Grass Creek Mine, Summit County
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Overview
The following excerpts come from the book, "Union Pacific Coal Company", published in 1940.
History Of The Union Pacific Coal Mines, 1868 to 1940 (The Colonial Press, 1940)
Chapter VIII.
Grass Creek, The Camp That Never Developed a History
Tells how David G. Thomas, at the age of twenty-three opened up the Company's first coal mine in Utah in 1880, which was located in the heart of a Mormon settlement, a coal field that lingered on in a small way, after the railroad withdrew at the end of seven years of struggling with water and a soft fire clay floor. How Mark A. Hanna, who later organized the great Ohio coal producing company, M. A. Hanna & Co., with large interests in lake navigation and banks, and who nominated and elected William McKinley as President, closed out Grass Creek as a losing venture after it had produced but 271,960 tons. It was at Grass Creek that Patrick J. Quealy, of whom more is said elsewhere, came to the Company.
In the summer of 1880 the Coal Department of the Union Pacific Railroad sent David G. Thomas, who was then twenty-three years old, with a crew of twenty men to a section of its undeveloped land located in Utah. They stopped at a spot three miles from Echo, in Summit County, where outcroppings of coal had been seen. William Bean, now retired and a member of the Old Timers' Association, tells how the mine camp was named: "Because the grass grew so plentifully in the canyon bottom," Bean reports, "we called our camp 'Grass Creek!" And rightly named the camp was, indeed! The grass was lush and tall, so that a man walking through the thick, green stand of it was buried well up to his thighs. The mine there developed produced quite favorably in 1881, but the future seemed most uncertain because of a bad mine floor. An exceptional amount of water made the fire-clay floor heave, and it was necessary to send men into the mine every night to lower the bottom of the haulageways.
James Tisdel, then General Superintendent of the Coal Department, working under his brother-in-law, D. O. Clark, General Manager, came to Grass Creek to superintend the beginning of the mine and to direct the expansion of the tiny settlement. The company built about forty houses for its workmen and their families, the majority of whom were Scotch, English and Welsh. There were also a number of Chinese working at Grass Creek when the mine opened, but within five years the Chinese Riot at Rock Springs swept all the Chinese from the vicinity in the flood of race resentment and bitterness that followed the massacre. By the end of September, 1885, there was not a single Chinese among the miners in Grass Creek. The Grass Creek settlement never awoke to consciousness of itself as a community, and it failed completely to evoke any of the loyal spirit in its residents that old Carbon, even in its earliest days, had been able to quicken in its citizens. There was a single schoolhouse and a single organized church group, the Mormon Church. The Mormons held their meetings in the schoolhouse.
Gomer Thomas (not a relative of David G. Thomas) became the second Superintendent of the mines. His brother, Tom, succeeded him in the position and remained Superintendent until the mine closed in 1887, after only seven years of activity. Water within the mine, together with the soft fireclay floor, had been steadily raising the cost of production until the expense of maintaining the Grass Creek camp became prohibitive, more so in view of the fact that better mining conditions could be found elsewhere along the route of the railroad.
In a report made to Charles F. Adams, President of the Railroad Company, at the direction of M. A. Hanna, Government Director of the railroad, in 1888, it is noted that the cost of Grass Creek coal on the railroad cars ranged from $1.847 to $2.93 per ton during the years of its operation, and during the last five years of its life the mine lost $.405 per ton.
Certain other facts disclosed in the report were:
"The output for the last five years is 167,596 tons, of which 130,106 tons were sold to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and the remaining 37,490 tons used for various commercial purposes.
"Charged to construction account of the five years above noted, $2,657.08. The accounts December 31, 1887, show a debit charge against the mine of $63,924.82. The map of the workings shows they are quite extensive, with seven lift entries, extending about 2,000 feet on one side and 1,400 feet on the other."
All reports except one speak of but one mine at Grass Creek, but two mines are mentioned briefly in the report for the year 1891, made by G. W. Megeath, Superintendent, to S. H. H. Clark, First Vice President and General Manager. His report reads:
"The two mines which were opened in Sections 23 and 24 at Grass Creek, Utah, were abandoned and all buildings and machinery removed in 1887. The coal was of a good quality, and the mines were abandoned solely on account of water and excessive cost of mining. There is a small pocket of coal located near No.2 Mine, which is being operated under lease by Gomer Thomas, and for which the company is receiving royalty at the rate of twenty-five cents per ton. The receipts during the year 1891 amount to $736."
Grass Creek yet produces a small tonnage of coal from two small openings. Located as it is in a rich agricultural region, it never could gain the appelation, a "ghost town."
Grass Creek Coal Mines
February 15, 1869
Territorial Surveyor certifies possession of 20 lots (Lots 2-11, 16-25) in Grass Creek Coal Plat. Claimants include: Brigham Young Jr. (Lot 22); Brigham Young III (Lot 19); James Jack (Lot 5); George W. Thatcher (Lot 6); Mahoni Young (Lot 8); Earnst Young (Lot 9); Heber Young (Lot 10); Briant Stringham (Lot 20); John W. Young (Lot 21); John Sharp (Lot 23); and Joseph A. Young (Lot 25). (Summit County Old Records, Book A, p.222-223; Summit County Abstracts, Book A, p.286-287)
April 12, 1869
Territorial Surveyor certifies possession of 200 acres in Grass Creek Coal Plat to Samuel Fletcher, David H. Kinsey, Thomas Dixon, John Kerr, and Thomas Price. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.287; Summit County Old Records, Book A, p.232)
April 17, 1869
William Tolbert sells 1/2 interest in "Tolbert Coal Mine", in Grass Creek, to Daniel Aaron. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.287; Summit County Old Records, Book B, p.110)
May 3, 1869
William Tolbert and Daniel Aaron sell 1/3 interest in "Tolbert Coal Mine" to P. E. Conner. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.287; Summit County Old Records, Book B, p.111)
May 31, 1869
William Tolbert and Daniel Aaron sell 2/3 interest in "Tolbert Coal Mine" to F. D. Tease and Clayton L. Haines. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.287; Summit County Old Records, Book B, p.111)
1871
The "Wells and Taylor Coal Mine" had been located in Grass Creek since 1856. Property surveyed by the county surveyor in 1871, commencing from the SE corner of Section 13, T3N, R5E, 80 rods north, 320 rods east, 80 rods south, 320 rods west to beginning, formerly known as "Church Coal Mine". Discovery rights by S. W. Taylor, occupied and worked by Daniel H. Wells. (Summit County Old Records, Book D, p.187; Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.289)
October 9, 1872
John Robinson, William Hudson, and Samuel Fletcher, all of Coalville, mortgage to James T. Little, for $1,500.00, the "Fletcher Coal Mine" in Grass Creek. Also included was the coal mine of Robinson and Company, situated in Spring Hollow, with three openings, 2 miles north of Coalville, on land containing 160 acres. Cancelled on 15 July 1878, by order of S. P. Hoyt. (Summit County Old Records, Book C, p.101)
December 25, 1872
Territorial Surveyor certifies possession of Lots 5 and 6, Block 1, Grass Creek Plat, with 40 acres each, to Mahouri Cahoon. (Summit County Old Records, Book C, p.80; Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.288)
January 20, 1873
Mahouri Cahoon sells to Joseph A. Young Lots 5 and 6, Block 1, Grass Creek Plat, for $400.00. (Summit County Old Records, Book C, p.80; Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.288)
September 18, 1874
Stephen W. Taylor sells property known as "Wells and Taylor, and Church Coal Mines" to Angus W. Cannon. Property is 80 by 320 rods, beginning from SE corner of Section 13, T3N, R5E. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.289; Summit County Old Records, Book D, p.302)
April 27, 1875
William W. Cluff sells to Brigham Young the 160 acres in the NW-1/4 of Section 18, T3N, R5E. Purchase price was $3,000.00. (Summit County Old Records, Book E, p.105)
October 27, 1876
Brigham Young sells to Union Pacific Railroad the above described property. (Summit County Old Records, Book F, p.138)
September 28, 1878
United States patented to William W. Cluff the above described property. (Summit County Miscellaneous Records, Book I, p.432)
May 21, 1891
Union Pacific Railroad sells to Union Pacific Coal Company the above described property. (Summit County Miscellaneous Records, Book H, p.528)
March 29, 1880
Daniel H. Wells sells to Angus M. Cannon the coal lands known as "the Old Church Coal mine", located in Sections 18 and 19, T3N, R6E. Purchase price was $8,100.00. (Summit County Abstracts, Book 1, p.205, Summit County Old Records, Book K, p.292)
May 21, 1891
UPRR sells to Union Pacific Coal Company 200 acres on following land in Sections 24 and 26, T3N, R5E. (Summit County Miscellaneous Records, Book H, p.528)
May 17, 1894
Angus M. Cannon sells to William W. Cluff the following coal lands located in Sections 18 and 19, T3N, R6E. Purchase price was $15,000.00. (Summit County Warranty Deed Record, Book D, p.60)
August 8, 1894
William W. Cluff sells to George Q. Cannon the coal lands located in Sections 18 and 19, R3N, R6E. Purchase price was $15,000.00. (Summit County Warranty Deed Record, Book D, p.60)
October 2, 1896
George Q. Cannon sells to the Grass Creek Coal Company the coal lands located in Sections 18 and 19, T3N, R6E, and in Sections 24 and 26, T3N, R5E, the land in Section 24 being known as the Cullen Spriggs Coal Mine, with improvements. (Summit County Quit Claim Deed Record, Book B, p.423)
May 1, 1906
Grass Creek Terminal Railway still existed in 1906. The railroad agreed to make good damages caused to property of Thomas A. Welch, in the amount of $150.00. The construction of the railroad changed the channel of Grass Creek, and flow from the new channel caused some damage by washout. (Summit County Miscellaneous Record, Book M, p.561)
March 6, 1908
Grass Creek Coal Company sells to Union Fuel Company the coal lands located in Sections 18 and 19, T3N, R6E, and in Sections 24 and 26, T3N, R5E. Included in sale was the Grass Creek Terminal Railway. (Summit County Warranty Deeds, Book I, p.298)
June 16, 1922
Heber J. Grant, as Trustee in Trust for LDS Church, sells by quit claim deed to Zion Securities, in the amount of $1.00, the coal lands in Grass Creek canyon, described as follows: S-1/2 Section 18; N-1/2 of NE-1/4 Section 19; SW-1/4 of NE-1/4, NE-1/4 of NW-1/4 Section 24; W-1/2 Section 26; S-1/2 of SW-1/4 Section 8; including Grass Creek Terminal Railway, which begins at center of east line of Section 8, T3N, R6E. (Summit County Quit Claim Deeds, Book E, p.266)
August 22, 1923
Zion Securities warranty deeds to Union Pacific Railroad the right of way and track of the Grass Creek Branch, plus 8.78 acres in SW-1/4 Section 18 and NW-1/4, Section 19, including coal tipple. Purchase price was $10.00. Heber J. Grant is president of Zion Securities. (Summit County Warranty Deeds, Book N, p.81)
August 28, 1933
Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints quit claim deeded to Zion Securities the property in Sections 18, 19, 24, 26, 8. (Summit County Quit Claim Deeds, Book F, p.383)
January 26, 1934
Zion Securities agrees to sell to Grass Creek Coal Company the property in Sections 18, 19, 24, 26, 8 for $10,000.00. Grass Creek Coal Company owes Zion Securities $7,428.15 in payment for lease that has been in effect for some time. Upon payment of all back taxes,
Zion Securities agrees to give Grass Creek Coal Company a receipt for the back lease payments, in effect writing off the money owed from the lease in return for Grass Creek Coal Company's paying the back taxes owed by Zion Securities. The purchase price of $10,000.00 will be paid by Grass Creek Coal Company in monthly payments of not less than $100.00. The payments will be made up of royalties from the coal that Grass Creek has mined from the coal mine, at the rate of 5 cents for each ton of slack or fine coal removed, and 10 cents for each ton of lump or nut coal removed. The royalties are figured on production average of 18 months. J. H. Roberts was Vice President of the Grass Creek Coal Company. In 1972, the land was still in the hands of the heirs to the J. H. Roberts estate, Andrew J. and Helen R. Motzel, Ogden, Utah. (Summit County Miscellaneous Records, Book U, p.176)
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