Camp Floyd Mining District (Utah). Recorder Mining records, 1870-1897.

When Albert Sydney Johnston's federal army completed its tour of duty in Utah, some of the soldiers stayed to prospect. They discovered silver in the Oquirrh Mountains and organized the Camp Floyd Mining District in 1870. According to already established precedent, which was validated in 1872 by federal mining law, mineral deposits on the public domain were free and open to exploration and locators of the same had exclusive right of possession (Statutes at Large, Treaties, and Proclamations, of the United States of America, vol. 17, chap. 152). In order to regulate mining activity and keep track of individual claims, local miners organized mining districts and appointed district recorders to keep records. Notices of location are the recorder's record of claims within the district. Each notice provides the dimensions of the claim and a description of its location. It names locators, gives the dates of location and recording, and identifies the claim by a unique name. In addition tolocation notices Camp Floyd mining records include the by-laws of the district.