The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1883-09-06
Three Days on Horseback Through the
Ophir Mining District.
TooELE, UTAH, Aug. 20, Is


Three Days on Horseback Through The
Ophir Mining District.
TooELE, UTAH, Aug. 20, 1888.
To the Editors of the Standard:
Several of the residents of our little
villa are either miners, owners o1
mines, or both; the remaining portion
Of us are farmers. One of our nearest
neighbors, Mr.. E. F. Martin, is one o1
the second class mentioned, being at
once miner and a shareholder in sew.
eral other mines than the one he is
now operating; he and his brother-in-
law, Mr.. E. Bird, now working a new
lead and silver prospect called The
Standard.
Now the Ophir Mining District
is included in my circuit, and [ have
an appointment in the town Of Ophir.
and having never as yet visited it, ]
accepted the company of neighbor
Martin last Thursday morning, and
saddling our cayuses-Indian ponies
we struck out in a southerly direc-
tion for the Stockton Pass, which
leads us from Tooele Valley to Rush
Valley. Eight miles on our way we
pass the mining camp of Stockton,
containing about 200 people. A mile
or so further on, we pass Slagtown,
the principal point Of interest is the
old Chicago Smelter or in Ohio
terms, a lead and silver furnace; but
since the decay Of the great excite
ment in the mines Of Stockton, Dry
and Ophir Canons, the Smelter has
stopped, the villagers have followed
the tide Of excitement to some other
places, and now but a family or two
live in the whole town; and the fur
mace itself is in the care Of one Of our
townsmen, Mr.. VIM. Mills. With
him we took dinner, watered our po-
MES, and again struck out in the di-
rection of the Standard, near the
mouth Of the Dry Canon. speak of
watering our animals, because, in this
country, the springs are as we'll
known, and as thoroughly disputed,
as they are in Palestine; and it is no
uncommon thing to hear some one in
directing traveller, say: "You must
water at such a place, for there is no
more water in the next Is miles. !"
And so here, the nearest water to Stag
Town is 9 or 10 miles away, i. e., in
the direction in which we are going.
We soon leave the Ophir stage road,
turn to the left, and commence to as
cend the foothills toward the gulch
in which the Standard is, and by pa
tient climbing-leading our bronchos
now, as it is too steep to ride-we
reach the mouth of the mine just in
time to shelter ourselves from one Of
those fierce thunder-storms so COM
mon among the mountains. While
it is pouring down in torrents, we
light oul candles and examine the
The ore, which is very rich
in lead and silver, does not lie in hori-
zontal strata or veins, as does the iron
ore and stone coal in your region, but
is found in any and all positions, the
strata sloping from 0" to 9Oo. This
is thought by the old and experienced
miners to be the continuation of the
same ledge or reef in which the Queen
Of the Hills iszsituated and 1T is one of
the best paying both in quantity and
quality Of the ore that there is or ever
has been in the Ophir District. If
that be true, it is a grand chance for
some fellow with a few hundreds to
spare, to make as many thousands in
a few weeks, or possibly few months.
In the same ledge as the Queen of the
Hills is the world-famed Mono, Kear-
sarge, and Hidden Treasure; but the
rain is over now, and Mr. Martin, 60
ing to the mouth of the tunnel, called
to me to come quickly and look up to
the top Of the mountain towering
above us in the clouds, where the rain
is still pouring, but the sun shining
upon it makes the prettiest rainbow
| think I ever saw: for the sun is so
low that the sharp peak is all inside
the bow, with its point almost touch
ing the middle of the radiant arch.
We must hurry on. It is quite a
long way up to the graded trail that
leads from Stockton along the noun
tain side to the head Of Dry Canon,
where those mines are Of which |
spoke above. After hard climbing
over the sharp rocks, mostly of lime
formation, now made slippery by the
rain, we reach the grade, and now
mount and start for the top on the
auger-like road, keeping always uni
form grade, now in to the head Of a
gulch, now out on point that makes
one shiver to look over, where if ones
horse should slip he would be sent
perpendicularly down thousand feet
or more; yet looking above US even
from this vast height, we see steam
engine at work, putting away and
hauling up great loads of treasure
from the deep pits.
We have just turned point and
10! just under our feet is a city-Ja-
cob City-a veritable mining camp,
one of those ephemeral towns that are
to be found so plentifully in the
Great West. We stop at the Mono,
and tired and hungry as we are, we
relish an excellent dish of oysters,
prepared by our accommodating vete-
ran friend, Capt. H. E. Barstow. Our
bronchos are picketed, and as we gath
er around the fire, (for though the day
is Aug. II, yet we are more than two
miles above the sea level we get some
"reminiscences of the great mine,
which is now owned by the Charter
Oak Insurance Company, of Hart
ford, Conn. Its silver is the richest
in quality, so pure that the half dol
lar could be stamped on the raw ma
terial; and a great many tons of this
was taken out, the mine often pro-
ducing as much as S15O,00O month
The next morning, after breakfast
ing, we went to see the Queen OF the
Hills, of which I had heard so much
talk, and found it a great deal higher
up the mountain than the Mono, al.
most on the summit of that par
known as SnoWstorm Hill: MIR. Lie