Booms and Busts
MINING AND PETROLEUM EXPLORATION vJ intah County is noted for its natural resources. Industrial activities have included mining for Gilsonite, coal, copper, iron, oil shale, ozocerite, wurtzilite, and asphalt. Tales of gold in the Uinta Mountains have been numerous. Three of the first settlers—Wilbur Carlson Britt, Finley Britt, and Peter Dillman—came to Utah in 1872 prospecting for gold. Wilbur Britt had been given a m a p by an old prospector who claimed there was a rich mine near Carter Creek. The men searched until fall; finding no gold, they came over the m o u n tain and lived with Captain Pardon Dodds at Whiterocks that winter, moving to Ashley Valley the following year. Many early settlers and cowboys were part-time prospectors. By 1888 Gilsonite (a hydrocarbon) had been discovered in the county, and Gilsonite mining was one of the first large commercial undertakings. Local cowboys and Indians had been aware of the black substance from a vein near Fort Duchesne for m a n y years. W h e n John Kelly became the blacksmith for the Indian agency at Whiterocks, he needed coal for the operation of his forge. He described the material to the Indians and asked if any had been seen 130
