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Angus M. Cannon: Frustrated Mormon Miner
Angus M. Cannon: Frustrated Mormon Miner
BY DONALD Q,. CANNON
THE MINING ACTIVITIES OF ANGUS M. CANNON PROVIDE a wonderful example of the personal struggle and frustration some nineteenth- century Mormons experienced when they engaged in mining precious metals. On the one hand they saw the opportunity for acquiring wealth by developing Utah's abundant minerals. On the other hand they remembered the caution against mining precious metals given by Brigham Young and other church leaders. Angus Cannon's mining ventures brought him few rewards and many inner struggles.
The second son and fourth child of George Cannon and Ann Quayle, Angus M. Cannon was born in Liverpool, England, May 17, 1834. Apostle John Taylor, who had married Leonora, sister of Angus's father, converted and baptized the Cannons on February 11, 1840.1
In September 1842 the family took passage to America with a company of Saints on the ship Sidney. An eight-week voyage brought the Cannons to New Orleans, whence they proceeded up the Mississippi to St. Louis where they spent the winter. In the spring of 1843 they arrived in Nauvoo. Angus and his brothers and sisters became seriously ill with fever and chills — most likely malaria. His father died and his sister Mary Alice and her husband, Charles Lambert, became guardians of the orphaned children.
Angus and his family took refuge across the Mississippi River in Iowa Territory in the fall of 1846. After what must have seemed an endless delay at Winter Quarters because of lack of funds, they departed for the Great Basin in the spring of 1849, arriving in Salt Lake in October.
In the fall of 1854 Angus received a call to serve a mission in the eastern United States in company with Apostle John Taylor. In New York City he assisted Taylor in publishing The Mormon. Because of the Utah War, Angus returned to Salt Lake City, arriving on June 21, 1858. Later that summer he married two sisters whom he had met in the mission field, Ann Amanda and Sarah Maria Mousley. After establishing a home for his family he started a pottery business.
Not long thereafter Angus and his family were called to the Cotton Mission, which meant moving to southern Utah to assist in colonization. In company with Erastus Snow and Jacob Gates, Angus helped select the site for St. George. In the newly created community he served in several responsible positions, including mayor, city marshal, county prosecuting attorney, and major in the militia.
Because of Angus's poor health, he and his family returned to Salt Lake City in 1867. During the last quarter of the century he earned a living from a variety of occupations, including business manager of the Deseret News, farmer, stock raiser, and mining entrepreneur.
As he served in the church as Salt Lake Stake president and as he earned a living, his domestic responsibilities increased substantially. He added four wives to his family: on June 16, 1876, he married the widow of William Mason, Clarissa Cordelia Moses Mason; and during the 1880s he married Martha Hughes, Maria Bennion, and Johanna Cristina Danielson. His six wives bore him twenty-seven children, and with the two Clarissa brought to their marriage he had twenty-nine children to rear.
Following a long and useful life he died June 7, 1915. His funeral services were held June 11 in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. A Deseret News editorial commented, "The death of President Angus M. Cannon . . . removes from mortality one of the most valiant, useful and prominent men of the intermountain country." One of the activities that had absorbed him, especially in the 1890s, was mining.
Latter-day Saints such as Angus who engaged in mining precious metals did so in the face of opposition from church leaders. This was especially true in the early years of settlement. As one historian notes, "Precious minerals were sought only through special church projects to raise money for official use, and church members were strongly discouraged from such pursuits unless they were specifically called to do so." Mormon leaders desired to prevent mining from disturbing the religious and economic order of Utah society, Brigham Young made mining the subject of sermon after sermon. With characteristic candor he said, "If you Elders of Israel want to go to the gold mines, go and be damned." The sharpness of this statement masks Young's genuine fear of the dangers inherent in mining. In another sermon he said,
The Mormon leader wanted to shield his Great Basin empire from corruption in all its forms.
Church leaders did not rule out mining for essential elements such as coal for fuel or iron for tools. As Erastus Snow explained.
Given such warning, Mormons who ventured into mining did so at the risk of developing a guilt complex at the very least. This was especially true of men who engaged in mining during Brigham Young's administration. Even after his death, however, few believing Latter-day Saints took up mining without some problems of conscience. Angus M. Cannon was no exception, as one of his journal entries in 1891 poignantly illustrates:
Despite reservations, Angus did engage in mining—perhaps influenced by positive statements about mining made by his uncle, President John Taylor—for some twenty years. The earliest references to mining in his journals occur in 1890, but his correspondence provides evidence of mining activity as early as 1877 when he apparently operated coal mines in Summit County, near present-day Coalville, Utah. The latest reference to his mining activities is found in a letter written in 1907 in which Angus lamented losing one of his farms as a result of his mining ventures.
Although his mining operations spanned two decades, the most intense activity occurred during the 1890s when Angus spent the most time, money, and energy in mining. During 1900 and 1901 the sporadic references to mining in his journal deal primarily with efforts to dispose of his mining property. During this same period he was also cutting back in his church service as he changed from stake president to patriarch.
The geographical scope of his mining activities was impressive. He developed mining properties in three Utah counties: Summit, Utah, and Tooele. He also held mining claims in White Pine County, Nevada. Most of his mining prospects were located in the Dugway Mining District situated in the forbidding desert terrain of western Tooele County. One of Utah's largest counties, Tooele extends from the western border of Salt Lake County to the Nevada state line. Much of Angus's mining activity took place near Dugway Mountain and Granite Mountain, within the present confines of Dugway Proving Grounds. Since this area is now used by the U.S. Army for testing weapons, most of Cannon's mine sites are no longer accessible to the public.
In the nineteenth century the trip from Salt Lake to the mines was long and arduous. Usually Angus took the Utah and Nevada Railway to Stockton and then traveled by horse and buggy into the desert until he reached Granite Mountain. Occasionally he traveled south via Lehi and Fairfield, following the old stage coach and Pony Express route. The southern route through Fairfield gave Angus easy access to his mining property in the Camp Floyd Mining District, southeast of his more extensive holdings in the Dugway Mining District, bordering the north side of old Camp Floyd at the south end of the Oquirrh Mountains. By either the northern or southern approach the trip was time-consuming and exhausting. Each trip took more than a day, and Angus had to camp out or stay with someone overnight.
Angus gave his Utah mining claims colorful names, reflecting the imagination and zest associated with mining in the nineteenth-century American West. His mines in the Dugway Mining District included Lehi, Gypsy, Mari, Carbinet, Rattler, Blue Rock, Ensign, and Good Luck. Some of the names he used to identify his mines in the Camp Floyd District were Ingot, Cannon, Old Grover, North Side, Little Ruth, Mormon Girl, Neela, Cap Rock, Gold Bug, and Rover.
Angus also engaged in mining in the Ophir Mining District — particularly at Mercur—located in the south-central Oquirrh Range in eastern Tooele County. His activity there occurred later than his initial activity in the Dugway and Camp Floyd mining districts. By 1897 he was in a partnership with his brother, George Q. Cannon, in the Wonder Mining Company in Mercur. Traveling to this property was easier than traveling to Dugway because by 1897 a railroad line ran directly to Mercur. The Union Pacific ran from Salt Lake to Fairfield, and the Salt Lake and Mercur line ran from Fairfield to Mercur. Also, by 1897 Angus could call his men in Mercur on the telephone. Instead of camping out and taking his own food, he could stay at the Mercur boarding house and eat his favorite meal of fried oysters, paying sixty cents for it.
Once involved in mining activities, Angus expanded outside the state of Utah, acquiring holdings in neighboring Nevada in the Eagle Mining District, White Pine County. During the mid-1890s he had as many as seventeen claims in that area. White Pine County in eastcentral Nevada, adjacent to the Utah border, contained several ore- rich mountain ranges and became a mining frontier with many boom and bust towns, including Hamilton, Cherry Creek, and Schellbourne. The Eagle Mining District was located in the Kern Mountains on the Utah border, northeast of Ely, the county seat. The landscape in this district forms a sharp contrast to the sagebrush flats in much of the rest of Nevada. The terrain is mountainous and at least partially forested, including such rare trees as the ancient bristlecone pine.
To visit Cannon's Nevada mining properties today one must travel through Delta, Utah, and Ely, Nevada, or via Wendover, Utah, if one wishes to drive on paved roads. The old Pony Express trail, just a dirt track, runs directly from Tooele County into White Pine County. Thus access from his mine in the Dugway Mining District to his mining property in Nevada was quite direct, and certainly in Cannon's time the latter route would have been preferable.
Much of his mining business was delegated to others, but especially in the early stages of development Angus spent days and weeks on site, supervising others and working himself at surveying, drilling, hauling ore, building and reinforcing mine tunnels and shafts, and installing water pumps. A good example of a busy day in the Dugway Mining District is Saturday, November 1, 1890. The day before, Angus had traveled along the old Pony Express road and arrived at Granite Mountain. On Saturday he rode his horse to visit five mines: Gypsy, Bluestone, Gray Carbonate, Lehi, and Black Dragon. He explored some of the area and inspected the mines. He and his party set off explosives and then carried ore down the mountain. He also made arrangements for storing food and blasting powder in the Granite Mountain area. Late in the day he spent time with his men, discussing plans for hauling ore to Stockton, the terminus of the Utah and Nevada Railway. At least once he became so involved he spent Christmas at his mining camp, noting in his journal, "It is Christmas Day and I am in the midst of a Desert." His personal on-site involvement occurred more frequently at the outset of his mining career and tapered off with the passage of time. Thus his early trips "into the desert" lasted for weeks, while his later trips lasted only a few days.
One of his principal tasks was hiring personnel for the mines. On Friday, December 4, 1890, he spent the day hiring men to work at Dugway Mountain. Sometimes he had to play the role of a modern labor negotiator, resolving wage disputes and improving living conditions. Friday, March 6, 1891, was payday, and he paid the men personally. Frequently the miners complained about the food. One group complained that they could not understand the German cook Angus had hired, and worse yet they couldn't stand the food he served. He hired a replacement and then had to fire the replacement. Problems over food were constant, and Angus became quite adept at dealing with them.
In Salt Lake Angus spent mine-related time in bookkeeping, buying supplies, and having ore assayed. In other words, his time devoted to this enterprise was not confined to the days he spent at the mines. In addition to time, mining required a great deal of money, and indeed he spent a small fortune supporting his various mining operations.
Initially, Cannon used his own resources to buy property and stake claims. As he developed properties his family became more involved. When demand for equipment and personnel increased, Angus borrowed money. Some borrowing was done within the family, but ultimately he had to borrow money from outside sources such as banks. Another source of funding for his mines came from business partnerships. The largest of these partnerships, the Wonder Mining Company, included family members as well as some outsiders. At one point the company officers included: George Q. Cannon, president; Angus M. Cannon, vice-president; John W. Donnelon, treasurer; Lewis M. Cannon, secretary; P. J. Quealy, manager; George M. Cannon, director, John M. Cannon, attorney.
No matter what source of funding he used, Angus was very hard pressed to keep his mines operating. His journals, correspondence, and business papers are replete with references to frustration over money matters. His sons George and Lewis strongly advised him to curtail or even stop his mining activity as early as 1891, teUing him that he simply did not have enough money. Seven years later Angus wrote about his desperate financial straits, noting that he was even considering turning over his property to his creditors. One night he awoke and began to think seriously about his decision to go into mining. After some thought and anguish he made his case a matter of prayer: "I arose and knelt at my bedside and did thank the Lord for His goodness to me and mine although I am now brought face to face with the fact that I am apparently ruined." In spite of financial difficulties Angus persisted in his mining ventures. Considering the obstacles, his tenacity is remarkable.
Although Angus worked hard at mining he enjoyed little success. Certainly he failed to strike it rich. The lack of financial success bothered him, but not enough to make him stop. He held on in the belief that he would make his fortune if he only persisted. Drilling a shaft at the Black Dragon Mine in the Dugway Mining District provides an example of his persistence and wishful thinking. In May 1891 the tunnel measured 130 feet deep. In July his sons expressed concern about pouring more money into the mine and advised him to quit if he had not found paying ore at the 200-foot level. In September drill bits broke on hard rock, but later that month Angus became excited by the discovery of some yellow deposits. To his disappointment they were not gold, but fire clay. Wrote Angus, "Such is life!" By mid- October the tunnel had reached 275 feet, and still no ore. He wrote, "I am at a loss to know what to do. My heart goes out to the Lord continually in hope that He will guide me aright." By February 1892 the tunnel reached 378 feet and by spring 500 feet. Still, he had not discovered ore of any value. The bottom line — the Black Dragon never produced.
Like a compulsive gambler Angus sometimes found himself not only hoping for the jackpot but in an embarrassing predicament as well. Early in 1891 he discovered what appeared to be a very substantial amount of silver ore. He said, "I am a millionaire once more in imaginations.'' He hurried to Salt Lake with ore samples to be assayed. He visited the First Presidency of the LDS church and bragged that he had found a silver rock that was sure to assay very high. He told his brother, George Q. Cannon, that the Lord was apparently going to try him with riches. He then told his sons that he would be one of the richest men in Utah. The next day he learned that the ore had nothing of value in it. "I made an ass of myself!'' he wrote. He was so embarrassed that he was reluctant to be in the presence of the First Presidency the next day, Sunday, when he ordinarily saw many General Authorities in a church meeting he conducted in his role as Salt Lake Stake president.
Overcoming embarrassment and the fear of poverty, he pressed ever onward in his dream of wealth. His journals and correspondence reflect both a concern about dire consequences and an unquenchable thirst for material success. Most often, however, he tells of leaving his fate in the hands of the Lord. Commenting on his recent mining losses and the attendant poverty he wrote, "I am resolved to leave all to the Lord, only praying that I may have strength, with my family, to endure uncomplainingly to the end." His financial situation became so precarious that occasionally he had to seek church assistance. Full of anxiety he wrote, "I leave the city with a sad heart realizing if I continue to work my mines and they do not pay I shall be ruined," and on another occasion he questioned whether it was God or the devil who had caused him to engage in mining,
The story of Angus M. Cannon's mining activities is one of conflict, stress, frustration, and failure. That he felt uneasy about his activity in mining is attested to by numerous statements in his papers. He, like Heber J. Grant, had serious reservations about mining. Another element in his internal conflict was his desire for success and his failure to achieve it. This lack of success raised fresh doubts about the propriety of Latter-day Saints seeking material wealth through mining. Again and again he was driven to his knees to ask that God's will be done and that he might have sufficient strength to accept that will. Always a frustrated miner, Angus, to his credit, managed to take care of his large family in spite of financial reverses related to mining, for despite his struggle to achieve material success he still wanted to live a life that would please his God.
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