Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/253

 UTAH 233 silver was not then known. In 1863 silver- lead ores were discovered in Bingham cafion (Oquirrh range) by a party of the California volunteers. The early attempts to work these deposits were unprofitable, in the absence of skilled metallurgists and of railroad transporta- tion. Gulch mining for gold in Bingham cafion began in 1868, and was continued with favor- able results, in a limited field, for several years. The development in 1869 of the famous Emma deposit, in Little Cottonwood cafion (Wahsatch range), was the beginning of much excited ac- tivity in mining, in which even the Mormons, whose leaders had discouraged this industry, gradually took part. The large influx of miners from other territories, the construction of rail- roads, and the erection of more than 30 smelt- ing and refining works, have widely devel- oped the mining industry and brought about great political and social changes in the terri- tory. The Emma mine, sold to an English company for 1,000,000, is said to have dis- appointed both the owners and the purchasers, and to be an irregular deposit in limestone, the available portions of which have been ex- hausted. The principal mining districts are as follows : Parley's Park, Big Cottonwood, Lit- tle Cottonwood, and American Fork, in the Wahsatch range ; West Mountain or Bingham, Dry Cafion, Ophir, and Camp Floyd, in the Oquirrh range ; Tintic and West Tintic, in the Tintic mountains ; and South Star, North Star, San Francisco, and Lincoln, in the S. W. part of the territory. The ores are chiefly argentif- erous carbonate of lead and galena, with some copper ore in the southern districts, and in a few localities ores sufficiently free from lead and other base metals to be successfully re- duced by the Washoe process of stamping and pan amalgamation. The value of gold, silver, and lead produced in Utah since 1868, accord- ing to R. W. Raymond, United States commis- sioner of mining statistics, has been as follows : YEARS. Gold. Silver. Lead. Aggregate. 1368-'9.. 1370... $600,000 800,000 '$r,obo',666 $600,000 1,300,000 1871... 1872... 1873... 1874... 1875... 221,000 100,003 52,426 92,093 181,765 2,079,000 2,845,279 8,725,775 8,819,508 2,955,923 $500,000 675,477 958,365 1,430,044 1,080,459 2,800,000 8,120,764 4,736,566 5,341,645 4,218,147 Total.. $1,547,292 $15,925,485 $4,644,845 $22,117,122 In 1875 there were also produced $102,148 worth of copper, $26,878 worth of iron, and $400,000 worth (50,000 tons) of coal. In the N. part of the territory, in the vicinity of Ogden and Brigham City, are numerous hot springs. In the valleys the climate is generally mild and healthful, with little snow ; the days are often hot in summer, but the nights are always cool ; spring opens in April, and cold weather rarely sets in till December. On the moun- tains the winters are severe and the snowfall is more abundant, furnishing an unfailing supply of water for the streams in summer. There is considerable rain in the valleys from October to April, the weather during the rest of the year being dry, and rendering irrigation neces- sary to agriculture. The weather in spring and autumn is changeable. The annual pre- cipitation of rain and melted snow varies from about 8 inches in the southwest to about 20 inches in the northeast. At Corinne on the Central Pacific railroad, N. E. of Great Salt lake, the mean temperature of the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 1872, was 49-2 ; of the hot- test month (July), 75 ; of the coldest month (January), 26'6 ; total rainfall, 17'13 inches. The mean temperature of the following 12 months was 48'18 ; of the hottest month (July), 76-2 ; of the coldest month (February), 24'3 ; rainfall, 15'62 inches. The mean tem- perature of the year 1870 at Camp Douglas, near Salt Lake City, was 51 '51 ; of the hottest month (July), 76'45 ; of the coldest month (December), 27'03 ; maximum observed, 96 ; minimum observed, 3 ; rainfall, 15'1 inches. The valley of the Rio Virgin in the southwest is much warmer. The climate is generally healthful. The number of deaths reported by the census of 1870 is 891, of which 99 were from cholera infantum, 84 from pneumonia, 78 from fevers, 63 from consumption, 56 from measles, 52 from enteritis, and 46 from diar- rhoea. Much of the soil of Utah possesses the elements of fertility, and when irrigated pro- duces good crops. In narrow belts around the lakes and springs and along the streams the moisture is sometimes sufficient without irri- gation ; but the plains in their natural state are for the most part hard, dry, and barren, frequently covered with a saline incrustation, and producing only sage brush and occasional tufts of sand grass and buffalo or gama grass. The mountain slopes in many parts are well covered with buffalo grass. The higher por- tions of the Wahsatch and Uintah mountains have a good growth of pine and fir, with some quaking ash, cedar, spruce, &c. ; and there are considerable quantities of pine on the Oquirrh mountains, W. of Salt Lake City, on the range E. of Utah lake, and on the promontory in the K E. part of Great Salt lake. Elsewhere there are no important forests, though occa- sional copses of willow, box elder, cottonwopd, and dwarf ash occur along the streams. The principal settlements are along the W. base of the Wahsatch mountains and in the valley of the Rio Virgin, where by the construction of canals an extensive system of irrigation has been put in operation. The chief agricultural localities are the Malade valley ; Cache valley, watered by Bear river ; the Weber valley ; Salt Lake valley, as the tract along the S. E. shore of Great Salt lake is called ; the Jordan valley ; Tooele valley, W. of the Jordan ; the basin of Utah lake, especially on the east ; Rush valley, W. of Utah lake; the San Pete valley; the Sevier valley ; and the Rio Virgin valley. The region E. of the Wahsatch mountains is little