The Emma Silver Mine is a currently inactive silver mine near

Alta, Utah Alta is a town in eastern Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 383 at the 2010 census, a slight increase from the 2000 figure of 370. Alta is centered in t ...

, in the United States. The mine is most noted for an attempt in 1871 by two

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

business promoters, including Senator

William M. Stewart William Morris Stewart (August 9, 1827April 23, 1909) was an American lawyer and politician. In 1964, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Personal Stewart was born in Wayne County ...

and James E. Lyon, to make a profit by promoting the depleted silver mine to

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

investors.

Origins

In the Spring of 1871, promoters Senator

of Nevada, and James E. Lyon from Wisconsin, attempted to sell the "worked-out" Emma Silver Mine at

Alta Alta or ALTA may refer to: Acronyms * Alt-A, short for Alternative A-paper, is a type of U.S. mortgage * American Land Title Association, a national trade association representing the land title industry * American Literary Translators Associatio ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

to British investors. Lyon owned the mine along with

Trenor W. Park Trenor William Park (December 8, 1823 – December 13, 1882) was an American lawyer, political figure, and businessman. He was most notable as a founder of the Republican Party in California, and for his Republican leadership roles in Vermont, ...

and Henry H. Baxter at an estimated $1.5 million worth. Stewart had been sending bogus ore samples from other deposits to get people in England excited about buying out the Emma mine.{{citation needed, date = October 2011 Stewart claimed that the mine could be sold for $5 to 8 million in England. As a reward for Stewart's effort he was to receive a percentage of the profits from the sale of the depleted silver mine.McFeely (2002), Grant: A Biography, pp 328-329D., E.G. (NYT) 1893Emma Mine Scandal (NYT) 1876

British investment

To get the people of England to invest, Stewart and Park got U.S. ambassador,

Robert C. Schenck Robert Cumming Schenck (October 4, 1809 – March 23, 1890) was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, and American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in Jack ...

, a Grant appointee, to be named on the director’s list. Schenck gave his name and reputation to get English people to invest in the phony mine in exchange for shares in the company. Many British speculators invested millions of pounds in the exhausted mine. Secretary of State

Hamilton Fish Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808September 7, 1893) was an American politician who served as the 16th Governor of New York from 1849 to 1850, a United States Senator from New York from 1851 to 1857 and the 26th United States Secretary of State fro ...

and Grant discovered the indiscretion and advised Schenck on November 21, 1871 to drop his name from the mine. Schenck did so on December 6, however he delayed severing his name with the mine until January 12, 1872, time enough for himself and other investors to sell their shares at a profit. The mine was sold to English investors for a sum of $5 million. The scandal was exposed by a U.S. Congressional investigation in 1876 led by the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Schenck was reprimanded by the House investigation committee, but not charged with any crimes.

Notes

External links

Emma Mine at MiningSwindles.com
Mining companies of the United States Buildings and structures in Salt Lake County, Utah Silver mines in the United States Mines in Utah