34 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1902. [bull. 213. 
History. — The earliest mining in this part of Utah was in the Miller 
mine, at the head of American Fork Canyon; in the Emma, Flagstaff, 
and other mines near Alta, at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon ; 
and in the adjoining districts at the head of Big Cottonwood Canyon 
and Snake Creek. In those days the Miller and Emma were famous 
mines and the Park City region received slight attention. Although 
desultory mining had been carried on in this area on various properties, 
such as the Pioneer, Clara Davis, Badger, White Pine, McHenry, etc., 
for a few years previous, actual mining may be said to have begun 
with the discovery of the Ontario mine; and the early history of this 
mine is generally considered to constitute the early history of the 
camp. 
The Ontario mine is generally believed to have been discovered by 
Rector Steen and his associates " about June 15, 1872." He describes 
the discoveiy as follows: 
When we discovered this mine we found a little knob sticking out of the 
ground about 2 inches. We scraped the dirt off the lead about 50 feet along the 
lead. It was about 18 inches wide, and when we got down 8 feet it narrowed in 
to 8 inches. We had the rock assayed and it went from 100 to 400 to the ton.« 
On August 21 of the same year the discoverers sold the property to 
Messrs. Hearst and Stanley for $30,000. During the succeeding years 
development work was energetically conducted through tunnels from 
the main ravine. In April, 1878, the first shaft was started. Since 
then two more shafts have been sunk (the deepest recently attained a 
depth of 2,000 feet), and extensive underground development work 
has been in constant progress. As a result of these operations since 
its final incorporation in 1883, this property has produced silver which 
has been sold for $33,255,950, and since 1901 dividends amounting to 
$13,752,500 are stated to have been paid. 
The success which attended these operations stimulated exploring 
and locating throughout the district, and the ground through which 
the Ontario lode was supposed to extend from the northeast to the 
southwest was quickly taken up and developed. This resulted in the 
extension of successful mining operations to the west, in the ground 
now owned and operated by the Daly, Daty-West, and Daly- Judge 
mining companies. In 1880, eight years after the discovery of the 
Ontario, there were 1,270 mining locations registered in this (the 
Uinta) mining district, although only 500 were active. Development 
progressed steadily until 1893, when the decline in the price of silver 
seriously crippled the camp. Improvement in the lead market, the 
high grade of ores, and important improvements in the treatment of 
ores made it possible to resume mining activity at an early date, 
"Mr. Steen, who is still enjoying good health after a succession of arduous hardships encoun- 
tered in prospecting in California, Montana, Wyoming, and Arizona, previous to his discovery 
of the Ontario, has kindly supplied valuable data concerning the early history of this camp, 
which will be included in a detailed historical sketch in the complete report. 
