Mammoth Mine, Tintic, Utah

The Mammoth mine was organized in February 1870 by a group of miners that included Charles Crismon. Supposedly one of that original group of prospectors stated "Boys, she's a mammoth strike! We've got ourselves a mammoth mine." Within a couple years Crismon became the majority owner and in 1873, he exchanged his interest in the mine to Samuel and William McIntyre for cattle that the McIntyre brothers had herded into the Tintic Valley from Texas. One of the first mills in the district, and later a small smelter, was built in 1873 by the Crismon-Mammoth Company out in the valley near the McIntyre's Tintic Ranch, seven miles southwest of the Mammoth mine. The Crismon mill soon became known simply as the "Tintic Mill". The location was chosen to put the mill on land already owned by the McIntyres, and to allow the mill to be near a good source of water. Fuel was another matter, and its high cost would soon be a deciding factor in the mill's closure.

The owners of the Mammoth mine were using freight wagons to get the ore down from their mine to the company's new mill, a distance of two miles as the crow flies. The steady stream of wagons moving along the steep road between the mine at Upper Mammoth, and the new mill at Robinson (Mammoth on the railroads), was a cost that the company wanted to avoid. To reduce its costs, the company approached the railroads about building a branch to the mine. Although the Mammoth mine's prospects were bright, both railroads hesitated at building such a steep and difficult line, saying that the mining company would have to pay a large share of the added costs for such a difficult line. To avoid these costs, in January 1894, the mine owners (the McIntyre brothers) organized the East Tintic Railway to build a 2-1/2 mile railroad between a connection with the joint trackage at Mammoth (Robinson), where their mill was, and the mine at the top of Mammoth Hollow. The plans for the new railroad laid dormant after other mining companies along the proposed route expressed an interest in using the new line to haul their ores to the OSL&UN line for eventual movement of their own ores to the Salt Lake Valley smelters. These other mining companies were each located in the upper reaches of Mammoth Hollow, and each had its own mill.

Construction of the New East Tintic Railway was completed between Mammoth, past the Robinson mill, to the Mammoth mine during September 1896, a distance of 1.99 miles, and a total of 2.5 miles including spurs and sidings; all of it uphill. The new railroad used a switchback track, 235 feet long, and grades as high as 6 percent and curves as tight as 30 degrees. Operations began during the second week of September 1896.

The record ore shipments included ore from the Mammoth mine, which was enjoying its highest producing years. Samuel McIntyre in July 1900, having bought out his brother William's interest in the Mammoth mine in June 1899 for $250,000, offered to buy both Cunningham's minority interest in the Mammoth mine, and his New East Tintic Railway. The offer to buy Cunningham's interest in the mine (39,000 shares) was accepted at a price of $87,750, but the offer for the railroad was refused.

Having been rebuffed in his offer to buy the railroad, McIntyre commenced to survey for an aerial tramway to replace the New East Tintic Railway. A news item in a June 1900 issue of the national trade publication Engineering and Mining Journal gives more detail. Cunningham was charging 30 cents per ton to move ore from the Mammoth mine down to the joint OSL and RGW station at Mammoth. The proposed aerial tramway would move the same 250 tons of ore per day at 6 cents per ton. Particulars for the tramway showed that it would be 4,800 feet long, with a drop of 350 feet. Its construction was pegged at $15,000, with a projected completion date in September 1900. There is no evidence that the tramway was ever actually completed.

In a January 1918 news item about the Mammoth Mining Company, the bi-weekly trade publication Salt Lake Mining Review wrote of a complaint by the Mammoth company. The complaint made note of what the mining company thought were high rates being charged by LA&SL to ship the ore from the Mammoth mine down to Mammoth (Robinson), via the former New East Tintic Railway. In 1917 LA&SL had charged $7,500 to move 40,000 tons of ore in 840 cars from the mine. Although lower than the $30 figure the mine was charged in 1900, this 1918 figure of $5.30 per ton was once again deemed too high. Again, the mining company threatened to build an aerial tramway from their mine down to the D&RG at Mammoth, but again, the threat came to nothing. This exchange gives some indication of the fortunes of the Mammoth. It wasn't rich enough to ever build a more efficient aerial tramway, but the traffic after World War I was never low enough to justify to government regulators that the railroads should simply abandon their service. Instead, the mine and the railroads continued to suffer through various boom and bust cycles, and continued to limp along for another 35 years until rising costs and diminishing ore reserves drove the mine to stop shipping altogether.

UP stated in its application to abandon the Mammoth Branch, that from 1953 through 1957, in order for each year, consisted of 50, 42, 12, 40, and 12 carloads. Mammoth Mining Company in its protest of the abandonment, showed the following shipments: 1955, 669 tons; 1956, 2274 tons; 1957 (to October), 629 tons. The mining company also stated that the dip in shipments in 1957 was due to a fire at the mine's surface workings, but that they had repaired the damage and were expecting an increase in traffic very soon. The application showed that between 1946 and 1952, there had been no traffic from the Mammoth Mining Company despite continued promises of soon-to-materialize traffic. In the three years of 1949 to 1952, only one carload was handled, a single carload of inbound coal for the mine. Mention should be made here that in the 1947 application to close its Eureka agency, UP showed that a total of 28 cars were shipped from Mammoth in 1947, meaning that other mines were shipping ore, while the Mammoth mine was not. The last carload of local freight at Mammoth, other than ore, was handled in 1955.

At the time of the abandonment request in 1957, trains were run on an "on call" basis. A section crew was called out to perform any needed repairs to the branch prior to the train venturing on to the line, and again to repair any damaged caused. No service was provided during the winter months. Union Pacific had initially wanted to abandon the Mammoth Branch in 1948, but had withheld its application based on the mining company's promises of increasing traffic. This was during the times of heavy ICC regulation, so any traffic at all was usually justification to prevent abandonment.

ICC records show mining traffic on the Mammoth Branch in the 1953-1957 time period, with annual outbound averages of 26.6 cars and 1,498.8 tons, and inbound averages of 2.2 cars and 129 tons. (Such traffic levels of only one carload every other week, would in today's railroad industry, have been abandoned long before they reached such low levels.) No other mining company protested the 1957 abandonment because there were several truck dumps at other locations on either the Eureka Branch, or on the nearby Silver City Branch. The abandonment application for the Mammoth Branch was approved on May 21, 1958. Utah Division employee timetable No. 29, dated June 1, 1958, indicates both the Mammoth Branch and the former New East Tintic Branch, while the next issue No. 30, dated September 21, 1958, does not show these two branches.

McIntyre, Samuel (son of William McIntyre and Margret Anglin of Texas). Born Dec. 16, 1844, in Texas. Came to Utah 1853, Captain Daily company.

Married Mary Alexander July 4. 1872, St. Louis, Mo. (daughter of Robert Alexander and Mary Melvin of St. Louis, who came to Utah 1872). Their children: Samuel G.: Frank; Lapnre, m. Stella Switz; Stella, m. Capt. R. H. Allen; Earl; Roy. Family home. Salt Lake City.

Stockraiser. With brother William he is owner of the Horn Silver mine.

Mcintyre, William Howell (son of William McIntyre and Margret Anglin of Grimes county, near Anderson City, Texas). Born March 19, 1843, in Grimes Co., Texas. Came to Utah 1853 with his mother.

Married Phoebe Ogden Chase July 10, 1878, Salt Lake City (daughter of George O. Chase and Emily Marinda Hyde). Their children: June M. b. June 23, 1881, m. Frederick Carl Pern; Elizabeth G. b. Dec. 28. 1883. m. Arthur G. Hertzler; William Howell b. Jan. 2, 1887; Robert Bradford b. March 2, 1891; Margaret Anglin b. Aug. 11, 1894; Marion b. Nov. 19, 1898.

Director Z. C. M. I. and Deseret National bank. Owner and builder of the McIntyre building; owner McIntyre ranch of sixty-four thousand acres, Alberta, Canada. Engaged in cattle business. Freighter between Blackfoot, Idaho, and California: furnished the U. S. government, at Ft. Douglas, Utah, with supplies. Went to Texas 1869, returning to South Tintic, Utah, the next year with 1,000 cattle. In 1872 brought 2,000 cattle to Utah from Fort Hayes, Kan., and has followed the cattle and land business ever since. In 1875 he and his brother Samuel bought an interest in the Mammoth mine, Tintic, Utah, and gained control of the mine 1879, owning it until 1901. This mine produced about two million dollars.