France and came out to the Temple Mountain Mine and stayed with them for a week to 10 days just to see where all the ore was coming from. Dad (Royal) said when they were mining the ore there would be a seam they would follow and they would follow it along and then before too long it would open up into a big room where they w'ould dig in therewith sacks and shovels, the ore was so soft. They could just shovel it into sacks and load them into the wheelbarrow. They would wheel it out and then they would load it onto the wagon. When they got a wagon load of it they would freight it across the desert into Green River. They would store it in a warehouse until they had enough for a train car load. The car load would then be shipped back East and loaded on a boat to be shipped to France. Japanese people moved in over to H untington came by down to Dads asking about Temple Mountain, questions like who it belonged to. They hadn't proved up on it or done anything with it since they were shipping ore to France. So he, (Howard) hauled away their dump ore they had thrown away and made (XX) on it. Also the first dinosaur from this area came from Temple Mountain and went back to the Smithsonian Institute," said Swasey. In the book, A History of Emery County Edward A. Geary describes the second boom, The Atomic Energy Commission sought to develop domestic uranium supplies by Typical rock tank quenches travelers thirst in 1 91 7. directions climbing steep slopes until they reached the mineralized sandstones. There the ones without Geiger counters would take samples to be checked later. Those with the counters would follow mineralized areas until they had a reading from their counters which was a loud response of amplified clicking reminding one of a rattlesnake showing its annoyance to man. As a rule one of the worst things that could happen to a prospector would be to find just enough to raise his hopes, his dreams and encourage his irresponsibility to raise money in any devious way he could. Many men lost everySpring in San Rafael River Canyon in 1911. thing they owned, including their wife and family, said towns first newspaper in more 140 uranium mines in the McClenahan. that 30 years also made its historically significant area. this Deposits were discovered time, Emery Countys long appearance during that only yielded a few tons The Green River Journal history has many cycles of and other larger deposits were began publication on July 21, boom or bust. Many ideas, found in the Muddy Creek 1955. Jim Hurst made a many attempts at economic business drainage in the southern part flying prosperity Some lasting and profitable of the Swell some here for a fleeting time. prospectors and mining An important lesson to be officials from Green River to Geary said, The town of Green River received a learned in the history of landing strips scraped out of substantial economic boost the sagebrush at numerous Emery County is that its from the uranium boom, locations. With the end of the history must be preserved. It must be talked about and boom however miners and serving as a staging and recorded for those coming supply point for prospectors prospectors and those providand for Temple Mountain, here in the future. The heritage ing services to them moved on of this county if lost wrould not with little lasting benefit to the Muddy Creek and Tidwell Draw mines. Union Carbide be easy to restore. Truman community. The Utah Division of Oil, said, All of the documents, Corporation erected an ore and Gas Abandoned and sampling concentrating Minings pictures, letters and diaries ' Mine Reclamation Program plant on the east side of the anything containing the Green River which remained has begun the closure of history of our county should in operation until 1961. A be preserved. If you have old abandoned uranium mines in number of residents found documents or pictures and do the San Rafael Swell The not know what to do with them, employment in the diggings or Temple Mountain Project with their own claims. The w'ould close approximately donate them to the Emery County Archives or let the archives make copies of them and return them to you. Many UNDEUFtVADLE tales are documented through ah old letter or a journal entry It dates events and records that they really did happen and it isnt just folk lore. Emery County is rich in tradition and history, it is up to ; us as individuals and as a county to preserve these events long past as a reminder of wild ; we are as a people," said Truman. v instituting purchasing and bonus programs intended to stimulate exploration and development. The Temple Mountain and the Tidwell Draw areas of Emery County had produced uranium during the radium boom early in the twentieth century. By 1949 several old mines were being reopened at Temple Mountain. Most of them were eventually controlled by Consolidated Mining Company. Consolidated drilled 36 inch shafts to the deeper ore beds, lowered disassembled mining equipment through the shafts, then reassembled it in the ore zone. Shipments from Temple Mountain reached 100 tons per day by early 1950." The demand for uranium led to 910 claims being filed in the year 1949. Owen McClenahan of Castle Dale was one of these prospectors, he describes the period as, Men by the thousands flocked into these erosional wastelands in old jalopy automobiles and army surplus jeeps. Here they would camp and then proceed by foot in all YU New rs-- V LO Oak Gisr. House to, Insole Piano . Just MUSIC 58 East Main, Price 2001 637-013-4 siii vv fc a a- - Directory of Se!s3 fi Ssriieo i BOWLIN INSURANCE Come bowl under lights to disco music hursday Nights from 9:30-1- 2 pm 00PerPereon Shoes & Medium Drink $8 Gateway Lanes 94 South Main, Helper, Utah 5 (435) 472-50:1- ETCrri; n - w rr7.v , vi t v , T 1?- - f 2002 Dodge 1500 Quid Cd, 5.9L V8, Auto, Leather, & 2JL TAKES CARE OF THEM? Tracy Wilcox 71 S. Center Street, Castle Dale, Utah 381-289- 5 & LUMBER all vour Building Needs LumbeuXHardware Plumbing J Trailer The; SIT i MAGNUS0N DRY CLEANING Large Capacity Washers ii AGENT-WH-O (LUMBEKSTOR e WILCOX LAUNDRY I "PEOPLE WHO DONT HAVE AN CALL ME FOR A FREE PROTECTION PREVIEW. 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