Penn-Wyoming Smelter, Encampment, Wyo., 1907

The smelter was constructed primarily of wood. The twelve wooden storage bins had a capacity of one hundred tons of ore each.

wooden fram work for the ore bins, Penn-Wyoming Smelter, Encampment, Wyo.

The history of the Grand Encampment Mining District, to a great extent, is the history of the rise and fall of the Ferris-Haggarty or Rudefeha Mine and the Penn-Wyoming Copper Company, capitalized at $10,000,000.00. Copper was discovered by Ed Haggarty in 1897 with his claim filed the following year. The first load of ore out of the area assayed at 33% copper.

Encampment, Wyo., looking south, 1908.

Encampment, Wyo., looking south, approx. 1940. Photo by William P. Sanborn.

In 1898, the town had a total of four buildings. Ten years later at its peak, Encampment had a population of about 2,000. Three years later after the collapse of Penn-Wyoming, the town had a population of about 200. Other towns established in the Mining District, Battle, Dillon, Elwood, and Rambler faded from existence.

Aerial Tramway, Encampment, prior to 1908

The tramway was completed in 1902 with the first ore delivered in June, 1903. The tramway had 370 towers and utilized 985 buckets traveling at 4 miles per hour to move the ore from the mine at Battle, Wyo. There were three cable stations each approximately four miles apart. The cable operation was powered by wood fired steam engines.

Cable Station no. 1, Grand Encampment Mining District, approx. 1903.

Haggerty's discovery of copper was not, however, the first discovery of mineral wealth in the area. As early as 1874 copper had been discovered in the area. Gold bearing quartz had been discovered at what later became the Kurtze Chatterton Mine as early as 1864. Active mining commenced across the border in Colorado near Hahn's Peak in the early 1870's with the formation of the Hahn's Peak Gold & Silver Mining Company in 1874 and the Hahn's Peak Wagon Road Company two years later.

Aerial Tramway, Encampment, prior to 1908, Boston-Wyoming Smelter in the background.

The town and the Ferris-Haggerty Mine were actively promoted by lawyer and novelist Willis George Emerson (1856-1918). Emerson is regarded as the founder of Encampment and is remembered in the name of Emerson Blvd.

Willis George Emerson

Emerson, himself, was a member of the State's commission for the promotion of the state at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Emerson was involved with the North American Copper Co. which had acquired the operation from the original developers. North American Copper Co. went broke. The operation was purchased by the Ferris-Haggarty Copper Mining Co. which itself became financially embarrassed and found it necessary to sell to Penn-Wyoming in which Emerson was involved. Emerson moved to California where he was involved in the promotion of the Imperial Valley, mining in Death Valley and the "Carlsbad Consolidated Oil Company." Like all of Emerson's promotions, it used grand newspaper promotions and promises of grand returns. Somehow magically Emerson always emerged unscathed, wealthier, and leaving bankrupt companies and indicted associates in his wake. His last major pomotion was the Emerson Motor Company which promised to build a five passenger motor car that would achieve about 24 miles to the gallon and sell for $395.00. Promotional literature written by Emerson depicted the vehicle. Unknown to the investors, the depiction of his proposed car was redrawn vehicle from another motor car manufacturers catalogue. The engine was planned to be purchased from another manufacturer. No design had ever been made of the car except in the imagination. In 1916, the New York Tribune did a major expose which excited the interest of the United States Department of Justice. Emerson, along with others, was indicted. One of the more interesting items of testimony was that Emerson delegated to an employee the job of bribing a United State District Attorney in Boston. Emerson was however able to avoid trial and possible conviction by being confined to bed, paralyzed and dying.

In March, 1905, the smelter burned. It was rebuilt. The Grand Encampment Herald, May 3, 1907, reported that 40,000 tons of "blister copper" was leaving Encampment daily. Blister copper is an intermediately refined copper 98.5 to 99.5 percent pure. It is so called from its blackened blistered appearance. On May 10, 1907, the smeler again burned. Again, the smelter was rebuilt with the most modern equipment. At the same time, operations were hampered by the lack of a railroad to carry the refined copper to a railroad. Coke for smelting operations were required to be brought in from Walcott by freight wagons and the copper hauled out in the same manner.

At the same time that the Company was suffering from the damage wrought by the fires and lack of railroad transportation, a multitude of law suits were brought by shareholders of the various companies contending that various actions of the respective boards of directors were fraudulent. While this was going on, the writers of the industry bible, The Copper Handbook blasted the company for not providing full balance sheets and for payming dividends when at the same time it found it necessary to issue additional stock to pay for its operations. The writers contended that if such practices continued "Penn-Wyoming is liable to follow its predecessor, the North American, to the scrap-heap."

As a result and in the face of various lawsuits, the Company reorganized as the United Smelters, Railway & Copper Company. But the damage was done. The Copper Handbook apologized for its errors, admitting that an "an injustice, unintentional, but none the less real, was done Mr. Cobb [the president of Penn-Wyoming], and for which a voluntary apology is tendered herewith." The Handbook noted the corrective actions of the Company: