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Show l the Church In Utah BINGHAM. One of the first mining camps where Catholic services were held is Bingham. Bing-ham. Father Walsh visited there soon after taking charge of the Utah mission. mis-sion. Since his time regular and continuous con-tinuous services have been held by a priest from Salt Lake. No mining camp in the state has had more "ups" and "dow;ns." Its years of plenty and prosperity following the development de-velopment of some big mine w,ouIcI be followed by years of depression when those same mines became well nigh exhausted. Its population always varied var-ied with the success or ill-luck of its mines. At its worst the old prospectors, trusting in its hidden treasures, would style it "the Old Reliable." Their brightest hopes have been more than realized. Father Scanlan visited there in '73. His first impressions of the place were favorable, so much so that he proposed to build a little church for the Catho- licsyjf the camp. An effort would then be made, but Ijingham met one of its reverses and the people advised that the building of a church be postponed. The erection of a church was then abandoned aban-doned and w:as not taken up till 1S90. That year an invitation was sent to B'shop Scanlan to visit Bingham on some Sunday, when the Catholics would : gladly meet him and arrange for the building of a church. This he did in May, 1890. After mass, which was celebrated cel-ebrated in the school house, the entire congregation, who remained after the regular services, not only expressed their willingness, but gave practical proofs of their good intentions by signing sign-ing a subscription list which was offered of-fered them. His lordship,, full of joy at the good dispositions manifested by-all, by-all, told of -his -paternal solicitude for them, and that all he needed was an expression . of their wishes, which on this occasion had come with the proper spirit, and he would not only carry out their wishes, but .would co-operate with them to the full extent of his authority. author-ity. At that meeting the building of a church' was decided upon. .The location of a suitable sitewas the first thing on the programme. B. B. Quinn, owning some vacant lots at the entrance to Carr Fork, offered to donate same. The location being most convenient the gift was accepted. The church, a frame building, was soon commenced.- and completed the same year. Services on . the first Sunday of each month are held' since the church was opened for oub-lie oub-lie services.- - v " -During the past year' Bingham has, through the sale of large mines, been more advertised than any of the ot4ier mining camns that surround Salt Lake. , Work on these mines being carried on j on a large scale the number , of hand3 employed is greater than it has been for many years. With the increase in population have come cy members of the church, who help to make up the present congregation. PROVO. About fifty miles south of Salt Lake, situated in a rich valley, is the city of Provo, with a population of 6,000 persons. per-sons. Agriculture and woolen mills are its chief pursuits. The insane asylum is located near the city. Catholic services ser-vices have been held there occasionally since 1874. In 1890 some Catholic families fam-ilies and many single members of the church had settled in Provo. For their accommodation services were held once a month. Early in '91 Bishop Scanlan, unable to secure a suitable place for regular monthly services, purchased a lot on which stood a large residence, which served a double purpose afterwards. after-wards. In the rear and adjoining the residence proper were three small rooms, which were twenty-two feet in width. By taking down the end wall and building an addition of thirty feet" he had a neat chapel 50x22 feet. wMth the front part of the house for the use of the priest. From the opening of the church until the commencement of the present year therf were services one Sunday in the nith. The Catholic families having alt moved from Provo no services w ere held there since last March. OPHIH. In '72 one of the best known and most prosperous mining camps of Utah was Ophir. On the 24th of September of that year it was first visited by the then pastor. Rev. P. Walsh, when he baptized David Hanly and celebrated mass in a small' hall. From '74 to '78 services were held monthly. In '73 a mission; by Fathers Dwyer and Brady attracted large congregations, and five converts, were received by them into the church. In '78 the principal mines in the district were either abandoned or only worked' on a small scale, and the town of Ophir. which had been a few years before a typical mining town, became well nigh deserted. To Park City, Silver Reef, Butte and Leadville most of the miners had gone. Since then no priest has held services in the camp. STOCKTON. Before reaching' Ophir from Salt Lake, Stockton is passed. Here the first Catholic services were held by Father Walsh. On Oct. 29, 1871, he baptized bap-tized Dora E. and Antonius Frank, residents resi-dents of the little' town of Stockton. On Oct. 5 of the following year he baptized bap-tized in the same place Sarah C. Connor. Con-nor. Since '72. though services were held there occasionally, no regular Sunday Sun-day or time was set apart for attending attend-ing to that mission.- At times there Were many members in the district; then they would dwindle down to a few-families. few-families. For this reason at no time were tere regular monthlv service, ?s in other camps. Arrangements were always al-ways made, as ttfey are at present, to suit the exigencies of the place. ' ' ' ALT A. Alia,' properly named from its high altitude, became famous in the early '70s through the Emma mine, which is located close to the town. First Catholic Cath-olic services were held there by Father Scanlan in '73. . In '"5 Alta's population was about 2.000 persons. Not less than a- lf dozen large mines, employing from fifty to 150 men,, were in full operation. oper-ation. At this time and up to 18S0 regular reg-ular services were held there each month, excepting the winter season,. when but few persons entered the town, owing to the many snowslides which, occurred there in the winter months. At present n services are held there, f as the town is nearly deserted. ! CASTLE GATE. ! . I The opening of large deposits of coat in Castle Gate made it one of the nrnft important stations on the- Rio Grando ! j Western railway. It i 110 miles south. of Salt Lake and h.is been since l.SWf 1 Utah's greatest coa.1 producing district. j Eariy in '.': Catholic services were foi the first t.'me held" there by Bishop f Scanlan, who sinco that has in jersoni I visited the place at regular intervals. His exclusive charge of the place wasr necessitated from tlie fact that all tht? I coal miners are Italians and Austrians. At. the beginning of '97 he asked th people of- the place to assist him andi f that he would erect a church suitable for the place. They readily consented. The coal company donated a suitable f site, and in March of that year he com- menced grading for his future church. The church proper, a substantial frame building, was commenced a few weeks later, and completed the following Sep- 1 tember. Since thei completion of th church services have-been held there regularly on the. fourth Sunday of thu i month. . I MERCTJR. ' Not till '93 was Mercur, which to- day compares favorably with Uta;h'i greatest mining camps, known. Ira the early '70s prospecting was done there? , and mills were built for reducing itt ' ores. It came under-the Camp Floyd district, and was known as Lewiston. In '74 it was abandoned, as there were no means then known, of saving the . precious metals which its large ore bodies yielded in small quantity. Father Scanlan visited the camp in '73 when: going from Camp Floyd to Tintic. in '75 Father Kiely with Sisters. M. Agus-ta Agus-ta and Raymond went there to collect for the hospital of the Holy Cross, going .here from Ophir. At that time there were only a few houses and very little work was being done.- It was not again visited till '94. when Bishop Scanlan went thers and arranged for regular services, which have been held . since that year. In '98 Father Keeruin, who conducted the monthly services, appealed to the Catholics- of the place for funds for the erection of a church. To his appeal he received a generous response from, all cla?ses o citizens, especially mine-owners and superin- " tendents. A site for his church was donated' do-nated' by the Golden Gate company. In May of the present year the church edifice, which measures u0x24, was begun, be-gun, and was completed in July. The architectural style is Gothic. On July 16 the church was blessed, and the first public services Messa Cantata were held by Father Keenan. , PORT DOUGLAS. Soon after the erection of the first buildings at Fort Douglas, it was visited f by Catholic priests, who always offici- ated there. In 1870. Dec. 8, Father Mee- plie celebrated mass in one of the old - log barracks: George Rauscher, am , old-time citizen of Frisco, and one cf ; the most highly esteemed members of that community, served at that mass ; and was on the same day married by the visiting priest. Since tlum the priests in charge of the Salt Lake roisison have regularly visited vis-ited the fort. . After the erection of the post chapel .services for a long time wera held once a month. A part of the time a high mass-was sung, the choir-, costing of members ol the army ther stationed at the fort. (To be continued.) |