Show y The History of at Park City v 4 a h t I r s f I I II II I II I II I I I General P. P E. E Connor first commander at Fort Douglas who became known as The Father of Utah Mining due to his early activities I In Utah r Editors Editor's Note This Thia Is U th the third of a series aeries of eight cI ht article re n regarding ardin tho the his hI- history tory torn of Park City plon pioneer r Utah Ulah mining community Systematic prospecting for ore In Utah began with th the arrival of ot General P. P P E. E E Connor L. 1 his Cali Call California California fornia volunteers at wha Is now Fort Douglas In la 1862 Imbued with the tho spirit of ot 49 as they wore were these volunteers spent their peaceful periods of ot inactivity tho mountains of ot Utah As a result General Connor became known as aa Father of ot Utah Mining Their first attention was directed to the West Mountains probably through the representations of ot George George- B. B B Ogilvie an apostate Mormon engaged in farming OgIl Ogil- Ogilvie vie had reported to General Connor his discovery of ot mineral In the early fall of rd it 1863 In BIngham canyon An exploring expedition under the com com- command command mand of ot Captain Ca C Heitz Heltz was the first to discover galena In Bingham canyon and on on- September 17 7 1863 Ogilvie and others formally took up there there- the tho first mining location in Utah known as the West Jordan claim In the following December the first mining district in the territory was t as formed and named the West Mountain dis dis- district Among the first to prospect the Park City area was Rector Steen who although not a soldier prospector prospector tor worked with them and who was later to discover the Ontario mine Probably Incited by the dis die discoveries at West Mountain he spent the winter of ot 64 prospecting through the hills hilts of ot Bingham and amI the two Cottonwood canyons In Inthe Inthe Inthe the spring of 1864 he gave up his search temporarily and went to Montana and Wyoming The sol sol- soldiers soldiers diers were not discouraged by the experiences of ot Steen and continued to prospect south of ot Bingham With no railroads to serve the territory at that time Ume It became necessary to undertake ke domestic reduction or smelting The first at smelting were vere made in inthe inthe Inthe the summer summer of 1864 when General Connor and others erected near the present town of ot Stockton a furnace of This the pattern the first smelter in la Utah was not Successful as It was not suited to the general ores at hand The failure of ot this early smelting venture and others that followed not did deter the prospectors It became be e apparent however that transportation was necessary to the I development of this remote area and actual mining had to await the completion of tho the Union Pacific which was organized In 1862 The fourth article in this series will ap at appear appear pear In these columns soon |