The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-12-27


IS a stretch Of territory that is gener-
ally known as the Uintah basin. which
includes the greater portion OF north
\ eastern Utah.
This particular section of the state,
while not vet famous for its production
| OF the precious metals. is fast becoming
famous throughout the civilized world
through its production of gilsonite,
elaterite, ozOkerite, asphaltum and 9TH
er kindred minerals.
The hydrO-carbOn deposits of the
| Uintah basin are without doubt the
most extensive and valuable in the
world, and there is every reason to be-
| heve that the bulk of the worlds sup
/ ply OF such materials viii in the future
come from the innumerable veins that
| traverse this section of the state. From
an occasional shipment now and then,
the demand for giIsOnite and elaterite
has expanded until the output at pres
ent is governed entirely by the avail
able means OF transportation
Shipments For Year.
ing the year just closed shipped close
to 5000 tons and was never at any
time within sight Of the demand: but.
on the other hand, was obliged to can
Gel orders because Of its inability to
get the ore 10 the railroad, a distance
Of 125 miles. During the year the COM
pany has had several big outfits on the
read Of il own, and has loaded every
available team that could be mustered
into service. All freight teams loaded
out for any point in northeastern Utah
are loaded on the return trip with ore
either from the ellison AsphalJum COM
pany's mine at Duchesne or the Pa
riette mine at Castle Peak. This latter
mine is owned and operated at present
by eastern people. having been sold out
( by the former owners, the Culmers OF
Salt Lake. Under the recent manage
ment Of James O'Neill. foreman at the
mine, the property has greatly in
creased in value. as the vein now shows
up with three feet Of irst-class ore in
stead Of eighteen inches as formerly.
This company has not been shipping
as steadily g the ellison Asphaltum
company recently, because of a war
between the two over prices. which
have been cut Ear below the regular
price, anu the war still goes on.
The owners Of the Pariette mine,
who are in the main Michigan men.
utilize considerable OF the output at
their own factory. where 1t is used in
various ways, and the shipments have
been confined to this demand for the
past six months. The ellison Asphalt
UNI company. on the other hand, has
been straining every resource to in
crease its output to meet the increas-
ins demand.
The American Asphalt association IS
a new rival in the Uintah field OF the
other two companies, and bids fair 20
be a very lively one, too. This COM
pany has its head offices in ST. Louis
and is under the management Of S. p.
Barron. who conducts the business
from that end. The company's mine
is located on the famous Cowboy lode.
On White river, eand shipments are
made to Rifle. Colo. distance OF 12J
miles, by wagon. There are now. ac-
| cording TO the statement Of T. W.
/ O'DOnnel, the Vernal agent OF the
company, over 1e0 four and siX-horse
outfits transporting ore to the railroad
from the mine. and more are being
added to the number as fast as they
can be secured. The Cowboy vein
from which the ore is mined is
eighteen feet in width, and the supply
IS inexhaustible. The company only
began shipping late in the summer and
experienced some difficulty in procuring
teams, but despite this the shipments
have aggregated well up towards $500
tons. The ellison Asphaltum company s
shipments from IT'S Duchesae mine for
the year is close around 5000 tons. The
Pariette mine shipped something like
a
When IT is considered that this ore
must be hauled in wagons a distance Of
not less than 100 miles over mountain
roads a fair idea Of the amount Of
labor involved can be imagined
The Demand Increasing.
The demand for commercial giIsonite
is rapidly expanding. 1t is being put
to new uses every year. As a coating
/ for barbed wire bicycle frames and
metal work of all forms it is fast be-
coming Indispensable. and il is no idle
dream that in the future, throughout
the civilized world. one can place his
hand upon the product OF Ufntah coun-
tvs famous hydrO-carbOn deposits
wherever he might chance to be for
the demand IS not limited to the United
States by any means, but even now
comes from all parts of Europe The
peculiar fact that practically all OF the
commercial gllsOnite exists within the
lines Of the CiHtah and UncOmpahgre
reservations has been q serious check
upon the Development of this branch
Of the mining industry, as in every in
stance congress had to be appealed to
for special legislation before anything
could be done in the way OF develop
ment work The passage Of what is
/ known as the UnCOmpahgre amend
ment by th-. last congress, which val
idated all claims located upon that re-
serve prior 70 the year 1891. has at last
opened q way by which means the flu
ture demand for gilsonite can be met.
The ellison Asphaltum company, By
the terms of that amendment. is now
able TO patent about forty claims along
the Cowboy, Bonanza, Rainbow and
Black Dragon veins. These veins run
all the way from five TO twenty feet
/ ir thickness. and show an outcrOp OF
man. miles
1T is probable that someday trains
viii be running right along on these
immense dykes Of the purest asphalt
um known to the commercial world i'm
that form. Immediately upon the
passage Of the legislation referred to-,
OF getting the product Of its White
river properties TO the market. and
with this object in view surveys were
made from Crevasse, on the Denver &
Rio Grande railway. across the Book
Cliffs 60 determine the feasibility Of a
road. upon which it was the first in
tention 20 use traction engines, thereby
considerably increasing the present
output. The road was surveyed TO the
Black Dragon vein, on the head OF
Evacuation creek and during the past
summer considerable work was done on
{ Il. but heavy rains that fell I'm the lat
/ ter part Of the summer carried away
much Of the work done. and it was
decided TO abandon the idea OF a trac-
tlon scheme aad the question of build
Ing branch railroad was taken up.
Contracts For Road Building.
The contracts have now all been let
for this work and the grade is being