The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • Page 107

Timothy Sullivan, wsidcnl of liureka for 65 years, examines ore from the Diamond district. A town where a few head of loiighorns netted $4,000,000, where one ton of ore, netted 15,000 ounces of silver. By Neli Murbarger With celebration of her an- ual Silver Jubilee recently, Juab County's rugged old mining center of Eureka again paid homage to Hie metal that has formed lier chief economic bulwark for three generations, and has left lien indelibly stamped as one of the great mining camps of all time. Original discoverer of values in the Eureka district was Shadrack Lunt. a Nephi sheepherder, who first piloted his band to the Tintic Hills in the early 1860's.

Ranging over-the hill slopes with his animals, Lunt noticed, that the ground was strewn with strangely-appearing of exceptional weight and metallic brightness. As Utah's pioneer colonists were greatly in need of lead Cor molding bullets, Lunt pocketed several of the mineral-impregnated samples, and upon his return to Nephi, submitted them for inspection. It Was Silver Immediately a team and wagon was sent for a load of the material, which was taken to John Adams' blacksmith shop at Nephi for melting and of the metal caused the operation to be attended by considerable difficulty, and with later discoveries it was realized that Lur.t's specimens were not lead, as originally supposed, but pure native silver: Not until 1869, however, was the attention of mining men drawn to the district when George cowpuncher of the Payson area returned from the Tintic Hills bearing several specimens of rich silver ore. Suspecting that here might be a second Comstock, five of Rust's Payson neighbors set out immediately for the scene of discovery, traveling by horse and wagon. Blizzard Overtook Them As the month was December, it was not surprising that a terrific blizzard soon overlook the group, and deepening snowdrifts at last forced the expedition to a halt Ruby Hollow.

Taking leave of their companions, William Harris and Joseph Hyde mounted two of the horses and pushed on into the snow-blanketed wilderness. In that swirling, white void, only blind chance could have led the pair to nn exposed rock which revcaicd the unmistnk- sblc sheen of silver. Here staked the first claim in the district, naming it the Sunbeam. Tn addition to their own names. Harris and Hyde affixed lo this original location notice the names of their snowbound companions.

T. Wors- Icy, S. B. Moore, and E. M.

Beck; as well as the names of two other friends who had been unable to accompany the expedition Moroni Billingsly and L. T. Whitney. Later that day. which was Dec.

13. 1869. a mining district was organized and named for the Indian chieftain. Tintic. who had formerly favored this region as a summer campsite.

Word or the discovery spread Sunday, July 15, T95I rapidly; and even before the mountainous snowdrifts had disappeared from the canyons in the spring of 1870, several hundred men had converged upon the new bonanza. During the first months following discovery, the district was without the services of an assayer and tests were run by the simple expedient of "boiling out" the metal. Seated around their campfires at night, the miners would toss hunks of raw ore into the blazing coals, thereupon estimating its value by the amount of molten silver, which from the fire- blackened rock in shining globules. If Doubting Thomases harbored any skepticism concerning the Tintic district, such doubts must have been largely dispelled by a professional assay report released in April, 1370. Prepared by J.

H. Meader, Salt Lake assayist, and Bal- beck Assay Office, Newark, A the report dealt with 17 oE the district's leading mines. Holding top spot in the group' was the Montana and Eureka's h'ornsilver ore, assayed at S1500 per ton. Hauled Laboriously Due to excessive cost of transportation and only ore of exceptional value could be mined at a profit. For the most part, raw material from Tintic's mines was hauled laboriously by long mule teams or oxen to Lake Point, a distance of 80 miles, thence being boat-freighted across Great Salt Lake to Corinne, another 80 miles.

From this point the ore was transhipped by rail and windjammer to the mills and smelters of two continents. Some was routed via the newly-completed Pacific railroad to smelters in Nevada and California. Other shippers favored Pueblo, Colorado, and even Swansea, Wales, came in for a large volume of patronage. Freighters charged as much as S25 a ton to deliver the-nie- terial to the railhead, while railroad rates were virtually- prohibitive, running more than S25Q per ton between Utah and the Atlantic seaboard. Smelting to $45 er ton.

First discovery of ore in Eii- rcka. proper, resulted in organization of Eureka Minin-? Company, capitalized at 000. and destined to be one of inc nil-time great mines of the Tintic district. Walson Xesbitt, veteran Indian fighter and plainsman, who came to Eureka to manage affairs of the new company, proceeded to erect the town's first substantial dwelling. A two-story stone building, its lower floor housed offices of the company, with living quarters above.

Prodnced 550,000,000 Like Midas of mythology, who enjoyed a certain affinity for gold, everything that Neshitt touched seemed to turn to silver. Ore valued at S1.50 per pound was collected from the grassroots: in July. more than 1000 bars of crude bullion, weighing 61 tons, was produced in a run at the company's mill: and it was not unusual for the mine to produce a 0-ton lot of ore assaying S5000 to 310,000 per ton. In 1873, a shipment of ore assaying 15,000 ounces of silver to the ton, was sent by Eureka Mining Company to the International Exposition in Vienna. Reincorporated in 1875 as the Eureka Hill Mining Company, the mine, in half a century of operation, produced ore to a gross value of more than 000.000, and during prosperous times its payroll exceeded 000 per year.

The property is still being worked by leasers. Railroad Arrived Among old timers of, the Tintic district, doubtless none is belter conversant with the region's early history than is Timothy L. Sullivan, a native- born Eurekan and a resident of the town for 65 years. While his recollections of boyhood days in the old mining "camp are many and varied, the event which seems to have made the deepest impression on his youthful mind was the arrival in town of the Rio Grande Western branch line constructed westerly to Eureka in 1391 from Springeville on the main line. Then, as now, the Sullivan residence sat within a biscuit-toss of the railroad tracks.

When word flashed through The household that the first train was ncaring, 5-year-old Tim rushed to thr front window, pulled himself up until he could see over the sill, and waited, breathlessly expectant. Traded Few Cattle "Just as the train drew directly opposite our house," says Mr. Sullivan, "the engineer let go with an earsplitting blast on the whistle and jumped straight up in the air for three Other reminiscences filtered down through three generations of Tincic settlers, incrudc countless episodes in the harried life of Mr. Chadwick, one of Eureka's early schoolmasters, who was so completely overawed by the brawny young hellions in his charge that he never dared enter the schoolroom without a six-shooter on his hip. Tales without number are attached to the names of William and Samuel Mclntyre, who originally came to the Tintic district with a herd of longhorn cattle which they had driven north from Texas.

Becoming interested in mining, they traded a few head of beef for an interest in the Mammoth mine, which subsequently netted them nearly 54,000,000. Trespassers on the Mclntyre domain were assertcdly shot first and questioned afterward. Confiscated His Property Another renown character Anna Marks, a Russian-Jewess. Locating at Eureka in the 1880's she immediately had her Chinese landlord arrested for assault, and when he fled town, confiscated his property. As other real estate accrued to her, she became constantly more belligerant and troublesome and frequently resorted to gun- piny ns a means of settling arguments.

At her death in 1JJ12. Mrs. Marks left an estate of 570,000, but very few mourners. John Q. Packard, founder of the Salt Lake City Library and a man worth at the time of his death, is -recalled by Eureka oidsters as a man who often walked the 21 miles from Santaquin to Eurka as a means of saving carfare.

Mattco Messa, who came to Utah with Johnston's army, remained to make a fortune bitt subsequently gave most of it away. During his later years he lived a hand- to-mouth existence in a lumbfe- down cabin at Eureka where hundreds of Bull Durham sacks hung from the rafters To inquirers. Messa explained that the sacks kept evil spirits from entering the Was Haunted Mine sailing and highgrading likewise fill an important niche in cariy chonicles of the town. On one occasion, it is related, an entire carload of exceedingly rich ore disappeared from the railroad station! Tracers were sent out and weeks later, the car was located in Mexico but the ore was gone. The mystery remains unsolved.

The Mammoth mine, alone, estimated its loss to highgraders at $150,000. While Eureka has never been a "ghost-town," it is not without its ghost. For three years, 1910-1921, the place was "haunted" by a strange character generally referred to as "The Woman in Black." Materializing out of the shadows in the path of some late wayfarer, she would stand accusingly, never speaking, but staring in a fashion highly disconcerting to her victims. Knocked Her for Loop After this had been going on for three years, a man thus accosted one night lashed out with a hard fist and knocked her for a loop. Springing up, the "ghost'' took to its and for a spiritual being, displayed an amazing amount of speed.

With that episode, "The Woman in Black" disappeared from the Tintic hills: but who she or why she chose this strange form of endeavor, is still a favoriic topic for conversation. Tunneled and timbered, saturated, by tradition and half- buried in mine dumps, today finds EO-ycar-olri Eureka still adding to her incredible record of record now Hearing the S500.000.000 mark. Never Average The days when common muckers wore silk shirts and smoked 5Qc cigars may be gone forever, but Tim Sullivan wants it known that Eureka is still pitching a strong game. "There's a job for every man in town who wants a job; and in this day and age," he declared, "that's more than the average mining camp can produce'" But Eureka, of course, was never an "average" camp! Forget about the Iranian tinder-box, about the stale of the world forget about inflation, President. Truman and American foreign policy.

have some real important news for you today. In. the morning mail comes the amazing statistical fad that 19 cut of every 100 women in Utah paint their tocnails! Imagine that, practically one woman in every five in the Beehive State has lacquered tootsies. Yes, sir, a columnist's mail is sure crammed with important stuff. The political editors get history-making handouts from political leaders the business editors get long, important annual statements from billion-dollar corporations.

The military editors get fresh Dan Valentine from the front information on troop movements. And what do 1 get? The earth-shaking news that 19 out of 100 women in Utah paint their toenails! Difference of Opinion Cari Averill, former manager of the Price ball club, says the legend of Joe "Bullet" Bush hopping off a freight train in Price and pitching the local team to" victory is wrong. "The man who hopped off a freight train and saved the day for the Price team was none other than Carl who later went up to the New York Yankees and delivery." Car! claims. Carl, who is cousin of Ear! Averill, the- old Cleveland outfield star, says he remembers the day Mays was let out of the Price hbosegdw, to pitch for the local team. "That was back in 1912 or 1913," he recalls.

Jim Downing, Salt Lake boxing promoter, remembers he used to spar with Mays back in Price in the old days. Carl Mays is now managing a boys' club in Salem. Ore. Valuable Properly A newly-married. Salt Lake couple have a unique arrangement.

The husband's new wife is a close friend of the husband's first wife, and the three get together often. The other evening, the first wife spent the evening at the home of her first husband and his second wife. They had a good time and all three But after the first wife left, wife -turned lo her like any' other woman would and asked: "Do you love me more than you loved her?" The -husband put his arms aroimd his wife. "Of course, I do, honey. Why, you've got a lot more than she has." The woman, all ears, in a dreamy v6ke.

"Wihat have I got that she hasn't?" The husband shot back, "You've got, a-lot: more than" she has you've got me!" Incidental Intelligence A Boise man is suing a Boise restaurant because a waitress accused him of trying a shaker. Statistics reveal that when a man goes with his wife to shop in a grocery store, the bill is higher than it would be if the woman went shopping alone: So boys the way to cut the food bill is to stay home iir the hammock these hot summer A recent report shows that 95 out of every 100 hunters in Wyoming rwtor went out after an antelope bagged one. Utah RambbuUlets have become so famous that they'll soon be roaming the pastures in far-away c. Wynn S. Hansen of Box Elder county just air mailed 10 of his prize Rambouillet sheep to South America on a special plane.

Did you know that of the land in Wyoming is taken up by national forests? The state has six entire national forests within its boundaries and portions of. six other national forests total of 9,000,000 acres. Starting Married Life Right Recently in Aberdeen. two of the prettiest twin sisters in the Bonnie and Connie were married in a double wedding ceremony. Bonnie married Ivan Thornton, American Falls, and Connie was wed to Duane Poulson of Aberdeen.

From -the. newspaper -account- of the appears that the young couples will start their wedded life with a couple of beefsteaks on the hoof. The newspaper account of the wedding reported that "Miss Bonnie Larsen and Miss Connie Larsen. twin brides of Aberdeen, exchanged wedding COWS with Ivan Thornton and Duane Poulson" Moo! Vnleuiines of the Week This week we give Valentines to: Claude Horlon, city councilman of Milford. who practically single-handed organized and helped build a new swimming pool for the kids of Milford.

Claude organized volunteer groups to build the pool. To Eddie Q. Dutson, who has been leader of the Oak City Ward Choir for 56 years. He was guest of honor at a special homecoming celebration last week. To the members and their wives of the Springfield Lions Club, who recently built a new picnic fireplace in Kelly's Grove.

Hobbls Creek Canyon, and presented it to the city of Springfield. To H. Lament Boothe. Ogden city electrician, who recently devised a new system to streamline Ogdon's police radio system. To Mrs.

Beatrice McHarg. Salt Lake, chairman of the Nursing Council for Civil Defense, who headed a special nursing course for atomic warfare treatments. To Rodney Hasley Sr. and his two sons. J.

Richard and F. Rodney Jr. who were all presented with Eagle Boy Scout awards at a special ceremony recently. All are members of Troop 483 of the South Salt Lake District. Sain, the Sari Cynic, Says: If a woman hasn't anything to talk about, she.

calls up a friend on the telephone. If a man hasn't anything to say, he usually makes a speech at his club! (Rcmtmberv you can read Dan Valentine's column Monday through Saturday in the Salt Lake Telegram.) M3 A.