In 1872, mining entrepreneur George Hearst (father of Wm. Randolph
Hearst of Hearst Castle fame) paid Mr. Budan $27,000 for the
Ontario Mine. The mine rewarded George Hearst with a fortune of $50
million during the time he owned it.
Mr. Budan moved to this area - the mortgage rolls show - in 1883.
He was later described as having had a falling out with his friend
Mr. George Hearst (hummmm wonder why.) But I do not think it a
coincidence that he and Mr. Hearst owned property in the same
county. While living here he sought oil and drilled throughout is
property attemping to find it. Just days after his death in 1908,
while the family continued drilling for oil, sulpur water was
instead found - a delightful 178 degrees hotspring. The hot tub
here is still available to customers - 100 years later.
In the Uintah and Blue Ledge districts, both at Park City, near
tributaries of the Weber and Provo rivers, is the famous Ontario
mine, discovered in 1869 and in 1883 developed to a depth of 800
feet. The vein is in a quartzite formation, the pay-chute being
several hundred feet in length, and about three in width. Up to the
close of 1883 the total output exceeded $17,000,000, of which about
$6,250,000 had been disbursed in dividends, the ore producing on an
average about, $106 per ton in silver, and the yield being
remarkably uniform. The cost of mining and milling, with other
expenses, was $33 to $34 per ton, and was largely increased by the
flow of water, which was at the rate of 2,000 gallons per minute. A
huge pumping-engine of the Cornish pattern had been erected at the
mine, with power to drive a double line of 20-inch pumps at a depth
of 2,000 feet.70
BUDAN, Herman (Mortgagee) Bank of SLO (Mortgager) 1/9/1883 Book
of Maps at "H-543"