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Show Iron Deposits draw early pioneers to Southern Utah area Production really started in April, 1855, 10 tons of iron ore was smelted. 1700 pounds was made in a 24 hour period. Many useful articles were cast: machine parts, stove grates, tools, hand irons, nails, tongs, horseshoes and a community bell were made. A drought hit the country and in 1856 the water was very low. To add to the troubles the hot blast furnace burned out. T hen a flash flood came and carried part of the equipment away. Brigham Young was anxious for the new industry to keep going so he offered his steam engine for use. Daniel was to bring the steam engine to Cedar City, but just at that time the saints received word of Johnston's John-ston's army marching on Utah so all turned to making gun powder. By this time many immigrants were going through our state on their way to the California gold fields. The Mountain Meadow Massacre occured on September 6, 1857 and this cast a terrible gloom all over Southern Utah. It was at this time that iron making as a public project received its death blow. John P. Jones, James Simpkins and others worked in small groups and made the much needed things of iron, The last run converted seven loads of used iron and cannon balls from Johnston's army into iron ore. Jack, Tom and William Walker made the iron into molasses rolls, saw and grist mill irons. The Iron business closed down in 1857, due to many things, among them lack of funds and poor coke. The next adventure was in 1868 by the Great Western Iron Manufacturing Company of Iron Town. The blast furnace there had a daily output of 2400 pounds of pig iron during July 1873 and for 10 years. But it too had to close down due to lack of funds. In 1899 the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company acquired property in Pinto, Iron Springs District. They also did prospecting at Iron Mountain and East of Paragonah. It was with the coming of the Railroad, June 27, 1923, that the iron business really came to life. In 1924 the Columbia Steel Pig Iron Plant at Iron Mountain opened, and produced 164,154 tons of iron. From then on the iron business grew in leaps tnd bounds, as it was shipped to the Columbia Steel, Geneva Steel In Provo, Kaiser in California, and Colorado Fuel and Iron Company., Com-pany., The business continued to I grow until the yearly output is 1 two and one half million gross tons of ore yearly. The iron business is the biggest business in our county. 700 men are employed, the 1951 salary total was $150,000. The major iron ore deposits in Utah are in Iron and Washington Counties. The U.S. Bureau of mines estimates the proven reserves of ore in this area to be 100,000,000 gross tons of more than 45 percent iron, based upon results of drilling, geological and geophysical evidences supported by various amount of drilling. These estimates include ores to the depths of 1500 feet at specific areas where outlines both horizontally and vertically are indicated from the geological survey. This information was received from Walter Mathias, President of Geneva Steel Co. Hy Jeun Hendrkkson (This report was made by Allan Orton and Ralph Robinson, Parowan 7th grade core, September Sep-tember 21, 1960 after a visit with Mrs. Luella A. Dalton.) Iron Ore was first discovered by a company of immigrants, goldseekers, led by Jefferson Hunt on his way to California, He and his company arrived in Iron County in October, 1848. They found vast quantities of Iron Ore. The state of Deseret legislature in September 1847 commissioned Parley P. Pratt to explore Southern Utah. He was to raise a company of 50 men with new teams and equipment to explore Southern Utah. They started out Nov. 24, 1849. The journey was rather hazardous. They encountered many hardships, hard-ships, deep snow, 20 degree below, making roads and very little feed for animals. They traveled south through the settlement of Manti, on through Circleville canyon and turned west to arrive through the mountains into Little Salt Lake Valley. On December 21, 1849, they camped at Red Creek, hoisting the stars and stripes. The pioneers knew that they must have iron for tools and equipment if they were to survive. sur-vive. At a general meeting of the Seventies Oct. 27, 1850, apostle George A. Smith was commissioned com-missioned to gather 100 men and to establish the Iron Mission in Little Salt Lake Valley. They gathered at Provo. This was no ordinary company. It was a picked group of men and women, all artisans who had been trained in all the arts and skills of the day in factories and shops of Europe. On November 11, 1851, 35 men and their families left Parowan to make a settlement at Coal Creek now Cedar City. They were to produce iron from near by Iron Mountain. On May 10, 1852 they met at the home of Brother Duncan Ross to organize the Iron County Mining Company. Com-pany. Richard. Harrison was superintendent with Henery Lunt as clerk. They had no money to start with but went to work anyway., One half the men were to gather material for a foundry, a coke oven, hauling ore, etc. The rest were to maintain the colony. A small furnace was built by George Wood and John P. Jones. 'This furnace required a bellows. Burr Frost made enough nails to shoe a horse. John Urie made plow shears from old wagon tires and other iron from an old wagon. In Feb. 1852, a vein of coal in Cedar Canyon was opened, this would help in the making of iron. So the people began to build a charcoal pit and a coke oven. They hauled in and broke up, with a hammer, a pile of Iron Ore. A blast furnace lined with hand-made fire clay brick was completed. In August, 1852, the coke oven was fired for the first time. The coal, it was found, was not right for coking. Excitement about the iron industry was everywhere and on September 29, 1852, the furnace was ready to be checked. A great party was held at night around a big bonfire. The party opened by everyone singing and kneeling in prayer. Then they all played and danced the night away. At the break of dawn Robert Adams arranged a big box of sand under the spout, knocked : out the clav Dlus to let the firey metal pour in. It did! Shouts of 1 Hosanna filled the air as all ! ' wended their way to their homes, I ; a happy and excited people! This was the news the new : state wanted to hear so Richard Harrison, George Wood, Philip Klingonsmith, Thomas Cart-wright Cart-wright and Thomas Bladen left Cedar City immediately to go to Salt Lake City and tell President Brigham Young. About this time Erastus Snow and Francis D. Richards, who were in England on a mission, organized a Deseret Iron Mine Company in Liverpool. They collected from three to four thousand pounds (money) in stock. They reported their ' success to Brigham Young on November 24, 1852. All local men i joined the company but little was done in 1853. In April, 1854, the walls of the furnace collapsed. A new one was built and could have been used in January, 1855, but the weather was too bitterly cold. |
