La Plata, Utah
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La Plata is a ghost town in the southeast corner of Cache County, Utah, United States. Located in the Bear River Mountains on a small tributary of the east fork of the Little Bear River, La Plata was a short-lived silver mining boomtown in the 1890s.
[edit] History
The first ore in the area was discovered in 1890 by a mountain shepherd, who brought a curiously dense rock to show his foreman.[1] The foreman recognized it as silver-bearing galena and took it to be assayed in Ogden. The sample was 45% lead, with a silver concentration of 400 ounces per ton.[2] The two quietly registered a mining claim, but the secret got out. Several more high-grade ore pockets were found, and a silver rush began.[1] By August 1891 more than 1000 miners had arrived,[2] and the number soon reached 1500. Lines of cabins and stores stretched along either side of the creek, forming a town called La Plata (Spanish for "silver"). There were sixty buildings in all, including two stores, saloons, a bank, and a post office.[1] The Thatcher Brothers Bank in Logan bought the original claim, called the Sundown Mine. Ore was shipped north to Logan then transported by rail to Salt Lake City.[3]
La Plata's high elevation—about 10,000 feet (3,000 m)—made for harsh winters, and few people stayed after the 1891 season.[2] By then the richest ore was running out; the highest concentrations of silver were found on or close to the surface. Still the mining continued until the Panic of 1893, which closed many silver mines nationwide. A few mines remained open at La Plata, continuing to produce lead, until its price also dropped. The town didn't last through 1894.[1]
Today the site of La Plata is surrounded by private land, which has helped preserve a few old cabins there. Mining machinery and collapsing shafts also remain as traces of the old silver mines.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Carr, Stephen L. [June 1972] (1986). The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns, 3rd edition, Salt Lake City: Western Epics, p.18. ISBN 0-914740-30-X.
- ^ a b c d Thompson, George A. (November 1982). Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures. Salt Lake City: Dream Garden Press, pp.177–178. ISBN 0-942688-01-5.
- ^ Peterson, F. Ross (January 1997). A History of Cache County, Utah Centennial County History Series. Salt Lake City, Utah: Utah State Historical Society, pp.183–184. ISBN 0-913738-10-7.
[edit] External links
- La Plata at GhostTowns.com
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