Ophir Postcard

Ophir, Utah Some officers of Camp Douglas found out that Native Americans used homemade silver and lead bullets and ornaments. Troops of General Connor checked the region and find some primitive mining sites on the western slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains in 1865. There must have been some literate prospectors there, because one of the mines was named after the land of King Solomon's mining land, Ophir. The new prosperous city had more than 6000 inhabitants. Lead, silver, zinc and some gold was extracted from the mines. The city had its own railroad line, post office, saloons, newspaper, hotels, a town hall combined with a fire station. Some of the mines are still operating today, but the number of the population decreased radically. According to the census of 1970 the town had 76 inhabitants. Today it has 23. One of them is the sheriff.