bout w Ki.i ..]  ROCK    GYPSUM    AT    NEPHT,    UTAH.  487 
found  to  be  very  gypsiferous,  and  in  some  places  good  workable  beds 
of  gypsum  are  seen.  One  of  these  beds  occurs  at  Salt  Creek,  near 
Nephi." 
HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 
This  is  the  only  gypsum  deposit  in  Utah  which  is  now  being 
exploited  to  any  considerable  extent.  It  was  known  before  the  town 
of  Nephi  was  settled,  and  has  probably  been  known  to  the  whites  for 
nearly  eighty  years.  About  thirty-live  years  ago  a  claim  600  by  1,500 
feet  in  dimensions  was  formally  located,  and  in  1882  this  was  patented 
by  John  Hague  and  others  under  the  name  of  the  Juab  Plaster  and 
Mining  Claim.  After  small  intermittent  shipments  to  Salt  Lake  City, 
in  1887,  under  the  management  of  Messrs.  Hyde,  Hague,  and  Whit- 
more,  rock  gypsum  was  quarried,  and  burned  in  sorghum  pans  for 
local  consumption.  During  the  following  year,  encouraged  by  the 
rapidly  increasing  demand,  these  parties  incorporated  their  company 
and  erected  the  nucleus  of  the  present  efficient  plant. 
The  rock  is  now  obtained  by  blasting  from  an  extensive  open  cut, 
and  is  trammed  thence  by  gravity  to  the  works.  The  present  plant, 
which  is  the  product  of  repeated  enlargement,  though  not  extensive, 
is  very  complete.  It  includes  (1)  a  mill,  which  is  fitted  with  one  nip- 
per, steel  grinder,  round  buhrs,  3  chain  elevators,  2  two-Hue,  8-foot 
calcining  kettles,  a  mixing  plant,  etc.;  (2)  a  complete  cooperage,  and 
(3)  a  storehouse.  Ample  power  is  supplied  by  a  turbine  driven  by 
water  taken  from  Salt  Creek,  3,500  feet  upstream  from  the  mill. 
The  output  averages  36  tons  of  plaster  a  day,  and  between  7,500  and 
10,000  tons  a  year.  This  includes  dental,  casting,  finishing,  land,  and 
hard  plaster,  each  appropriately  prepared  for  its  special  uses.  A  large 
and  increasing  demand  is  supplied  throughout  the  great  basin  region, 
and  shipments  are  made  as  far  as  Grand  Junction  on  the  east,  Los 
Angeles  and  Hawaii  on  the  south  and  west,  and  Victoria  on  the  north. 
