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Show DUNCAN MacVICHIE, 132 C aptain MacVichie sat in a big chair in his study, watching the flames as they danced lazily in the fireplace across from him. Nearby sat his wife Pearl. At her request the captain was reflecting aloud on his long and adventurous life, while she, pencil and notebook in hand, recorded his recollections. Duncan MacVichie was born in Canada in Lancaster, Ontario, on September 20, 1857, to Scottish parents, Peter and Margaret McGregor MacVichie. He spent his first fourteen years on his father's farm, before leaving to make his way in the world. His first job was as a deckhand on a Great Lakes steamer. ( He commented that he jumped ship at Port Arthur because of the ill temper of a crusty old mate.) The early jobs were of short duration, but because of his industrious and determined nature he was never without work for any length of time. One job involved driving a horse cart for the Canadian Pacific Railroad on their construction line; the orderly precision of the engineers inching the line through the primeval forest made a deep impression on the young boy. It was then that Duncan decided to complete his schooling and to study to be an engineer. The next ten years were marked by hard work in the summer and intensive study in the winter. By the time Duncan was twenty he had been elected assessor of Iron County, Wisconsin. Another proud moment came for him when he was placed in charge of an iron mine at Hurley. This was the beginning of his career. Following the custom of the Michigan iron country, the men called him Captain MacVichie, a title that remained throughout his life. Two other mines were entrusted to his care; but a short time later, he was offered a position with Standard Oil and left to take charge of that company's mines in Wisconsin and Minnesota. There he remained until 1897. Duncan MacVichie 133 In 1893 MacVichie married Belle Corning and two years later she gave birth to a baby girl whom they named Helen. In 1897 the family left for the mountains of Utah that they believed would be better for Belle's health and where the mining prospects were good. From the time Duncan went to work for Standard Oil he gained much success and a fine reputation. He had developed a system of mining known as block caving that attracted the attention of the mining world. Captain DeLamar, operating in Mercur, Utah, heard about MacVichie and employed him as superintendent of the Golden Gate Mine. Dan Jackling was at that time superintendent of DeLamar's mill. In 1901 Captain MacVichie was hired to manage Bingham Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company. Enos Wall was then operating his concentrator in Bingham Canyon. The MacVichies' two- story brick home on Brigham Street was ready for occupancy by 1900 when he went to work for Bingham Consolidated. Belle MacVichie was not to enjoy her new home, as she died on March 27, 1900, shortly after moving into the spacious and lovely residence. It was three and a half years before a second marriage took place. In Helena, Montana, MacVichie married Pearl Davenport. She returned with her husband to take her place as mistress of the Brigham Street home, several years later giving birth to a baby girl whom they named Belle after the first wife. In 1908 a new life began for Captain MacVichie. Retiring from active management, he became a consulting engineer and mining promoter. For the next thirty years the history of his activities was written in nuning camps from Mexico to Alaska. In Nevada he built a railroad. He built another in Utah, a line connecting Wendover with Gold Hill, known as the Deep Pearl Davenport MacVichie 134 Duncan MacVichie at his charcoal ovens near Sunnyside. 135 Creek Railroad. He also constructed the Lark Branch of the Denver & Rio Grande. He had purchased a group of small claims on the east range of the Oquirrhs, the Lark Lead Mine and Brooklyn veins, and opened up the Mascotte Tunnel with its portal at Lark. When his attentions turned toward the Tintic District he extracted appreciable amounts of gold and silver from the Eagle and Blue Bell mines in Eureka and acquired claims near Mammoth adjoining the rich Centennial Eureka. Captain MacVichie climaxed his mining career in association with L. F. Raines of Carbon Fuel Company when the iron and steel industries were in their embryo stages. By 1922 they had assembled the rights to the coal, iron, water, and plant sites, resulting in the organization of Columbia Steel Company, now a subsidiary of United States Steel. As a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, MacVichie was scheduled to receive their Legion of Honor medal in New York City on February 19, 1941, for meritorious service as a mining engineer. On January 20, one month prior to this honor, Captain MacVichie died of a heart attack. At eighty- three years of age he had still been looking forward to things not yet achieved. Duncan MacVichie had served as director of the American Mining Congress and received an award for fifty years of continuous membership. He had been director of four banking institutions in Salt Lake City and Ogden and held memberships in the Alta and Commercial clubs and the Chamber of Commerce. He was also a high ranking Mason, his last rites being held at Wasatch Lodge No. 1 on South Temple and the gravesite at Mount Olivet Cemetery, it DUNCAN MacVICHLE 702 East South Temple Built 1899- 1900 Architect: Frederick A. Hale Owner: Duncan MacVichie Demolished 1960 136 |
