There are many stories that can be told about the old mining towns in Tooele County. We could talk about how many tons of gold that came out of Mercur. We could talk about the ores of Jacob City (Dry Canyon) and Ophir. Sad tales of fires, cave-ins, and premature deaths have been related to us concerning the old mining areas. But one of the best stories I've heard is about a mule. Yep, you read it right, a mule named Jeff.

Old Jeff (now I really don't know how old he was, but since the story takes place around 1940, I'll call him old.) was a big mule and a strong mule too. He lived in an old building outside the entrance to the middle Buckhorn Tunnel in the hills above the town of Ophir in the summer months but moved inside the tunnel during the winter.

Now Jeff and a bunch of miners who lived in Ophir actually worked in the Hidden Treasure Mine in Dry Canyon. The miners would have to hike(and quite a hike it was!) up the side of the mountain from town to the adit of the Buckhorn Tunnel. This tunnel intersected with another tunnel deep inside the mountain that went to the Hidden Treasure on the other side of the hill. The miners would enter the tunnel and walk through to the intersecting tunnel and then to work in the Hidden Treasure. It is estimated that is was about a two mile walk up the mountain and then on through it to the other side. Well, when the men got up to where Jeff lived, only one of them would stop, pick up Jeff and go to work. See, old Jeff pulled the ore cars out ofthe tunnels that were being extended. Jeffwas very strong and could pull several full ore cars at a time. A good worker was old Jeff, but he was pretty picky who he worked with! Not everyone could hook him up to the cars or unhook him at the other end. I don't know exactly how long he worked there for sure but J. Dean Zentner, who was one of his work mates says that before he started working with him, Jack Johnson was Jeff's partner. Dean said that at one time, old Jeff was even working a double shift every day. Dean worked with him on day shift extending the right-hand tunnel of the Buckhorn and his brother Bill teamed up with him on night shift extending the lower Buckhorn.

On initial examination one wonders if Jeff was mistreated doing all this ore-hauling and working like a mule (pardon the pun!). Well, at some point it was decided that they should retire old Jeff from the mining profession. He was moved down from the mountain into a nice corral near town. The only problem was, no one asked Jeff if he wanted to retire! On several occasions Jeff was sighted at the entrance to the Buckhorn, waiting for someone to take him to work. He repeatedly broke out of his residence just above Ophir and found his way to the adit of the tunnel. Jeff sure didn't act like he was mistreated! Well, that is, until they wouldn't let him go to work any more! You know what they say: "Mining really gets into your blood."

Finally, he was moved out of the canyon and away from the mining sites of Ophir where he continued in his retirement until he died of old age.

This lovely rendition of a man and a mule is truly a work of art on wood. See this piece and others that are for sale at www.artinwood.com

 
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