La Plata, Utah

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.

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.cite book | last = Carr | first = Stephen L. | title = The Historical Guide to Utah Ghost Towns | edition = 3rd edition | origyear = 1972 | origmonth = June | year = 1986 | publisher = Western Epics | location = Salt Lake City | pages = p.18 | isbn = 0-914740-30-X] 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.cite book | last = Thompson | first = George A. | title = Some Dreams Die: Utah's Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures | year = 1982 | month = November | publisher = Dream Garden Press | location = Salt Lake City | isbn = 0-942688-01-5 | pages = pp.177–178] 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. By August 1891 more than 1000 miners had arrived, 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. 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. [cite book | last = Peterson | first = F. Ross | title = A History of Cache County | series = Utah Centennial County History Series | year = 1997 | month = January | publisher = Utah State Historical Society | location = Salt Lake City, Utah | pages = pp.183–184 | isbn = 0-913738-10-7]

La Plata's high elevation—about convert|10000|ft—made for harsh winters, and few people stayed after the 1891 season. 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.

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.

References

External links

* [http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/ut/laplata.html La Plata] at GhostTowns.com