| Show SAGA OF ALTAS MINES 7 7 ZI 71 emma M ine utah arr 12 r JI IF 15 W L tay 3 Sf Av ft y si j vyv jl y fc 15 jh A 61 W ike div aw I 1 25 vi 4 X V 4 T S ewi aroi 4 1 9 W aft a k i r 1 t 0 1 r act iab 4 44 t 41 u L Y 1 R jm Z V 4 j aua I 1 RN 14 f 1 V V I 1 d torta s al C B 4 ax 1 rya 0 13 14 X aa A 0 A xay ay A N q ft i A U i ce afe beasy sea sy tal illi I 1 1 S souls slope lle Coto Cofton nood wo d ya aka am by COL GEORGE H WATSON president and gen manager alta united mines co of mines crowning the don DOZENS wasatch mountains look down on salt lake city 25 miles northwestward from big and little littie cottonwood districts generally referred to as alta in honor ot of their first town in before the ontario mine began to flood the world with silver alta was a busy little camp disseminating reports of sliver lead strikes and backing the reports with occasional small shipments of ore who first stuck a pick into the ground is not known though it Is related that grass root exposures of 0 mineral were made at the instance of the indefatigable gen patrick E connor ot of fort douglas as earl early as the strike which gave alta its first million and incidentally led to international notoriety was made by james F woolman assisted by three companions C cis is holm woodhull Wood bull and reisch keisch A mineral stained surface treal streak tempted woodmans woodmass Wood mans pick and 92 93 feet down become a fabulous ore body the emma dinine had been discovered for flour bacon and other supplies the miners had bad gone in debt to salt lake merchants now kow the emma minim co wils formed and a large merest interest in it taken by walker brothers storekeepers and embryo bankers litigation over an option on this mine its purchase by a british company la in 1872 and an investigation ot of charges that the american minis minister to london used his official position to boost the stock are printed history for two years beholders mere ftera dazzled by the size and richness of the emma scarcely less impressive were the slopes of 0 the flagstaff just west of 0 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 two A multitude ot of tunnels and shafts nosed into the outcrops and pres presently enily several prospects were shipping ore the emmas great shoot was terminated by a fault which cut oft off the ore like a knife but not before some three million had been mined and hundreds of thousands paid as dividends meanwhile rich veins had been discovered in the prince of wales and mines on the big cottonwood side and the albion on the divide to the south where the tha zone extended over into american Ante rican fork canyon ore deposits of importance were uncovered in the city rocks hocks columbus north stir star arzley Griz ley toledo 1 reed benson R and nd m many ly others during the firs farst t year Y f ore was hauled by ox team down clown little cottonwood canyon r and to ogden thence by rail I 1 1 to san francisco and by water to swansea wales where it was smelted smelter and refined seventy three was a big biff year for or the town of 0 alta five breweries assuaged the thirst ot of the miners six sawmills cut lumber tor for buildings and timbers tor for the mines the population swelled to saloons and dance halls did a flourishing bu business so did the cemetery south ot of town tradition has it that more than a hundred men were killed hilled in fights over mining claims the faulting laul ting of the emma vein followed by the do 0 of silver in 1873 was a serious blow to the camp then in 1874 came a catastrophe which was to reduce alta tor for a generation to the status ot of a ghost camp an enormous swept down from umma emma hill at the north the life was crushed irom from GO 60 men in buildings on oil the main street there the snow was 40 teet feet deep fire broke out and am added to the ruin ore discoveries continued hut but rejuvenation ot of the town was wa s ills cour agad by the lack of 0 tation facilities alta is about ft t aboe sea level in 8 miles the road to salt lake valley drops ft ore of 0 ani any but the highest grade could not be ba moved profitably by wagon A narrow gauge railroad gave some relief relict until high operating cost forced its abandonment andon ment the solution has been found in federal highways and a splendid roads up the canyons are nearing hearing completion medium grade ore soon will be marketable A mine as as the emma emina was developed on the big cottonwood side in 1914 it Is called the cardiff 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 ore zone has produced about 37 gross and many thousands of dollars have gone to stockholders dividends up to 1917 1 reported by the U S geological survey include from the emma front from the vallejo and from the south hecla all now owned by the alta united mines co from the flat Flag staff and from the columbus con both belonging to the wasatch mines co from rom the maxfield from the cardiff and from various smaller properties load lead silver ore has been altug most important contribution to the world though considerable copper and some gold have figured op on the settlement sheets in sortie some mines bismuth 1 li a promising resource recently the high proportion of 0 gold in tho the western part of the area has inspired much activity there the feeling Is general that the greatest obstacles to production from alta have been overcome and that the zone Is entering an epoch of unprecedented prosperity ta |
