Special Collections & Archives
Manuscript Group 143
The Empire Copper Company
Records, 1900-1946
99 l.f.
This descriptive inventory of the papers of the Empire Copper Company in the University of Idaho Library was prepared by Judith Nielsen in February 1982.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EMPIRE COPPER COMPANY
The property of the Empire Copper Company, the largest producer of copper in the state of Idaho, is located on a steep mountain side 3 1/2 miles southwest of the city of Mackay in Custer County. At the height of its production it consisted of 38 mining claims, a smelter capable of handling over 500 tons of ore daily, and a 7 3/4 mile Shay railroad connecting the mines and smelter.
The mine, which was opened about 1884 and worked at various times, was originally organized under the laws of West Virginia as White Knob Mining Co. It was reorganized as White Knob Copper Company on April 24, 1900, under the laws of New Jersey by San Francisco millionaire John W. Mackay and engineer Wayne Darlington, who became president and general manager of the company respectively. They were responsible for a great deal of development work, the construction of a large smelter, and an electric railroad. In 1901 E.J. Mathews succeeded Mackay as president, and in 1902 he was succeeded by Henry J. Luce. Wayne Darlington and his staff resigned in the spring of 1902 after a dispute with Luce and Darlington was replaced by S.F. Boyd, who in turn was replaced by Percy L. Fearn.
In October 1904, after seven different managers had tried unsuccessfully to operate the property at a profit, the company was placed in the hands of a receiver. It was purchased by George W. Young of New York on March 18, 1905, for $1 million. He immediately transferred the property to a New York consortium which, in February 1905, had organized the White Knob Copper and Development Company. William H. Brevoort of New York was brought in as managing director and he requested Frank M. Leland, who was manager of the mining machinery department at the Risdon Iron Works in San Francisco and who also had a reputation of being a practical mining man, to assume the position of general manager. Leland arrived in Mackay in June with instructions to dismantle the plant and wind up the affairs of the company. While looking around the property he found several thousand tons of low grade copper ore which he thought could be successfully smelted. He began selling off surplus machinery, some property the company owned in Mackay, and arranged for leasers to do the mining. In late June he started the smelter and eventually shipped twenty five car loads of high-grade gold and silver bearing copper matte before shutting down the smelter in the late fall. After convincing the owners that the mine could be operated at a profit he began ordering new machinery and also replaced the expensive electric railroad with a Shay locomotive.
On October 17, 1905, Ravenel Macbeth leased the entire White Knob property and in 1906 and 1907 the mine was known as Macbeth Lease.
Organized under the laws of Maine on May 29, 1907, the Empire Copper Company, Ramsey S. Bogy principal financier, purchased the property of the Macbeth Lease and the White Knob Copper and Development Company for one million dollars. Frank Leland was named president and general manager of the new company, and the New York firm of Hobbs and Seeley was engaged to act as brokers for the Empire's stock. But in October the price of copper fell so low that Leland was forced to shut down the mine and Hobbs and Seeley offered to repurchase the stock it had sold. The mine remained idle in 1908 and 1909; the only ore shipped was that taken out on assessment work. During this time Leland left Mackay for California where he salvaged the Balaklala mine, another mine owned by William Brevoort, and also purchased a mine of his own in French Gulch, California. Acting manager at the Empire, John J. Fitzpatrick, kept Leland informed of conditions in Mackay while Leland traveled extensively in California and Nevada. In December 1909 Leland resigned as general manager of the Empire Copper Company, but remained as its president and was always available for consultation with the new general manager Ralph Osborn, who had been working with Leland in Mackay since 1905. In 1910 and 1911 the mine was again operated on the leasing system.
In 1912, after serving two years as general manager of the Waldo Consolidated Gold Mining Company in Josephine County, Oregon, Leland rejoined the Empire as general manager. The mine began shipping its ore to the Garfield, Utah, smelter where John J. Fitzpatrick kept an eye on the weighing and sampling, and sent frequent reports back to Mackay. Copper prices remained high, and in June 1913 the Empire Copper Company declared its first dividend.
In June 1915 a wealthy Ogden business man, L.R. Eccles, and his associates purchased the Empire Copper Company, but made no immediate changes in the management; they also continued the leasing system. The year 1915 was also the most prosperous one for the mine, June shipments broke all previous records.
In mid 1916 the management of the Empire changed. L.R. Eccles replaced Leland as president and Joseph Eccles replaced Ralph Osborn as vice-president. By the end of the year both Leland and Osborn had resigned from the company.
Frank M. Leland, who spent ten years developing the mine from a failure into the largest, most successful copper mine in Idaho, was the only long term manager the mine had. After he left the company they again had a succession of short term managers.
A three mile aerial tramway to replace the 7 1/2 mile Shay railroad was constructed in 1917 and 1918 at a cost of $125,000. Labor problems caused a reduction in ore output, and by 1919 the mine was operating exclusively on the leasing system.
In April 1920 the bookkeeper was arrested for embezzlement, and in January 1921 the general manager, Morton Webber, was apprehended on the same charge. With these financial losses, coupled with the low price of copper, the Empire was unable to pay its bills. In July 1921 the company was placed in the hands of a receiver, and on August 5 the mine was totally shut down.
Eccles and his Utah associates reincorporated the company under Idaho laws on October 8, 1921, renaming it Idaho Metals Company. The mine was operated exclusively by leasers until 1927. This system did not permit the necessary development of the Cossack Tunnel and in early 1928 the company was again placed in the hands of a receiver.
The holdings of the Idaho Metals Company passed out of the hands of the receivers in late May 1928 when the property was purchased by A.J. Anderson and W.E. Narkaus of Victoria, B.C., who immediately sold it to the newly formed Mackay Metals, Chase A. Clark, president. The mine and mill plants were entirely rebuilt, the mine rehabilitated, and an active development campaign started which resulted in the discovery of a large tonnage of new ore in the Cossack tunnel. Lack of money again plagued this new organization and the company suspended operations in August of 1930. Although the leasers continued to work, they stored all their ore. In 1931 the property was sold to the county for taxes.
Although the company remained in receivership until 1939, some leasers worked on the property. In 1937 G.M. Tomle of San Francisco held an option on the property with the Custer County Commissioners, but lack of funds prevented him from doing any work.
Organized by a group of Mackay businessmen for the purpose of operating the old Mackay Metals property, the Mackay Exploration Company acquired the property from the county commissioners in May 1939 and by December twenty sets of leasers were at work; the mine was rehabilitated and reopened to the 1000 foot level, the Cossack Tunnel, at the 1600 foot level, was also reopened and development started. In April 1944 work began under an RFC loan for $45,000 in rehabilitating the mill and power plant for the purpose of conditioning mill and mine for production of 100 tons of ore daily. W.P. Barton became manager of the Mackay Exploration Company in 1945 and a year later he reorganized the company into the Custer Copper Corporation. The mine continued operating under this name until 1950 when it reverted to its former name of Mackay Exploration Company. The mine was idle except for sampling until 1960 when it became the property of R.V. Lloyd and Company, a partnership of R.V. and H.U. Lloyd. The Idaho Inspector of Mines annual report lists the property under this name from 1960 to 1965. In 1968 the report again lists the property under the Mackay Exploration Co., but as an inactive mine. In 1971 the Mackay Exploration Co. was on the inspector's forfeiture list and the Empire group of mines is listed under Lost River Mines, Inc. From 1972 until the inspector's final annual report in 1974 the Empire mines are listed under Honolulu Copper Co., leased to Ivie Mining Company.
Due to the discontinuation of the Inspector of Mines annual report in 1974 further information on the company is not available.
SOURCES
The Copper Handbook. Compiled and published by Horace J. Stevens. Houghton, Michigan. 1903, 1909
Idaho. Inspector of Mines. Annual Report. 1901-1974
Leland, Frank Milton. Letters contained in the Empire Copper Company papers.
Mackay Miner (newspaper) various issues.
The Mines Handbook. New York, H.W. Weed. 1916, 1918, 1926, 1931
Mines Register. New York, Atlas Publishing Company. 1937, 1940, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1952, 1956.
Umpleby, Joseph B. Geology and ore deposits of the Mackay Region, Idaho. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1917.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Empire Copper Company papers (including its predecessors, the White Knob Copper Company, White Knob Copper and Development Company, and Macbeth Lease, and its successors, Idaho Metals Company, Mackay Metals, and Mackay Exploration Company) are contained in 293 small file boxes, bound journals and letterbooks. Included are a great deal of correspondence, both corporate and personal, legal papers, scrapbooks, financial journals, and a variety of company reports.
The correspondence of the Empire Copper Company spans the years 1900 to 1946 and includes the routine business correspondence, letters ordering supplies and equipment, correspondence with the smelter and railroad, and official reports to government agencies. Among the more interesting letters are those between company officials detailing mine operations, and more especially the personal letters of the general manager, Frank M. Leland, from which one learns the early history of the mine.
Other material contained in this archival group includes leases, deeds, contracts, accident reports, articles of incorporation of Mackay Metals, several financial ledgers, a 1907 scrapbook containing newspaper articles about the company, information on stocks, cancelled checks, and various reports from departments of the company.
In addition to the Empire Copper Company papers there is also material relating to the investment company of Hobbs and Seeley, the Mackay Development Company, the Balaklala Copper Company in California, the Waldo Consolidated Gold Mine Company in Oregon, and several smaller mines with which either Frank Leland or LeRoy Eccles were associated.
This collection is extremely important for students of mining as it provides a virtually complete record of the operation of Idaho's largest copper mine during its most productive years.
The contents of this archival group are related in more detail in the following Description of Series.
PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION
The papers of the Empire Copper Company have been separated into categories by type of material. The correspondence is arranged chronologically by year and month, then alphabetically within each month. From 1921 on the volume of correspondence decreased, therefore these letters are alphabetical within each year. County, state, and federal officials are arranged by their official title within the county or state, or by the government agency which they represent.
Legal papers have been separated by type, and each group is filed chronologically. Leases are arranged numerically within each year, invoices are separated by year and then arranged alphabetically; all other material, reports, checks, bills of lading, etc., is in chronological order.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
I. Correspondence (1900-1946) Boxes 1-44
II. Legal Papers Boxes 46-51
III. Journals and Scrapbooks Boxes 45, 52-123
IV. Vouchers Boxes 151-187
V. Miscellaneous Boxes 192, 193, 202-206
VI. Mine and Smelter Reports Boxes 188-191, 194-201, 207-292
DESCRIPTION OF SERIES
I. Correspondence, 1900-1946.
The first 44 boxes of this archival group contain the corporate correspondence of the Empire Copper Company. These letters deal with the ordering of machinery and supplies, the selling of surplus machinery, reports of mine output, and smelter settlements. There are also letters between the company and their legal representatives, correspondence with the Oregon Short Line Railroad officials, and, of course, letters from people applying for jobs.
From July 1907 to March 1908 the investment firm of Hobbs and Seeley handled the sale of Empire stock. Many of this firm's letters are contained in the file boxes.
There are also many personal letters of Frank Leland, general manager from 1905-1916, in which he mentions his opinions of the mine owners, their faith in his abilities as manager, his hopes for the mine, and his despair when copper prices fall. During Leland's tenure at the mine he was also involved in other mining projects and there is much correspondence relating to the Balaklala Consolidated Copper Company of Coram, California, and the Waldo Consolidated Gold Mining Company, Josephine County, Oregon. Other correspondence relates to the Mackay Development Company which owned the water works in the town of Mackay and which was affiliated with the copper company. This company was reincorporated in 1912 as the Idaho Improvement Company.
Letters between officials of the company contain detailed accounts of mine operations, smelter settlements, and other financial matters. In 1917, during agitation at various mines by the I.W.W., the Empire employed a detective, or operative, and several of his reports to the Globe Inspection Company are also included.
After 1918 the volume of correspondence decreases considerably. There is no correspondence for 1926, nor for the period 1931-1934. The years 1935-1946 contain only a dozen unimportant letters.
II. Legal Papers
The Empire Copper Company's legal papers are contained in five boxes, three of leases, one of deeds, one of contracts, and one of miscellaneous papers.
For many years the Empire Copper Company operated on the leasing system, that is, the company leased portions of its mines to individuals in return for royalty payments based on a percentage of the settlement the leasers received from the smelter on the ore they had shipped. Each lease indicates the area leased, the royalty to be paid, the legal responsibilities of the leaser, and also contains a blueprint of the leased portion of the mine. Leases were let on October 1 and expired September 30 of the following year. For the leasing year beginning October 1, 1912 only lease 8 is available, for 1913 there are 24 leases, for 1914 there are 40 leases, for 1915, 17 leases exist, for 1916, the most complete record of leases, 61 of the 63 leases are available, in 1917 there are 11 leases and in 1918 only 2 leases exist. There is one Idaho Metals Company lease for 1922, and one Mackay Metals lease dated 1928.
In the early deeds (1900-1901) the names of James N. Hanrahan and Wayne Darlington are very prominent. Included among the deeds are warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, (including the August 21, 1908 quitclaim deed, White Knob Copper Co. to Empire Copper Company), letters patent for homestead certificates, mining deeds dating from 1898 to 1902, White Knob Copper Co. lot deeds, twenty-five notices of mining locations (1900-1902), and White Knob Copper Company water deeds. Included among the papers relating to the smelter are notices of the purchase of the White Knob Copper Co. by George W. Young and his subsequent transfer of the property to the White Knob Copper and Development Company, and also the Macbeth Lease quitclaim deed in favor of Empire Copper Co. The final items in this box are official Proof of Labor forms dated 1901-1906, and papers dealing with the Empire's purchase of the Sultana group of mines in 1913.
Among the contracts are ore contracts between the Mammoth Copper Mining Co. and the Balaklala Consolidated Copper Mining Co., and a 1903 ore contract between American Metal Co. and White Knob Copper Co. There is a medical contract between Dr. S.T. Patterson of Mackay and the Empire Copper Company employees dated 1911, various proposals of manufacturers to furnish equipment to the company, timber sales agreements with the Forest Service, a 1901 agreement between White Knob Copper Co. and Edgar C. Bradly to have the Oregon Short Line Railroad construct a branch line to the smelter, a memorandum of agreement between C.K. McCornick and Ramsay Bogy for the transfer of Empire Stock, and official lease releases for the years 1913-1917.
Included in the box of miscellaneous legal material are items relating to accidents at the mine, annual reports to the state of Idaho for 1913, 1916, and 1917, several insurance policies, reports of lesser activity, and plat maps of the village of Mackay and of the Empire Copper Company's power line. In 1927 the Mine & Smelter Supply Company commenced a suit against Idaho Metals Co. for non-payment of invoices for mill equipment purchased between 1921 and 1925. The First National Bank of Ogden was named as a party in the suit and the papers relative to the bank's position are included in this box. Among the corporate documents are copies of the White Knob Copper Company directors' meeting of February 23, 1898, the charter of the company dated 1900, a list of 1902 officers, and the 1903 Idaho certificate of incorporation. The bylaws of the Empire Copper Company are the only documents relating to that company in this folder. Material relating to Mackay Metals includes the bylaws, the minutes of both the first directors' meeting and the first stockholders' meeting, and a printed Complaint and Summons in the case The County of Custer, State of Idaho vs. Mackay Metals, dated September 23, 1941.
III. Journals and Scrapbooks
This series consists of one box of income tax records, six rolls of loose journal pages, and sixty-six bound volumes. The volumes were arbitrarily numbered in 1962 when the collection was received by the library and a preliminary list was compiled. It was not deemed feasible to rearrange and renumber the volumes, therefore in the following list similar items are brought together and listed chronologically. The number preceding the identification indicates the volume being described.
Alphabetical Indexes
79. List of personal names followed by a number which may indicate a file folder number.
80. Same as above but listings include personal, corporate, and expense entries.
Corporation Records
63. Mackay Metals, June 1928 - October 1930. Book contains Articles of Incorporation and minutes of meetings.
76. Buckskin Mining & Milling Co., Mackay, Idaho. 1919.
89. Needles Mining & Milling Co., Mackay, Idaho. 1919-1928.
Financial Records
105. Cashbook, Mackay Metals. June - October 1928.
52. Journal, November 1903 - January 1905
101. Ledger. November 1903 - March 1905. Arranged by type of equipment or company from which it was purchased.
92. Ledger. June 1907 - January 1909.
91. Ledger. January 1909 - January 1913.'
90. Ledger. January 1913 - December 1918.
65. Ledger Memorandum. June 1916 - August 1918.
45. Tax Papers: Empire Copper Company Federal Returns; Capital Stock Tax. 1916, 1917, 1918; Corporation Undistributed Net Income. 1917; Corporation Excess Profits. 1917; Annual Net Income, Manufacturing Corporations. 1912; Empire Copper Company County Property Tax. 1910, 1914-1921; Macbeth Lease County Tax Receipt. 1906; Mackay Development Company County Tax Statement. 1911, 1914; Mackay Metals. Memo of Income. 1929
100. Trial Balance. September 1912 - December 1915
64. Water Rates Collection Book. May 1908 - April 1912
67. Water Rates Ledger. 1911-1928
66. Water Rates Ledger. 1915-1932
Insurance
99. Policy Register. Liverpool, London & Globe Co. January 1929 March 1932
Inventories
93. White Knob Copper Company. January 1904
94. White Knob Copper Company. October 1904
Mine Records
104. Affidavits of Labor. 1907-1928
102. Affidavits of Labor, Index. 1908-1927
103. Affidavits of Labor, Index. 1928-1933
74. Custer County. Record of Mining Claims. 1907-1912
75. Custer County. Record of Mining Claims. 1912-1917
73. Custer County. Record of Quartz Location. 1917-1932
84. Lumber Book. 1918 (Lumber received from various sources)
72. Mine Samples Ledger, including copper assay. August 1929 May 1930
68. Ore in Transit. April 26, 1912 - October 27, 1916
71. Ore in Transit. October 1916 - August 1925
96. Ore Settlements, leasers. December 1910 - July 1912
69. Ore Shipments, Washington Mine. January 9 - March 4, 1908
121. Ore Shipments, Company & leasers. 1913
118. Ore Shipments, Company & leasers. 1915
78. Ore Shipments, leasers. July 1920 - June 1921
77. Ore Shipments, leasers. September 1923 - August 1925
85. Supplies Sold. September 1912 - May 1915
86. Transportation. Coal and other freight hauled to Cossack Tunnel. August 1914 - March 1917
87. Transportation. Coal deliveries to smelter. May December 1916
123. Transportation. Record of Mine Cars Moved. April May 1916, January - March 1917
120. Transportation. Daily Record of Transportation Department. July 1917 - August 1918
122. Transportation. Record of Trips. January - August, December 1917
88. Transportation. Car Records (length of time cars were in smelter yard) January - December 1918
81. Transportation. Record of Cars Loaded. undated
82. Weight Record of Coke, Sulphides, and Coal. February 1905 - June 1907
83. Weight Record of Coke, Sulphides, and Coal. June - August 1907
Scrapbooks
53. Engineering and Mining Journal metal quotations. August 3, 1907 August 17, 1907; August 29, 1908 - July 20, 1910
54. Engineering and Mining Journal metal quotations. January September 1911
97. Empire Copper Company articles. July 1907 - November 1907
98. Newspaper articles on copper prices. August - November 1907
Telegrams
55. Pencil copies of telegrams sent by Empire Copper Company personnel. November 1919 - February 1921
Stocks
109. Stock Blotter. Empire Copper Company. July 1907 - March 1908
70. Stock Ledger. Mackay Metals. June 1928 - August 1929
115. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. June - October 1928
116. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. December 1928 - November 1930
110. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. January 22 - February 19, 1930
111. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. February 19 - March 14, 1930
112. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. March 14 - April 10, 1930
113. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. April 10 - November 15, 1930
114. Stock Receipts. Mackay Metals. November 15 December 11, 1930
117. Stock Receipts. Gold Bond Mining Co. July October 1922
Time Records
107. Time Book. June - October 1904
106. Time Book. July 1904 - March 1905
56. Time Book. June 1907 - October 1907
57, Time Book. November 1907 - April 1908
62. Time Book. March - April 1908
58. Time Book. August 1909 - June 1912
59. Time Book. July 1912 - April 1914
60. Time Book. September 1916 March 1917
61. Time Book. November 1917 May 1918
119. Time Records-Payroll Sheets. April 1917 December 1918; August October 1912
IV. Vouchers, 1905-1921
These printed forms indicate the item purchased, from whom it was purchased, and to which company account it was charged. Company settlements with lessors are included in this group.
V. Miscellaneous
Listed below, in box number order, are the items included in this series.
192. Mackay Development Company water rent receipts. 1906-1908
193. Mackay Development Company water rent receipts. 1909-1913
202. Lists of material needed for construction of the aerial tramway. 1917
203. Typed commissary receipts; orders on pay checks; Jeffrey Manufacturing Co. proposal for a flue dust elevator; commissary inventory of dry goods, 1920; Civil Works Administration reports, 1934; employee-compensation records, 1939-41
204. Specifications for the 560 raise; list of Empire Copper Company stockholders, February 1920; lists of claims; summary of daily expenses; outline of accounting procedures; State Insurance Fund rates; U.S. Bureau of Mines forms.
205. Boarding house coupons; lubrication recommendations; several blank Idaho Metals Company First Mortgage 87. refunding and convertible gold notes; cloth notice to employees regarding the medical fund, October 22, 1913; card with picture of smelting works; twelve blueprints:
1. Plan and elevation of discharge terminal for tramway
2. Plan and elevation of loading terminal for tramway
3. Foundation for blowing engine
4. Air Compressor
5. Hopper Bottom Car
6. Manganese steel jaw & cheek plates for crusher
7. No. 7 special steel plate press exhauster
8. Distributing car for locomotive crane
9. Mixing beds with mixer for use with above
10. Details of square set framing
11. Map of lease 11
12. Plat of scrip filings of Oscar A. Turner in Gila Co., Arizona
206. Smelter inventory, 1920; mine warehouse inventory, 1920; machine and air rental to leasers, 1919, 1920; lists of outstanding checks, 1920; various payroll records from leasers; classification of employees by Workmens Compensation Act, 1920; list of leasers for 1915; production by leasers, 1914, 1915, 1917.
VI. Mine and Smelter Reports
The final series of this archival group consists of the various daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly reports prepared by the different sections of the company. The types of reports are listed below in alphabetical order. The numbers following the heading indicate the numbers of the boxes in which the material is located.
Assay Certificates. 234-242
Among the companies doing assay work for the Empire Copper Company were Alonzo F. Bardwell, Black & Deason, Criamon and Nichols, Idaho Metals Co., International Smelting Company, and R.H. Officer & Company. There are certificates for the years from 1903 to 1946.
Balance Sheets. 245, 246
There is an incomplete set of balance sheets for the Empire Copper Company for the years 1905-1924; those present for Mackay Metals are June and December 1928 and May 1929 to April 1930. There is also a set of 1915 balance sheets for the Balaklala Consolidated Copper Company.
Bills of Lading. 249-254; 255-266
There are six boxes of bills of lading for Empire Copper's Shay railroad spanning the years 1913-1918. The other boxes contain the 1917-1940 bills of lading from the Union Pacific System (Oregon Shortline Railroad Co.)
Boarding House. 283
This box contains two inventories of boarding house supplies dated January and August 1920. There are also printed forms for a daily statement of revenue and expenses on which the number of meals served, the supplies purchased and supplies sold are indicated.
Financial Ledgers. 247, 248
Included in this category are accounts receivable ledgers for 1940-1941, an expense ledger for 1939-1941, a ledger of lease accounts also for 1939-1941, and a smelter operations ledger for 1906-1907.
Freight Bills. 268-273
Bills from the Oregon Short Line Railroad Co. for materials shipped to the copper company from 1915 to 1929 are contained in these boxes.
Mill Reports. 281
The daily reports of mill operation include running time, down time, the reasons for the shut down, the tonnage of ore through the mill, and the amount of oil of various types used. The reports for the years 1928-1930 are available.
Mine Reports. 281
This box contains the weekly mine report forms for the period January to June 1917.
Moisture & Weight Reports. 243
These are reports on moisture and weight on ore received at the smelter in Garfield, Utah. There are reports for the years 1912, 1928-1929 and 1939-1942.
Official Order Sheets. 197-201
These are the carbon copies of orders sent to suppliers for material ordered by the mine office during the years 1907-1921.
Operating Reports. 244
These reports for the years 1919-1921 include payroll distribution, the geographical distribution of leases, ledgers with leasers accounts, and the cost of production.
Ore Movement. 279
These daily report forms have figures for the amount of ore moved over the tramway and through the mill. They also include the copper assays of the ore. Reports are available for the period November 1924 to January 1926.
Ore Production. 278
These printed forms have space for the number of mine cars loaded, from which part of the mine the ore originated, and the type of ore it was. There are reports for the years 1914, 1917, 1918. Also included in this box are monthly reports on copper production made to the U.S. Geological Survey from May to December 1918.
Ore Shipments. 274-277, 280
The information included on these forms to trace ore shipments includes the railroad car initials and number, the weight of the ore, the location from which it was mined, and the character of the ore. Shipping records for the years 1912-1924 are available.
Ore Shipments and Settlements. 267
These typed sheets, issued monthly, list the amount of ore shipped by both the company and the leasers from 1912 to 1923.
Requisitions. 194-196
These boxes contain leasers' requests to the company for supplies. Requisitions are available for the years 1905-1945.
Settlement Sheets. 188-191
There are ore settlement sheets from American Smelting and Refining Co. in 1923, Garfield Smelter for the years 1916-1924, and the International Smelting Company for 1924-1931, and 1939-1944.
Shift Foreman's Report Book. 293
There are 13 books for the year 1917 in which each shift foreman recorded the numbers of hours or shifts worked by each man under him.
Smelter Office Papers. 207-233
The several reports maintained for each lot of ore shipped to the smelter include assay reports from the mine's assayer, e.g. R.H. Officer & Co., the assay report from the smelter, the certificate of weight from the smelter, and the final settlement sheet. The records for the years 1913-1921 and 1928-1930 are contained in these boxes.
Stenographers' Notebooks. 292
This box contains 16 books for the years 1913-1914.
Time Cards. 284-291
The individual time cards for men employed by the Empire Copper Company, Mackay Exploration Company, Idaho Improvement Company, Empire Copper compressor men, Idaho Metals Company mill, and Weiler Lease during the years 1911-1930 are contained in these boxes.
Transportation. 282
This box contains the daily record of the transportation department for the years 1916-1918. Information contained on the form includes the amount of ore brought down on the Shay, the number of Oregon Short Line car filled, the number shipped, the number of Shay trips up to the mine by day and by night, the record of freight taken to the boarding house and commissary, and the amount of coal and construction material hauled by the Shay engines to the various points on the company property.
July 1997 / mg143.htm
| 