Park City Drain Tunnels
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This page was last updated on July 13, 2025.
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Overview
All of the Park City mines gained reputations early in the district's history for being "wet," meaning that water soon filled the mines as soon as they reached any real depth of 100 to 200 feet. Pumping soon became a big part of the expense of operating a Park City mine, and it was the Ontario that opened one of the first drain tunnels, which were opened at depths below the working levels, and drained to open ground at lower elevations. That first Ontario drain tunnel was opened in 1881. A second much longer drain tunnel was opened in 1888, which formed the basis for a major expansion in 1923 that changed where ore was loaded into rail cars. Other big drain tunnels were the Alliance tunnel, the Daly-Judge (Anchor) tunnel, the Snake Creek tunnel, and the Spiro tunnel. The water draining from these tunnels was being sold to Park City as municipal water, or to irrigation companies, and each was later involved in lengthy legal battles to determine who actually owned the flow. Other water users in the region, who depended on free-flowing wells and springs, and other water sources such as creeks, soon found (and documented) that the flow of their sources was decreased when these drain tunnels were opened. These legal battles became just part of the much larger story of water rights in the western United States.
(Other major drainage tunnels in Utah included the Mascotte (30,000 feet) and Butterfield (8,700 feet) tunnels at Bingham, and the Honerine tunnel (13,000 feet) between Tooele and Stockton.)
Ontario Drain Tunnel
A description of the need for the earlier drain tunnel at the 600-foot level, and the later drain tunnel at the 1,500-foot level comes from USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 25:
One of the earliest mines in the pioneering 1870-1880 decade were the No. 1 and No.2 shafts of the Ontario in Ontario Canyon. "The struggles in those early days against water seem almost incredible, as on the levels which were then so wet one finds now only dust. In 1881 they led the Ontario, which was then using 127 tons of coal for developing power for pumping, to run a long drain tunnel on the 600-foot level. This tunnel was driven from the Ontario mill 6,357 feet to the No. 3 shaft and 500 feet beyond this point, thence 2,700 feet west to the Daly line. It now extends through Daly ground to the Daly West shaft. This tunnel effectually drained the adjoining ground to the depth of 600 feet.
The enormous flow which continued to be encountered at greater depths is indicated by the installation at the No. 3 works of a powerful Cornish pump, the largest in use at that time in the West. The flywheel was 30 feet in diameter and weighed 70 tons. The pumps were 20 inches in diameter, had a 10-foot stroke, and were capable of throwing 320 gallons of water at each stroke. The pump rod, of Oregon pine, was 1,060 feet long and 16 inches square, and its several sections were united by iron strapping plates 1 by 10 and 1 by 12 inches 30 feet long. The pump lifted 2,560 gallons a minute, 153,600 gallons an hour, or 3,686,400 gallons a day from the 1,000-foot level to the drain tunnel on the 600-foot level.
But development progressed to depths below the reach of this powerful machine, and late in the summer of 1888, the construction of a great tunnel which would drain the mine to a depth of 1,500 feet at the No.3 shaft was undertaken. An outlet sufficiently low to drain this level was located on the eastern slope of the range about 3 miles east from the mine. The dimensions of the tunnel are, height 9 feet, width at top 4 feet, and at bottom 5 feet. The water ditch is 21 inches deep and has a capacity of 13,000 gallons per minute; its grade is one-half inch to a rod. The tunnel was timbered with 10 by 10's, a heavy plank flooring was laid over the ditch and on this a track of 18-pound rails.
The tunnel is 15,490 feet in length and absolutely straight, so that a person standing at the face is able to see daylight at the mouth nearly 3 miles distant. Connection between the part driven from the mouth and that driven from the No. 2 shaft was effected Sunday night October 7, 1894. The total cost of the tunnel was about $400,000.
After spending over $500,000 to equip its mine with an "immense" Cornish pump to drain its mine, the Ontario company decided in 1881 that a drain tunnel would be a less expensive solution, and completed a drain tunnel at its 600-foot level that drained into the creek that passes through Park City. "As the workings went deeper, the water again became unmanageable by pumping, and a second tunnel more than three miles in length was driven in 1888 from the 1,500 level emptying into a canyon tributary to the Provo River a few miles above Heber. The flow of water from the mine is 6,000 gallons per minute and it furnishes power sufficient for all the lighting and motor requirements of the plant, and a margin used beside for lighting Park City." The ores from the Ontario were first processed at the Marsac mill, built in 1874 and leased by the Ontario for the purpose. The Marsac was used until 1886 when the Ontario built its own 40-stamp mill near the mouth of its first tunnel. On May 1, 1901, the Ontario stopped processing its ore and began shipping all ore, unprocessed directly to the smelters. The Ontario and Daly properties were controlled by the same parties, and were being operated in conjunction. The drain tunnel had been extended entirely through both properties an extreme distance of 15,494 feet. (Salt Lake Herald, December 29, 1901)
"In 1888 lode mining was given new life by the owners of the Ontario mine when they began its 3-mile drain tunnel, in order to reduce considerably the expense of mining. This example was followed by the owners of the Anchor and Alliance mines, who also began work on long drain tunnels. Lode mining was further aided by the passage of the new law by Congress on July 14 providing for the purchase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver a month, which resulted in a great improvement of the silver market. The influence of this law brought about an increased tonnage in Utah mines and a general tone of prosperity throughout the mining camp." (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 21)
"The mine workings lie in two great parallel northeast-southwest belts and are entered through both deep shafts and long tunnels." "The northern belt, embracing the Woodside, Mayflower, Silver King, and Kearns-Keith properties (Kearns-Keith and Silver King were combined in 1907 as the Silver King Coalition), is entered by shafts and by two long tunnels-the Hanauer and Alliance; the southern belt, including the Ontario, Daly, Daly West, Daly-Judge, and Little Bell properties (all were combined in 1925 as the Park Utah Consolidated), is entered by shafts and three long tunnels-the Ontario drain tunnel, the main Ontario-Daly, Daly West work tunnel, and the Daly-Judge drain tunnel. The adjoining mines are connected so that it is possible to pass continuously underground from one end to the other of each belt, the distance in the southern belt being over 5 miles. (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 23)
"The Daly is equipped with splendid hoisting works, the lower grade ores from the mine being worked at the Marsac mill. The Daly is worked so to speak in connection with the Ontario and the workings of the two properties connecting one with the other would aggregate all of 100 miles, the deepest shafts of the Daly being drained by the Ontario three-mile drain tunnel." (Salt Lake Mining Review, December 30, 1900)
The Daly-West mine shipped its ore by way of an underground tunnel that connected at the 1400-foot level with the Ontario tunnel, loading into cars of the Union Pacific. (Salt Lake Herald, December 29, 1901)
During the early years of the 1920s, UP and Rio Grande were in the midst of a heated competition for rail traffic in Utah. In a purely competitive move to steal traffic away from D&RGW's Park City Branch, UP worked with Ontario Mining Company to close its original surface works above Park City, expand its drainage tunnel, and allow UP to serve the new opening as a shipment point for the Ontario's ores. UP christened the new opening and new station Keetley.
The station at Keetley was named for John (Jack) Keetley, Superintendent at the Silver King Mine from 1902 until his death in 1912. He was a well known and popular person in Park City history, and in Utah's mining community. Besides being one of Utah's best known mining men, Keetley's claim to fame was that he was one of very few people who was a rider for the Pony Express throughout its entire 19-month period of operations. Keetley was born in England in 1841 and after the Pony Express was disbanded in 1861, Keetley moved to Salt Lake City and became active in mining, working his way up the career ladder over the next 40 years to become Superintendent of the Silver King, which was right behind the Ontario in overall wealth produced for any mine in Utah.
To serve this new ore loading point at Keetley, in 1923 Union Pacific constructed the Ontario Branch, which left the Park City Branch about four miles east of Park City, at a point that the railroad chose to name Keetley Junction. The station at the Ontario drainage tunnel at Keetley soon became the major traffic point on UP's Park City Branch.
In 1925 when several mining companies (including the Ontario company) merged to form the Park-Utah Consolidated Mining Company, the company was shipping about 200 tons per day.
July 1, 1925
Park Utah Mining Company took over the assets of Park City Mining & Smelting Company (formerly the Daly-West Mining and the Judge Mining & Smelting companies) on July 1, 1925, and the company name was changed to Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company. The new company was shipping about 200 tons of ore per day. (Park Record, July 3, 1925; Millard County Progress, July 17, 1925)
The Park Utah Consolidated Mines company acquired the properties and assets of the Ontario Silver Mining Company, and approximately 51 percent of the stock of the Daly Mining Company. Park Utah's main products were silver, lead and zinc, the ores also yielding minor quantities of gold and copper. The company had 4,181 acres of patented claims in Wasatch and Salt Lake counties. In view of low metal prices, operations were restricted in 1931 and finally discontinued in 1932. There was no production in 1933. Sixty-five men were employed at the mine. Dividends were discontinued in July 1929. The highest annual dividend was 80 cents per share paid in 1928. (Deseret News, February 15, 1934)
April 8, 1942
Anaconda Copper Mining Company purchased shares in Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company, bringing it to 22 percent ownership of the company. (New York Times, April 8, 1942)
In 1953, United Park City Mines Company was formed by consolidation of the Silver King Coalition Mines Company and Park Utah Consolidated Mines Company. By the 1960s, more than 90 percent of the district properties were owned by United Park City Mines Company and New Park Mining Company. In 1970, The Anaconda Company and ASARCO formed Park City Ventures and leased all mining properties of United Park City Mines Company in the district. After Park City Ventures ceased operations in 1978, Noranda Mining Company leased the Ontario mine from 1979 to 1982, and was the last company to operate a mine in the district.
(Read more about United Park City Mines; especially the period after the 1960s)
The Keetley site was abandoned as a rail operation in 1975 when Park City Ventures replaced the Ontario transportation tunnel with a new vertical shaft located south of Park City, very near the former site of the original Ontario Mine.
The Ontario tunnel continues as a drain tunnel today, at about 11 gallons per minute, with its water flowing into the Jordanelle reservoir.
Mike Wright about the Ontario Drain Tunnel:
The Ontario #2 drain tunnel ran 15,000 ft on a straight line to the Ontario #3 shaft and then, with many bends, on to the Daly West shaft. The tunnel caved at maybe the 12,500 ft mark due to a fault that cut the tunnel, and a work-around was put in. During United Park City days, a fan was installed in this work-around to draw fresh air into the mine. One could stand at the 12,500 ft mark and see a tiny pinpoint of light at this portal, 2-1/2 miles away. UPC worked the Ontario #5 shaft, which was an underground shaft, from this tunnel when I worked for them as geologist. The drain tunnel was originally driven 11 ft high and 8 ft wide, and had a 3 ft ditch under the rails to bring water from the connected mines. The tunnel was mostly timbered, but there were sections where timber was not needed. The South Crosscut took off from maybe the 9,000 ft mark to the workings of the old Park Utah mine. About 1,000 ft further on, the North Crosscut broke off, and was dammed at its intersection with the tunnel, with the (potable) water being piped to the mine shops, change room and to the houses located near the mine portal.
Anchor (Daly-Judge) Tunnel
Of the three mines opened by John J. Daly, the Daly mine, the Daly-West mine, and the Daly-Judge mine (formerly the Anchor mine), the Daly-Judge became known as a very wet mine. (John J. Daly was a close friend, but no relation to Marcus Daly, of Anaconda and Butte, Montana fame.)
A drain tunnel was started in August 1887 and was driven from a point in Empire Gulch, opposite the mouth of Walker & Webster Gulch, southwesterly toward the Anchor shaft. The Anchor tunnel had a total length is 6,600 feet and its sectional dimensions are 7-foot post, 5-foot sill, and 4-foot cap; its grade was three-fourths of an inch to a rod, and the water flume was 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. It was completed at an estimated cost total of $200,000. This tunnel struck the Anchor shaft at the 1,200-foot level and sufficed to drain the property. The Judge (later Daly-Judge) mill was built at the outlet of the Anchor tunnel. (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 25)
Alliance Tunnel
The Alliance Tunnel took its name from the Alliance mining claim, which was part of the group of mining claims purchased by Thomas Kearns and David Keith in 1891 when the organized their Silver King Mining company.
February 14, 1889
"The articles of incorporation of the Alliance Mining Company were filed with the probate clerk yesterday." Officers were Abraham Hanauer, president {and owner of the majority of shares, at 10,000 of the 100,000 shares); Nicolas Treweek, vice president. The board of directors included A. Hanauer, N. Treweek, John J. Daly, and James Glenndinning. (Salt Lake Herald, February 15, 1889)
April 13, 1889
"George Norman has a gang of men working at the mouth of Walker & Webster gulch below the old Empire hoisting works grading out a place for the buildings which will contain the machinery to be used in driving the proposed drain tunnel for the Alliance mining company from the starting point to a point 1200 feet below the collar of the old Sampson shaft the distance being some 4500 feet through highly mineralized section of the country. There is considerable ore yet in the upper levels of the old Sampson property and it will be stoped out and sent to market this season." (Park Record, April 13, 1889)
The Alliance drainage tunnel was started in late May 1889 when the Alliance company opened bids for the construction of the tunnel. The Alliance Tunnel portal was where Walker & Webster Gulch met Empire Canyon, in the same vicinity as the outlet of the Anchor (Daly-Judge) tunnels. (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 26)
July 20, 1889
The Alliance Tunnel was already driven in 500 feet, of the planned 4800 feet. (Park Record, July 20, 1889)
September 22, 1889
The Alliance Tunnel was in 1200 feet, with an average daily progress of 12 feet per day. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 22, 1889)
March 2, 1890
"The Alliance tunnel is in a distance of 2800 feet." (Salt Lake Tribune, March 2, 1890)
June 16, 1890
"The Alliance tunnel is in a distance of 4300 feet and work is progressing nicely." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 16, 1890)
August 17, 1890
The Alliance drainage tunnel was completed on August 17, 1890, for a distance of 4,590 feet to a point under the Kearns-Keith property. Its inside timber measurements were 7-foot post, 4-foot cap, and 4-foot sill. In 1912, its length was considerably over a mile; and in addition to efficiently draining the ground opened by the several mines consolidated in the Kearns-Keith property (Silver King Coalition Mines) and affording a deep work and exploration tunnel for future needs, it supplied water for domestic use in Park City and for use in the mill of the Silver King plant. (USGS Professional Paper 77, Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Park City District, Utah, 1912, page 26)
August 19, 1890
"On Tuesday last [August 19] Messrs. John Judge and David Keith completed their contract for the driving of the Alliance tunnel and turned the work over to the company. Messrs. Nick Treweek, Superintendent, and Charles T. Stevenson, Secretary, on behalf of the company accepted the work and complimented the contractors on the able and excellent manner in which the work was perfected. It is just about a year since the tunnel was started and during that time 4577 feet has been run which is an average of about 400 feet per month of 100 feet per week, which considering the nature of the rock through which they passed is deemed the best work ever done here." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 24, 1890)
In October 1899, Thomas Kearns was elected as president of the Alliance Mining Company, along with other new directors, indicating that Kearns was already a majority stockholder, having purchased 64,000 of the original 100,000 shares in the company, for a reported $65,000. The company was $20,000 in debt and a series of assessments and delinquency notices were issued to take back minority shares in the company for sale to Kearns. Ownership of the shares was in Kearns' name, but would soon pass to the adjacent Silver King Mining company. In September, Hanauer had sold his 63,000 shares to E. A. Wall, and Wall in-turn sold the shares to Kearns. Although the Alliance company, which included the old Sampson mine, had been a very successful mine in its early years, in the end it was sold for the value of its improvements and equipment, including the 4700-foot long Alliance tunnel that was draining the Silver King ground. (Salt Lake Herald, September 2, 1899; Salt Lake Tribune, October 18, 1899; Salt Lake Herald, October 25, 1899, along with daily legal notices throughout October and December 1899)
February 18, 1900
"Allliance Goes For $60,000. Silver King Mining Company is the purchaser." "The buying up of the property was manipulated by Mr. Kearns and was one of the neatest pieces of financiering ever undertaken in the district. The property produces through its long tunnel all the water consumed by the residents of Park City, which is sold to the water company for a stipulated price per month. In addition, an upper tunnel furnishes an abundance of water for all purposes of the Silver King company, and on this account alone was a most valuable acquisition." (Salt Lake Herald, February 18, 1900)
February 21, 1900
The deed for the transfer of the Alliance Mining company, and all of its property to the Silver King Mining company was filed with the county on February 23, 1900, with the transfer document being dated February 20, 1900.
(Salt Lake Herald, February 25, 1900)
(The deed was signed by all parties at a special stockholders meeting held in Park City on February 17, 1900 -- Salt Lake Herald, February 18, 1900)
February 23, 1900
"The purchase of the Alliance Mining company's Park City possessions by the Silver King having been completed with the recording of the deeds on Wednesday [February 21], the management of the latter will, in a few days, begin to cut its way from a station in Alliance tunnel to a point upon the great Silver King ledge, this affording a direct and economical avvenue into the domains of the Silver King on the west and an equally direct and economical outlet for the ores from that portion of the company's territory. In this step, which Manager Kearns will take as soon as his forces ae properly equipped for the work, is revealed the whole object for which the purchase is made." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 23, 1900)
The Alliance Tunnel remained as an active drainage and transportation tunnel for the Silver King Coalition Mines company well into the 1940s.
The new Thaynes Canyon Shaft for the Silver King Coalition Mines company, started in 1937 and completed in 1940, included a connection to the Alliance Tunnel, along with a connection to the Spiro Tunnel, which the Silver King Coalition company called the Silver King Consolidated tunnel. The connection with the Alliance tunnel was at its 900 Level, and the 1250 Level of the new Thaynes Canyon shaft, 600 feet above the planned connection with the Spiro Tunnel. (Park Record, October 6, 1938)
Snake Creek Tunnel
In March 1910 work was begun on what was called the Snake Creek Tunnel, a 14,000 feet-long tunnel that would drain some of the Park City mines, with specific mention of the Daly-Judge mine. The name came from the tunnel's final destination at the head of Snake Creek on the southeast slope Bald Mountain above Midway in Heber Valley. Completed in 1916, the flow from the tunnel was an amazing 8,600 gallons per minute. (Salt Lake Mining Review, August 15, 1910)
"Early in the year [1916] directors of the company [Daly-Judge] decided to take over the Snake Creek property upon which a drainage tunnel 14,500 feet in length had just been finished to the line of the Judge ground. This great bore was designed for the drainage of the latter and was run under the supervision of George W. Lambourne, general manager for the Judge company. The tunnel will be connected with the workings of the company and will drain them to a depth of 3,000 feet. It has already enabled the company to work the lower levels profitably and makes it possible to mine at great depth in the southwesterly portion of the district. The tunnel is eight and one half feet in width, six and one half feet in height above the rails and has a water channel three and one half by four feet. It has a fall of three inches to 100 feet and the water flow at the time it reached Judge ground was 8,626 gallons a minute." (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1917)
According to a three page article, with photos, the Snake Creek tunnel project was a joint effort of the Jesse Knight interests, and the owners of the Daly-Judge Mining Company, through a joint company called Snake Creek Mining & Tunnel Company. George Lambourne was general manager. The tunnel itself was concrete lined, and was egg-shaped, with the narrow point down. It was double tracked, nine and one half feet wide, seven feet above rail level, with a water channel below rail level, four feet by four-foot two-inches. (Engineering Record, May 25, 1912, Volume 65, Number 21, page 564)
By 1920, the Judge Mining & Smelting company was the sole owner of the Snake Creek tunnel. There was at the time a suit between the mining company and Midway Irrigation Co., over ownership and control of the flow exiting the tunnel, to be heard in December 1920 in federal district court for Utah. (Mining & Scientific Press, October 30, 1920, Volume 121, page 614)
The Snake Creek suit was to be heard by the U. S. Supreme Court due to its precedence concerning ownership of water issuing from mining drain tunnels. (Engineering and Mining Journal, May 14, 1921, Volume 111, Number 20, page 835)
Spiro Tunnel
Silver King Consolidated Mining Company was developed by Solon Spiro and Samuel Newhouse, after they bought the old Bogan mine. The Silver King Consolidated company is best known for its so-called "Spiro Tunnel."
The Spiro Tunnel was started in spring 1916 when the mine owners "launched construction of an ambitious tunnel designed to drain the major portion of the company's property and, it was hoped, provide access to new ore bodies." "Spiro's drain tunnel was a disappointment. By January 1922 it had reached a depth of more than 15,000 feet without passing through substantial ore deposits. It did drain the company's largely undeveloped properties, but it also drained the pockets of Spiro and the company's shareholders." (From The Ground Up, Park City, pages 329-332)
(Read more about the Spiro Tunnel)
June 4, 1924
Silver King Coalition Mines Company purchased the Silver King Consolidated Mining Company and all of its claims and interests. The Spiro tunnel is shown as being 17,000 feet in length, and a tunnel was being driven to connect it with the workings of the Coalition company at the 1300-foot level, which was expected to take about one month to complete. (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 15, 1924)
(Read more about the purchase of Silver King Consolidated by Silver King Coalition)
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