Tooele-Ophir Traditional Geocache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Ophir Utah is located 22 miles southeast of Tooele. Once a silver mining boom town, the town’s population … at one time … eventually peaked at 6,000 people. If you drive through it today, you wouldn’t believe it once was a wild and crazy mining town with: saloons gambling dance halls hotels brothels cafes stores and boarding houses Yes, they were all here. They all lined the narrow street at the canyon’s base. Ophir Utah was started as a mining camp in the 1860’s. General Patrick Connor’s soldiers discovered some rather primitive Indian silver mines. Some people think that’s the reason the General brought his California volunteers to Utah. Not to oversee the Mormon and Indian inhabitants and maintain order. But to open up … and profit from … the rumored mineral deposits throughout the territory. As the soldiers were checking out settlements in Rush Valley … west of Ophir Utah … they discovered that some of the Indians were using homemade rifle slugs made of silver and lead. And they owned ornaments made of the same minerals. In 1865, the General and his men discovered the source to be some crude mines … dug by the Indians … in East Canyon in the Oquirrh Mountains. The south end of the same mountains still being mined today at the Bingham Canyon Mine. Some small-scale mining occurred until the big boom hit in 1870. A town sprung up. And the population exploded. The name was coined by one of the Bible-reading prospectors. The land of Ophir … home of King Solomon’s mine … inspired the town’s name. Within weeks, miners had taken more than $1 million in silver from the mine. By the end of the century, more than $13 million of silver had been dug from more than 3,000 claims. There was even a short-line railway built to link Ophir Utah with the major railroad lines. But eventually … like all such towns … the ore ran out. Ophir’s population plummeted. But it never completely died. The town was crazy while the ore lasted. Where prospectors and miners went, so did those who made their living off of them. gamblers prostitutes teamsters gunmen even legitimate businessmen It was an exciting time. Many of the strikes were rich ones. Resulting in some very colorful names: Miner’s Delight Silveropolis Wild Delirium Shamrock The ore was sent to various smelters. Connor’s smelter in Stockton. E.T. City on the shores of the Great Salt Lake . Where it was taken across the lake to Corinne. Another of Connor’s smelters. The town eventually included: the Pioneer Hotel several busy livery stables drug stores general stores theaters two schools a post office a combination town hall and fire station But if you drive into Ophir Utah today, you would find it hard to visualize those things ever existed here. Lead, silver, and zinc were the main minerals taken from the Ophir Utah mines. Very little gold. Only $329,000 of gold to be exact. But ... by 1880 ... the boom was finished! The boomers … and those who followed them … disappeared almost overnight. They left only about 50 people … some miners, a few families, and a couple merchants. Over the years, this population has continued to rise and fall. But mainly fall. Yet, even in 1918, Ophir Utah still had a post office, a weekly newspaper, a daily stage line, a general store, a railroad, and a population of 560. In 1970, a census discovered there were still 76 people in the town. Funny thing. Living residents could only come up with 50! In 1971, the Ophir Hill mine was still producing. We know this as there was a fatality … the first one in 25 years … reported as a mining fatality. http://www.utah-travel-secrets.com/ophirutah.html
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgvaxl