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clearing on the right side of the road (north) is where the main
Boarding house is said to have stood. Little remains of
the one-story, wood-frames buildings ecept for a few scattered
artifacts. The clientele of the boarding hose were mostly
single men who sought employment in the gold fields. In
the late 1800's, the cost of staying in an accommodations like
this could have been as high as $11 a week with meals priced
from $0.50 to $1.00. With wages ranging between $2.00 and
$4.00 a day for laborers, muckers (shovelers), timbermen, carmen
and blacksmiths, most made only enough to provide the bare
essentials.
On the opposite side of the road, to
the south and accros the creek are the remains of the Dalton
Mill (later renamed the Sylvester-Soderberg Mill). Built
sometine before 1900, the only reminders of the mill are the
concrete foundations, a large flat pile of tan-colored tailings
and rusted equipment which can be seen through the trees.
When in operation the mill received ore from a narrow gauge
railroad that entered the top of the building about 250 feet up
the slope of the canyon. Fed by gravity, ore moved
downhill where it was mechanically crushed and pulverized along
the way. At the bottom of the plant, gold ore was
concentrated and shipped to great Britain, and later to Salt
Lake City, where a smelter would create pure bars of gold
bullion. Mines using the mill included The Wedge, Bully
Boy, and Dalton.
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Photo Courtesy Utah State Historic Society
The Dalton Mill processed tens of thousands of tons of ore
from mines like this one
Some "old timers" suggest that the Dalton Mill
may have burned down in 1914.
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