Utah's Iron Mission

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Iron Mission and Iron City (Iron County)

(Sources include a wide variety of internet searches, including current and abandoned websites at Archive.org, online digital newspapers, and various issues of pre-1920 historical publications. The focus of this page is to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

Before the transcontinental railroad arrived in May 1869, Utah's pioneer iron industry was defined by an ambitious push for economic self-sufficiency, severe technical hurdles, and the immense difficulty of processing local raw materials.

Overview

Early iron production in Iron County operated from 1851 to 1884. While significant ore shipments were sent to northern smelters between 1890 and 1920 for use as fluxing ore, commercial iron and steel production did not resume until major commercial developments began: first by Colorado Fuel & Iron in 1918, and then by Columbia Steel in 1921 to supply its upcoming iron plant near Provo.

Until these times, the development of the iron ore deposits in Iron County can best be described along with the Iron Mission of the 1850s and later attempts through the 1880s.

The Call for Self-Sufficiency (1849–1850) -- Following the arrival of Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley, imported iron tools, wagon tires, nails, and agricultural implements were scarce and costly. When exploring expeditions confirmed extensive rich iron ore deposits (magnetite and hematite) in Iron County, Brigham Young issued a official call in late 1850 to organize the Iron Mission. Led by George A. Smith, a company of roughly 120 men, many with metalworking and mining experience from the British Isles, set out to establish a settlement and ironworks in southern Utah.

Setting Up in Cedar City & Early Production (1851–1852) -- By early 1851, the settlers established Parowan as an agricultural base and soon founded Cedar City (near Coal Creek) to build the blast furnace. Iron ore was hauled approximately 10 to 15 miles by wagon from Iron Mountain and Iron Springs, while coal was hauled down from Coal Creek Canyon.

First Iron (September 1852) -- On September 30, 1852, the small experimental test furnace made its first successful run, producing a small amount of pig iron. Samples were rushed to Salt Lake City as proof that iron production was achievable.

The Deseret Iron Company (1852–1858) -- In late 1852, the enterprise was reorganized as the Deseret Iron Company (incorporating capital from British church members). A larger blast furnace was constructed in 1854. However, the operation faced continuous setback after setback.

The English iron workers were accustomed to coking coal, but the nearby Coal Creek coal was not coking coal. It was more like low-grade lignite, and had a high sulfur content, which degraded the quality of the iron and deteriorated the primitive furnace linings. Attempts to rely on charcoal consumed vast amounts of timber.

The hard magnetite ore of Iron Mountain proved difficult to reduce without precise fluxing ratios and higher temperatures than their handmade, waterwheel-driven bellows could reliably maintain.

Flash floods repeatedly swept away waterwheels and flumes along Coal Creek. Additionally, outbreaks like the Walker War (1853–1854) and the Utah War (1857–1858) repeatedly diverted manpower to defense and settlement survival.

In October 1858, Brigham Young advised company leadership to shut down operations. Assets were gradually liquidated, concluding in an auction of equipment in December 1861.

Re-emergence at Iron City (1868–1869) -- In 1868, Ebenezer Hanks, Homer Duncan, and associates initiated a new effort roughly 22 miles west of Cedar City at Little Pinto Creek (which became Iron City or Old Irontown). Relying on local pinyon charcoal rather than coal-coke and utilizing beehive charcoal kilns, this operation built a small blast furnace, pattern shop, and foundry. They began casting practical items, such as flat irons, fireplace grates, and stamp-mill parts, just as the transcontinental railroad was reaching Utah Territory in 1869.

While the pioneer iron operations before 1869 never achieved sustained commercial viability due to fuel quality, metallurgy challenges, and environmental hazards, they proved that southern Utah held massive mineral wealth—a capability that would eventually blossom when rail transportation brought cheap heavy machinery and efficient fuel into the territory.

The coming of the railroad to northern Utah greatly reduced the cost of importing iron, and the local industry in southern Utah collapsed.

(Read Leonard Arrington's sections on early iron manufacturing in Utah, as part of his book, "Great Basin Kingdom," published in 1958)

Iron Mission (1851-1858)

1850s
Iron ore was discovered in the southern part of the territory in 1850, by Parley P. Pratt, and steps were immediately taken to develop the industry. In his message to the legislature of the State of Deseret on December 2, 1850, Brigham Young called attention to the discovery of iron ore and urged an appropriation to aid in its development. On December 3, 1850, Iron County was organized. (Journal History, December 3, 1850)

The Cedar City Iron Company was organized and was making some progress, but was short of capital and workers. The Deseret Iron Company was formed in Liverpool, England, early in 1852. Iron was actually produced in the fall of 1852; but due to high costs, Indian depredations and floods, the experiments finally had to be acknowledged a failure in 1857 - one which had cost the territorial government about $150,000. (Anna Viola Lewis, "Development of Mining in Utah", unpublished Master's thesis, Department of History, University of Utah, 1941, p. 25.)

January 13, 1851
"The Iron Mission consisting of 168 persons, 120 men, 30 women, and 18 children under 14 years of age, departed Salt Lake City, December 7, 1850. They were under the leadership of George A. Smith, and reached what is now Parowan on January 13, 1851. The colony accomplished a tremendous amount of labor in 1852. They built roads to the coal and to the iron mines, built a small furnace, a blacksmith's shop, pattern shop, moulding shop, coke ovens, an office, a canal with flume and waterwheel, opened three coal mines, hauled 100 loads of coal to the works, burned a large supply of charcoal, hauled a large amount of iron ore and crushed it with sledge hammers, built a small fort with houses for their families, and cared for their fields and livestock." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year.")

September 30, 1852
"An exploring party was sent out in 1849 and in December of that year deposits of iron ore were discovered some 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. Colonists located in that area in January, 1851, and these were later joined by others who had been iron workers in England. In February, 1852, this group began the erection of a blast furnace at what is now Cedar City, and on Sept. 30, 1852, the furnace was tapped, producing the first pig iron in the United States west of the Missouri River. The furnace was then purchased and enlarged by the Deseret Iron Company, which had raised $16,000 by selling stock to converts in England, but the enterprise suffered reverses and required assistance from the public treasury." (Deseret News, February 28, 1948, "Utah Has Early History Of Steel")

December 23, 1854
"The minute book of the Deseret Iron Company, under date of Dec. 23, 1854, tells of the completion of a new furnace and in 1855, the enlarged furnace produced 1,000 lbs. of pig iron in the first 24 hours." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year.")

Union Iron Manufacturing Company (1868-1873)

(In the 1860s and 1870s, Iron City, now commonly known as Old Iron Town, was located in Iron County in southwestern Utah, approximately 22 miles west-southwest of Cedar City. It sat along the banks of Pinto Creek at the southwestern base of Iron Mountain. Established in 1868 after the early iron-making efforts of the Iron Mission in Cedar City stalled, Iron City was developed by Ebenezer Hanks, Peter Shirts, and associates through the Union Iron Company, which later became the Great Western Iron Manufacturing company. Throughout the early-to-mid 1870s, Iron City grew into a bustling industrial settlement featuring a blast furnace, beehive charcoal kilns, a foundry, pattern shop, blacksmith shop, schoolhouse, and post office. At its height, the furnace produced hundreds of pounds of pig iron per shift. Operations ceased around 1876 due to high transportation costs of hauling pig iron by team and wagon, together with legal pressures on church leaders, and the economic fallout of the Panic of 1873.)

1868
"Old Iron Town. Established 1868 by Ebenezer Hanks and others who organized the Great Western Iron Manufacturing company [Union Iron Manufacturing Company], a cooperative enterprise. Officers were E. Hanks, president; Homer Duncan, vice president; Seth M. Blair, secretary. Eight hundred pounds of iron of good quality was produced every eight hours, the plant running day and night. The enterprise was taken over in 1883 by the Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah with George Q. Cannon, president and manager; John C. Cutler, secretary. A railroad was moved here from Nevada to haul coal from Cedar canyon to 'Little Pinto,' the name given this townsite." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 13, 1936, citing a historical marker placed in May 1936 by the Utah Trail Markers Association and the Parowan Stake.)

October 28, 1868
"News From Iron City. - By private letter we learn the Union Iron Company are still pushing along their experiments, the difficulty being want of proper fire material. We are informed that this has finally been discovered and that iron will soon flow from the furnace, and it is confidently expected that an 'iron brick' will be on exhibition at our conference next month." (Rio Virgen Times, St. George, October 28, 1868)

July 28, 1869
"We have just received from Maj. S. M. Blair of Iron City a lengthy correspondence." "The iron works are now for a time quiet, the operatives waiting for an assay of the ore from N.Y. Meantime they are getting out a quantity of the choicest of fire brick for their furnaces and a few to spare to those in need." (Rio Virgen Times, St. George, July 28, 1869)

January 10, 1870
At the last spike ceremony for Utah's first railroad, the Utah Central, on January 10, 1870, both the mallet and the last spike itself was made of Utah iron, by James Lawson at the LDS church's blacksmith shop. The spike was so highly polished that it appeared as silver. "The mallet was elegantly cased, bearing on the top an engraved beehive surrounded by the inscription, 'Holiness to the Lord,' and underneath the beehive were the letters U.C.R.R.; a similar insignia consecrated the spike." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 10, page 142)

April 30, 1870
Letter from Seth M. Blair to George A. Smith, post dated Iron City, Iron County, April 30, 1870. "We commenced here a year ago last July [July 1869], ignorant of the process of reducing our iron ores into merchantable iron, or of the material from which a proof fire brick could be made, both of which obstacles we have overcome and have now sent for engine crusher, and other machinery to New York, and anticipate that before the fourth day of July next we shall be producing daily from three to five tons of as good grey cast iron as can be made in the United States. From the fact of our iron ores being the richest known (assaying seventy-two per cent) which we reduce with charcoal, we shall be able to offer the best of cast iron, highly charged with carbon and silicon, from which the finest steel, by the Bessemer process, can be made, also wrought iron unsurpassed in any country. - signed Seth M Blair, Director Union Iron Works." (Deseret News, May 10, 1870)

August 1870
"Iron City, Iron County, was begun in 1869 by Ebenezer Hanks and Homer Duncan. Hanks was from Parowan and Duncan from Cedar City. They organized Iron City. In August 1870, the Utah Iron Mining Co. [Union Iron Manufacturing Company] was organized. Its officers were Ebenezer Hanks, President; Chapman Duncan, Seth M. Blair, Homer Duncan, Edmund Ellsworth and Preston Blair as directors. Their capital stock was $100,000 selling at $25.00 per share." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year.")

1871
"In 1871 some coal land and mineral claims were added and the capital stock increased to $250,000. They cast most of the stamps that were used in the Pioche and Silver Reef Stamp Mills." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year.")

March 29, 1871
"Seth M. Blair, Esq., and others interested in the manufacture of iron, have engaged the services of an experienced iron-worker - Mr. David Adams, of Beaver County, who has succeeded in producing excellent pig iron." (Ogden Junction, citing Deseret Evening News of March 27, 1871)

(Research suggests that the first pig iron was cast by the Union Iron Manufacturing company in early April 1871.)

April 14, 1871
"Iron City, April 14. Henry Lunt—We send you a sample of our iron. We are casting from seven to ten hundred pounds of that quality every eight hours. Our furnace, flue, ore, etc., our superintendent, Bishop D. B. Adams, says, work as well as any he ever saw. Our ore yields 75 per cent of iron and is unsurpassed for quality in the United States. We propose further improvements immediately and hope in a short time to be able to furnish southern Utah with her stoves, sugar mills and all other castings. We have discovered a good quality of coal and the company hopes to convince the people of Utah that the iron business will be and is a more profitable and lucrative one than silver mining.— Seth M. Blair." (Deseret News, April 19, 1871) (The sample was 70 pounds of fine pig iron.)

May 3, 1871
"Utah Manufactured Iron. — Mr. A. G. Thornton, of Pinto, Iron Co., called last evening. He arrived in this city on Monday night, bringing with him a specimen of iron which was made at the Union Iron Manufacturing Company's works, which are situated about seven miles from the above named settlement. The pig which was shown us appeared of excellent quality, being pronounced by competent judges as good as can be produced anywhere. The article is being run out at the works at the rate of about 100 lbs. an hour which, considering the limited means at the command of the company, is a very good work. Mr. Thornton says that ore and fuel - cedar and pine, are in inexhaustible quantities in the immediate vicinity of the works. He also expresses the opinion that a little prospecting work would develop the fact that coal exists in the western region to an extent unlimited extent, as evidence of such deposits are frequently found scattered all over that section of country." (Deseret News, May 3, 1871)

August 23, 1871
The following is summarized from and based in part on a letter from Seth M. Blair to Wilford Woodruff, president of the Deseret Agricultural and Manufacturing Society. The letter was post dated Iron City, Iron County on July 27, 1871. Reprinted in the Deseret News, August 23, 1871.

Incorporated on March 17, 1870, the Union Iron Manufacturing company had by August 1871 built furnaces, imported machinery, and successfully begun smelting iron ore into high-grade gray cast iron.

The founders first began their work as early as 1855, but spent nearly two years into 1857 searching for suitable materials to build the fire brick linings for their furnaces. Once they solved that problem, they struggled to find a qualified iron-master. They eventually hired Mr. David B. Adams of Beaver County in late March 1871, whose expertise turned their long-held plans into reality.

By August 1871, the company was operating a furnace capable of producing 2,500 pounds of fine-quality iron per day, with the potential to scale production significantly once additional funding is secured for expansion. A new brick foundry is nearly finished and expected to open within days. Looking ahead, the company plans to construct a larger smelting furnace, a steel furnace, and a wrought-iron forge later this year.

(Seth M. Blair was described in the Salt Lake Weekly Tribune of September 9, 1871: "The iron mine and reduction works are under the superintendence of S. M. Blair, a whole-souled, liberal-minded Texan gentleman, by whose indomitable will, perseverance and energy have brought to their present prosperous condition.")

(Newspaper research shows that at some time between August 1871 and January 1872, possibly due to health concerns, Seth M. Blair left Iron City and the iron enterprise, and took up office as an attorney and mining agent in Salt Lake City. He received the mining patent to the Iron Claim in 1875. There is no reference in 1876-1878 and in 1879 his estate was being handled. He apparently passed away in about 1877.)

December 19, 1871
"Iron City. — By a letter to Major S. M. Blair, dated Iron City, Dec. 19, we learn that the iron business was proceeding briskly, and there was a great demand for castings. The day previous, a load of over 1900 lbs. was sent to the Bullion or Pioche mines. Another load was to be dispatched in about a week after. Experiments with the cupola had been satisfactory and everything was going on well." (Deseret News, December 27, 1871)

April 15, 1872
"The Iron Works. — The following is an extract from a letter from Brother David B. Adams, written at Iron City, Iron C. "The furnace at Iron City is in full blast, and has been turning out as good a quality of iron as can be made in any country, during the past week. The fire brick and rock are of the best quality. There is a great demand for pig-iron as well as castings. The iron company have laid the foundation for a very large furnace." (Deseret News, April 15, 1872)

August 30, 1873
Summarized from Utah Mining Gazette, August 30, 1873.

Aside from the work done by Mr. E. Hanks at Iron City, no further iron manufacturing has occurred, except for a patent application for a mining district. Once land titles are secured, the owners—who have capital—are expected to begin full-scale operations.

Mr. Hanks’s efforts are noteworthy because his furnaces have produced a significant amount of iron and have operated successfully. He would have continued running them over the past two years if he had had enough funds for expenses. He has proven that good-quality iron can be made from the local ore, which is abundant, and his facility is located near a large coal field. This gives him a valuable asset that is likely to become profitable within a few years. Regardless of future developments, Hanks is the first to manufacture iron in Utah.

(This suggests that the Union Iron Manufacturing company at Iron City, although shipping a good pig iron product, was not financially successful, and was shut down for that reason. The major reason was likely the high transportation cost; moving very heavy cast iron pieces even to the closest market at Pioche, about 70 miles, would have been very high and a major consideration.)

(The nearest railroad within Utah was at Lehi, about 270 miles, when Utah Southern was finished to that point in September 1872. The nearest railroad within Nevada was the Central Pacific at Palisade, about 280 miles.)

September 1873
In September 1873, the iron ore mines of Iron County were the stated destination of the Iron Mountain and Utah Valley Railroad. Its stated route was 273 miles from Iron City, north to a connection with Utah Southern, whose line from Salt Lake City was by September 1873, at American Fork, at the northern end of Utah Valley. The line was not built. (Utah Corporation Index 4292)

Great Western Iron Manufacturing Company (1873-1874)

1873
"In 1873 John W. Young came in and the Company was reorganized under the name Great Western Iron Mining and Mfg. Company. They re-incorporated for $2,000,000 placing the stock value at $100.00 per share." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year.")

July 4, 1873
Summarized from the Deseret News, October 8, 1873.

This morning we received a report from men who have recently traveled in the southern part of the Territory. They reported that on July 4, an organization was formed in Iron County under the name The Great Western Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company, with a capital stock of $2,000,000. The company plans to begin manufacturing iron for railroad and other uses at Iron City, located 22 miles southwest of Cedar City. The company will start building furnaces and other equipment for iron production. It is expected that the long-discussed development of the region's mineral deposits will now proceed actively.

The Iron Mountain of Missouri is considered the world's richest deposit of its kind, but those familiar with both consider Iron County's deposits significantly richer. Assays of the Iron County ore, conducted by experienced assayers in San Francisco, have shown yields of 70–90% pure iron.

Recognizing the need for railroad access to develop the iron district, a meeting was held in Parowan, Iron County, on July 15, and a railroad company was organized with a capital of $8,000,000. The company aims to build a line from Iron City to a future connection point with the Utah Southern railroad. The estimated length of the line is about 270 miles, and it will be named the Iron Mountain and Utah Valley Railroad. A preliminary survey has begun, grading will start soon, rails will be produced at Iron City, and track laying will begin as soon as feasible.

Many leading citizens of Iron and surrounding counties are shareholders in both companies, and substantial capital has already been subscribed.

September 1873
From the Deseret News, June 9, 1924, on the occasion of the opening of Columbia Steel's plant near Provo.

In September 1873 the Great Western Iron Mining & Manufacturing company was organized with two million dollars capital stock.

In Parowan, on September 15, 1873, the people of iron county met with the promoters and organized what was then known as The Iron Mountain & Utah Valley Railroad company, with capital stock of eight million.

It was their purpose to build a railroad 270 miles in length and connecting with the Utah Southern railroad. They anticipated manufacturing the rails in Iron county at what is now known as Iron City.

Much of the stock had been subscribed to promote this scheme in 1873, when the panic caused by the demonetization of silver struck the United States, and of course nothing more was done.

October 1, 1873
According to the Deseret News of October 1, 1873, two new corporations had been organized. One, capitalized at $2 million, was for the manufacture of iron for railroad and other purposes. The second, capitalized at $8 million, was for the construction of a railroad to be built from Iron City, to connect with the Utah Southern. Preliminary surveys for the railroad had already been completed and grading was to begin shortly. Rails for the new railroad were to be manufactured at Iron City. (Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, October 4, 1873)

October 5, 1873
"Iron. - The Great Western Iron Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of railroad iron, etc., was recently organized in Iron county, Utah." (Eureka [Nevada] Daily Sentinel, October 5, 1873)

December 6, 1873
"The Great Western Iron Manufacturing Company, have already manufactured several hundred tons of castings at Iron City, for which they find a ready sale at one hundred dollars per ton. Their furnace is a small one, having the following dimensions: Total height from hearth to throat, thirty-four feet; height of boshes, eight feet; diameter of throat, 19-3/4 inches; diameter of boshes, four feet eight inches. The furnace is now being repaired and enlarged somewhat, for the manufacture of castings for a large blast furnace, which the company intend to build in the Spring. The company use charcoal in their furnace, and there is an abundant supply of wood in the immediate vicinity for a long time to come. The iron interest must, however, rely, in the distant future, upon coke." (Utah Mining Gazette, December 6, 1873)

December 18, 1873
"The business agent of the Great Western Iron Manufacturing Company says their blast furnace foundry and machine shop at Iron City having been recently overhauled and improved, will start up in about two weeks, and will be kept running all winter." (Daily Ogden Junction, December 18, 1873)

1874
Although the Utah iron mines were producing iron ore for local use, transportation of the iron ore from the south to the northern cities was a factor in it not being used. Importing iron ore from the east was still less expensive, as shown by a traffic report for the Utah Central from March 1874, which showed that just over 273 tons of iron ore was imported during that month. (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 10, page 144)

(This shipment would have been over Utah Central's route between Salt Lake City and Ogden, because the rail line south from Salt Lake City to Utah Valley was by way of the Utah Southern Railroad, which by December 1874 had been completed between Salt Lake City and Spanish Fork, at the southern end of Utah Valley.)

November 11, 1874
"Utah Iron. Yesterday Brother Arthur Stayner exhibited to us a flat-iron stand, cast at the R.R. shops in this city, of iron made by the Great Western Iron Company, in Iron County. A stove plate was also cast, and taken out of the sand while red hot. It cooled off without a flaw, which the imported iron will not do, or is very liable to crack if tried. The workmen say the Utah Iron runs like dripping, is strong and is as good as the best imported iron, but a little harder. The general opinion of the quality of the iron was very favorable. It is to be hoped that stoves and other articles of the Utah iron will soon be made in Territory." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year," citing the Deseret News of November 11, 1874)

December 1, 1874
"Iron Production. Ten tons more of Utah iron is on the way to this city from the Western Company's works at Iron City." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year," citing the Deseret News of December 1, 1874)

December 8, 1874
"Castings from Utah Iron. This morning, about two tons of castings were produced at Davis, Howe and Company works, 17th Ward, from iron made by the Great Western Company. The castings were as clean as need be desired, and we noticed among them a couple of street lamp posts. The only fault that has been even attempted to be found with the Utah iron, so far, is, that it is a trifle too hard, which does not appear, however, to be any disadvantage in castings of a general character, like those produced to-day, and the company who manufacture it are perfectly confident that they can make the non of the required softness. The successful manufacturing of iron in Utah is now demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt, and it but needs railroad connections between the works and this city to enable it to be in the van of the industries of the Territory. The Great Western Iron Mining and Manufacturing Company have ordered a hundred tons more of their iron to be delivered in this city; five tons of it have already arrived at Provo, and will probably be here today or to-morrow. It is considered by many judges as good as any produced in the United States." (Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Our Pioneer Heritage, Volume 18, page 12, "1874, An Eventful Year," citing the Deseret News of December 8, 1874)

January 27, 1875
"The Utah Western Railroad Company is about to commence the manufacture of ten flat cars." The iron parts to be cast of Utah iron, and Utah lumber to be used also. (Deseret Evening News, January 27, 1875)

Utah Iron Manufacturing Company (1881-1883)

1881-1882
During 1881, access to the iron mines of Iron County played a part in the larger picture of railroad development in Southern Utah. Two out-of-state railroads, the Atlantic and Pacific, and the Texas and Pacific, each announced plans to connect with a third road, California Central, that was planning to build across Nevada to connect with the other roads along the Utah-Nevada line, northwest of Cedar City. Railroad officials in Utah, including John Sharp, commenced talks with the California Central company to bypass the plans of the "foreign" roads and instead, make their connection with the Utah Central Railway, already building south from Utah Valley to serve the silver mines near Frisco. On August 23, 1881, the Utah Central plans were formalized with the organization of the California Central, Utah Division, with a specific stated goal of the iron mines and coal mines of Iron County, and a connection with Utah Central. On January 20, 1882, Utah Central amended its own incorporation papers to include a route to the mines in Iron County. (Reeder, page 403, which includes a citation of Salt Lake Herald, September 17 and 22, 1881)

April 20, 1881
From the Deseret News, April 20, 1881.

Zion's Central Board Of Trade. - Salt Lake City, Utah, April 15, 1881. - To the Stake Boards of Trade:

There will be a meeting of Zion's Central Board of Trade, on Tuesday, May 17, 1881, at 11 a. m., at the Council House, Salt Lake City, for the purpose of arriving at a better understanding of what is needed to more thoroughly develop and assist our home industries; to establish them on a better and firmer footing, and to utilize the natural resources of the Territory.

You will therefore please instruct the members who represent you in Zion's Central Board of Trade to meet with us on the above date, prepared not only with all the information possible on such subjects as may interest and benefit your section, but to discuss the following subjects, and suggest such plans for carrying them out as shall tend to the best interests of the Territory:

First.—Manufacture of Iron and Coke. Our Iron Foundries.

The deposits of iron ore in Utah, are said to be the largest in the world, and the manufacture of these iron would be the means of giving employment to hundreds of our people who, though skilled in its manufacture, are to-day engaged in less profitable and congenial employments.

Fuel being required in large quantities, the manufacture of coke would come under this heading, being a necessity for making finer grades of iron.

In connection with the iron ore beds of the Territory, red and yellow ochres abound. Samples of lead, iron and chrome pigments; venetian red, chrome red, yellow and green; and white and red lead are to be seen in our Deseret Museum in this city, yet none of these have been produced in quantity sufficient to even supply the home demand.

(There follows another 18 subjects, with iron being number one.)

August 26, 1881
After due consideration the draft was approved, the name being the "Utah Iron Manufacturing Company." Five hundred shares of the stock were then subscribed for, and in accordance with the law regulating the incorporation of such companies 10 per cent. of the amount of stock subscribed for was paid into the hands of the treasurer—the sum amounting to the neat little nest egg of 5,000 hard good dollars. This done, the election of officers for the ensuing twelve months was commenced, resulting as follows: President, William Jennings; vice-president, Amos Howe; directors, John Sharp, F. Little, John Taylor, W. H. Hooper, H. S. Eldredge, the president and vice-president being members of the board. The company has not yet decided what active steps will be taken or where the iron works will be located." (Salt Lake Herald, August 26, 1881)

September 17, 1881
"Recent reports state that a new town site has been laid out by Captain Bailey's corps of surveyors near Iron Springs. It is anticipated that this prospective town will be the Pittsburgh of the West. We further learn that a strong company has been organized in Salt Lake City, for the purpose of working the iron deposits in that locality, which is to be known as the Utah Iron Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $50,000. The Board of Directors are William Jennings, Amos Howe, John Sharp, John Taylor, H. S. Eldridge, W. H. Hooper and Feramorz Little." (Silver Reef Miner, September 17, 1881)

(In February 1883, the Utah Central railroad was completed to Milford, about 59 miles north of Iron City. This meant that any pig iron produced at Iron City would have had a relatively easy wagon haulage over essentially flat country.)

October 3, 1883
"Mr. J. R. Robinson, the Scotch iron-furnace expert engaged by the Utah Iron Manufacturing company moved with his family last week to the site of his forthcoming labors at Iron City. In conversation with a gentleman on the road he said that it would take an expenditure of fully $100,000 and a period of one year before the works which he contemplates erecting are in successful operation. This large expenditure of time and money he says, is not only rendered necessary by the magnitude of the works as designed, but also by the peculiarly refractory nature of the ore which has to be treated. Of its ultimate success, however, Mr. Robinson says he has not the least doubt." (Salt Lake Herald, October 3, 1883)

(No further reference to the Utah Iron Manufacturing company after the Deseret News of October 30, 1883, which was a general report of the status and potential of the company given by Bishop Thomas Taylor.)

Iron Manufacturing Company (1883-1885)

Leonard Arrington wrote about the Iron Manufacturing Company in his book Great Basin Kingdom, pages 345-346.

The Board of Trade convention appointed a committee to organize a company for the manufacture of iron and coke. The Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah, with a paid-up capital of $50,000, was organized in August 1881. With financial and other assistance from the church, this company acquired coal and iron lands on Iron Mountain previously worked by the Deseret Iron Company, Union Iron Works, and Great Western Iron Company, and was prepared to experiment with iron manufacture when some of its claims were allegedly "jumped" by a wealthy non-Mormon, and the case remained in the courts until 1884. When the litigation was nearing completion the First Presidency of the Church, with the assistance of the Board of Trade committee, organized a new company called the Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah, with $250,000 capital stock. The church subscribed about one-fourth of the stock, including about $25,000 in tithing credit, for the patenting of iron and coal land claims, and for the support of laborers engaged in developmental activities. The Iron Manufacturing Company hired an experienced ironmonger and built a furnace, factory, and storehouse. Some twenty men were employed during the winter of 1883-1884. A small railroad, twenty miles in length — the Pioche and Bullionville Railroad — was purchased and rails, cars, and equipment were transported to southern Utah for use in carrying coal to the iron furnace. Another railroad was laid out, running from Iron City to the Utah Southern line at Milford.

August 3, 1883
From the Deseret News, August 3, 1883.

The Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah. - For the purpose of promoting the manufacture of Iron, this Company has been incorporated according to law, and has purchased the plant of the late Great Western Iron Company at Iron City, Iron County, U. T., together with the immense rich iron claims, seven of which United States patents have been obtained. The Company also own an interest in some of the best coal claims in Iron County, for which Government title has also been obtained, the product of which is of excellent quality or the manufacture of iron and steel.

The intention is first to erect furnaces for the manufacture of pig iron. When success is attained in that, to gradually extend to other branches.

The time has come when the manufacture of iron and steel can be made profitable, and their manufacture will prepare the way for other industries. All who have the welfare of our Territory at heart are invited to subscribe for stock. The books are now open. Capital stock, $250,000. Shares one dollar each, certificates of which can be had by paying in full to the Secretary, John C. Cutler, old Constitution Building, Salt Lake City.

GEO. Q. CANNON, President.

THOMAS TAYLOR, General Business Agent.

(Notice published daily through November 24, 1883)

(The delays in resuming work were due to the patents of the seven mining claims held by the officers of the company, being subjected to adverse claims and law suits by other parties.- Deseret News, October 19, 1883)

December 29, 1883
"The Beaver Record of last Saturday says: A party of railroad surveyors, under command of Charles Hardy, of Salt Lake, are busily engaged in surveying for the narrow gauge railway from Iron City to the coal fields above Cedar City, the track and rolling stock for which were recently purchased at Pioche by Thomas Taylor, of the Utah iron manufacturing company. We understand that teams will commence in a short time to haul the railroad material in from Pioche and Bullionville to the new road bed in Iron county." (Cheyenne Democratic-Leader, December 29, 1883)

January 16, 1884
"The Iron Interest. — Bishop Thos. Taylor returned on Monday from a five weeks' visit to Iron City, Iron County. We learn from him that the works of the Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah are progressing. The building of the blast furnace has been suspended for the season, but other departments are being proceeded with. A large force of men are taking up the railroad that Brother Taylor purchased for the company in Nevada, ready for transportation to Utah. It will be laid between the coal and iron deposits and the furnace as soon as practicable. There are over 20 miles of rails, two locomotives, 25 cars, turntables, round-house, weigh-scales, tanks, section houses, tools and other appurtenances. Bishop Taylor thinks he has been exceedingly fortunate in securing such useful property for the ironworks, being exactly what was needed. It will place the ores and fuel cheaply at the furnace and enable the company to make iron at as low figures as it can be manufactured in any part of the United States." (Deseret News, January 16, 1884)

Iron City Railroad (1883-1884)

In December 1883, the organizers of the Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah purchased the inactive Pioche & Bullionville railroad in southern Nevada. The price paid was reported as $15,000. They intended on using the narrow gauge railroad and its two locomotives and cars to haul coal and iron ore between Cedar City and Iron City. The equipment and rails were gathered at the Delmoi ranch at the south end of Condor canyon, with the intention of moving the equipment by laying rail in the direction of Utah. Due to there being less than 20 miles of rail, they planned on the railroad transporting itself by laying rail, then taking it up and re-laying it as the equipment progressed along the route. Work commenced in early January 1884, but in mid-month, the two locomotives were ruined by the inexperienced watchmen who had failed to keep the fires going and the water in the boilers froze and the pipes burst. Also, the locomotives were found to be worn out in the first place and were leaking badly. By June 1884, "at Delmoi's ranch, the cars and locomotives lie all in a heap, having been taken apart and none of it removed; we do not believe they will ever be removed to Iron Springs." The equipment was abandoned and in May 1892, after many years of scavengers having their way, what remained was sold at a Sheriff's sale.

(Read more about the Pioche & Bullionville Railroad)

January 7, 1884
"Moving a Railroad." "Bishop Thomas Taylor, superintendent of the Utah Iron Manufacturing Company, is about to commence the work of removing to Iron City, in this territory, the rails, ties, rolling stock, etc., of the Nevada Central Railroad, which the company he represents recently purchased. The manner of moving the plant will be as follows: the workmen will first move the track and materials in Pioche down to Delmoi's (Delmues) ranch, then they will remove the track from the Bullionville end up to the same place, then all the material will be removed to Iron City. It is the intention at present to take up and relay the track as they go on. Before they arrive halfway to their destination, says the Pioche Record, it is safe to predict that they will give up this method of removing the road." (Salt Lake Evening Chronicle, January 7, 1884)

May 10, 1884
"According to Supt. John Sharp, the much talked-of Iron county extension of the Utah Central is not a thing which will occur within a year at least, if not longer, from the fact that until the iron furnaces of the Utah Iron manufacturing company are running successfully, there is nothing to warrant the large expenditure of money necessary to extend the road the requisite fifty miles. It is now said on high authority that the iron furnaces will not be erected at Iron City, as previously contemplated; but at the more sensible and convenient location of Iron Springs. This move will necessitate the total abandonment of quite a large amount of costly labor laid out at the first named location. But on the other hand the manifest practical advantages to be gained by the prospective change of site, will, it is claimed, more than compensate for the loss.—Beaver Record." (Pioche Record, May 10, 1884)

October 28, 1885
By order of the U. S. Third District Court, the corporation of the Iron Manufacturing Company of Utah was dissolved. An earlier dissolution hearing had been held in the Salt Lake County Probate Judge, and approved. A special stockholders meeting was held on November 23, 1885 to wrap up the affairs of the company. (Deseret News, May 6, 1885; September 24, 1885; November 11, 1885, with daily notices throughout the period for each action.)

October 6, 1886
"An effort was made some four years ago by an enterprising citizen; some eight or ten miles of a railroad purchased, known in the flourishing days of Pioche as the Nevada Central; nearly $1,000 spent in grading up our rugged canyon in view of connecting the vast coal fields of this county by rail, with this and Iron City, which lies about twenty-two miles west of us, and in close proximity to the iron ore. But to-day, as far as the iron industry is concerned we are as quiet as a church yard, and nothing left to remind us of our past hopes and great anticipations, but the roadbed above referred to, a few pair of railroad car wheels, a portion of a locomotive and tender, and a few hundred feet of rails, all of which seems to be quietly laid away, at least, until times brighten up, and a little more enterprise is manifested for home industry amongst us." (Salt Lake Herald, October 6, 1886)

1886
By 1886, historian H. H. Bancroft noted that the importing of iron ore into Utah had "now practically ceased", and that shipment of iron ore and charcoal "at one time were important factors in the imports." This was most likely a direct benefit of the completion of the Utah Southern's (later Utah Central's) line to Milford, then west to the silver mine at Frisco, just 60 miles to the north of Iron Mountain. Transporting iron ore north to the smelters would have been by wagon to Milford, then by Utah Central trains for the remaining 226 miles to Salt Lake City.

(Although no action was taken to manufacture iron, the Utah Iron Manufacturing company remained as an active corporation, with stockholders meeting as late as April 1908. It was among the thousands of corporations that were involuntarily dissolved in April 1910 for being delinquent in paying the annual Utah corporate license fee.)

Iron City After 1885

(Newspaper research finds that Thomas Taylor continued his efforts to develop the iron mines and coal mines of the Cedar City and Iron Mountain area. He continued to promote the potential of the iron industry and a possible railroad connection for many years. In the 1890s, there were lawsuits and disagreements over ownership of the township of Iron City itself. At the time of his death in 1901, his estate was listed as worth a half million dollars and included the seven acres of land on Little Pinto creek where the iron works were located. The seven iron mining claims on Iron Mountain and the coal lands east of Cedar City were also shown, but clear title and ownership came into question due to documented destruction of government survey markers.)

(The unclear nature of ownership and mineral rights to the iron lands and coal lands would prove to be a nagging concern from the mid 1880s through to the early 1920s. There were continuing proposals and promotions, which always stalled when the question of land ownership and mineral rights came up.)

Iron Mountain -- The story continues with a general history of iron ore mining in Utah, and the railroads that served it.

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