3895

Castlegate,UT - Carbon County - c1890 - Wilderness Photograph :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Photographic Images Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 200.00 USD
Castlegate,UT - Carbon County - c1890 - Wilderness Photograph :
Cabinet card overlooking two old cabins in a beautiful snow filled valley with imposing mountains in the background. Measures 8" x 5", mounted on a beige cardstock matte measuring 10" x 8". Contrast is medium, with some fading noted. Focus is good. While several spots are visible on the image, overall condition is fine. Matte has visible waterspots, nail holes in each corner, and multiple spot along the left border. On the reverse is written "Castlegate, Utah," in pencil; while "I AM FROM THE NEW CHEAP STORE…WHICH HANDLES DRY GOODS AND NOTIONS…PRICES RIGHT…If Our Goods Suit You Tell Your Friends, if Not Tell Us. NORMAN BROS., Fairview, Utah." The cabin or building in the right of the image appears to be incomplete, but there appears to be wood stacked next to the door. The cabin to the left appears to be much smaller. A fair amount of vegetation is visible, with a line of trees stretching up the mountain to the left. Castle Gate is a mining town located in eastern Utah, about 90 miles SE of Salt Lake City, Utah. The towns name came from a rock formation near the mouth of Price Canyon featuring two sheer sandstone walls on either side of the Price River, which "open like a giant gate" as one approaches this narrow piece of the canyon. The first coal mine, called Castle Gate Mine #1, opened around 1886, after the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad constructed its Utah Division over the Wasatch Plateau from the town of Springville, Utah. In 1914, Castle Gate was incorporated as a town, and was owned and tightly controlled by the Utah Fuel Company and the D&RGW. Castle Gate Mine #2 opened in 1912, and was found to have the finest coal in the region, while a third mine opened in 1922. The town is most famous for two historic events: 1) on April 21, 1897, Butch Cassidy and Elzy Lay held up the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in a broad daylight at the railroad station in Castle Gate, stealing $7,000 in gold. 2) On March 8, 1924, the Utah Fuel Company's Castle Gate Mine #2 exploded, killing 172 miners in what was the third-deadliest disaster in US coal mining history at that time, and is the tenth deadliest at present [Ref: reference.findtarget.com/search/Castle%20Gate,%20Utah].