Philip F. Notarianni Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Mining for metals, coal, hydrocarbons, and minerals was a vital aspect of Utah’s economic, industrial, political, and social growth and development. The mining industry has touched all aspects of life in Utah and has contributed greatly to the state’s history. Mormon gold miners participated in the initial discovery of gold in California, and …
Mining and Railroads
Thomas G. Alexander Utah, the Right Place After Utah’s community leaders had convinced the Central and Union Pacific Railroads to build their stations and shops in Ogden rather than Corinne, the railroaders laid the track that spliced the capital and main business center at Salt Lake City into the transcontinental lines. Seven days after the joining of the rails at …
Great Salt Lake
Richard H. Jackson Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Great Salt Lake is both the largest body of water between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean and the largest salt lake in the western hemisphere. The Great Salt Lake is the major remnant of Lake Bonneville, a large freshwater lake of the Pleistocene era (75,000–7,250 B.C.) that occupied much of …
Pony Express in Utah
Jay M. Haymond Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The Pony Express mail service between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, was a short-lived business venture operated by the firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell. The firm was well known as a freighting outfit using the central route in east-west transportation, which followed the general path of present-day Interstate 80. For freighting, …
When the Horn Silver Mine Crashed in
Miriam B. Murphy History Blazer, January 1996 The story of the Horn Silver Mine, one of the great producers in Utah and American mining history, reads like pulp fiction: Two prospectors casually discover a rich ore body, a bankrupt financier promotes the venture, the boomtown of Frisco becomes one of the wildest mining camps in the West with a murder …
The Scofield Mine Disaster in 1900 Was Utah’s Worst
Yvette D. Ison History Blazer, January 1995 In the early morning of May 1, 1900, several hundred miners of the Pleasant Valley Coal Company of Carbon County left their homes in the town of Scofield to begin another day of work in the mines. Some were looking forward to the evening celebrations at Odd Fellows Hall where festivities would be …
Castle Gate Mine Disaster
Janeen Arnold Costa Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 On 8 March 1924, in the second major mine disaster of the twentieth century in the Utah coal fields, 172 men lost their lives, including one worker who inadvertently inhaled deadly carbon monoxide during the rescue efforts. At 8:00 A.M. two violent explosions ripped through the Number Two Mine of the Utah Fuel …
Dream Mine
Jay M. Haymond Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 The so-called Dream Mine is located east of Salem in Utah County. The mine founder, John H. Koyle, was born August 14, 1864 at Spanish Fork, Utah County. He married Emily Arvilla Holt on 9 December 1884. They had four sons and three daughters. At about age twenty-two, Koyle experienced a dream about …
Silver in the Beehive State
John S. McCormick Beehive History 16 The history of silver in Utah is a long and fascinating one. Some evidence exists that Spaniards and Mexicans, and perhaps Native Americans, engaged in mining at various locations throughout the state—including present-day Iron County, Utah Valley, Summit County near Kamas, and Minersville–before permanent white settlement began with the arrival of the Mormons in …
Coins and Currency
Leonard J. Arrington Utah History Encyclopedia, 1994 Until the Civil War, the United States had no national currency, and most of the coins in circulation were privately minted. In order to provide a satisfactory circulating medium for the early settlers of Utah, Brigham Young and his associates in the LDS church established a church mint in 1848, and also placed …