Western Spring Canyon
Mutual and Rains were not the only mines in the extreme western end of Spring Canyon. There was the Little Standard mine (1925-1945) operated by the Standard Coal Company and three small family operated mines, the Day, the Vulcan and the Western. The canyon forked at the Mutual store, Little Standard was on the south fork while the Day, Vulcan and Western mines were on the north fork. Most of the miners employed by these small mines lived in the developed company town of either Mutual or Rains. That was not the case for the employees of the Little Standard mine. This tent town thrived for thirteen years until the Mutual Mine shut down in 1938and the town of Mutual was mostly abandoned. At that point the residents of Little Standard folded up their tents and moved into the vacant houses in Mutual. Evan after the Little Standard mine closed in 1945 this ground of families along with the remaining residents of Rains kept the Mutual Store alive until its eventual demise in 1954.
The western edge of Spring Canyon is also home to the legend of the White Lady. There are many versions of the legend as well as numerous sightings, mostly in the area between Latuda and Mutual. Even though the mines are closed and the residents gone, stories of sighting the White Lady continue to this day. The numerous mines and ghost towns of Spring Canyon share a history of boom town like growth followed by decline and eventual demise. They were irrevocably tied to the cyclic coal market. In the final years of the mines in Spring Canyon the miners had to listen to the radio in the morning to found out if they worked that day or not. It was a tough life lived by even tougher men and women who fueled the nation’s economic growth for many, many years.
This historic marker is located on the Price River Parkway Gold Medal Mile in Helper, Utah and was dedicated by the Matt Warner Chapter 1900 of E Clampus Vitus on July 23, 2016 (6021)
