Page 75

Before the end of the year 1889 Stanton returned with another party of 12 men and three boats to continue the survey. It may be that the names of the first survey crew together with the initials and word "DCC+PRR Survey" appearing on the cliff wall at the mouth of Mystery Canyon mark the dividing point between the two surveys (Historical site 135, see below). The work of surveying was carried on through Marble and Grand canyons to the Gulf of California where it was completed in April, 1890. During the course of the survey in the lower part of Glen Canyon, several gold placer claims were staked by the members of the party including R. B. Stanton. The first of these was the "San Juan Placer," (Historical site 97) just above the mouth of the San Juan River. Below the San Juan the "Denver", "Anna", "Jean", "Colorado Placer", "Henry", and the "New York State" were staked out by the Stanton surveyors. It does not appear that the Denver, Colorado Canyon, and Pacific Railway Company made any move to proceed with railroad building or with mining. However, the next year, 1891, a company was organized in Denver to mine in the canyons. R. B. Stanton probably had some interest in the firm. A prospecting expedition under J. D. Best, using the boats of the second Stanton expedition and employing some of the same personnel, made a trip from Green River, Utah, to Lee's Ferry during July and August, 1891. Enroute it is reported that a good many of the bars in Glen Canyon were staked out but it is not evident that the company ever undertook mining operations. The expedition had expected to go on through Marble and Grand canyons, as Stanton had done, but these plans were abandoned at Lee's Ferry; some of the party went on by pack train to prospect in the Grand Canyon, some returned to Glen Canyon to mine there. The largest enterprise in Glen Canyon during the gold rush was the operation undertaken by the Hoskaninni Company, formed probably in 1897, of which Robert B. Stanton was Vice-president, engineer, and superintendent. During the course of the railroad surveys for the Denver, Colorado Canyon, and Pacific Railway Company, undertaken a few years before, Stanton had learned of the mining possibilities of Glen Canyon and staked some claims in the canyon as noted above. The Hoskaninni Company planned to install a gold dredge designed to handle large quantities of sand and gravel in a short time and thus return a profit where the individual miner working with primitive equipment could not subsist. Operations were begun in 1897. A crew often or more men began to stake claims and others tested values on bars, terraces, and river beds with a heavy drilling machine. It was determined to begin operations in the quiet stretch of river above Bullfrog Rapids in the upper canyon. 75Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 14,049,280 byte