The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-07-06
DEPREDATIONS
OF ORE THIEVES
How They Operated Years Ago
in Tintic District.
CACHED SAMPLES ARE FOUND
ON ONE OCCASION A WHOLE CAR
LOAD WAS TAKEN.

That story in The Herald a few
weeks ago about the Italian who stole
the rich ore from a lease he was work
ing in the Mammoth mine. reminded
me OF early times IN Tintic." remarked
a prosperous-loOking gentleman who
was enjoying the breeze in front of a
prominent hotel last night.
It's about thirty years ago. I guess.
since the folks who owned the. Eureka
Hill discovered that the ugly ridge
that runs like a backbone up the side
Of the mountain range back of Eureka
was filled with the richest kind of horn
silver Quartz mining was just be-
ginning 10 replace the wOrn-out placers
and in Utah the business hadn't
amounted to mqlch. Outside Of the Alta
mines but little progress had been made
and the scattered mining fraternity
went wild over the strike. which was
really n wonderfully rich one.
Had Trouble With Ore Thieves.
''The owners had all sorts of trouble
in holding the ground and protecting
the ore from thieves. A lot of desper-
ADDE'S came over from Phoebe. New.
which at that tfne probably sheltered
more hard men OF the frontier than any
dozen other camDs had ever been in
tested with at one time These gentry
brought their 'Winchesters with them
and attempted to jump the rich claims.
where a wagon load of ore meant a
small fortune. and a few days possess
sion would fix them with a handsome
stake
The superintendent was ready for
them, however. and had his men well
armed. entrenched in a stone fort. The
chief trouble, however, was with the
'chloriders,' as the ore poakhers were
politely termed. The ridge was covered
with a heavy growth of ceda RS and men
made a practice of stealing up in the
darknd5s and rolling ridh boulders
down into the canyon. where they
were picked up by cOnfederates. and
finally hauled to the shelters, seventy
five miles away Most of this ore was
worth 81 pound and the 'chloriders'
hOurished
Denuded the Mountain Side.
"One day a wagon came out loaded
with axes: the entire mine force was
put at work the next day telling trees,
and by nightfall not a brush was left
standing big enough to hide a man.
With the timber out of the way it was
easy to patrol the ground.
Il remember ONE occasion when the
superintendent of 7he Eureka Hill took
the stage and followed a wagon load Of
ore to Salt Lake, taxed tive men of the
outfit with the theft and made them
turn over the samplers check. amount
ing to more than $4,000. In those days
ore was bought from any one without
question as to where it cnme from
Old Mammoth Mine Robbed.
'The old Mammoth mine. too. was
robbed persistently for years and even
now understand that occasionally d
rotten burlap sack is found hid in the
cedars up the side of the mountain. its
ribbons futtering over. a few pounds of
rich gold rock that had been cached and.
for some reason, never taken away.
Down below the town of Mammoth,
near the wagon road. is a pit about
twenty feet square that was dug but a
few years ago by orders of the manage
ment in search of SC me ore that was
known to have been stolen from the
mine I know a prominent man out
there who spent quite a spell of time in
the state pen for receiving stolen ore.
He didn't give the money back, like
the Dago did, though.
Superintendent Niesbit of the Nam
moth mine told me once that one of his
men who was out hunting jack rabbits
accidentally stumbled onto a cache out
in the cedars, three miles from the
mine. He Immediately recognized the
rich Mammoth spar and reported his
find. The superintendent kept his own
counsel and put the idiscoverer to watch
the place at night. The weather was
bitterly cold and on the ninth night
the thermometer dropped to the bottom
before dark.
Stole Carload of Ore.
Colonel Nesbit hadn't the heart to
keep the fellow out there in the ce-
dars-in fact he was afraid his watch
man would freeze to deatn-sO they de-
cided to take chances that the thieves
would feel the same way about the
weather, or else had tumbled to the spy
business and would be kept away
through fear. But the chaps who have
nerve enough to steal ore are generally
sharp enough to get away with it. Evil
IDENTIFY they had been watching the
watcher, for in the morning the ore
was gone. Il was small lot but
worth $4,000 or Whereabouts. It is said
that even more recently the same com
pany was robbed of car of ore of the
same value. after it was loaded for
shipment. but exactly how it was done
never heard. I am satisfied. though,