Mining in Utah, and Utah's Railroads

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This page was last updated on July 4, 2026.

Early Mining In Utah

A report in the August 3, 1870 issue of the Deseret News newspaper carried the following: "The shipment of ore's from the following districts shows aproximate by the product from our mines for the month of July. Little Cottonwood, 314 tons; Rush Valley, 70 tons; Parley's Park, 40 tons; Tintic, 30 tons; Deep Creek, 10 tons; Bingham, 6 tons; Total, 470 tons. Of this amount about eighty tons remain in the Territory at the smelting works of Woodhull Bros. About the same amount has been shipped per schooner Pioneer across Salt Lake to the railroad, at Monument Point. Some ninety tons from Cottonwood are now being shipped to the new [Woodhull] smelting works. From returns given by Meader, Woodhull and others, the average value of ores exported is $105,00 per ton or a total for the month of $49,350,00."

(This was just eight months after the completion of the railroad between Ogden and Salt Lake City, with the average rail car carrying 25 tons. Today's average rail car carries 100 tons.)

(The average wagon carried about four to five tons.)

Mining History

Bancroft, Chapter 27 -- An early history of Utah mining and industry scanned from Bancroft's 1889 History of Utah.

Billings, "Early Days Of Mining" -- A 1952 history by T. P. Billings of early days on mining near Salt Lake City.

Brewster, "A Brief History of Mining in Utah" -- A manuscript that was included in Volume II of Wain Sutton's 1949 Utah, A Centennial History.

Early History of Lead Smelting -- A PDF of an article in Ax-I-Dent-Ax magazine, May 1929, published by United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company. (PDF; 12 pages; 6.4MB)

Early Mining and Smelting -- A PDF of an article in Ax-I-Dent-Ax magazine, July 1931, published by United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company. (PDF 11 pages; 4.4MB)

First Ore Shipment -- A discussion of the dates usually given for the first ore shipment by rail from Utah territory.

Kantner's "Hand Book Of Mines, Miners and Minerals of Utah" -- A link to this book, published in 1896, at Archive.org. This book has excellent but brief descriptions of each of the major mining companies in Utah.

Mining In Utah -- A history of mining in Utah, published by Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

Roberts, "Development Of Mines In Utah" -- From B. H. Roberts' expanded edition of "A Comprehensive History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Century I", published first in 1930, republished in 1957 and reprinted in 1965.

Stenhouse, Chapter 57 -- Excerpts from an early history of Utah mining, from T. B. H. Stenhouse's 1872 Rocky Mountain Saints. (Note: A large portion of Stenhouse, Chapter 57, was later included in Tullidge, Chapter 81.)

Tullidge, Chapter 81 -- An early history of Utah mining and manufacturing scanned from Tullidge's 1886 History of Salt Lake City.

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