Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1969 An Early History of the Community of Park City, Utah Oscar F. Jesperson Jr. Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Anthropology Commons, History Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Sociology Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Jesperson, Oscar F. Jr., "An Early History of the Community of Park City, Utah" (1969). Theses and Dissertations. 4827. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4827 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. ANAN EARLY HISTORY OF THE COMMUNITY OF PARK city9CITY UTAH izltd102 2 A thesis submitted to the department of history brigham young university prolprowprovo utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of art by oscar F jespersonJesjespersongpersong jr august 1969 PREFACE while books and theses have been written on the mines and some of the individuals associated with park city there iisi s something lacking an incompleteness about the story of park city utahitahoutaho it was not a boom or temporary town as were so many other mining communities in the western united states park city was differentdifferdifferentodifferenthoento not only was this a gentile town in the heart of mormon country but the vast amount of silver located in the surrounding mountains gave park city an importance and influence both in summit county and the territory of utah far out of proportion to its size only a small amount of the treasure that was taken out of the park city district served to build up the city such salt lake city landmarks as st anns school the kearns building the judge building the thomas kearns mansion which was formerly the governors mansion and is now the headquarters of the utah state historical society and several other elegant homes on famed millionaires row on east south temple street were built with money acquired from park citys mineral wealthbealthowealtho such famous utah personalities as senator thomas kearns and justice roger tranner gained stature in park city the financial foundation of the great hearst newspaper empire can be traced to the purchase by george hurst of the ontario mine for 27000 as recorded in the mining records of summit county on july 16 187218720 the stories of the mines of the park city district have been elaborated on in other works it is the object of this thesis to iiiiii trace the early growth and development of the municipality of park city in the hope that new light will be shed on a hitherto unknown chapter of utah histhistoryhistoryooryeoryo the variety of primary source material available to the writer was minimal much of the documented political and social material was lost forever in the great fire of june 19 1898 that almost completely leveled the towntownotogno the U soS census records for 1870 through 1910 were inconsistent in the subject area treated and dealt primarily with territorial state and county figuresfigufiguresofiguredoreso in only one instance that of 1880 was a breakdown of any kind given on park city in the chapter on religions original records had been destroyed in the fire and most protestant groups did not keep accurate or complete records during this period of time to forward to their church headquarterheadquartersheadquartersoso the latterlatterdayday saints are an exception to this but even their old handwrittenhand written records were kept in journal form and are not referable to by page of all the protestant churches the episcopal church has the most complete set of records that this writer could find the early mission records and a history of the episcopal church typescripttype script unpublished record with no author recorded as was common in those early days were excellent primary sourcessoursourcesoceso the primary source that provided the best and most compre censivehensive picture of weekly happenings in the town was its chronicler the park record without which this study could not have been mademadeo I1 extend a sincere word of appreciation to mrs maiemalemate raddon for the use of her copies of these old papers iv most of the people who lived in park city during the period of this study are gone of those that remain careful and judicious use had to be made of their recollections the two people who because of longtimelong time residence and activity in the town and through their firsth- and knowledge and many times privately documented material could be depended upon for accuracy were fraser buck and jack green A special word of gratitude is expressed to mrmroamro buck whose vast knowledge of the city served to fill in the gaps which no other source could do and for his willingness to help provide such information it is with sincere appreciation that I1 acknowledge all those who assisted in this work to dr eugene E campbell my thesis conciconmicommitteeateettee chairman who gave useful and constructive criticism of the work from the first to the final draft appreciation is also extended to the staff of the brigham young university library the weber county library especially evelyn dessaldussal special collections librarian for the special interest and help she gave the project also the utah state historical society and the LDS church historians office for their kindness in allowing access to their manuscript collection martin rist was most helpful in securing records about the methodist church it is with sincere gratitude that I1 thank claudia S young for the many hours she spent helping to type this thesis and my parents inlawin law for their support and aid in completing this project finally I1 wish to thank my wife dorine whose cheerful assumption of additional duties around the home while at the same time giving me constant encouragement and assistance in fact made this thesis possible v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 chapter I1 beginnings OF A MINING CAMP 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 early explorations the arrival of the mormons the philosophy of mormon settlement uoU S government mormon relations the coming of col patrick E connor the first prospectors geography first mining claims evolution of early mining methods at park city park city gets its name park city and utah AND II11 CITY development POLITICS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 15 city incorporation mormon problem affects park city political influence in summit county and utah summary PARK liiIII111 CITY UTILITIES 0 33 introduction water light and power telephone IV BUSINESS AND commercial development 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a 0 0 46 early firms transportation key to business growth character and growth of the business community advertising problems faced by businessmen the business community and the mine vi V PARK CITY SCHOOLS 63 ontario school school district no 12 park city high school st marylsmarys of the assumption park academy night and summer schools business college conclusion VI ETHNIC GROUPS 77 introduction chinese negros british germans and scandivanians italians greeks and austrians VII FRATERNALFFATERNAL benevolent PROVIDENT AND SOCIAL SOCIETIES 89 park city social conditions ancient order of united workmen knights of pythias woodmen mysterious groups irish fraternities religious groups patriotic organizations independent order of odd fellows masonic orders benevolent and protective order of elks miscellaneous lodges lodge contributions to park city VIII PARK CITY RELIGIOUS GROUPS 108 introduction the catholic church the episcopal church the methodist church the luthern church congregational church thethemormonmormon church christian scientists salvation army jewish conclusions vii IX THE PARK RECORD 130 proprietors and publishers religious preferences appearance and makeupmake up competitors park city loyalityroyalityLoya lity camp Publicpublicizerpublicizesizer EPILOGUE 143 APPENDIX 146146.146 SOURCES CONSULTED CHAPTER I1 beginnings OF A MINING CAMP early explorations park city utah s is situated on the eastern slope of the wasatch range approximately 25 miles southeast of and 3000 feet above salt lake city tii111 the city rests at the convergence of woodside gulch empire canyon and ontario canyon the three main ore producing areas in the early days of park city it cannot be accurately determined who was the first white man to explore the exact site of park city the early explorers of the great salt lake and provo valley appear to have taken routes which bypassed the site of park cicityityoty 2 this is not surprising since the main activity of these men trapping directed their interest toward the larger streams and rivers of the region which flowed from larger canyons a number of miles from park city the three metaloremetal ore endowed canyons of park city only produced smaller streams ijohnjohn mason boutwell geology and ore deposits of the park citcity district department of the interior united states geological survey professional paper 77 washington77washington government printing office 1912 p 14 aj2jJ cecil alter jim bridger cormonvormonormon university of oklahoma press 1961 describes the discovery of the great salt lake bridgers route appears to have been along the wasatch front appp 576257 62 donald M frosts notes on general ashashley barre massachusetts 0 barre gazette 9 1960 p 44 describes this expeditions route as