The first ore in the area was discovered in July 1891[2] by a mountain shepherd, who brought a curiously dense rock to show his foreman.

[3] This was the first major Utah mining claim ever found north of Salt Lake City, and many northern Utahns became interested.

Lines of cabins and stores stretched along either side of the creek, forming a town called La Plata (Spanish for "silver").

[2] By the summer of 1892, companies rather than individuals controlled most of the mining, and Utah farmers who had rushed in to get rich found they couldn't compete with the experienced miners who had come from all over the Western United States.

[5] Confidence and profits were also hurt by a pair of lawsuits filed in 1892, the plaintiffs claiming to hold title to the lands where silver had been discovered.

One suit was settled in 1894, and the other decided in favor of the miners in 1895, but the litigation, including temporary restraining orders that closed most of the mines, was very bad for business and for the community.