Series 24160

RUSH VALLEY MINING DISTRICT (UTAH). RECORDER [3133]

MINING RECORDS, 1863-1897.
2 microfilm reels

A separate agency history is available.

DESCRIPTION: Mining activity in California established precedents which were carried to Utah Territory and eventually validated when Congress passed a federal mining law in 1872. Mineral deposits on the public domain were free and open to exploration and locators of the same were to have exclusive right of possession (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 17, chap. 152). In order to regulate mining activity and keep track of individual claims, local miners organized mining districts and appointed district recorders to keep records. Notices of location are the recorder's record of claims within the district. Each notice provides the dimensions of the claim and a description of its location. It names locators and gives the dates of location and recording. All except the earliest location notices in the Rush Valley District include a name by which the claim was identified.

The minutes of miners' meetings and copies of by-laws and revised by-laws were also recorded in the location notices record books. Rush Valley District by-laws were adopted when the district was organized in June 1864, and were revised in March 1865, May 1870, May 1873, and October 1895. Records of by-laws or revisions are: 1864, Book E, commencing on page 257; 1865, Book E, commencing on page 264; 1870, Book D, commencing on page 53; 1873, Book E, commencing on page 79; and 1895, Book G, commencing on page 48. Minutes of miners' meetings are scattered throughout the volumes. Rush Valley locations books also include relocations and a few transfers recorded in 1866.

ARRANGEMENT: Location notices and other documents are arranged only roughly chronological by date recorded.

RESEARCH NOTE: The Rush Valley Mining District was created in 1864 when the West Mountain District was divided. Many location notices in Book A were recorded by Archibald Gardiner, president of the West Mountain Mining District, and pre-date the organization of the Rush Valley District.

RELATED RECORDS: The Rush Valley Mining District recorder kept separate sets of books in which to record TRANSFERS (mining deeds), series 24161, and PROOF OF LABOR, series 24162. By-laws for the district as filed with the General Land Office are also included in MINING DISTRICT BY-LAWS, series 3651. The Ophir and Tooele City Mining Districts were organized with in the area that had originally been the Rush Valley District. Tooele City MINING RECORDS are series 24152 and the Ophir MINING RECORDS are series 24165.

FINDING AIDS: District recorders created indexes for all Rush Valley books. Indexes appear at the beginning of each book, with the exception that the index to Book D begins on page 41 of that book. Indexes provide reference by the name of the claim and identify the page on which location was recorded.

PROCESSING NOTE: Rush Valley District records were processed by Rosemary Cundiff in August 2002. Utah State Archives refilmed these records and updated the inventory in February 2003.

PREFERRED CITATION: Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

CONTAINER LIST

Reel	Description
1	1863, Jun-1864, Jul (Book A)
1	1864, Jun-1865, Sep (Book B)
1	1865, Oct-1870, May (Book C)
1	1866, Oct-1872, Jan (Book D)
2	1872, Jan-1884, Jan (Book E)
2	1884, Apr-1895, Apr (Book F)
2	1895, Apr-1897, May (Book G)