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Vallejo Mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon

This page was last updated on July 31, 2025.

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Overview

(The focus of this work is a basic history of the Vallejo mine as it relates to the transportation of ores, especially by aerial tramway.)

The Vallejo mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon was organized in July 1871. In May 1872 it was purchased by the newly organized Emma Hill Consolidated Mining company.

The Emma Hill Consolidated company was sold at auction in 1875 and was purchased by Chicago interests, then sold to the Joab Lawrence Company in 1880. The Joab Lawrence company was dismantled in 1888 with Lawrence's death

The most notable feature of the Vallejo mine was its Hallidie wire-rope tramway, which was in service from September 1872 until destroyed by snow slides in January 1881.

Emma Hill vs. Emma Mine

(The above mentioned Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company was not affiliated with the more famous Emma Silver Mining Company.)

Emma Hill was the entire south-facing slope of Little Cottonwood Canyon, above the town of Alta. Although the Emma mine covered only a very small part of the hill, its prominence in the district spread in all directions. Portions of the same south-facing slope had other names as well, reflecting the importance of many mines that were in the immediate area.

(Read more about the Emma silver mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon)

Timeline

Prior to constructing the tramway, the previous method of transporting the ore from the Vallejo mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon was in sacks, with an average of 48 to 80 pounds each, by horse or man from the mine down to a location in Alta City where the sacks could be loaded on wagons for the trip down the canyon to the Howland sampler in Salt Lake City, adjacent to the Utah Central railroad depot. After sampling, the sacks of ore were loaded on rail cars for their trip to a reducing mill or a "furnace" (early smelter) to have the gold and silver extracted as bullion. In April and May 1871 there were weekly reports from the Howland sampler, showing weekly shipments from the Vallejo mine, with examples being 147 sacks at 7,060 pounds, 36 sacks at 2,762 pounds, and 212 sacks at 15,356 pounds.

"From the Vallejo the first wire-rope tram-way in the Territory has been built to the foot of Emma Hill, and according to late accounts, it is a perfect success." (Statistics of Mines and Mining, Volume 5, 1873, page 248)

July 18, 1871
"The Vallejo Tunnel and Mining Company was organized on the 18th; capital, $2,000,000; the tunnel site is in Little Cottonwood Canyon." (Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1871)

September 17, 1871
"Colonel Wiggins has returned from Little Cotton wood, bringing with him a number of fine specimens and a sack of carbonates from the South Star mine, recently purchased by the Vallejo Tunnel Company." (San Francisco Chronicle, September 17, 1871, quoting the Salt Lake Herald.)

November 8, 1871
"The South Star, alias Vallejo, mining company were taking fifteen tons of ore from the mine daily, which is being taken to the smelter of Messrs. Pardee & Co., at Tannersville." (Deseret News, November 8, 1871)

Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company

May 8, 1872
The Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Co. was incorporated in Salt Lake City on May 8, 1872. (Philadelphia Enquirer, May 9, 1872)

(Note that the organizers of this Emma Hill Consolidated company included J. F. Woodman, J. M. Day, and D. C. Haskin of Vallejo, California, who had sold their interest in the nearby Emma mine to W. M. Lent and T. W. Park less that six months prior. Haskin was one of the organizers of the California Pacific Railroad, and served as the railroad's superintendent for many years, and was later that company's president. He was also a contractor during the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad. Haskin had visited Utah on the occasion of the driving of the last spike at Promontory and was attracted to investing in Utah's budding mining industry.)

(Read more about the famous Emma silver mine)

The following comes the August 13, 1872 issue of the Solano-Napa News Chronicle newspaper, citing the Salt Lake Herald.

August 20, 1872
"A wire tramway has been constructed by the Vallejo (South Star) Company, a distance of about twenty-five hundred feet, the terminus being in Alta City. This is the best tramway ever constructed in the district, as it stands above snow level and consequently can be used in the winter time just about as well as during the summer months." (Utah Mining Journal, August 20, 1872)

August 24, 1872
"Salt Lake, August 24. - The Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company sold three hundred tons of their ore from the Vallejo tunnel today, on the dump, at forty-four dollars per ton." (Memphis Daily Appeal, August 25, 1872)

September 28, 1872
The following comes from "The Hallidie Endless Wire Ropeway" catalog of the California Wire Works, San Francisco, 1898. (research by Matt Mihalo)

(Read more brief remarks about the Vallejo mine's aerial tramway, as part of the overall story of aerial tramways in Utah.)

January 18, 1873
"Vallejo Mine, Little Cottonwood Canyon." "The property belongs to the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company of San Francisco, California. L. W. Colbath, Superintendent." (Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, January 18, 1873)

(The February 8, 1873 issue of the Salt Lake Weekly Tribune has a good description of the Emma Hill Consolidated mine, but does not mention a tramway.)

August 5, 1873
In a description of the R. MacIntosh's Pioneer Sampling Mill at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, "A number of leading mines in Cottonwood and Bingham have their ores sampled regularly at the establishment, including the Emma, Flagstaff, Highland, Windsor, last Chance and Vallejo, the last being the property of the Emma Hill Consolidated company." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 5, 1873)

September 6, 1873
"The Vallejo. - Is shipping thirty tons of ore per day which assays forty ounces in silver and forty per cent lead. This mine employs thirty men and has one of Hallidie's wire tramways, 2,300 feet long, by means of which the ore is conveyed from the mine to tho city below." (Utah Mining Gazette, September 6, 1873)

November 5, 1873
"The Vallejo Tunnel and Mining Company, is getting disentangled from its meshes with the Emma Hill, and proposes in future to be a separate organization. The South Star, formerly the property of the Vallejo and by that company deeded to the Emma Hill, has been deeded back." (Daily Ogden Junction, November 5, 1873)

(After this, the Vallejo and the South Star were usually mentioned separately when the mines of Little Cottonwood are listed.)

January 15, 1874
"A Big Suit. - B. F. Dalton has sued D. C. Haskin, J. W. Haskin and the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company to compel defendants to deliver him 20,000 shares of the Emma mine, and to restrain them from selling or assigning said stock to any other person." (Marysville California Daily Appeal, January 15, 1874)

(This is a case of a claim jumper suing without full knowledge of which mine was which, since the Emma Hill Consolidated company never owned any portion of the Emma mine.)

(In 1870, Dalton was associated with James Lyon in his interest in buying the Silas Brain claims.)

By March 1875, after a a recent strike, the Vallejo mine was reported as being one of the richest in Utah Territory. In November 1875 the mine was shipping 16 tons of ore per day.

June 21, 1875
The property of the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company was sold on June 21, 1875 at a Marshall's Sale on the steps of the Salt Lake City court house. "All estate, right, title and interest, which the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company, held on the 5th and 6th days of October 1874, or may have since acquired." (Salt Lake Tribune, May 25, 1875)

(The above legal notice included an extensive list of the lodes and claims that made up the Emma Hill Consolidated company.)

(The list of property to be sold was amended to include 80,000 shares of the Chicago Tunnel and Mining Company, and 75,000 shares of the Vallejo Tunnel and Mining Company, both of which were held by J. W. Haskin, as Trustee. "To be sold as the property of the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company. - Salt Lake Tribune, June 18, 1875)

(The Emma Hill Consolidated property was sold at the Marshall's sale "at the suit of R. B. Chisholm." Until the Emma mine was sold to New York investors in January 1871, Robert B. Chisholm was one of the principal partners of the Emma mine, located adjacent to all of the Emma Hill Consolidated property.)

The three-feet gauge Wasatch & Jordan Valley railroad arrived at Alta in mid September 1875, greatly simplifying ore shipments of all the mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

January 27, 1876
"There has been a rumor on the streets for the past week of a big consolidation of mining interests in Little Cottonwood, which, it is said, will engulf nearly all the mines on Emma Hill. As far as can be gathered, it is a consolidation of the Emma Hill Consolidated Mining Company's claims with the North Star mine, recently purchased by Mr. Honore, of Chicago, and others. There is no doubt that there is a powerful combination at work to effect the consolidation, with the prospect in view in the future, to eject the Vallejo, South Star and Titus and Flagstaff mines, as they are all supposed to be upon the same vein as the North Star, and within the ground claimed by it." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 27, 1876)

(1876 -- Charles Read wrote in December 1883 that the Joab Lawrence Company, of which he was secretary, had been using its Hallidie wire-rope tramway for seven years, since 1876. This suggests that it was Joab Lawrence and his associates had purchased the Emma Hill Consolidated company in 1876. -- "The Hallidie Endless Wire Ropeway" catalog of the California Wire Works, San Francisco, 1898; research by Matt Mihalo)

June 28, 1876
"The Vallejo has closed down for want of funds, and now the boys want their pay. They are going after it on the slow coach of law." "The South Star and Titus is being run under the management of Col. Samuel Kahn, who has been appointed receiver by the Third District Court. The mine is said to be looking quite well, and it is hoped will soon be out of debt." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 28, 1876)

(In August 1876, Joab Lawrence won his law suit against the Eureka Silver Mining company, a company operating in the Tintic district. He and associates had organized the company and developed the mine in June 1871. In December 1873 he was indicted in a law suit alleging that he and others had "salted" the mine as part of their sale of the mine to investors in Detroit. Lawrence was arrested and extradited to New York City to answer the charges. In March 1874 the charges were dropped and he was released and returned to Utah. He filed a defamation case against the mining company's directors and officers, and won a cash award of $80,000.)

December 21, 1876
"A suit has been pending for some time between the South Star and Vallejo mines, in Little Cottonwood, in regard to the title of the Vallejo, the South Star being one of the oldest locations in that district, and crossing, it is claimed, the Vallejo ground. A few days since the South Star Company took possession of the Vallejo mines, and are still holding it. The South Star is composed of Messrs. C. W. Bennett, Joab Lawrence, L. U. Colbath. E. A. Wall, and W. G. Galligher. The value of the property is considered here to be way up in the hundred thousands." (The Inter-Ocean, December 21, 1876)

January 1, 1877
"The South Star and Vallejo, it is understood, have compromised, and the agreement waits the signature of some Chicago parties." (The Inter-Ocean, January 1, 1877)

March 7, 1877
"The Alta Consolidated, formerly known as the Vallejo, has changed owners. They are working about forty men, and are shipping large quantities of ore. The mine is looking splendid. It is under the superintendency of Mr. Chas. Read." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 7, 1877)

(In the above news item, the South Star and Titus were shown as a seperate enterprise. The news in August 1879, below, puts the back under common ownership and management as part of the Joab Lawrence Company.)

August 10, 1878
"Work in the interior of the Alta Consolidated (Old Vallejo) is being continued as heretofore, but it will be some time before shipments will take place, owing to the woodwork of the mine tramway, which runs into Alta, having been burned down during the fire. Steam hoisting works are being put in the mine, and may be completed in about two weeks." (Salt Lake Herald, August 10, 1878)

February 8, 1879
In a summary of mining activity at Alta, the Joab Lawrence company was mentioned as the second most promising, "Next comes the Joab Lawrence, under the same management [as the American Emma, with Charles Read as superintendent], which, besides the strike made some weeks ago, developed another extensive body of ore a few days since which goes up in the hundreds. The tramway attached to this mine is running at its full capacity." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 9, 1879)

Joab Lawrence Company

August 7, 1879
The Joab Lawrence Company articles of incorporation were filed in the Salt Lake County Clerk's office. Properties owned by company: Alta Consolidated Company’s Claim, in the South Star and Vallejo Tunnel and Mining Claim. (Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1880)

As part of his purchase and control of the Alta Consolidated company, Joab Lawrence incorporated the company on July 29, 1879. The property was shown as the Sundown Lead and Mary Ellen Lead mines in Little Cottonwood, and the Emperor Tunnel claim in Big Cottonwood, which included the Eliza, Subterranean and Eureka lodes. (Salt Lake Herald, January 10, 1880)

(Between May 1872 and November 1886, Joab Lawrence was involved in the organization of seven railroads in Utah: Salt Lake, Sevier Valley & Pioche, May 2, 1872; Salt Lake & Echo, January 25, 1873; Salt Lake & Coalville, June 13, 1873; Salt Lake Bingham & Tintic, June 13, 1873; Utah Coal, Coke & Railway Company, September 28, 1878; Salt Lake Jordan & Bingham, August 11, 1879; Utah Midland Railway (second), November 23, 1886. Of these seven companies, only the Salt Lake, Sevier Valley & Pioche actually bought equipment and attempted to lay track.)

September 6, 1879
"The Joab Lawrence Company is now operating the Vallejo and Alta Consolidated. These are not over 200 yards to the westward of the Great Salt Lake Tunnel. The ore from these mines is taken from a shaft now down about 600 feet, and about 2,000 feet from the base of the hill. To these mines have been added a wire-rope tramway, leading from the mines to the ore-house on the railroad. This wire is 2,200 feet long; and over it the ore is brought down, and the timbers, provisions, etc., are taken up. The cost of transporting the ore is about 10 cents a ton. These mines have yielded, and are now daily yielding, large quantities of high-grade ore. The yield for the month of July, as is shown by the daily shipments, was over $50,000." (Chicago Tribune, September 6, 1879)

September 27, 1879
The Alta Consolidated mines, including the North Star, South Star, and Joab Lawrence (former Vallejo) mines were among the 20 "Alta" mines that shipped 820 tons (55 carloads) of ore during August 1879. "The Alta Consolidated includes several well known mines, the North and South Star, and more particularly the Joab Lawrence, formerly known as the Vallejo, which has a tunnel in 700 feet, a shaft down to the depth of 250 feet, beside other workings. The shipments for September are as follows: 150 tons first-class, worth $100; 100 tons second-class, worth $35; 100 tons third-class, or iron ore, $10. The mine is supplied with steam hoisting works and rope tramway extending from the mine to the Jordan Valley tramway. The large vein has opened out to a big bonanza and is constantly improving by depth. The mine never looked better. Employment is given to twenty-five or thirty men, day and night shifts. It is the purpose of the owners to extend the Illinois tunnel into the Juab Lawrence, and also to explore from the Emma to the Flagstaff. This is a big enterprise, to be undertaken immediately, and as the tunnel will be in the mineral zone the entire distance, great results arc anticipated. Charley Read is superintendent, and he has plenty on his shoulders." (Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, September 27, 1879)

October 10, 1879
The following comes from the October 10, 1879 issue of the Salt Lake Herald.

November 17, 1879
"Following the belt toward the southwest, the next mine which I visited was the Vallejo, owned by the Joab Lawrence Company, and now producing more ore than all the other mines in Little Cottonwood. This mine was purchased not long ago for $50,000, and within a short time after possession was obtained ore worth $45,000 was taken from a single chute. The Vallejo has in times past turned out a very large quantity of ore, as is attested by enormous chambers that were excavated. When Mr. Read became superintendent of it there was little or no ore in sight. By systematic exploration, making the mine pay all expenses, he has found several large bodies of ore." (New York Tribune, November 17, 1879)

(In August 1880, Joab Lawrence and others purchased the Lead mine at Bingham. The Lead mine and its accompanying mill was one of the most successful mines in the Bingham district in the period of 1875 to 1890, extracting and shipping great quantities of lead and silver ore. The shipment of bullion from the mill at the mouth of Bingham Canyon was a major source of traffic for the narrow gauge Bingham & Camp Floyd railroad.)

In October 1880, a reference to the Vallejo tramway: "Over an endless wire-rope the rich ores of the Joab Lawrence Company from the old-time Vallejo come and go with profitable monotony." (Western Mining Gazetteer, October 20, 1880)

January 1, 1881
"The Joab Lawrence group of mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon, consisting of the Vallejo, South Star and North Star, is one of the most valuable properties in the district. The company is prosecuting work through a tunnel and have all their mines connected by levels. The work is under the able supervision of one of the owners, Charles Read. They have extracted during the past year 3,000 tons of ore, ranging in value from $10 to $190 per ton, aggregating more than $150,000." (Western Mining Gazette, January 1, 1881)

January 15, 1881
A snow avalanche swept away the Vallejo boarding house, ore house and other buildings, and the tramway and the machinery running it. The mine had been shut down for the winter season the day before, so there was just two men in the boarding house, and both were swept away. (Salt Lake Herald, January 16, 1881)

January 16, 1881
"Richard Williams and John Washington, who remained to look after Joab Lawrence's property, with instructions to sleep in the tunnel, are missing. The avalanche swept away every building owned by the Joab Lawrence Company, together with their tramway, inflicting a loss of $20,000." (Cleveland Leader, January 17, 1881)

(The Alta snow slides of mid January 1881 were covered by all the major newspapers in the nations due to the lives lost and the buildings destroyed.)

March 11, 1881
"On the Joab Lawrence Mine, which at the time of the snowslides last winter, showed heavy reserves of pay ore, operations will soon be resumed with a vigor characteristic of its owners. The tramway will be rebuilt, ore houses will be erected and new machinery placed in position. No exploration for ore is necessary. The ore bodies in sight, at the time work was suspended, are of ample dimensions to keep a large force of men employed in the work of extraction; and as the snow has not yet begun to melt, the mine is dry and in excellent shape for profitable development." (Salt Lake Herald, March 11, 1881)

May 5, 1881
"The Joab Lawrence, the most valuable property there now, is however wasting no time. For some time men have been shoveling the snow from the site of the buildings swept away by the slide; lumber has been hauled up over the railroad, and the work of rebuilding the destroyed boarding and other houses has commenced and will be rushed through rapidly. The tramway will also doubtless be rebuilt." (Salt Lake Herald, May 5, 1881)

(Research suggests that the Vallejo tramway was never rebuilt. The next two references to the Vallejo mine come in July and December 1885, both stating that the Vallejo mine itself was still shipping ore, without any mention of the tramway.)

(Joab Lawrence passed away on December 28, 1888, at age 54. He had come to Utah in the early 1870s and settled in Eureka. The moving force behind the success of the Vallejo mine, and its adjacent North Star mine, was Charles Read, who resigned his position with Lawrence's death. The Joab Lawrence estate passed to his wife but she passed away in March 1890, after remarrying. There was a probate fight among several former associates and his "heirs," including his wife's new husband, with the result that in September 1897 his step daughter's husband, M. C. Fox became the sole owner of the Vallejo mine in Little Cottonwood Canyon.)

(The Vallejo mine itself was closed due to the probate litigation in early 1890, but by June 1891 its tunnel was being used by nearby Flagstaff mine to bring its ore to the surface, being 600 feet lower than the collar of the Flagstaff's main shaft. After the settlement of the probate litigation in 1897, and due to bad management, the Vallejo mine never returned to its previous high production, with all subsequent production coming from low-production leasers. All references to the Vallejo mine after the 1897 period are in recollections of the the high payer it had been in "olden" days. Ownership of the mine is not stated after 1897.)

(By 1899, the Vallejo and South Star together managed to only ship 100 tons during the entire year of 1897, part of 1510 tons from all the mines in Little Cottonwood, which was reported as being "a considerable revival." -- Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1899)

October 10, 1901
The holdings of the Alta Consolidated Mining Company, in the form of "four locations," were sold for $4,500 to J. J. Burnswood. (Salt Lake Tribune, October 10, 1901)

October 15, 1901
The Alta Consolidated Mining & Milling Company was incorporated in Utah, to own the "Burnswood Group" of mines in Little Cottonwood. J. J. Burnswood was president. (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 15, 1901)

April 15, 1925
The Alta Consolidated Mining company was shown as one of the active mines in Little Cottonwood, as potential customers for J. P. Clays, manager of the Peruvian Mining Company, when he organized the Alta-Wasatch Tramway Company in April 1925 to build a 6-1/2 mile aerial tramway between the mines at Alta and the railroad terminal at Wasatch. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1925)

(The holdings of the Alta Consolidated Mining company were among the groups of mines purchased and controlled by George Watson after 1927.)

(Read more about the mines in Little Cottonwood Canyon after the 1901 period)

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