Series 24165

OPHIR MINING DISTRICT (UTAH). RECORDER [3135]

MINING RECORDS, 1870-1929.
5 microfilm reels

A separate agency history is available.

DESCRIPTION: General Patrick Connor, mining entrepreneur and commander of a military unit sent to Utah in the 1860s, and his prospector soldiers organized the Ophir Mining District in Tooele County, Utah on 6 August 1870. Connor and his soldiers separated this southern section from the already organized Rush Valley District when they discovered a particularly promising lode in Ophir Canyon. The Ophir Mining District was organized before Congress passed a general mining law in 1872, validating the rights of individuals to explore and claim mineral wealth on the public domain (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, miners in the Ophir District elected a recorder who recorded notices of location and other mining documents. Each location notice confirms the validity of a claim, states its dimensions, and describes its location. Location notices identify each claim by a unique name, give dates of location and recording, and identify individuals filing the claim. Since original Ophir District by-laws limited claims to 200 feet along a lode, early notices list several individuals for each claim and state the number of feet allotted to each. Most claims in the Ophir District were recorded in the 1870s and 1890s.

In addition to location notices, mining records include amendments to notices of location and documents offering proof that the annual assessment labor required to maintain claims had been completed. In 1893-1894 and 1917-1918 Congress temporarily suspended the annual labor requirement, however, in order to take advantage of this benefit, miners were required to file notices of intention to hold their claims. These notices were filed in the mining record books for those years. Book A also includes some mining deeds. Book L2 includes the time period when Ophir District records were in the custody of the Tooele County recorder, and was recorded by that office.

ARRANGEMENT: Records in the Ophir mining record books are roughly chronological by date filed.

RELATED RECORDS: While the bulk of Ophir Mining District records are included in this record series, additional early DEEDS, series 24572, were kept in separate books, as were MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS, series 24508. The Ophir District recorder also kept FILE BOOKS, series 24971, which summarize important information about each claim filed and provide reference to mining record books. Additional Ophir District mining records were recorded by the Tooele County recorder in MINING RECORDS, series 6150.

FINDING AIDS: All Ophir Mining district record books include an index at the beginning which provides reference by the name of a claim, with the exception of Book L2, which was kept by the Tooele County recorder (1897-1899), and Book H (recorded 1917-1929). Entries in FILE BOOKS, series 24971, provide additional reference to early notices of location.

PROCESSING NOTE: The records of the Ophir Mining District were processed by Rosemary Cundiff in December 2002. Because of the poor quality of the original filming, Ophir books were refilmed by Utah State Archives and the inventory updated in April 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	1870, May-1871, Jul (Book A)
1	1871, Jan-1871, May (Book B)
1	1871, Jun-1871, Oct (Book C)
2	1870, Nov-1871, May (Book D)
2	1872, Jun-1872, Aug (Book E)
2	1872, Aug-1874, May (Book F)
2	1874, May-1882, Dec (Book G)
3	1883, Jan-1893, Dec (Book H)
3	1893, Dec-1896, Mar (Book I)
3	1896, Mar-1897, Jun (Book J)
4	1896, Dec-1897, Jan (Book K)
4	1897, Feb-1899, Dec (Book L2)
4	1899, Jun-1904, Mar (Book L)
4	1905, Mar-1908, Feb (Book M)
5	1910, Dec-1917, Feb (unlabeled book)
5	1917, Feb-1929, Jun (Book H)