Series 24849

MERCUR MINING DISTRICT (UTAH). RECORDER [3193]

MINING RECORDS, 1895-1897.
1 microfilm reel

A separate agency history is available.

DESCRIPTION: Mercur Mining District records include district by-laws and notices of location for claims staked in the district. According to federal law, mineral deposits in the public domain were free and open to exploration, and locators of the same had exclusive right of possession. Local mining districts managed mining operations and recorded claims (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 17, 1872, chap. 152). Each notice of location recorded in the Mercur District affirms compliance with mining laws, includes a detailed description of the claim, names locators, and includes dates of discovery and filing. Each claim is identified by a unique name, such as Fortune, Sunset, or Bobtail Horse. Claim names are written prominently at the top of each page.

ARRANGEMENT: Volumes 1 and 2 are concurrent and not consecutive because the district recorder and his deputy kept records in separate books. Within each volume claims were recorded chronologically by date filed.

RESEARCH NOTE: The Mercur Mining District to which these records pertain does not include Mercur, the mining community of the same name. Mercur, the mining town, was a center of mining activity in Tooele County in the 1890s, and was located in the Camp Floyd District. Because Mercur was so prominent, the Camp Floyd District was also sometimes called the Mercur District. The Mercur District to which these records pertain was located to the west in Skull Valley.

RELATED RECORDS: In 1897 the books of the Mercur Mining District were transferred to the Tooele County recorder's office. Thereafter records of mining claims in this area were kept by the county recorder in MINING RECORDS, series 6150. MINING RECORDS for the Camp Floyd District are series 10334.

FINDING AIDS: Volume 1 includes an index which provides reference both by claim name and locator's name.

PROCESSING NOTE: Mercur Mining District records were microfilmed by Utah State Archives in January 2003 and processed by Rosemary Cundiff 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	volume 1 (Nov 1895-Mar 1897)
1	volume 2 (Dec 1895-Feb 1896)