Mingo Smelter, Sandy
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Mingo Smelter
-- Mingo Smelter (formerly Mountain Chief)
-- Aerial photos from 1937 show a large slag dump remaining on the site, south of 9000 South, between State Street and the Union Pacific (now UTA TRAX) railroad tracks.
-- By 1889, the Mingo smelter was the only smelter still operating in Sandy.
From Huntley, D. B. "Appendix I: The Mining Industries of Utah." In "Statistics and Technology of the Precious Metals," 405–489. 1885.
Mingo Furnace Company. — Two stacks were built in 1872, and were known as the Mountain Chief furnaces. They ran a few months, and then were idle until November, 1876, when the property came into the possession of the Mingo Company, a branch of the Pittsburgh Lead Company.
The old stacks were repaired, and two others were erected in October, 1877. One or more furnaces have been run quite steadily upon ore purchased in the Salt Lake market. The works are situated a half a mile south of Sandy, on the Utah Southern railroad, are complete, clean, airy, and well managed.
The apparatus consists of a Elake rock-breaker, one pair of Cornish rolls, two reverberatory furnaces for ore, matte, or flue-dust, three shaft furnaces, one No. 5 Baker blower, two Root blowers Nos. 5 and 6, two boilers, and one 35 horse-power horizontal engine.
The lead bullion is shipped directly to the refining works of the company, located at Mansfield, seven miles from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
(Mansfield, Pennsylvania, was incorporated as a borough on September 6, 1872. In 1894, Mansfield officially merged with the neighboring borough of Chartiers to form a single, unified city officially renamed Carnegie, in honor of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.)
"Mingo Furnace Company. Two stacks were built in 1872, and were known as the Mountain Chief furnaces. They ran a few months, and then were idle until November, 1876, when the property came into the possession of the Mingo Company, a branch of the Pittsburgh Lead Company. The old stacks were repaired, and two others were erected in October, 1877. One or more furnaces have been run quite steadily upon ore purchased in the Salt Lake market. The works are situated a half a mile south of Sandy, on the Utah Southern railroad, are complete, clean, airy, and well managed." ("Department Of The Interior, Statistics And Technology Of The Precious Metals," published in 1885)
(The Pittsburgh Lead Company had changed in name from the Pittsburgh Smelting and Refining company in February 1874. As of February 9, 1897, the Pittsburgh Lead company was in the hands of a receiver. -- Monmouth Illinois Daily Review, February 9, 1897)
Mountain Chief (1872-1876)
(The Mountain Chief mine was located in Dry Canyon in the Ophir District. Operated during late 1872. After its sale to British investors, dividends were paid in only one month, in January 1873. There is no reference in online newspapers to the Mountain Chief being sold to British investors until January 11, 1873 when the price of its stock on the London Open Stock Market is shown, as of December 4th, along with seven other Utah mining companies. These quotes on the London market continued through late August 1874.)
(Research suggests that the Mountain Chief, other than building the smelter at Sandy, was a failure as a mining company right from its beginnings. Another case of inept and corrupt local managers taking advantage of absentee owners in England.)
December 10, 1872
S. W. Valentine applied for a survey and patent "on the Mountain Chief lode (being a silver-bearing vein of rock in place) and the land and premises appertaining to said mine" in the Ophir Mining District, "having occupied and improved the siad lode and premises, according to the local suctoms and rules of miners in said mining district, and having expended in actual labor and improvements therewith, an amount not less than five hundered (500) dollars, and having at this time actual peaceable possession of said mining property." signed December 10, 1872. (Salt Lake Tribune, February 7, 1873)
February 11, 1873
"New Furnaces. - The managers of the Mountain Chief mine, the stock of which company is owned in England, have just let contracts for the construction of two large furnaces at Sandy, near the Saturn works. The furnaces are to be built as rapidly as possible, and will be able to smelt a large quantity of ore. Mr. W. S. (sic: S. W.) Valentine, Manager of the Saturn Company is to manage the new works, and Mr. Gerrish is to be Superintendent. It is sure to be a great success." (Utah Mining Journal, February 11, 1873)
April 26, 1873
"The Mountain Chief Furnaces. - Are in course of construction only a few yards south of the Saturn works. The buildings and outhouses are nearly completed, and one blast furnace is erected. It is expected these works will be in running order by the end of May." (Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, April 26, 1873)
(The nearby Saturn smelter has been completed in March 1872 and was in operation by the time construction of the Mountain Chief smelter started in March 1873.)
May 17, 1873
"The Mountain Chief Furnaces. - Are also in course of construction at Sandy, a few yards south of the Saturn works. The buildings and outhouses are nearly completed, and one blast furnace is erected. The works are expected to fire up by the end of May. The works are under the management of Mr. Valentine, who is also manager of the Saturn works." (Salt Lake Weekly Tribune, May 17, 1873)
(Beginning in November 1873, there were a series of law suits that attached the Mountain Chief smelter and its property for unpaid smelter returns owed to mines. The Saturn and Mountain Chief (Mingo) smelters at Sandy were both affected and research suggests they were both shut down while under attachment.)
(Research suggests that the Mountain Chief smelter only operated for a few short months in late 1873.)
November 15, 1873
"On Tuesday [November 11], deputy Sheriff Golding served an attachment on the smelter at Sandy, belonging to the Mountain Chief Smelting Company. The attachment was served to recover $1,600 due to the Emma Silver Mining Company, limited." (Utah Mining Gazette, November 15, 1873)
February 14, 1874
"It appears that the Mountain Chief and Saturn Works had been closed for some time." (Utah Mining Gazette, February 14, 1874)
(On April 24, 1874, the Third District Court found in favor of the plaintiffs in the five law suits against the Mountain Chief Mining company, the defendant. The Mountain Chief smelter and mine were both dormant at the time, as was the Saturn "furnace".)
May 28, 1874
"On Wednesday the Sheriff of this county sold at public auction to the highest bidder, the Mountain Chief Smelter and real property, located at Sandy Station on the U. S. R. R. The property was sold to satisfy a judgment in favor of T. E. Clohecy and others, and was purchased by Mr. Clohecy for $12,400." (Helena Montana Independent Record, May 28, 1874)
"T. E. Clohecy, formerly of Deer Lodge, a few days since purchased at sheriff's sale at Sandy Station, Utah, the Mountain Chief Smelter and real property at $12,400." (Anaconda Recorder, May 30, 1874)
June 6, 1874
"Mountain Chief. - This mine was incorporated in London under the name of the Mountain Chief Silver Mining Company (Limited) [a British company] with a capital stock of $250,000. The company erected two vertical blast furnaces at Sandy Station, and made successful operations until the financial panic of last Fall [1873]; since that time work has been suspended by the company. The furnaces were lately purchased by Thos. E. Clohecy, Esq., and the mine was sold at Sheriff's sale at the county court House of Tooele County, on the 25th ult., and purchased by E. M. Wilson, Esq., for the sum of $3,500." (Utah Mining Gazette, June 6, 1874)
1874
"The Mountain Chief, Saturn, Wahsatch, and a number of smaller works in the vicinity of Salt Lake, have been stopped almost throughout the year." (Raymond, "Statistics Of Mines And Mining In The States And Territories, West Of The Rocky Mountains," Seventh Annual Report, 1875. Cover letter dated February 19, 1875, for 1874, page 329)
April 27, 1876
A legal notice was posted: "In the matter of the Mountain Chief Mining Company of Utah (Limited). The creditors of the Company are required on or before the 10th day of June, 1876, to send their names and addresses to David Parry, of No. 17 Philpot Lane, in the city of London, public accountant, the official liquidator of the said Company, and prove their said debts or claims, in person or by their solicitors, at the chambers of the Vice Chancellor, Sir Richard Malins, at No. 3 Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, in the county of Middlesex, or in default thereof, they will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such debts are proved." (Salt Lake Tribune of April 27, 1876)
June, 3, 1877
The following description of Samuel Valentine (of the Mammoth Copperopolis) and his association with the Mountain Chief mine comes from the June 3, 1877 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The Mammoth Copperopolis is the great mother vein of the district, and was discovered in 1871. William J. Valentine, a shrewd and unprincipled Yankee, who was speculating in London, bought the claim in December of the same year for an English company, and in the following February [1872], Mr. Francis Fowler was sent out of London to take charge of the property.
Immense bodies of copper ore were struck even on the surface, and the mine, by judicious management, was made to pay its way as development progressed. For eight months things went on swimmingly, and the stockholders were paid several dividends. About the close of the year 1872, Mr. Fowler received an intimation to work from Valentine to work the mine in a manner which would enable him to manipulate the stock for his own benefit. This Mr. Fowler refused to do; whereupon he was removed as manager of the mine and his place filled by Mr. Sam Valentine, the brother of the Yankee in London.
Sam's other works in the Territory were carried on in perhaps a less gorgeous, but not less profitable manner for himself and brother Bill. He bought the Mountain Chief prospect, in Dry Canyon, for $4,500, stocked it for a quarter of a million dollars, and distributed the stock among Mammoth Copperopolis shareholders at the egregious price of $200,000. No ore had, at that time, been taken out of the mine, except what had been first bought from the Emporium mine and placed in the Mountain Chief. Wonderful reports of the richness of this property went to London, until the purchase money arrived in Salt Lake, after which the president of the company in England never received one word from Sam. In the meantime the Mountain Chief furnaces had been built at Sandy, distant from the mine over forty miles by wagon road, to smelt the ores which had not yet been found in the mine. In short, the whole history of Sam Valentine's management is one story of plunder. Those who worked for him robbed him and he in turn got even with his English backers. In 1874 the company's properties were left encumbered with debt, and to retrieve that, Mr. S. W. Cook, who had been a mail agent on one of the Cunard steamers for thirty years. A most accomplished mining engineer, indeed!
The Mammoth Copperopolis was not the first English mining company in Utah to be as robbed by dishonest managers. But Sam Valentine is now peddling oil cans in the streets of Boston, and the company is sick. (As was the Mountain Chief.)
(The hotel registers of the period show that "S. W. Valentine" and "W. Valentine" both of Connecticut, stayed regularly in the Walker House, the best in Salt Lake City.)
(Samuel "Sam" W. Valentine was also the manager of the Saturn Silver Mine in Bingham, and its smelter at Sandy, also an English-owned enterprise. The last mention of Sam Valentine in online newspapers was in February 1874 when he was among the organizers of the Keystone Mining company, organized to mine clay from Mill Creek Canyon, to sell the clay to the newly organized Utah Fire Brick company. Although the names was relatively popular for mining companies, there is no further reference to this particular "Keystone Mining" company.)
Mingo Starts (1877)
January 1, 1877
"The Mingo Smelter, or the Mountain Chief, which adjoins the Saturn, and has been lying idle for several years, has been leased by a Pittsburg company and put into repair. Two large furnaces have been built, from the ground up, new machinery put in and other extensive and substantial improvements made. It is now one of the most convenient smelters in the country, of a capacity of fifteen tons of bullion daily, and is under the management of men who have had life long experience in the business. It begins operation with the new year, under most flattering prospects for a continued and successful run." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1877)
("Mingo" is a common and prominent name for locations and landmarks around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region. The name itself pays homage to the Mingo Native American people who lived in the upper Ohio River Valley during the 1700s.)
(The choice of the Mingo name strongly suggests the presence of investors from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area. Although research has not yet found evidence, this explains the presence of the Pennsylvania Lead Company in the ownership of the Mingo smelter in Sandy. James Ernest Schwartz (1843–1900) served as the longtime president of the Pennsylvania Lead Company of Pittsburgh, and was concurrently involved with the later Pennsylvania Smelting Company of Utah, which was the new name applied to the smelter in 1895.)
(Founded around 1872, the Pennsylvania Lead Company operated a lead smelting and silver refining works at Mansfield, which later became Carnegie. Because Pennsylvania lacked abundant local silver-lead ore deposits, the company relied entirely on long-distance rail transport to haul raw ore and base bullion from western mines and smelters, with ore and bullion being shipped directly from Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and New Mexico.)
August 23, 1877
"The Mingo Smelter, at Sandy, appears to be doing a thrifty business, under the excellent management of Mr. Knapp. No water-jackets or fume-catchers are used, yet everything about the place looks clean, snug and orderly." (Deseret News, August 23, 1877)
December 14, 1877
"At Sandy none of the smelters were at work except the Mingo. This smelter has lately been enlarged to four large stacks, and is now one of the most complete establishments of the kind in the United States. It is worth a trip to Sandy to see these works, the immense floors of ore ready to be put into the furnace, and see the bullion turned out below, everything as neatly done and in as perfect order as it is possible to have it. No sales of bullion to report. The market, however, is about $42 for lead and $1.18 for silver." (Chicago Inter Ocean, December 14, 1877)
During 1890, the Mingo Furnace company at Sandy produced 10,075,171 pounds of unrefined lead, no refined lead, and 530,538 pounds of copper. As comparison, the Germania Lead Works at Cottonwood (later Murray) produced 5,6082,800 pounds of refined lead, and 2,198,776 pounds of unrefined lead, along with 257,270 pounds of copper; the Ontario Silver Mining company at Park City produced 3,204,578 pounds of unrefined lead, no refined lead and no copper, and the Daly Mining company also at Park City produced 1,417,274 pounds of unrefined lead, no refined lead and no copper. (Deseret News, November 3, 1891)
July 1, 1891
The Mingo Smelting Company was incorporated in Utah "yesterday" [July 1], with James E. Schwartz of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holding 4,970 of the 5,000 shares. Schwartz was also president and director. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 2, 1891)
December 20, 1892
"A Half-Million Transfer. - In the record of realty transfers appears an item of the Mingo Furnace Company deeding to the Mingo Smelting Company mining property to the amount of $500,000. This is only placing on record of the deed made in July, 1891, when the Mingo Furnace Company was reincorporated as the Mingo Smelting Company." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 20, 1892)
October 26, 1893
"July 15, 1892 - Pennsylvania Lead company, at Salt Lake City, with a capacity of 100 tons of ore a day, has been shut down for a year." (Industrial Free Press, Winfield, Kansas, October 26, 1893)
Name Change (1894)
January 1, 1895
"Pennsylvania Smelting Company. - This company, with a magnificent plant at Sandy, changed its name just one year from their old name of Mingo Smelting Company, so long carried by them, but there was no change in management or the company. No improvements were made during the year except the rebuilding and enlarging one blast furnace. They employed an average of 130 men during the year. The company produced during the year 1,108,507 ounces silver; 14,350 ounces gold, 12,851,850 pounds of lead and 162,500 pounds copper." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 1, 1895)
(There was no newspaper coverage of the name change, from Mingo Smelting Company to Pennsylvania Smelting Company. The only reference to the Pennsylvania Smelting company in 1894 was a July 1894 report of the coke from Castle Gate they had on hand.)
(The last reference to the Mingo Smelting Company was June 1893, in a comment by F. H. Officer, treasurer of the company, remarking about the low price of silver.)
August 28, 1896
"The closing down of the Mingo smelter is said to be from causes largely political. Orders were received on Friday last [August 28] to convert the ore on hand into bullion and blow out the furnaces. That this order had been received and that it would be executed was confirmed by Manager Frank H. Officer. The controlling interest in the Mingo, or, as it is christened, the Pennsylvania Smelting company, is held in the East. J. E. Schwartz of Pennsylvania is its president, and William Reid its secretary." (Salt Lake Tribune, August 31, 1896)
Parent Company In Receivership (1897)
February 9, 1897
"A Receiver Asked For. - Salt Lake, Utah, Feb. 8. - Application was made at the court to-day on behalf of George S. Griscom and S. E. Anderson for the appointment of a receiver for the Pennsylvania Smelting Company. The applicants recently filed suit against the company to recover $199,872.15, and now allege that the property of the company is worth $320,000 and the indebtedness aggregates $370,000. Thursday was set as the time for the hearing of the petition." (New York Times, February 9, 1897)
February 10, 1897
"Pennsylvania Smelting Company of Utah Also to Go to Receivers. - The same action which George S. Griscom, trustee, took recently here to put the Pennsylvania Lead company in the hands of receivers, was yesterday begun with the Pennsylvania Smelting company, of Utah. Notice was filed in the Third district court, of Salt Lake City, by Dickson Ellis, attorney for Mr. Griscom and H. E. Anderson, that a receiver will be asked to-morrow for that company. The property is worth $320,000 and the indebtedness is $270,000. The step is but the carrying out of the project to protect creditors until President Schwartz recovers." (Pittsburgh Post, February 10, 1897)
April 20, 1899
"The Pennsylvania Smelting company, with an agreement with the smelter combine, yesterday conveyed to the American Smelting and Refining company the Mingo smelter and all its appurtenances at Sandy, the former in the transaction taking down no less than $300,000. The deed carried with it an avalanche of revenue stamps amounting to an even $300 [meaning a sale price of $300,000]. In the instrument is contained an inventory of the various pieces of machinery, together with the site. Accompanying it was a contract made by Frank H. Officer, as receiver of the smelter with the Utah Power company, from which the concern is to derive its electrical energies." (Salt Lake Tribune, April 20, 1899)
July 2, 1899
After the Asarco consolidation, only the Germania and Mingo smelters were in operation, and the Hanauer smelter had been shut down, and would likely be abandoned entirely. (Salt Lake Herald, July 2, 1899)
December 31, 1899
"When the three custom smelters—the Germania, Mingo and Hanauer—were absorbed by the American Smelting & Refining company last June, the two latter were closed down and an attempt was made to handle the business with the Germania alone. At the end of a very few weeks the inadequacy of the works became very plain to Manager Jones, and the Mingo was again blown in. With these two plants in full operation the management has had to resort to all sorts of expedients to make room in the yards for the ores which began to accumulate. The Hanauer plant has not been started for the reason that it would require much repair work to make it available, and he is not inclined to bother with it. This would indicate that the combination contemplates the erection of a new works in the early spring." (Salt Lake Herald, December 31, 1899)
February 13, 1900
"The shareholders of the Pennsylvania Smelting company, former owner of the Mingo smelter, met yesterday, and, winding up the affairs of the company, will, upon a formal order of court, dissolve and go out of business. The company was founded on July 1, 1891, under the name of the Mingo Smelting company, with a capitalization of $500,000, divided into 5000 shares, and for the purpose of engaging in a general smelting business. In 1893 it was reorganized and rechristened the Pennsylvania Smelting company, with J. E. Schwartz of Pennsylvania as president; H. E. Anderson of the same State, secretary, and F. H. Officer of this city, treasurer. With this household, the company continued to operate its plant at Sandy until President Schwartz was overcome by financial reverses in the East and the Mingo's furnaces landed in the hands of a receiver. In that condition it continued until last spring, when the American Smelting and Refining company was organized, and, with the Germania and Hanauer, the Mingo was turned over to the amalgamated institution on a basis of $300,000 for the plant. Having thus disposed of its assets, the company has been engaged in winding up its affairs and it was to vacate the field altogether that yesterday's meeting. With a petition reciting these facts, the company will now go before the court asking that it be discharged." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 13, 1900)
March 18, 1900
"Pennsylvania Dissolution. - An order was made yesterday by Judge Hiles dissolving the corporation of the Pennsylvania Smelting company, whose property has been absorbed by the American Smelting & Refining company, known as the smelting trust." (Salt Lake Herald, March 18, 1900)
Mingo Disposal
(The Mingo smelter was dismantled in 1902.)
January 1937
The U. S. Rock Wool set up a plant on the old Mingo smelter site to process the slag into mineral-based insulation, also known as stone wool, slag wool, and rock wool.
"Rockwool is created by heating natural basalt rock and industrial slag to extreme temperatures (around 2,700 degrees F.) until the mixture melts into a liquid. The molten rock is then poured into a spinning machine, which whips it into fine fibers, similar to how cotton candy is made. These fibers are combined with a binder, compressed into dense mats or boards, and cut into various shapes." (Rockwool.com)
The U. S. Rock Wool company was a Utah corporation based in Orem, Utah, using smelter slag as their source material. This was until December 1963 when the company, owned and operated by the Ekins family, rebranded itself as Triple E Inc., with the triple 'E' of the name referring to the owners Grant Ekins and his two sons John "Jack" and Phyl Ekins. By 1963 the Ekins were selling aluminum windows and home appliances and televisions, and the rebranding was seen as a move to improve name recognition of the company. After 1963, the Ekins family continued with the U. S. Rock Wool insulation business. According to the Orem Times, May 12, 1960, Grant Ekins and a partner started the U. S. Rock Wool Manufacturing company in 1935. Ekins opened his U. S. Rock Wool Sales company in Provo in 1936, moving to Orem in 1948 when the company began its window consulting and distribution business.
September 4, 1965
The Mingo slag pile was still in place, with slag being used as fill material for the construction of the Interstate 15 overpass at 8000 South. "The site is the old Mingo Smelter which smelted much of the ore mined many years ago in Alta. For several years a rock wool insulation company operated on the site and it was then sold to Sandy City several months ago. The slag was in the process of being sold to a private individual although the city will retain title to the ground." (Salt Lake Tribune, September 4, 1965)
November 15, 1965
Sandy City bought the old Mingo smelter site from the U. S. Rock Wool company "a few months ago" for a reported $26,000, but within a short period made the money back, plus another $11,000 by selling the slag as fill material to both the State Highway Department and Salt Lake County, which hauled the entire slag pile away for use across the valley. (Deseret News, November 15, 1965)
More Information
Jacob Barlow's Mingo Smelter Page -- Photos of the historical marker.
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