Emma Silver Mine In Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Chicago, Feb. 18 - I have just returned from a visits to Robert B. Chisholm, of Elgin, and William W. Chisholm, his son. Robert B. Chisholm is the man who discovered the famous Emma mine. William W. Chisholm is the man who dug the Emma mine.

The story of the enterprise as given by the discoverers and original proprietors from its inception to the year of grace 1871, when it passed wholly into the hands of T. W. Park and Henry Baxter.

This information was given to me by the two Chisholms, father and son, the former being principally responsible for the statement of events which occurred previous to the opening of this mine, and the latter for the facts since that time. And here I may say that the Chisholm family have lived in Elgin a good many years. The father was born in the State of New York, near the head of the Delaware river, is of Scotch descent and something over 60 years old.

The new owners of the North Star mine having put up a small furnace, proceeded to smelt a few tons of ore, but with no satisfactory results. Bruner then secured the services of Mr. E. Reese, also of Philadelphia, who came out and put up a larger furnace, in which quite an amount of ore was smelted, but, either because the surface ore was really poor, or the operators unskilled, this also proved a failure, and the enterprise was abandoned, Bruner, Reese, and everybody else leaving the canyon, and pronouncing the whole mine worthless. This was early in 1867, and in this condition affairs on the Little Cottonwood remained until the autumn of the next year [1868], not a soul remaining on the river except some saw mill men, a little below the old mine.

Chisholm, in the meantime, had been following up what he thought more promising leads, mostly in the Pahranagat district, in the neighborhood of Hiko, Nevada. All this time, however, he had kept in mind the incident of the assay of rich ore in Congor's office. He was, of course, informed of the subsequent operations and failure there, but from the description of the ore found, and his recollection of the old specimen, he became satisfied that the vein from which that specimen came had never yet been struck, and he determined, when opportunity offered, to prospect the canyon himself. After waiting, therefore, till the autumn of 1868 when, by long absence of the original owners, and their entire abandonment of the work, their claims to the mine had, by the miner's law, been forfeited, he set out for the Little Cottonwood, taking with him an old prospecting crony, named J. F. Woodman, who, I may say once and for all, was with him as a partner at the discovery of the Emma, and was entitled to one-half of the money and glory connected with it. When I say Chisholm hereafter, I mean, a good deal of the time, Chisholm and Woodman, I say Chisholm for short.

In the fall of 1868, therefore, imagine the two worthies mounted on their mules, with their provisions and blankets, entering the wild canyon of the Little Cottonwood. After prospecting for about a month, they found some float which Chisholm thought to resemble the old specimen which he saw assayed. It was 500 feet down the mountain, and southeast from the abandoned North Star mine. Starting their drift up the hill, they found, after digging some one hundred and fifty feet, a crevice, two to four inches wide, and filled with oxidized iron, or red ocher, but with no trace of mineral, and running into the mountain at an angle of about forty-five degrees. The bed rock at this point was about nine feet below the surface. Following this crevice the adventurers determined to sink a shaft, but after blasting and throwing out to the depth of about ten feet, the winter coming on, the enterprise was abandoned until spring, a man named Snyder being left on the ground to keep the claim and dig what he could. In the meantime Chisholm, now pushed to his last resources, returned to Elgin to sell his farm for means to continue the work.

In the spring of 1869, Chisholm, who had not yet been able to sell his farm, sent out his son, William W. Chisholm, to join Woodman in the mines. When the young man Chisholm found Woodman at Brigham City he had just ten dollars in his pocket, which however, was just so much more capital than Woodman had. They got credit, however, for a horse and some provisions, and set out for the Little Cottonwood. When they arrived they found their man gone, and the dirt around the shaft caved in. The Emma mine, not yet christened, consisted at this time of a hole about a big as a small bedroom and eighteen feet deep, full of mud and water. After the prospectors had taken a good look at their property, Woodman remembered that he had forgotten something at Brigham City. When he came back, in about ten days, young Chisholm had the hole bailed out. Then they found a couple chaps who took the contract to sink the shaft fifty feet for $150. When it was done Capt. James Smith, a Chicago man, who was also prospecting in the canyon, advanced the money to pay the men. About the same time another warrior, Capt. James M. Day, advanced in money and credit about $800. These advances were made on the usual terms that capitalists make with poor men in the mining regions. If the enterprise failed, the money was a loan. If they struck a mine, Day and Smith were to have an interest in it.. It was heads I win, Tails you lose. Chisholm, however was glad to get help on these terms, and Smith and Day were probably very generous to furnish it. For these advances they afterward received each one-sixth interest in the mine.

About this time the mine was named the Emma from a daughter of Chisholm's, then a little girl who kept writing and sending word to her brother in the mines to come home. This etymology is furnished with a good deal of vehemence by the entire family of the Chisholms, and as it seems reasonable enough, I see no cause to dispute it.

By the middle of summer Chisholm has disposed of his farm, and in August or September [1869] was able to send out $1000 to Utah. This was his last stake, and if the mine proved a failure he had no money and no home. His Elgin neighbors considered him gone clean daft.

In the mean time about thirty tons of float had been gathered from the vicinity, and sold on the dump for $30 per ton, about the average price of low grade ore. With the aid of these funds the shaft was continued through solid rock, until a point was reached about 90 feet below the surface, finding on the way only one small piece of ore of about 25 pounds, which however, was exceedingly rich. About the middle of October, 1869, the workmen broke through into a chamber of solid ore, as it afterward appeared, about 40 feet wide and 125 feet long, and 90 feet high. The shaft was continued on the same pitch, 36 feet into the ore, and no bottom found. About 12 feet into the ore, they started a cross drift about 12 feet to the northwest, without reaching the end, and about 18 feet in the opposite direction to the wall. The ore at once began to be taken out in good quantities. As the size of the mine increased, more men could work, and a good many tons of ore per day could easily be pulled up that shaft, and when it yielded in net cash gold, on the dump, from $60 to $150 per ton...

This, in December 1869 was the condition of the Emma mine. It was carefully surveyed, and the probable direction of the ledge determined. It was then, in February, 1870, formally located and the name entered on the books of the district. By mining laws, each miner could locate only 200 feet along this ledge, with an additional 200 feet to the discoverer. This regulation, however, is always evaded by locating in the names of other parties, who act as dummies, afterward transferring their shares to the real owners. Three thousand feet along the supposed ledge were located at once, 2400 of which were consolidated into one partnership, of which Woodman and Chisholm owned 800 feet each, and Smith and Day 400 feet each, the other 600 feet being taken by parties named Woodhull and not consolidated with the other, until bought in by the Emma Company of London. The discovery of the mine brought with it innumerable lawsuits from the owners of the abandoned claims of the old North Star times, especially from a certain James E. Lyon, all of which were finally decided in favor of the Chisholm party, or else compromised.

About March 1870, Chisholm and Woodman sold an undivided 400 feet (one-sixth interest) to Walker Brothers, bankers, of Salt Lake City, for $30,000. This would place the value of the whole at $180,000. The Walkers, however were good business men, and this low price was made partly from motives of policy. After they bought in, the Walkers managed the mine. At this time they were shipping the ore to England for reduction. During the Walker Brothers' management, ore to the amount of more than $500,000 was got out and shipped.

While the suits were pending between Lyon and the Mining Company, two mining speculators, named George O'Brien and Samuel Ten Eyck approached the proprietors and intimated that they could place the mine in the East. An arrangement was made with them, and the price of the mine fixed at $1,500,000. They failed in their efforts, but while in New York these parties met with Mr. Trenor W. Park and Gen. Henry Baxter, capitalists, and interested them so much that they afterward came out to Utah and examined the mine themselves. While there they bought an undivided interest in the 2400 feet for $375,000 gold, which was paid one third down, and the rest in thirty and sixty days. This puts the estimated cash value of the mine in April, 1871, at $750,000; or, including the whole 3000 feet located at $937,600, or, in round numbers, say a million dollars. All this time they were working the mine vigorously, the shipments to England during January preceding this sale having been over 3000 tons, netting $12 per ton delivered in Salt Lake City, and making a net income for that month of $336,000 [about $7 to 9 million in 2025].

From the time of the purchase of an interest in the mine by Park and Baxter, they assumed the entire business management, Walker Brothers continuing to attend to the local interests. A stock company was formed under the title of the Emma Mining Company of New York. Its capital stock was placed at $2,500,000, of which Park and Baxter originally owned one-fourth each, the rest being divided among the old partners in Utah. No certificates of stock were issued by this company, the accounts being kept like those of an ordinary partnership. Park and Baxter went on buying up all the other interests in the mine, paying therefor from 40 to 50 cents on the dollar of nominal capital, or the rate of from $1,000,000 to $1,250,000 for the 2400 feet. The last sale of stock by Chisholm was in April, 1872, at which time he still owned an interest equal to 287-1/2 feet, for which he received, in cash, $226,000, equal to $786 per foot; $1,886,400 for the 2400 feet, and $2,358,000 for the whole 3000 feet finally owned by the concern.

From this time on the Chisholms, having no further interest in the mine, know no more of its affairs that has appeared in the newspapers. The company was transferred to London, its name changed to the Emma Mining Company of London (Limited), and its capital stock placed at £1,000,000, one-half of which was retained by Park and Baxter for some months, but finally sold for very nearly its par value, just before the deposit gave out.

The Chisholm's account was clear and connected, except for the dates. For instance the date of the last payment of $226,000 to Chisholm was given as April 1, 1872, before the London company was formed, but here there was an error either as to the date, or as to the connection of Chisholm with the London company, which he says, and no doubt correctly, that he never knew anything about, for the prospectus of the London company appeared Nov. 9, 1871, and April 1, 1872, the shares reached about their highest point in the London market, and Mr. Park took the opportunity to 'get shut' of the whole thing by disposing of the whole, or nearly whole of the shares retained by him. Chisholm the younger knew nothing at all about this transaction, as he was in Utah at the time, and Chisholm the elder did not seem clear-headed at all about the details of the business. He had got his money and was evidently pleased and gratified thereat. But he knew nothing whatever about the London company and had doubtless sold out before that corporation commenced business.

The old man Chisholm says that if they will stop spending their time and money in law suits, and go to work developing their mine with half the pluck he showed in discovering it, they will find plenty of silver yet.

William Wallace Chisholm

Formerly manager of the Emma, and latterly connected with the Centennial-Eureka, two of the most noted mines in the West, Mr. Chisholm first come to Utah in 1864, and since 1869 has resided here continuously. He is a native of Hazel Green, Grant County, Wisconsin, and was born June 26, 1842. His father was Robert Bruce Chisholm, and his mother before marriage, Sarah Van Valkenburg. Prior to settling in Wisconsin, the father had lived in the city of Chicago, where he owned considerable property, including the lots upon which the Tremont House now stands. He also owned one hundred and sixty acres of land near the town of Jefferson, Illinois. He moved to Chicago some time in the "thirties." He was a practical brick maker, but was always interested in mining. Until twelve years of age William remained at Hazel Green, where he received a common school education.

In 1854 he went to Monona, Clayton county, Iowa, to live with an uncle, his mother's brother, a cabinet maker. That trade the boy followed for two years, and then learned the printer's trade at Wynona, Minnesota, working on the "Democrat," a paper published in that city. The Democrat having failed, he took cases on the "Republican." The first year of his apprenticeship at printing, he received fifty dollars, the second year one hundred dollars, and the third year one hundred and fifty dollars. In October, 1863, he went to Elgin, Illinois, where his father had purchased a farm and made a home. William attended the Elgin Academy.

The great West now attracted the attention of the Chisholms, father and son. The latter, with a companion, in March, 1864, started for the frontier and beyond, taking train as far as Marshalltown, Iowa, and proceeding thence by stage to Omaha, where he waited for his father and his uncle, Ephraim Sackrider, who had remained behind to consummate a cattle deal; purchasing oxen in northern Wisconsin, and thinking to make a quick sale and a large profit in Chicago, where the "epizootic" was then raging. But the venture proved a failure. The elder Mr. Chisholm came on to Omaha by rail, leaving Uncle Sackrider to follow with ox team from Chicago. William's father and several friends, purchasing at Omaha mule teams and light wagons, started at once for Virginia City, Nevada, leaving him to await the arrival of his uncle. Joined by that relative, he left Omaha for Virginia City June 4, 1864, and after a very pleasant trip by way of the North Platte, South Pass and the Landers cut-off, reached his destination in the following September. Robert B. Chisholm and party, owing to their quicker method of traveling, had arrived at Virginia City in June, but not finding what they expected, had gone on to the Kootenai country, in British Columbia. There they were again disappointed. They next came to Utah, first to Salt Lake City and then to Bingham, arriving here before William reached Virginia City. Not finding his father there, and knowing little about mining at that time, he with his uncle took a contract for chopping wood in Williams' Gulch, where they stayed until October. He then received word from his father, with instructions to come to Salt Lake City. They sold their ox-team outfit, and having bought horses and a light wagon, started for this point, arriving here some time in November.

The next spring William worked some claims that had been located by his father in Bingham, but met with no success. Mining in Utah was then in its infancy. In the fall of that year, being short of cash, he entered the employ of Mr. Will Lynch, driving team with government grain to Green River. Returning, he met at Fort Bridger Alexander Majors, and contracted with him to go to Ham's Fork and load with freight for William Jennings. The first of November found him again in Salt Lake City.

Meantime Mr. Chisholm's father had located claims in the Pahranagat Mining District, and expecting to sell the same, the two, late in November, 1865, left for their old home in the East, where several of the claims were placed for small amounts. In the spring of 1866 William went to Chicago to follow his trade of printing, taking cases on the "Post." There he stayed until he came West the second time, traveling by rail the entire distance, and arriving in Utah May 10, 1869, the day of the meeting of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific roads at Promontory.

Immediately after his arrival he joined Captain Woodman at Bingham, and proceeded with him to Little Cottonwood, where the Emma mine had been located. He assisted Mr. Woodman in the management of that property, and was practically the manager, as the Captain, having other interests, threw the entire work on Mr. Chisholm's hands. He remained with the Emma until 1872, when, the Walker Brothers getting control of the property, he retired. Returning to Salt Lake he devoted his time to looking after his father's real estate, buildings, etc., and his mining interests throughout the State. On the 9th of February, 1876, he married Miss N. Jeanette Kendall, sister to J. D. Kendall, who afterwards became one of his business associates. The same year the Centennial-Eureka was located, but virtually nothing was done with the property, excepting the assessment work, until September, 1884, when Mr. Kendall was put in charge. The mine was then developed, and has since become a great producer. Mr. Chisholm has his office in the Atlas Block, Salt Lake City.

A telegram announced the death yesterday morning at 7:30 o'clock in Los Angeles of W. W. Chisholm, a pioneer miner, and one of the most widely-known men in Salt Lake. Mr. Chisholm went to southern California last December for the benefit of his health. The telegram announcing the death was meager in its details, but it is to be presumed that Mr. Chisholm succumbed to the infirmities of advancing years.

The story of the growth and development of Utah's natural advantages, the making of the state what it has become, is one that cannot be fully told without referring to the activities of W. W. Chisholm. He has had a hand in the upbuilding of the state in its most important departments. He has contributed to the development of its mineral resources, its soil fertility, its deposits of building materials, and no small part of the present richness of the state is due to him.

He was born in Wisconsin, in Grant County, June 28, 1842. There in the public schools and in the parochial schools he obtained his education, and it was there he spent the early years of his life. He began his own life struggle in 1858, and his first venture was an undertaking to learn the printer's trade, which he followed for ten years. He worked at the printing business in Chicago during the civil war, but, in 1864 was attracted to the West and went to Virginia City, Nev. He didn't remain there, being disappointed in not finding his father, whom he had expected to meet there.

He continued on the same year to Utah, traveling by teams across the desert and arrived in Salt Lake City in the fall of 1864. Here he found his father, who had located one of the first mining claims in Bingham canyon. He spent that winter and the following spring in the canyon, and he and his father located a number of different claims which they disposed of later very advantageously. In the fall of 1865 he returned to Illinois and resumed the printing trade.

It was in 1869 that the mining interests he had formed with his father brought him again to Utah. The father moved to California in 1883, spending the remaining years of his life in that state. He died there in 1891. The mother died in Elgin. Ill., in 1878. Besides the mining properties in Utah, father and son had interests in mines in Nevada, and Mr. Chisholm helped to found and was a director in the Bank of Commerce, in this city, and was also a director in the Western Arms & Sporting Goods company. He married Miss N. Jeannette Kendall of Illinois in 1876.

Mr. Chisholm, at the time of the silver agitation became a Democrat, and was an active member of the party since. He was a Mason of high standing, a member of the Blue lodge chapter and a Knight Templar.

In the early 1880s Mr. Chisholm, associated with James F. Woodman, J. D. Kendall, J. E. Bamberger. Simon Bamberger, Judges C. W. Bennett and Moses Kirkpatrick. opened and developed the Centennial Eureka mine in the Tintic district. This mine, one of the most famous in the history of Utah, paid dividends amounting to $2,100,000 up to 1899, when it was sold to Cole, Clark & Coolidge of Boston for $2,100,000. The property was later turned over to the Centennial-Eureka Mining company of Maine, which is owned by the United States Smelting. Refining & Mining company.

Mr. Chisholm also participated in the opening of the old Emma mine of Alta, and from which about $5,000,000 was taken. The Emma mine was one of the most famous of the early discoveries in the Little Cottonwood district. It was named for Miss Emma Chisholm, sister to William W. Chisholm. New Yorkers purchased a half interest in the mine for $375,000, and after buying out the other owners and organizing the Emma Mining company of New York placed the mine on the English market.

In January, 1900. Mr. Chisholm retired from active business pursuits, although he still retained interests in a number of mining properties.

Mr. Chisholm was as widely known as a philanthropist as he was a mining man, and he was a bountiful, though modest, giver to all charitable purposes. He was the benefactor of the Y. M C. A., the First Congregational church, and a staunch and ready friend of even the humble Salvation Army. His deeds of charity were unnumbered, and his special delight was to care for in some way the old and unfortunate miners and prospectors. No one calling on Mr. Chisholm in a worthy cause was ever turned away empty handed. As one of his most intimate friends said yesterday. "He was a practical Christian. Although not adhering to any religious faith or creed he was a Christian rather by deed than by word. He was the greatest giver to charity in Salt Lake."

His wife and brother-in-law, J. D. Kendall, were at the deathbed and will accompany the remains to Salt Lake. According to telegraphic information received yesterday the body will arrive here Sunday noon on the Los Angeles Limited, and the funeral is expected to be held Monday from the family residence, 644 Brigham street.

The decedent is survived by his wife and three brothers and one sister. Bruce Chisholm of Los Angeles, Colonel O. P. Chisholm of Boseman, Mont., George S. Chisholm of Elgin. Ill. and Mrs. Mary C. Bennett of Geneva. Ill.

Mr. Chisholm was a charter member of Wasatch lodge. A. F. and A. M.