UtahRails Mining Men

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on March 12, 2026.

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(The focus of this page is brief biographical notes of the men that made the mining industry in Utah so successful. Also to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

As important as the everyday wage worker was to the history of mining in Utah, it was several men with experience, vision and charisma who made the mining industry in Utah so successful. These men developed the networks of mining engineers and financiers to develop the undeveloped or partially developed mining claims to become giant organizations that made money for their shareholders, and in many cases, kept the mines as a decent place to work.

(Incomplete; research continues...)

(Work continues to show the major mining districts each person and family was involved with.)

The "major mining districts" in Utah is best defined as, in most cases, those districts that were served by at least one railroad. These included:

John Beck

(Tintic)

John Beck was one of the pioneer miners in Tintic. His Bullion Beck and Champion mine started out paying very well, and continued paying well into the 1940s.

(Read more about John Beck)

John Bestelmeyer

(Tintic)

Bestelmeyer Mines -- Information about the East Tintic mines developed by John Bestelmeyer, adjacent to and later controlled by the North Lily company.

James A. Cunningham

(Tintic)

James Alma Cunningham (14 June 1842 – 24 March 1919) (KWBB-6CG)

James A. Cunningham was one of the successful owners of the Mammoth mine in the Tintic district in central Utah, along with Willaim and Samuel McIntyre. He was also a cattleman and sheepman, owning thousands of cattle and sheep on ranches in Utah and Canada.

He was also a railroad builder. In 1896 he was the organizer of the New East Tintic Railway that served the Mammoth mine. In 1900 he sold this railroad to the Union Pacific-controlled Oregon Short Line Railroad.

(Read more about the New East Tintic Railway)

In February 1899 he was voted off of the board of directors of the Mammoth Mining company because of differences he had with the McIntyre borthers over the rates he was charging to move their ore over his New East Tintic Railway. But he remained a large stockholder of the Mammoth company.

(Read more about James A. Cunningham)

John Dern

(Mercur and Tintic)

John Dern first came to Utah as president of the Mercur Gold Mining and Milling company in December 1890. He was a resident of Fremont, the county seat of Dodge County, where he was the County Treasurer. In June 1894, Dern and his Eastern associates purchased full control of the Mercur company, from its previous majority stockholder, at which time John Dern became president and general manager of the Mercur mine.

At Tintic, after 1901, he controlled the Uncle Sam, Humbug and May Day mines, and others.

(Read more about John Dern)

James C. Dick

(Bingham and Tintic)

J. C. Dick was one of the mining men of Utah. He was a mining engineer who worked with the mines of the Tintic and Bingham mining districts.

J. C. Dick was John Dern's son-in-law.

(Read more about J. C. Dick)

David Evans, Jr.

(Tintic)

David Evans Jr. (28 January 1852 – 5 September 1923) (K2W7-VYK)

David Evans, Jr., was closely associated with Jesse Knight from 1899 to 1905.

David Evans was a prominent lawyer in Provo from 1883 to 1886. From 1885 to 1889 he was Assistant Federal District Attorney of Utah. In 1889 he moved to Ogden and set up a law practice, then in 1892-1893 he was member of the Utah Territorial Senate. During 1896-1898 he was president of the School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind at Ogden. In 1899, after practicing law for twenty years without losing a case, he retired and became associated with Jesse Knight in various mining ventures in the Tintic district, including the King David Mining Company, the Crown Point Mining Co., and the Iron King Consolidated Mining Company. In 1905, he sold his interests to Jesse Knight and moved to California, remaining there until his death in 1923.

(Read more about David Evans, Jr.)

Richard J. Evans

(Tintic)

Richard James Evans (27 January 1865 – 2 December 1947) (27HR-H8X)

Richard J. Evans became associated with Jesse Knight in 1907 when they organized the Plutus mine in Eureka. Evans had been president of the adjacent Juab Mining company, which was included in the creation of the Plutus company.

In 1916, the Chief Consolidated company bought the Plutus Mining company from Evans and the Knight interests.

The "Evans Group" was a group of mining claims on the west side of the town of Eureka, assembled by Richard Evans, a mining man who in 1896, at age 31, came to Utah and got "mining fever." He previously had been associated with the Michigan copper mines for six years, starting in 1890. He began by developing mines in the Mercur area, then became involved with the development of the Silver King Consolidated Mining company in Park City in 1907. In the Bingham district, Evans was a force behind assembling the group of companies and claims that became the Montana-Bingham group in 1910, and in 1914, assembled the group of companies and claims that became the Utah Metal & Tunnel company in Carr Fork. In Tintic, starting with the Golden May claim, he assembled the Evans Group. He also put together the Plutus, Eureka Lily, Tintic Consolidated, Bullion, Apex Standard mines for the Chief Consolidated Mining Co. Richard J. Evans passed away on December 2, 1947 at age 82.

The Evans group of mining claims was located on the western outskirts of the town of Eureka, and included the Golden Ray, Anna, Anna No. 2, Hornsilver, Mary Bell, Mary Alice, Morning Star, George A. Wilson, West Mammoth, Annaconda, Mollie Gibson, Donnelly Boy, Goodenough, Pluto, Hades, and Styx claims. The Evans shaft was located on the Goodenough claim.

The Plutus property was surrounded by the Chief Consolidated on the north, southwest and southeast, the Eagle & Blue on the west, the Godiva on the east, and the Mammoth on the south. The Chief Consolidated Mining company had controlled the Plutus Mining company since October 1916, through ownership of a majority of Plutus stock.

P. T. Farnsworth

(Frisco and Tintic)

Philo Taylor Farnsworth Jr. (15 October 1849 – 19 July 1920) (KWVP-2JL)

"During his active career as mining investor, operator and manager, Mr. Farnsworth was prominently identified with a number of bonanza mining propositions of the surrounding country. He was for many years manager of the Horn Silver Mining Company's bonanza at Frisco, Utah; also a prominent figure in the management and operation of the Bullion-Beck, at Tintic. At Austin, Nevada, he was manager of the Austin Gold Mining Company's properties and in many other propositions, since the early days of mining in Utah." (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 30, 1920, upon his death)

(Read more about P. T. Farnsworth)

Daniel C. Jackling

D. C. Jackling was most famous for being one of the founders of Utah Copper and the Bingham Canyon copper mine. But he was also instrumental in the discovery of the concentration of low-grade mineral ore, first for gold ores in the Mercur district, then the copper ores in the Bingham district.

(Read more about D. C. Jackling)

Thomas Kearns

U.S. Senator; Philanthropist. Known by some as the Immigrant Titan.

Perhaps the most famous of the group known as the Silver Kings., Kearns was an Irish-Canadian immigrant who started as a manual laborer in the mines.

He and his partners (including David Keith) leased the Silver King Mine in Park City. It turned out to be one of the richest lead-silver deposits in the world.

Kearns became a millionaire by age 28. He used his wealth to buy the Salt Lake Tribune and build a 28-room mansion on South Temple (now the Utah Governor's Mansion).

He served as a U.S. Senator and was a major philanthropist, funding St. Ann's Orphanage and many civic projects in Salt Lake City.

(Read the Wikipedia article about Thomas Kearns)

(Read the Utah History Encyclopedia article about Thomas Kearns)

David Keith

David Keith was Thomas Kearns' lifelong friend and business partner. While Kearns was the public face, Keith was the technical expert. Some articles describe him as the engineering mind behind Kearns.

Keith was a master of mine pumps, a crucial skill because many of Park City's best lead veins were deep underwater. He installed the famous "Cornish Pump" to drain the mines, allowing the the company to reach deeper ore.

Beyond Park City's Silver King Mine, Keith owned banks, railroads, and the Keith-O'Brien department store. His neoclassical mansion still stands today on South Temple.

Jesse Knight

(Tintic and Carbon County) (Utah Ore Sampling)

Jesse Knight was an outlier among the Lead Kings, which included Thomas Kearns, David Keith and Samuel Newhouse. While most mining magnates were non-Mormons who often clashed with the LDS Church, Knight was a devout member who believed his wealth was a "divine stewardship." He famously struck lead and silver at the Humbug Mine in the Tintic District (near Eureka) after claiming he heard a divine voice telling him the land was rich.

He built the town of Knightsville, which was unique among mining camps for having no saloons, no gambling, and no work on Sundays. He saved Brigham Young University from financial ruin multiple times and funded much of the early expansion of the school.

Jesse Knight lived on a ranch in Payson, and began prospecting in the Tintic district in the 1880s, following the advice of several mining he he had become acquainted with. In 1896 he developed the Humbug mine. He soon acquired the adjacent Uncle Sam mine, and he sold the two combined mines in 1901. He used the proceeds to buy other unappreciated mining properties farther south, and they formed the basis of what would later become one of the largest mining enterprises in the state. Jesse Knight passed away on March 14, 1921, but his Knight Investment company was the basis of the much larger North Lily Mining company that was controlled by the Anaconda company after 1929.

(Read more about Jesse Knight and his activities in the Tintic mining district)

Charles Edwin (C. E.) Loose

(Tintic)

C. E. Loose was active in the development and operation of several mines in the Tintic mining district, including the Grand Central and the Gold Chain. He was also instrumental in the organization of the Goshen Valley Railroad, built to serve the mines of the East Tintic District..

Charles Edwin Loose (19 September 1853 – 28 January 1929) (K24C-X9C)

(Read more about C. E. Loose)

(Read more about the Goshen Valley Railroad; later known as D&RGW's Goshen Valley Branch)

McChrystal Family

(Tintic)

John McChrystal first arrived in Tintic in 1877, and was one of the pioneers of the camp. While in the employ of the Eureka Hill mine as its superintendent he made a study of the geologic conditions of the entire Tintic district, after which he located and directed the preliminary workings of the Gemini mine, along with later properties that included the Godiva, the Eagle & Blue Bell, the Ridge & Valley, and the Uncle Sam. John Q Packard was associated with McChrystal in the development of the Gemini, the Godiva and the Eureka Hill mines. The McChrystal family remained active in the development of Tintic's mines until the late 1920s.

(Read more about the McChrystal Family)

William S. McCornick

William Sylvester McCornick (14 September 1837 – 18 May 1921) (LZLN-9LG)

Born September 14, 1837 in Picton, Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. Died May 18, 1921 (aged 83) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Buried Mount Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake City, Utah.

W. S. McCornick was one of the most prominent bankers and businessmen in the Intermountain West during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

(Read more about W. S. McCornick)

McIntyre Brothers, Samuel and William

Samuel and William McIntyre -- Brief notes about the two McIntyre brothers were developed the Mammoth mine, until the partnership was split and William took the family business to Canada in 1894.

Samuel H. McIntyre -- Information about Samuel McIntyre and his business interests in the Tintic district and other locations.

William H. McIntyre -- Information about William McIntyre and his business interests in the Tintic district and other locations.

Samuel Newhouse

Samuel Newhouse was a Jewish-American entrepreneur who focused on the Bingham Canyon and the copper mine at Newhouse in Beaver County.

He was a master of high-stakes international finance, bringing in massive investments from London and New York to build some of the first large-scale smelters in Utah. He wanted to turn Salt Lake City into the "Little Wall Street" of the West. He built Utah's first skyscrapers (the Boston and Newhouse Buildings) and the Newhouse Hotel.

Unlike Kearns or Knight, Newhouse overextended his finances. He eventually lost most of his fortune and died in France, a reminder of the volatility of the mining era.

(Read the Wikipedia article about Samuel Newhouse)

(Read the Utah History Encyclopedia article about Samuel Newhouse)

L. E. Riter

(Tintic)

Levi Evans Riter Jr/Sr (3 September 1854 – 30 July 1903) (KWVP-FT3)

Son of Levi Evans Riter (1805-1877), and father of Levi Evans Riter (1878-1945)

He was a nephew of William Wollerton (W. W.) Riter, pioneer railroad builder; William Wollerton Riter (4 September 1838 – 17 January 1922) (KWCV-PKY)

Operated the L. E. Riter & Co. general merchandise and miner's supplies store at Silver City.

(Read more about Levi E. Riter)

Snyder Family

(Tintic, Bingham, Ophir, Stockton) (Pioche, Nevada)

George G. Snyder and six of his sons were active in the Tintic mining district from 1889 to 1922. In 1889, the family organized itself as the Snyder Improvement company, and soon became known for their excellent record of locating and developing promising mining properties, then selling them to larger companies to become profitable mines. Their company was active until 1921, when the Chief Consolidated bought their interest in the Eureka Lily Mining Co. and the East Tintic Mining Co.

(Read more about the Snyder family)

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