Provo Canyon was the main route for explorers, trappers, Indians, and Spaniards to access the eastern Uintah’s from Utah valley, which makes it a great area to search for old mines and symbols. This picture was taken in 1910 and shows a freight wagon crossing the Provo river.

Petroglyphs

While exploring the hills near the mouth of the canyon, we came upon an area covered with petroglyphs. This snake symbol is one of my favorites found there. The pictographs are located on the Cascade side of the canyon and were very easy to miss since they are so faded. Clearly there was a strong Native American presence in the canyon for many years.

Guard Quarters

Not far from these carvings is a little known national historic site called Provo Canyon Guard Quarters.  The Guard Quarters in Provo Canyon was one of three fortifications built in Utah during what was called the “Utah War”, a bloodless conflict between the United States Government and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1857 – 1858). At the end of the “Utah War” the Guard Quarters was used as a lookout post for Native American activity, especially during the Black Hawk Indian War of 1868. After the war the quarters were abandoned and fell into ruin. The foundation walls can still be seen today among the oak and dry grass.

This axehead was Found between the old guard quarters and the Indian writings. This may have been used in one of the skirmishes between the guards and the local Indians.

Upper Falls Mine

A good friend of mine located this old tunnel in 1990 while surveying Provo Canyon for the expansion of the then two-lane road.  While hiking from one survey point to the next they stumbled upon the small opening.  In 2005 he told me of the discovery and that he never did go inside since he is terrified of entering old mines. My curiosity got the best of me and my brother and I then re-located the old mine a few weeks later.  The entrance was almost completely buried by the sluffing off of the hillside above it, and there were no typical signs of most early 1900’s mines around. With how many early explorers used Provo Canyon as a path from Utah Lake to the higher valleys, this mine could be a very old one.

The back of the mine looked more like a natural cave than a mine. There were no drill holes or other marks that I could see to give me any indication of when this tunnel would have been driven into the mountain. At the very back was a soft pile of dirt (you can see as the dark brown in the image above) that I began to dig through. Almost instantly I was overcome with powerful sulfur fumes and had to abandon the effort. I never did return to see if anything could be there, but this mine is definitely one of the older ones I have ever seen.

Old Spanish Mine Located

I found an old article that describes the location of an old Spanish mine in upper Provo Canyon “above Moon’s Mill”.  If you can locate the old mill, maybe you can find the old mines?

Salt Lake Herald – Republican  –  April 14th, 1898

Provo Canyon Locations

Coalville, Utah, April 12 – Location notices were filed for record today by Messrs. Benion Green, William Peterson and Zebedee Coltrin of Woodland, for the Old Spanish mine and the Poor Mans mine, situated in upper Provo canyon, above Moons mill. Some development work has been done on the claims, and the owners feel very much encouraged with the prospects.