Beaver Mining District (Utah). Recorder
Abstract
Biography/History Notes
Beaver prospectors were originally allowed to claim only 200 feet along a lode, with the exception that the original discoverer was allowed an extra 200 feet. Miners increased the allowed amount when by-laws were revised in 1871. Locators were allowed ten days to have the claim recorded by the district recorder. Until claims had been permanently worked, a location notice was required on the ground. Maintaining claims required ten days work, revised to one hundred dollars worth of work annually.
Miners in the Beaver District elected John Ward Christian as district recorder and commissioned him to keep a faithful record of all claims in a legible hand and in a suitable book which was to remain open for public inspection. By-laws gave him final say in all disputes.
Beaver Mining District by-laws authorized the district recorder to appoint deputies to assist him in carrying out his responsibilities. The Beaver District recorded only a handful of claims and operated only 19 months.