CREATION

On 11 July 1870 miners in the St. John precinct of Tooele County met to organize the Shambip Mining District. Boundaries for the district extended from the school house, where they met, north to the summit of the dividing ridge of Grantsville Pass, west across the mountains between Rush and Skull Valleys, south following the base of the Skull Valley side to a point east of Look Out Station, then east to a point east of the old Faust Station. According to established precedent, which was later validated when Congress passed a federal mining law, mineral deposits in the public domain were free and open to exploration, and locators of the same had exclusive right of possession. In local areas miners organized mining districts and elected district recorders to oversee mining operations and keep records of claims. (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 15, 1872, chap. 152). The 1870s was a boom period for silver mining in the Tooele County area. Since very few claims were recorded in this district, and no claims after 1873, it is assumed that the Shambip Mining District ceased to function as an independent agency when the record stops.

FUNCTIONS

Mining districts adopted by-laws to regulate mining activity within the district and elected recorders to keep records of claims. Originally, Shambip Mining District by-laws limited claims to 200 feet along a lode, with the exception that the discoverer could claim double. Early claims listed several prospectors and identified who was entitled to 200 feet and who was entitled to 400 feet. In 1872 the Shambip District increased this limit to 1500 feet as established by federal guidelines in newly passed mining legislation. The recorder recorded claims in a substantial record book which was not removed from the boundaries of the district and which was open to the public during business hours.

ADMINISTRATION

The Shambip Mining District recorder was elected from among the miners of the district for one year terms.