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Bul l ion Beck and Champion Kine, HeadframeTintic Mining Distr io t

HAER No. UT-46

EurekaJuab countyUtah

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PHOTOGRAPHS

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

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Historic Amerioan Engineering ReoordRooky Mountain Regional Office

National Park ServiceU. S. Department of th e Inter ior

P. o. Box 25287Denver, Colorado 80225

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!-litERUTAH

Ia.- E A

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD

Index to Photographs

Bu1lion Beck an d Chempion Wine, HeadframeTintic Mining Distr ic t

HAER No. UT-46

EurekaJuab CountyUtah

NOTE: Photographs No. UT-46-1 through UT-46-4 were taken by John A. Senulis onAugust 11 , 1986, and are on 2-1/4 x 2-1/4-inch format f i lm.

Photographs No. UT-46-5 through UT-46-9 are photocopies of 22x36-inch

mylars of archi tec tura l features prepared by AllenD.

Roberts ofCooper/Roberts, Architects & Assoc. A.I.A., 202 West 300 North, Sal tLake City, Utah 84103.

UT-46-1

UT-46-2

UT-46-3

UT-46-4

UT-46-5

UT-46-6

UT-46-7

UT-46-8

UT-46-9

PROFILE OF HEADFRAME, LOOKING

VIEW OF HEADFRAME, LOOKING WEST

VIEW OF HEADFRAME, LOOKING NORTHEAST

VIEW OF HEADFRAME, LOOKING EAST

PLAN VIEW, HEADFRAME, c. 1977 APPEARANCE

SOUTH ELEVATION, HEADFRAME, c. 1977 APPEARANCE

WEST ELEVATION, HEADFRAME, c. 1977 APPEARANCE

PLAN VIEW, HEADFRAME, 1986 APPEARANCE

SOUTH ELEVATION, HEADFRAME, 1986 APPEARANCE

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HAEf<,UT/iH

1"l-r.::UocJ.... ~ ~ - f'\.

Location:

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD

Bul l ion Beck aDd ChaMpion Jljne, Headf'ra-e

HAER No. UT-46

Tintic Mining Dis t r i c tEureka, Juab County, Utah

SW 1/4, Section 13 ,Quad: Eureka, Utah

Township 10 South,(U.S.G.S. 7 .5 ' )

Range 2 West

Dates of Construction: Primary construction of th e mine began in 1871. The

main mine construction was in 1890. Mine f a c i l i t i e s

and th e headframe housing were dismantled in 1925.

Mining ceased in 1960.Present Owner: Sharon Steel Corporation

Present Use: Not in use; his tor ic landmark only

Significance:

Historian:

Headframe i s one of several four post gallows in th eTint ic Mining Distr ic t which i s on th e NationalRegister of Historic Places.

John SenulisSenco-PhenixSal t Lake City, Utah

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PART I . HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Bullion Beck and Champion Mine,Headframe

HAER No. UT-46(Page 2)

Mineral exploration has always been an important theme in the his tory o f th eUnited s t a t e s . The Federal Government, as ear ly as 1785, reserved one- thi rdof the mineral reSOurces on Federal land. This did not prove workable and wasrepealed i n the ear ly nineteenth century. The discovery of gold in 1848 a t

Su t t e r ' s Mil lon the American River i n Cali fornia was one of the main eventsstimulating the development of a mineral industry in the United s t a t e s .People flocked to Cali fornia in hopes of making the i r fortunes. The surfacegold, obtainable by placer mining, soon ran out, and deep mining, which

required large amounts o f cap i ta l , soon become dominant. The many prospectorsdrawn by th e California Str ike e i ther became employees of the large miningcompanies or spread throughout the West in search o f other major claims.Their effor t s in the period from 1850 to 1875 located most of the majorresources and se t the s tage fo r th e development of the western mineralindust ry (Notarianni: 1982).

Utah's ro le i n the mineral industry was slow to develop because of theopposit ion of Brigham Young and other Mormon leaders who did not want to openth e s t a t e to outs iders (Arrington: 1963). Other causes t h a t delayeddevelopment, specif ical ly in the Tint ic area , included a hos t i l e Ute Indianpresence under the leadership of Chief Tint ic , fo r whom the area i s named(Harris: 1961).

The t rue development of the mineral industry in Utah coincides with thedevelopment of the transcontinental ra i l road in 1869. In 1870, the UnionPacif ic Railroad, in need of coal fo r i t s operation, opened mines in GreenRiver and Rock Springs, Wyoming, and in 1874 in Coalvil le, Utah. The UnionPacific Railroad, which generally followed th e route of modern-day i n t e r s t a t e s80 and 84 into Ogden, Utah, had easy access from i t s mines to the urban marketof the S a l t Lake Valley.

Without a competing ra i l road from other coal sources, th i s created animmediate monopoly on the coal supply for Sal t Lake City, which pers is ted fo ra decade (Union Pacific Company: 1940).

In an attempt to break the coal monopoly held i n Sal t Lake City by the UnionPac i f ic , the Denver and Ri o Grande Western Railroad began a l ine from Denverto Sal t Lake City. Originally scheduled to run through Castle Valley andSalina Canyon, the company revised the route of the ra i l road to take advantageof the coal resources of the Wasatch Plateau (Athearn: 1962).

The Utah Southern Railroad was organized by Mormon i n t e r e s t s to connect S a l tLake City to Arizona. Following a pa t te rn tha t had already been establ ished,the ra i l road was constructed using Mormon labor. When completed, th e stockwas acquired by the Union Pacif ic (Arrington: 1958). The Union Pacif ic





reached th e Tint ic area in 1882 under the name Sal t Lake and West.ern Railway.Rail service continued to develop, so t.hat by 1892 t.he Tint ic area was servedby branches of both t.he Union Pacif ic and the Denver and Rio Grande Westernrai l roads (Strack, "Railroads" in Notarianni: 1982).

The Tint.ic Mining Dis t r ic t

The Tint ic Mining Dis t r ic t encompasses an approximately eight square mile areaon the east. and west slopes of the north-south-running East Tint ic MountainRange. The East Tint ic Range i s typical of the block-faulted ranges of the

Great Basin. The Tint ic Dis t r ic t i s within close proximity to th e WasatchFront val leys and major t ransportat ion a r t e r i e s .

During the period of 1890 to 1926, th e pr inc ipa l ac t iv i ty of the Tint ic areawas gold, s i lver and lead mining. The area was surveyed by the Utah HistoricalSociety in the mid 1970s, and the Tintic Mining Dis t r i c t was l i s t ed on theNational Register of Historic Places in March 1979 (Notarianni: 1982).

The history of Tin t i c ' s prominent period has been divided into four phases(Notarianni: 1982). The f i r s t phase began in 1869 with th e development ofthe Sunbeam claim. The development of the Dragon, Mammoth, Eureka Hill an dBullion Beck soon followed. The period was one of growth and development t ha t

witnessed the establishment of the mines and smelters.The

small towns ofDiamond, Mammoth, Silver City and Eureka began in close proximity to themining centers (Notarianni: 1982). The period ends with th e introduction ofthe rai l road in 1878.

The second period, from 1879 to 1898, was one of indus t r ia l iza t ion and growth.The rai l roads brought influxes of capi ta l and th e a b i l i t y to obtain mater ia lsfor construction a t much l ess cos t . Deep mining ac t iv i t i e s began i n th i speriod and refined smelting operations increased. The increased ac t iv i tystimulated population growth and th e development o f labor unions (Notarianni:1982).

Theth i rd period, between 1899 and 1912, was a period of substant ial growth.In 1899, Tint ic was the leading producer of raw and processed ore in Utah, in

the sum of $5,228,575. The Tint ic Dis t r ic t produced a t o t a l o f $35,000,000between 1870 through 1899 (Lindgren: 1919).

The f ina l period of prominence was from 1913 to 1926. This period was one ofcontinued cycl ica l prosperi ty. Production peaked a t $16,200,000 in 1925. Thetown of Eureka grew to nearly 4,000 people, with corresponding in te res ts inother towns (Notarianni: 1982).

The coming of th e depression brought an end to Tint ic ' s prosperi ty. Periodicopening and closing of various mines continues today. Remnants of the townand former days o f glory s t i l l stand as reminders of prosperi ty.



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Bullion Beck and Champion Mine

John Beck was born i n the town of Aichelberg in Wurttemberg, Germany, on March19 , 1843. He joined th e Mormon church in 1862, serving as a missionary toSwitzerland and Germany before immigrating to Utah in 1864 (Powell: 1984).Beck moved from Bichfield to Lehi, Utah, engaging in farming, sheep herding,woodcutting and charcoal making. He became somewhat prosperous and invested$6,000 in th e Eureka Hill Mine in 1810. Beck's business acumen had not yetdeveloped, as he l o s t both his money and claims to the mine through l i t i g a t i o n(Powell 1984). Beck quickly earned the nickname "Crazy Dutchman" when he

staked a claim in the gulch below Eureka Hil l (Notarianni: 1982). Hi s bel ie fthat the ores would migrate downward proved to be correct , and the mine beganpaying back h is meager investment in rapid fashion.

Beck became a prominent entrepreneur in Utah and diversif ied his capi ta lbetween his mining i n t e re s t and also founded the hot springs resorts ofSaratoga near Lehi and Beck's hot spr ings just north of Sal t Lake City. Beck,a f a i th fu l Mormon with f ive wives, encouraged immigration o f his fellowGermans to Utah. The number of German heads of household in Eureka increasedfrom two in 1880 to sixty-f ive in 1990. Beck also establ ished, a t his ownexpense, th e f i r s t Latter-Day Saints church buildings in Eureka (Powell:1984) •

The Bullion Beck and Champion Mining Company developed in an orderly fashionun t i l 1890 when a major expansion occurred. The Sal t Lake Tribune used i t sNew Year's Day issue to review important developments in Utah during the pastyear. The January 1, 1891, issue reviewed the important changes a t the mine in1890. The Tribune reported tha t :

Over the shaft i s the main building of th e hoist ing works.This i s a substant ial ly framed structure 40 by 119 feet andhigh enough to take in the gallows frame, that being one ofth e best and st rongest in the country and sixty fee t inhight [ s i c ] . There are no be t t e r framed timbers or larger

one [s ic] than these in Utah.The cent ra l support timbers fo r th e headframe or gallows ac tua l ly measure 1foot 4-1/2 inch by 2 feet 1 inch. The four outer posts are roughly 1 foot5 inches by 1 foot 11 inches and are embedded in concrete pads. The Tribunegoes on to report tha t a t the other end of th e building are a "Frazer andChalmers pair o f engines o f 500 horsepower each." The engines were joined onone shaft and coupled by an e l a b o ~ a t eseries of clutches and brakes t ha tallowed th e engines to operate the cable reels e i the r separately or together.There are also indices to show the posi t ions of the cages. The cages weresupported by "wide, f l a t s t e e l ropes." The cages entered a double compartmentshaf t with a "manway" (walkway) from top to bottom.



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There were other developments a t th e Bullion Beck and Champion Mine (commonlycalled the Bullion Beck) in 1890 that were similar ly impressive. The Tribunereported the s i t e also contained a 40-by-40-foot boi le r house with twobat te r ies of two boilers each. The furnaces that drove the boi le rs had two80-foot stacks. Other structures included a wood shop, blacksmith shop, coalhouse and a 500-ton ore bin. Other f a c i l i t i e s included a 75-l ight dynamo anda 100-horsepower Rand compressor with new d r i l l s . The Tribune estimated tha tthe mine had sent out 25,000 tons of ore in 1890. The capacity of th e newf a c i l i t y would be 100 tons per day (Tribune: 1891). The mine was employing275 men a t this t ime.

The mine s i t e was also expanded in 1890. The former s i t e was 4,000 by 600feet . New property, 5,400 by 1,500 fee t , was added on the eas t s ide . TheBullion Beck and Champion Mine also acquired th e Homansville Spring and a newwater service with two storage tanks and new pipes. The Tribune noted t ha tthe cost of th e s i t e modification was $80,000, the addi t ional property another$50,000, and th e water works another $90,000. The Tribune proudly noted t ha tth e Bullion Beck and Champion Mine s t i l l paid dividends of $325,000 that year.

The f ina l major expansion a t the Bullion Beck and Champion Mine occurred in1894, when a new mil l was added. The mil l covered an area 220 feet by 125feet , with a tower tha t rose nearly 105 fee t in the a i r . The water system was

also expanded a t th i s time (Notarianni: 1982). Figure 1 i s a photograph ofthe completed operation about 1895.

The Bullion Beck and Champion Mine, along with the many other mines in theTint ic Mining Dis t r i c t , went through cycl ica l prosperi ty, labor s t r ikes , andother events common to the day. By 1917, the Bullion Beck and Champion MinehAd begun to lease parts of the i n t e r io r of the mine. Prosperity began todwindle soon afterward and the f a c i l i t i e s a t th e Bullion Beck and ChampionMine, with the sole exception of the headframe, were demolished in 1925(Notarianni: 1982).

While the days of prosperi ty would never be repeated, the Bullion Beck and

Champion Mine was brought to l i f e again during World War I I . At the beginningof the war (around 1940), Duke Page and his partner, Brennan Hannifin, f i r s treopened Eureka Hi l l Mine, which i s s l igh t ly north and east of Bullion Beck andChampion Mine. Tests conducted by Page and Hannifin led them to move t h e i roperation down the h i l l to Bullion Beck and Champion Mine. The headframe wasreused but not enclosed, although a hoist room was constructed to house thefif ty-horsepower e lec t r i c motor tha t powered th e hoist (Hannifin: 1986).

The new era of Bullion Beck and Champion Mine saw ore mined fo r a di ffe ren tpurpose. Bullion Beck and Champion ore has a high s i l i c a content which i svaluable as flux in the processing of copper. American Smelting and RefiningCompany (ASARCO) in Sal t Lake City, and Internat ional Refining in Tooele, were



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Bullion Beck an d Champion Mine,Headframe


two leading producers of copper during the war, and Page an d Hannifin were oneof t h e i r major ore suppl iers . Utah produced one-third of the copper used bythe United Sta tes and i t s a l l i e s in World War I I (Arrington: 1966). Inaddition to the us e of the ore for f lux, secondary recovery of gold and s i l ve rproduced addi t ional income fo r both the or e producer and the manufacturer(Hannifin: 1986).

Prosper i ty continued through the 40s and into the 50s, st imulated by the KoreanWar. The Yankee and Mammoth mines were reopened, and th e Chief ConsolidatedMine continued to employ almost 100 people. The Bullion Beck and Champion Mine

was run as a fa the r and son operation in the 50s by Brennan Hannifin, one ofthe original par tners , an d h is son, Tim (Hannifin: 1986).

In 1957, Kennecott Copper acquired ABARCO and, shor t ly the reaf te r,Internat ional Refining shut down. Kennecott used a new f lux process in t h e i rcopper manufacture that d id not us e the Tintic Dis t r i c t ' s ores . The moveproved disastrous fo r Tin t i c ' s economy. The Chief Consolidated Mine closed in1957. The Bullion Beck an d Champion Mine kept running by sending t h e i r ore toCali fornia , but high shipping charges and low ore pr ices made continued miningeconomically unfeas ible . The Bullion Beck and Champion Mine was closed inJune or July of 1960 (Hannifin: 1986).

The Tint ic Mining Dis t r i c t was nominated for and placed on the NationalRegister of Histor ic Places i n 1976. The id le headframes of the Big Fourmines, as the Eureka Hil l , the Bull ion Beck and Champion, the Gemini and theCentennial-Eureka are ca l led , stand out in th e landscape o f th e TinticDis t r i c t . They are an important visual contribution to the r i ch mininghis to ry of the d i s t r i c t .

Present-day use of the Bullion Beck and Champion m ~ n ~ n gproper t ies nowincludes grazing, his to r ic and mining i n t e r e s t s . United s t a t e s Smelting,Refining and Mining Company (USSRMCO) f i r s t acquired an in t e r e s t in theBullion Beck and Champion Mine in 1917. In 1979, Sharon s t e e l acquired theasse t s of USSRMCO under the name of U.V. Industr ies . On February 15, 1983,

Sharon Steel entered into a land-use l icense fo r two of the Bullion Beck andChampion's patented mining claims with the Tintic Histor ical Society. Thesurface of these claims contains the mine's headframe. The society maintainsuse of the s i t e fo r locating a h i s t c r i ca l marker and a small parking area . OnAugust 1, 1985, Sharon Stee l leased a l l of i t s mining claims and mil l s i t e s inthe Tint ic Dis t r i c t to Diamond Bullion Corporation for future miningposs ib i l i t i e s (Sadler: 1986).

Also in August of 1985, the s t a t e of Utah embarked upon an abandoned minereclamation pro jec t in the Tintic Dis t r i c t . The project was aimed a t

eliminating the worst hazards of open and caving mine shaf ts which were closestto th e town an d roads. Most of the shaf ts were backf i l led as the preferred





method of eliminating the shaf t and s tab i l i z ing the co l la r s . Several shaf tswere scheduled to receive the specially-designed grid due to the lack of f i l l ,the need to leave the shAft venting, or for h i s to r i c a l considera t ions .

Between 1980 and 1985, th e cage-dumping platform on the Bull ion Beck andChampion Mine headframe deter iora ted considerably. In designing the shaf tclosure for the headframe, the s ta te determined t h a t in order to place thegrid over the shaf t , the broken and l i s t ing platform would need to betemporari ly moved. The platform was to be placed on the ground next to theheadframe and rehung, i f possible, or l a i d on to p of the grid a f t e r

i n s t a l l a t i on . In placing the grid , an unfortunate se r ies of events occurredon March 18, 1986. The skip guides of the headframe were broken and th eplatform destroyed. Since t h i s adverse effec t on the head frame occurred, thes t a t e , in consultation with Federal agencies, th e Cert i f ied Local Governmentof Eureka and the Tint ic His tor ical Society, has worked cooperatively todevise a sa t i s fac to ry mitigation plan fo r the damage to the headframe. Themit igat ion consis ts of four par t s :

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2 .

4 .

Shaf t Collar Stabi l izat ion - This work cons i s t s of reconstruction ofthe shaf t co l la r and rebuilding th e wooden shaf t l in ing to a viewabledepth. Although th i s work cannot guarantee continued s t ab i l i t y ofthe headframe, i t i s of importance to the shaf t co l la r s t ab i l i t y.

Skip Guide Stabi l izat ion - Three ver t i ca l beams, which were severed inthe accident, were spliced with compatible timber to continue them tothe ground l eve l and were secured to th e headframe.

HAER Documentation - This repor t , along with photographs and drawings,const i tutes the HAER documentation.

Public In te r re ta t ion of th e Headframe Workin s - The Utah Sta teHistor ic Preservation Office SHPO believed t h a t the greates tdisadvantage of the headframe damage was the i nab i l i t y of th eobserver to understand the purpose, importance and use of th e

headframe in the context of the mining opera t ion.To

offse t the lossof information, an in te rp re t ive plaque was developed, in conjunctionwith the Tint ic Dis t r ic t and SHPO, and ins ta l l ed on the s i t e . A newmonument was constructed to house the new plaque and the Utah his tor icmarker plaque which existed a t th e s i t e . An accompanying pamphlet tothe Tintic Tour Guide was developed on the Bullion Beck and ChampionMine by Dr. Phi l l ip F. Notarianni. The pamphlet drew upon th e HAERdocumentation and was printed by th e Division of Oi l , Gas and Mining,Utah Department of Natural Resources.



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PART I I . BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arrington, Leonard J .

1958

1963

Grea t Basin Kingdom: An Economic History o f th e Lat ter DaySaints : 1830-1900. Un:iversity o f Nebraska Press , Lincoln.

"Abundance from the Earth: The Beginning o f Commercial Mining inUtah," Utah Histor ical Quarterly. Vo l . 31 , N o . 3 , Sal t LakeCity.

Athearn, Robert G.

1962

Hannifin, Tim

1986

Rebel of the Rockies: The Denver and Rio Grande WesternRailroad. Yale Universi ty Press, New Haven.

Personal Communication, September 1986.

Harr is , Beth Kay

1961 The Towns o f Tint ic , Sage Books, Denver.

Lindgren, Waldemar, and G. F. Louglin

1919 Geology and Ore Deposits i n th e Tint ic Mining Dis t r ic t , Utah.Government Print ing Off ice , Washington.

Notarianni, Ph i l l i p F.

1979 Historic Resources of the Tintic Mining Dis t r i c t , NationalRegister of Historic Places Inventory, Nomination Form, UtahHistor ical Society, S a l t Lake City.

1982 Fai th , Hope and Prosperi ty: The Tint ic Mining Dis t r ic t . Tintic

Histor ical Socie ty, Eureka, Utah.

Powell, Allan Kent

"The German-Speaking Immigrant Experience in Utah," UtahHis to r ica l Quarterly. Vol. 52, N o . 4 , Sal t Lake C i t ~

Sadler, Timothy M

1986 Personal Communication, October 1986.




HAER No. UT-46

(Page 9)

DESCRIPTION OF FEATURE

THE BULLION BECK AND CHAMPION MINE HEADFRAME

Tint ic Mining Dis t r i c tEureka, Utah

General Information

I . Sources

The material used in the feature descriptions was taken from the fol lowingdata sources:

1 . Notes an d dimensions taken by Allen D. Roberts during on-s i teinvest igat ion conducted August 11, 1986.

2 . Photographs taken by John A. Senulis during on-s i te invest igat ionAugust 11, 1986.

Si te descriptions and information prepared by Utah Department o fNAturAl Resources, Division o f Oil, Gas and Mining.

4. Sheets o f measured arch i tec tu ra l features prepared by AllenD.

Robertsduring the month of August 1986.

I I . Format

The feature ha s been described using a four s tep process as follows:

A. Probable use (or name)B. Construction materialsC. DimensionsD. Additional information

Feature Description

I . Feature

A.

B.C.

D.

Bullion Beck and Champion Mine headframe (gallows). Support fo rlowering mine cars into th e mine shaf t .

Timber framed with metal bol ts , concrete support pads.The headframe, 67 feet long by 32 feet wide by 56 fee t high

(es t imate) .Headframe was constructed in 1890. Surrounding frame s t ructure

demolished in 1925.



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B u l l i o n Beck an d Champ10n M1ne, HeaarrHAER No. UT-46

(Page 10 )

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DOWN THB SHAPT ••• OR UP!

SILVBR AND HBRITAGB IN THB TINTIC MINING DISTRICT

The old West of prospectors, hard rock districts and towns that goboom and bust is in the midst of another wave of change. The surge inprecious metals prices at the end of the 1970s inflationary cycle saw newdemand and new technologies appear as the old districts poised in a presentextracting a price from the past. Generally higher metals prices have

joined heap leaching and ion exchange extraction processes to cause oldmines and waste dumps to suddenly assume "ore" status in the currenteconomics. As seismic crews, core drillers and bulldozers lace the oldclaims in search of new data, the historic fabric of interrelated elementscomprising a landscape is undergoing change.

But change is ongoing at some rate in every landscape and in thefabulous but little known Tintic Mining District more destructive forcesthan the new crop of miners have been at work. The Multiple ResourceNational Register Historic District created in 1978listed some 24 individualsites of major significance. By 1987 of 13 listed sites that had majorstructures 6 had disappeared. Dozens more that contributed to the sense of place and past also disappeared. Many of those were more significant thansites that were listed. A number of questions are raised by this ongoingprocess and in the time available we will address some of them. First, whyhave major historic sites been recognized and then destroyed and whatdifference if any does their passing make?

To get a feel for the visual changes and the flavor of place involved,we may divide the landscape into Eureka proper, other townsites, and mine

surface plants or workings. Main Street Eureka in 1986 had a neglectedbut beautiful example of a commercial Victorian false front on the northside across from the BPOE bUilding. Since most of the rows of businessbuildings on that side had been razed in the previous 10 years, it wasespecially striking in its isolation. It had the classic 19th-century recessedentry with display windows and tiled floor and a corrugated roof rusted toa mellow contrast with the backdrop earthtone hills. It was replaced witha 1940s caboose in fresh painted Union Pacifi,c yellow and red. Next doorwent a slant-wall metal prefab for the fire department. Buildings leave amessage. Post railroad era permanence was expressed in fancy brickwork and Victorian decoration. It is difficult to retain a sense of community orpride when structures have an air of impermanence that indicates the typeof boom or bust we currently are in.

Over the mountain in Mammoth, a miners cottage stared vacant-eyedacross a valley once filled with the modest frame dwellings of the workingman. An artist's centerpiece in autumn, by 1985it was gone joining mostof its kin. The miner's "dry" building at the Tintic Standard had servedfor years as storage for core samples after the miner's changing room needhad passed. It burned to the ground in 1986, the nefarious deed of anarsonist. The Chief No.2 headframe over its early concrete-lined shaft wasunique in its width and number of structural members. It was bulldozed inthe early 1980s and replaced with a steel headframe. The Yankee



The real tragedy is that AMRP people have a mind set inherentlyinsensitive to history. They possess the "beaver mentality" which viewsevery problem as an engineering opportunity. Rather than approaching, forexample, the problem of safely closing an open mine shaft with a view tominimum materials and visual intrusion they choose the opposite. Theirprojects in Eureka first put down a massive aluminum painted steel meshthree or four times the size reason might suggest. After negative comment,

they repainted them brown and covered most of them with earth. RobertRedford has commented on the "Neanderthal mentality" displayed by highwayengineers in Provo Canyon. "You don't have to destroy something toimprove it," he said. (Deseret News, Oct. 6, 1987, p. A7) Mining andhighway engineers are perhaps relatecJ.

What AMRPdoes speaks much more lOUdlythan what it says. Despitethe sensitivity to history they proclaim, their actions in Iron County areexemplary. There "the bulldozers, backhoes and scrapers are sealing mineportals, hauling off. mine tailings, and removing any traces of pastmining••••" That the "Leyson mine, first opened in 1854,has been identifiedas the oldest coal mine in the state" ("Machines removing signs of CedarCanyon mining," Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1986) and was a significantcontributor to pioneer iron smelting efforts was apparently inSUfficient justification to DOGMto save a few vestiges for the appreciation andedification of future generations. Oh, but they were going to put up aplaque, as if history were a zoo, and the whole thing only cost $182,750!This is not to argue that there are no legitimate hazards around abandonedmines. Rather that this is another out of proportion bureaucratic programdoing more damage than good crusading under questionable mandate to savea tiny minority of the population from its own stupidity.

It is the razor edge of irony. One state agency tries to preserve alittle of Utah's mining past for the future while another works diligently toobliterate it. One has a minimal budget, one has millions and the ear of the media. Which do you think will prevail? Only if the truth becomesknown to a larger public can David entertain a modest chance of slaying

Goliath.

Those who read discover that history has a way of repeating itself.Perhaps the best reason then for preserving some history is the timehonored dictum that a knowlege of the past can save at least some of usfrom repeating some of the mistakes of the past. The preservation of buildings, townscapes and landscapes is an evolving idea that has beenaround in some form for centuries. Value in the practice is attributed tosuch diverse notions as aesthetics, enlightenment and, especially in these"cost-benefIt-ratio" times, economics. It has been well proven that in many

cases the past yields monetary as well as more intangible profits.Sometimes only curiosity or chance operate to save places that becomeappreciated in a later time.

Destruction of historic places also has many motives. Buildings aswell as books have been burned because some group or individual hasnegative feelings about what a place symbolizes. Frequently the past standsin the way of someone's view of "progress." A societal anomie andpreoccupation with materialism seem to be near the root of "tear it out"tendencies. The physical past cannot become symbolic in the minds of its



viewers until there develops a chain of awareness, knowledge and ultimatelyappreciation. The perception of what is "positive" or "negative" and towhat degree is very dependent on the viewer's frame of reference orprevious experience. Political, tax and insurance ramifications oftenoperate. Apathy and benign neglect are a two edged sword both preservingand destroying.

Reasons vary then for the preservation and destruction of historic

places. The question remains, "So what?" What difference does it makewhether historic places are preserved or destroyed? The difference is farreaching and frequently subtle. Numerous studies from urban planners andgeographers show that shape, detail, flow, sense of past and attractivenessto pedestrians and human interaction all affect the social, psychological andultimately the physical well being of both people and places. Since peopletend to operate as left or right brain entities and the former dominate ourstructured society of political, economic and social systems, it appears to bean uphill battle to elevate the organization of habitat and environs to ahumane level.

Butte, Montana underwent an extensive Historic American EngineeringRecord (HAER) survey following local concerns that the adjacent open-pitcopper mine was about to swallow the town. Janet Cornish, UrbanRevitalization Agency director, said, "All of a sudden, people started gettingexcited. Before, downtown had seemed an old, cumbersome area withsentimental value and little else. Now the community saw its economicpotential, and they saw that people from outside the community wererecognizing it." (Tom Huth, "Mining in the West: Will Our Heritage Survive,"Historic Preservation, May-June 1981 p. 15; also see USDI NPS, Butte,Montana A Project Report, April 1981) In a materialistic world, thesurvivors in the preservation game soon discovered that an economic appealbased on well substantiated facts was their best approach. The modusoperandi became simply "show 'em how it makes 'em money!"

Of the many reasons for preserving mining history in Eureka and theTintic, the best may be economic and historical. Economic because if the

town's depressed economy is ever to achieve a degree of revival andstability, the traveler's interest in mining history and not the boom andbust mining economy itself will provide it. The district by accident of unpopularity and neglect maintained a range of mining, commercial andresidential structures unexcelled in Utah and most of the West. The rawmaterial was and may still be there, but lacking is a view of Tintic's placein the scope of Western mining history, a vision of the district's potentialand a commitment to plan, execute and "do it right." The historicalrationale is based on the townscape and the array of headframes andsurface plants that survive here compared to other districts that now "sellhistory" with much less of the authentic to show.

Even building on your best bet, the material culture landscape of mining past, does not go unopposed. Philosophies of preservation vary asmuch as human beings. Some prefer to see the district remain a quiet ruralretreat and personal playground. Some still carry that old West frontiernotion transposed, "the only good planner is a dead planner." Personalrights remain viscerally more important than public ones especially when itcomes to property. Opposition also comes as an outgrowth of theautomobile and mass communications. The locals can drive out and tune into get what they want out of town, and the out-of-towners can commute towork the mines during the next mineral boom. These songs are replayedacross rural America.



The preservation ethic did not win the West, Manifest Destiny did.There remains a refreshing lack of realization that the frontier era is over.That can be a very appealing force to urbanites, tourists and otheroutsiders. It also points to the paradoxes pervading the story of preservation in Western mining districts. One federal and state tier of bureaucracy labors to interpret and save our past so that we canunderstand and appreciate it. Another layer of federal and state agencies

operating from the other side of the brain accidentally and on purposedestroy the same past under a relatively legitimate mandate to protect thepublic from hazards. One mining company bulldozes headframes andbusiness blocks in a twinge of liability consciousness and tax reduction.Another opens a historic tunnel to tours and yet another shares itsextensive historic research with interested historical societies. Some peoplebought locally, even if it cost a few dollars more, and others awaited thetrek to the valley to shop. Now there is little option. Some are sensitiveto commercial facades and paint schemes while others "don't give a damn."Individualism, at least, is alive and well in the Tintic!

Paradox also appears in other districts. Robert Hope, Australianpresident of Denver-based Houston International Minerals Corporation,acknowledges both past mistakes and the inevitability of conflict at theirVirgina City, Nevada operation. "We should have let the community knowwhat we were doing; now we're being more up front, and I think we'rebeing accepted as responsible corporate citizens." After a $78,000contribution to a historic district survey he said, "We were paying forinformation--we wanted to see what is really there. To some extent,people perceive value where we don't. Obviously we can't preserve everybuilding." (Huth, 1981)

Perhaps more pressing than the direct mining impacts on past mininglandscapes (to a degree natural and evolutionary) are the indirect orsecondary effects of the recent mining and energy booms. A new mine orleach field or seismic survey is much less destructive than the associatedinflux of people with a vandal mentality and no roots in or appreciation of

the local community and its history. Denice Wheeler, secretary of theUinta County Historical Society in oil boom Evanston, Wyoming, summed upthe flip side of the newcomer-oldtimer influence this way. "The new peoplein town have become extremely interested in our history. People who'velived here all their lives become sort of immune to their heritage ••••" (Huth,1981)

Landscape and townscape change in the Tintic Mining District may beconveniently divided into three major time periods; pre-1869, and before andafter 1929. The era of Native American and Spanish Influence probably had

little impact on the look of the place. Chief Tintic's guerrila war foraysfrom the springs at Homansville and vicinity put a little fear in a fewvalley settlers and a label on the district, but their nomadic lifestyle leftlittle mark on the land. The Indians in fact were in close harmony withthe natural scheme of things. The Spanish are reputed in some accounts tohave left arrastra paths from mining efforts in the region, but this remainsone of those obscure stories of an obscure place and time that has notbeen well researched. The Spanish were noted for primarily workingsurface outcrops and natural openings.



The second phase of landscape change in the Tintic came withdiscovery of the Sunbeam in 1869 and the beginning of the "Big Four"mines in Eureka Gulch the following year. The 1870s Discovery andDevelopment era saw high grade ore so rich it was plucked from surfaceexposures, loaded in wagons for haulage to the railroad in Salt Lake andshipped to San Francisco and around the Horn to Wales for smelting.Consolidation and Expansion occurred in the 1880s and 1890s when mills andsmelters struggled with the district's complex ores and railroads finallyconnected the place to big city capital and technology. The boom and bustcycles had already begun. A 1900 description from the !!!!. Lake MiningReview (April 30, p. 5) serves to indicate the flavor of the district whenEureka had a popUlation of 3500 and Mammoth 1200. Eureka "•••boasts of nearly every metropolitan advantage and is a little city instead of anisolated mining camp••••Mammoth also has kept pace with the times, and,while not as large as Eureka, enjoys about the same facilities." Threedecades of New Technology from 1900 to 1930 saw the automobile andelectric power arrive and a continuation of cyclical economics.

The Great Depression that followed the stock market crash of October24, 1929 marks a major downhill turn in the ongoing cycles of boom and

bust in Tintic towns and mines. Production slowed in the '30s to pick upwith World War II demand in the '40s. By the late 1940s many houses weremoved from Tintic towns to valley towns like Springville, Spanish Fork andNephi. Some were burned and others were torn down, but the late '40s and'50s saw significant portions of the built environment disappear. The 1950sand '60s era of Diminishing Production saw the rails pulled up and agradual exodus continue, leaving a ghostly shell of the district's formerself. The 1970s and '80s witnessed the paradox of Preservation and Apathyas the nation's bicentennial generated a superb local historical society andfinally the closure of the last operating mines in the district. The post-Depression period was one of disappearing and shrinking towns and acontracting Eureka commercial district. The town that had expanded upEureka Gulch, and extended from nearly the Evans to Knightsville, began a

process of shrinking at the margins and thinning from within. Acounterpoint of new home building by natives and lovers of the place andvia the idiosyncrasies of politics also began to fill a few gaps.

Not surprisingly, the mining towns of the American West bear strikingsimilarities. The men were highly mobile in their thirst for that "bigstrike," and architecture, mining methods, and social institutions flowedfreely from place to place. Common themes and occurances include fires,floods, celebrations, the arrival of "city slickers," ladies of the evening,shootings, hangings, fast faro games at numerous saloons, and fortunes wonand lost. The shift whistles resounded across the landscape, the pump andhoist engines hummed, and mighty teams of mules and horses freighted inlife's necessities until the railroad and later trucks appeared. Hard men athard work in the mines, mills and smelters dominated the scene off MainStreet. Much appeared the same from Tintic to Tombstone. Structuresmoved quickly from canvas tents and log cabins through simple wood framedwellings and false front businesses to more elaborate structures of wood,brick and stone in the style of the time. As mines played out and peopledeparted, the towns became ghosts of their former glory or disappearedaltogether. The pattern was repeated full cycle throughout the West's moreprosperous mining districts.



Tintic has long been one of the West's most overlooked districts. Inspite of phenomoneal production records and a history and folkloreunexcelled by the more notorious districts, the Tintic has wallowed in thebackwater eddys of obscurity. One reason is simply that it sits 75 milessouthwest of Salt Lake City in a Utah long dominated by a view of historydistinctly Mormon. The railroad and mining impacts continue to beperceived at best out of context with the Mormon story. Tintic was wellknown to the mobile miners who criss-crossed the West, but to the generalpopulation it was as unknown at the turn-of-the-century as it remainstoday. If Utah is a perception depression in the West, Tintic is surely onein Utah. Part of the reason for that lies in the Wasatch Front's peculiar"Westside-Eastside" mentality. Places west of the River Jordan have neverbeen perceived as "desirable" in the eastside mind, no matter what theireconomic, historical or aesthetic amenities. Perhaps that concept stemsfrom sources of life-giving water, primarily a product of the Wasatch andUinta Mountains.

The old shorter range corporate mentality of squeezing the bottom linefrom afar is well represented by at least one Tintic mining company. The

example of Jerome, Arizona where "historic properties are being held inlimbo by inactive mining interests" (Huth, 1981) comes to mind. There isalso evidence for a corporate view that includes history and its materialexpressions in a longer view. Centurion and Western have valued historicphotographs that include mine dumps. They help evaluate old mines forpotential reprocessing and help reconstruct past mining activity and evensections of mines underground. The company has uncovered records aroundthe country, some painting an unpretty picture of the lot of labor andcompany policy. Maimings were frequent in the "good old days" and adeath or two in the drifts was insufficient event to be noted in the localnewspapers. It took a disaster like the September 1914 Oklahoma stopecave-in that trapped 12 miners and killed 11 to unavoidably appear in print.Life was hard way back when wages were $3.00 or $4.00 a day.

Sunshine's recent replacement of Kennecott was quietly heralded withthe local comment, "finally got somebody in there knows how to mineunderground." Indeed, they discovered lost ore bodies and held greatpromise until $5.00 silver and state bureaucracy encouraged closure. Thecompany contributed a mine tour, over-counter silver sales, dollars andenthusiasm to the Tintic Historical Society and town efforts to begin aviable tourism campaign. Busted again by golly, but the minerals are therewaiting to become ore again and usher in another boom era.

The Tintic Mining District is a complex district. The ores baffledearly smelter designers who found few mines produced a similar product.The same problem still puzzles the mining engineers. The geology is cut bynumerous faults and intrusions and still intrigues serious students of the

earth. The Salt Lake Tribune noted Tintic's mineral potential Jan. 1, 1892."Its growth has ii'O"i"'beencommensurate with its merits. It took years tofind out that the rich surface deposits were not all that was good in thelodes. When these surface deposits were worked down to the pyrites, or'white iron,' further sinking was stopped, and it has been the work of thepast year or two to demonstrate that there is mineral in paying quantitiesand qualities below this iron stratum, and many old claims will soon becomeshippers." Ninety-five years later thorough and perhaps first region-wideevaluations of the district's mineral potential are finally underway.



What would the old-timers have done with seismic data, core drills andsatellite imagery? Part of the change we view in mining and the boomtowns of mining is related to other external changes. Supply and demandfrom far distant places, fear of war and depression and alternative materialsall affect the silver market. Perception can even prove more importantthan reality. One reality that affected activity in the 1980s was noted byRosenthal and Young. "Since the base price for silver is double or triple

what it was back in the 1970s, and prices for lead, zinc, and copper havebeen level since the mid-1970s, the importance of silver in metal-miningoperations has multiplied." (D. Rosenthal and E. Young, The New Case forSilver, 1985, p. 17) This factor led to reprocessing of tailings or dumpsand increased capital flow toward primary silver mines.

Recent indications are positive for life in the old district's mines. ASeattle stockbroker and analyst specializing in North American gold andsilver companies recently toured the district and noted that Centurion andWestern now control an area almost as large as the famed Carlin District inNevada. "Before [the Centennial-Eureka] was closed the mine produced 1.5million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.3 ounces of gold and 14.0ounces of silver per ton. At today's prices this represents $288 million of gold and $180 million of silver. Since the mine was closed in 1927, therehas been absolutely no modern exploration or drilling done ••••" (Jeff Conley,"Centurion Mines A Sleeping Giant Reawakens," Bull and Bear, Oct. 1987, p.ll) ----

A few predictions for the not so famous Tintic are perhaps in order.It seems likely that the past will continue to repeat itself in slightlyaltered forms. Mining will continue its cycles of boom and bust and thoseapocryphyl tales of a kings ransom in once "worthless" Tintic Standardmining stock traded for a night on the town may well repeat themselves.Those with the earliest information and the resolve to evaluate and act onit will again someday amass small fortunes from the Tintic. The mineralbase would seem to be there awaiting the alignment of outside factorsagain. Another boom in mining will likely change the face of the main

district. Men can move mountains a good deal more quickly these days.Historian Phillip Notarianni concluded a lecture on the district's pastin these words. "The idea of a 'thread of optimism' through the fabric of Tintic's history exists. This is tied closely to the cyclical pattern of economy, or 'peak and trough' type of activity. Tintic is indeed still alive,and historic preservation may well help it to remain alive." (Notarianni,unpublished paper, no date) Tintic is indeed no "ghost," though a shadowof its former self. But in spite of a class local historical society (recipientof the coveted Corey Award for the finest local historical society on thecontinent in 1985) many landmark structures have disappeared. Even moretragically, many more non-landmark structures equally critical to the mininglandscape compage--its assemblage of elements creating a sense of place--have disappeared. When it comes to historic landscape and townscape, it

takes a well fired minority and broadening local base to first appreciatewhat it has and then to challenge adverse and insensitive changes spawnedby big corporations, big government, big dollars and small minds.

The question arises, "at what point is it too late?" At what pointhave too many sites been lost to retain a flavor that tells enough of astory of the place to attract enough visitor dollars to begin to preserve it?It is a complex question. In any case, if answers emerge, they will findTintic's and the rest of the West's material mining heritage held hostage inlarge degree to appetites and forces well beyond Eureka Gulch.



BULLION BECK HEADFRAME FIRE DAMAGE MITIGATION

J. Chris Rohrer, Reclamation SpecialistUtah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program

Salt Lake City, Utah

The Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR) Program is the agency responsible for reclaimingabandoned mines in Utah under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA, P.L.95-87). It is almost axiomatic that abandoned mines date from the historic era, and many abandonedmines were significant in the development of the state. SMCRA's goals of eliminating safety hazards andenvironmental problems sometimes are at odds with the preservation goals of the Historic PreservationAct. The Bullion Beck headframe fire incident shows that the needs of both acts can be met. TheBullion Beck headframe is a National Register site that was inadvertently damaged during a reclamationproject. This report will show how a severe, but unanticipated, adverse effect was mitigated.

The Bullion Beck headframe is located in Eureka, Utah, about fifty miles southwest of Salt Lake City.Eureka is one of several hardrock mining boom towns that sprang up in the Tintic Mountains in the late1800s. It still survives today with a population of 700.

The Bullion Beck and Champion Mining Company was started by John Beck, a German immigrant who

started mining in Utah in 1870. After several failures he struck valuable ore and became very wealthy.The mine went through a major capital development phase in 1890, when a structure housing the shaft,headframe, hoist, boilers, and shops was built. The mine declined during World War I, and in 1925 theexterior structure was torn down for salvage, leaving the exposed headframe. The mine was revived in1940 under new ownership, using the original headframe and a new hoist. It continued to operate until1960.

The Bullion Beck headframe is an A-type (also known as a 2-post or Montana) headframe constructedin 1890 of massive wooden timbers. It is 67 feet by 32 feet by 56 feet high. It stands over a shaft 12001500 feet deep. The shaft has two four-foot square compartments for skips and a smaller manway.Three vertical timbers extend from the top of the headframe down into the shaft to quide the skips asthey travel. Significant to the story, but not apparent to observers or from photographs, is the belowground structure. The primary support for the headframe is not concrete footers, but wooden beams andcribbing buried in the fill around the shaft. The headframe was listed on the National Register of

Historic Places in 1976, along with the three other headframes remaining in Eureka. The Utah StateHistorical Society erected a commemorative marker on the site and put chain link fencing around theshaft.

The condition of the headframe steadily deteriorated after its abandonment. Two platforms, one whereore was dumped from the skips and one by the sheave wheels, fell and hung swinging in the breeze. Theunconsolidated material around the shaft collar sloughed outside the wooden sheathing supporting thesides of the shaft. The sloughing extended past the fencing placed by the historical society, so that it waspossible to stand outside the fence and fall into the shaft.

These conditions led the AMR program to include the Bullion Beck headframe in a 1985 project toaddress hazards at 24 shafts and two adits in the town of Eureka. Most of the mine openings werebackfilled; four shafts, including the Bullion Beck, were to be closed with a steel grate. The grate ismade of 1/4-inch steel rod woven like a chain link fence held by I-beam supports and soil anchors. Theplan was to work around the skip guides and to move the wood in the shaft only to the extent necessaryto install the grate. After getting the necessary approvals and putting precautionary language in theconstruction specifications, the project was bid and work began in the fall of 1985.

The project proceeded well until late March 19~6,when the contractor moved onto the Bullion Beck site.Working ahead of schedule and without AMR program supervision (both in breach of the contract), thecontractor broke the skip guides and other wooden structural members with a backhoe. These fell intothe shaft and lodged on square sets in the shaft. Unable to remove them, he burned them. The woodencollar and the buried wooden supporting members were damaged and the parts that had fallen into the

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shaft were destroyed. Fortunately, the aboveground structure was not damaged by the fire. However,the upper parts of the skip guides were left dangling with ragged ends.In response to the incident, the AMR program met and worked with the State Historic PreservationOffice, the Tintic Historic Society (representing the Certified Local Government), the U.S. Office ofSurface Mining, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to see what could be done to mitigatethe damage. An engineering study determined that the loss of the collar could lead to continuedsloughing of the shaft and ultimately the structural failure of the headframe. With this in mind a four-part mitigation plan was developed:

* Collar stabilization to prevent further sloughing* Stabilization of the broken skip guides to prevent them from falling* HAER documentation of the headframe* Public interpretation to put the headframe into the context of the overall mine operation and theBullion Beck mine into the context of mining in Utah.

The public interpretation would take the form of a monument with an interpretive plaque at theheadframe and an interpretive pamphlet for distribution at the Tintic Museum in Eure~a.

Bullion Beck headframe, Eureka, Utah. (Built 1890, photo taken in 1977). Photo courtesy of J. ChrisRohrer.

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The HAER documentation and collar stabilization were completed in the fall of 1986. To stabilize thecollar, the shaft was cleared and a reinforced concrete slab floor was cast twenty feet down the shaft.Reinforced concrete walls were then cast to support the sides of the shaft. The excavation outside thewalls was then backfilled. Timber sets and lagging were placed over the concrete walls to recreate theoriginal shaft appearance. A steel safety grid over the opening prevents anyone from falling in butpermits viewing down the shaft. In the summer of 1987 the broken skip guides were spliced withmatching timbers and extended to ground level. A stone monument with interpretive plaque was builtat the same time. The interpretive pamphlet has been written and will soon be printed.

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bullion beck headframe haer plus extras

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