Utica Bullion Mining Company Records

Collection

Identifier: 98-32

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Utica Bullion Mining Company Records primarily consists of correspondence to Samuel Campbell from Walter Schmidt, providing reports of mining and milling operations of the Utica Bullion Mining Company and of the operations of the Desert Crystal Salt Company. Schmidt’s letters provide details of the acquisition of property, mining, and water rights, dam construction on the Humboldt River, financial and legal issues, labor management, general progress and operations. There are a few letters from other individuals in Nevada and elsewhere, and some letters from Campbell to Schmidt.

Other documents contained in the collection include legal documents such as contracts, mining laws, water and mineral claims, deeds, agreements, abstracts of title, certificate of incorporation, bylaws, and court orders. There are a few financial items; several newspaper clippings related to mining news; and maps of Humboldt Lake, showing various town and mining sites, the company’s dam, and other man-made structures. The collection documents real estate acquisition, dam construction, tax matters, and labor management (the company employed both Native Americans and Chinese manual laborers).

In addition to documenting the Utica Bullion Mining Company and the Desert Crystal Salt Company, there are some financial materials related to the Oneida Mill and Mining Company.

Dates

1864-1911

Creator

Utica Bullion Mining Company (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials must be used on-site; advance notice suggested. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Administrative History

The Utica Bullion Mining Company was organized and incorporated in Oneida County, New York, on April 14, 1866 by [Oramus] B. Matteson, D. Minor, K. Johnson, Alrich [Aldrich?] Hubbell, and Ellis H. Roberts. The company headquarters were in Utica, New York, but their operations were in the Lake View Mining District, Humboldt County, Nevada.

The company operated a gold mining and milling operation which was installed beginning in November 1866. Documents within the collection do not clearly state who the general manager was at that time but by the 1870s Samuel Campbell, a New York attorney, was overseeing the operations on behalf of the corporation, while Walter Schmidt was the firm’s agent in Nevada. The company secured extensive land and water rights on bluffs above the Humboldt Sink and built a dam on the Humboldt River to ensure sufficient water for its operations. Part of the manual labor was supplied first by Native Americans in that area, and later by Chinese. Mining operations peaked in the 1880s and 1890s; the dam and mill properties were sold in about 1902.

The company also operated the Desert Crystal Salt Company which had its operations at White Plains, Churchill County, Nevada. According to a billhead in the collection, the Salt Company mined, milled, and sold table, dairy, meat and stock salt. Another company in which the corporate parent seemed to have interest was the Oneida Mill and Mining Company.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Utica Bullion Mining Company was a gold mining and milling company located in Humboldt County, Nevada. The Company's manager was Samuel Campbell of Oneida County, New York; the Nevada agent was Walter Schmidt. Schmidt also managed the corporation's Desert Crystal Salt Company operations at White Plains, Churchill County, Nevada. The collection includes extensive correspondence between Walter Schmidt and Samuel Campbell, providing reports of mining and milling operations at the Utica Bullion Mining Company and the Desert Crystal Salt Company, development of water rights and dam construction on the Humboldt River, labor management (including that of Chinese and Indian laborers), finances and legal issues; legal documents such as contracts, mining laws, water and mineral claims, deeds, agreements, abstracts of title, certificate of incorporation, bylaws, and court orders; financial records in the form of tax receipts and invoices for goods and services; newspaper clippings related to mining news in the region; and manuscript maps of Humboldt Lake, the company's dam and its destruction, and various towns, mining sites, and other built features.