BRADSHAW MINING DISTRICT (UTAH). RECORDER

Agency History #3204

CREATION

The Bradshaw Mining District, organized 1 May 1875 at Bradshaw Springs, was one of several mining districts organized in Beaver County in the 1870s. Bradshaw District boundaries included the western slopes of the Mineral Mountains, which are included in Utah's southern most major mineral belt. Mining in this area prospered throughout the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The Bradshaw District was organized according to established custom and federal law which allowed individuals to claim mineral wealth in the public domain (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 17, 1872, chap. 152). In the nineteenth century miners in local areas organized districts to manage mining operations and elected recorders to keep a record of claims. In 1897 the Utah Legislature enacted a mining law which transferred responsibility for keeping mining records to county recorders (Laws of Utah, 1897, chapter 36).

FUNCTIONS

According to federal mining law, enacted in May 1872, claims could extend 1500 feet along a lode with 300 feet on either side. Federal law required the completion of at least $100 worth of labor annually in order to maintain claims. Bradshaw by-laws specified that any person discovering a lode or deposit of mineral bearing rock or ore should locate and record the same by placing a monument of stones not less than two feet high or a stake not less that three feet high at the point of discovery and similar monuments or stakes at each of four corners. Locators were also to sink a shaft at least two feet deep at the point of discovery. Bradshaw District recorders kept records of claims in well bound books which they provided at their own expense. Recorders were required to visit the ground of each claim to see that the claim was properly marked before making a record, and also to visit claims annually to ensure that the annual assessment labor had been satisfactorily completed.

ADMINISTRATION

Recorders were elected for one year terms and were required to be residents and claim holders in the district. For each recording they were entitled to collect a fee.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

Bradshaw District recorders appointed deputies to assist them in carrying out their responsibilities. In 1897 the Utah Legislature enacted a mining law which transferred responsibility for keeping mining records to county recorders. (Laws of Utah, 1897, chapter 36). At that time the records of the Bradshaw District were transferred to the Beaver County recorder's office.

DISTRICT RECORDERS
T.F. Colwell	1875, May -
James Gallup	1884, Jan- 1895, Jun
Hans Davidson	1895, Jun-1897, May

COMPILED BY: Rosemary Cundiff , February 2003

SOURCES

Bradley, Martha Sonntag, A History of Beaver County. Utah State Historical Society; Beaver County Commission (Salt Lake City: 1999).

Bradshaw Mining District (Utah). Recorder. Mining records. Utah State Archives (Series 23987).

Laws of Utah, 1897, Chapter 36. Utah State Archives (Series 83155).

Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, 1872, vol. 17, chap. 152. Published by authority of Congress, Boston: Brown, Little and Company.

United States, General Land Office. Mining district by-laws. Utah State Archives (Series 3651).