Bingham Canyon through the Eyes of a Company Doctor

Bingham Canyon through the Eyes of a Company Doctor

BY RUSSELL G. FRAZIER

Thanks for asking me to write about Bingham. At present I am just an old snook fisherman — no typewriter, nothing but memories of the good people that made up Bingham Canyon. My memories become cluttered as I turn back the pages of time to 1918 up to the exodus, when the town was evacuated in 1961 to make room for the expansion of the Copper Company. I started to work for Dr. D. H. Ray. My conveyance was a big black horse, my salary $100.00 per month, room, board, and experience. My competitors were Dr. J. F. Flynn and Dr. F. E. Straup, the mayor of the town. These old doctors were great guys — well qualified in their work and very friendly to the young doctor, who knew it all. They came to my rescue on many occasions. Dr. Flynn had the Apex Mine contract. Dr. Straup held the U.S. Mine and Highland Boy Mine. While Dr. Ray was the "Utah Copper Doctor."

There was plenty of work for all of us. The Bingham District including Lark had a population of about 9,000 people. At one time Bingham had 17 different nationalities — including one Negro, Billie McCloud, an old teamster. Billie did not know that he was a Negro. He lived up Freeman Gulch and associated with the whites on equal terms until his death.

Mr. Charlie Adderly the manager of the Bingham Mercantile Company was one of our grand persons, whom I remember most kindly. Many were the bills of groceries Mr. Adderly handed out the back door of his store knowing well that he would not get paid. During the depression years there were very few people in Bingham that did not owe him a grocery and clothing bill. How he managed to carry all of them I will never know. He told me one day that most of the people had repaid him.

Louis Buchman, "Lou" as he was affectionately called by everyone, was one of Bingham's greats. He started to work in Bingham as an underground "mucker" at $2.50 per day and worked his way to the top. My first "invite out" to dinner was at his home. Lou lived up Markham Gulch on a mine dump. After the meal I tilted my chair back on its two hind legs, as they gave way I fell through the front door and landed on the back of my neck in the front yard. During the depression Lou was concerned how his people were getting the medicine they needed. He told me to put a number on their prescriptions and arranged with the drug store that they be charged to him, personally, unknown to the patient until this day. Whenever I delivered a baby for an employee's wife I always told him and a bunch of flowers was sent to the home. He had come up the ladder by hard knocks and knew what it meant to be poor. He was born in White Russia and was brought to this country as a small child. Mr. D. C. Jackling, the Father of the low grade porphyries, told me personally, that Louis Buchman was the greatest miner that had ever lived, that he could move more rock faster and cheaper than any person he had ever known. His employees loved him.

I must mention Mrs. Breckon, Grandma Mayne, and Mary Jane Crow. These good women spent many nights on the reception committee to most of Bingham's future citizens. I have seen them wade through snow up to their waists to be at the side of some girl when she was having her first baby. The comforting presence of these kindly women holding the hand of a girl in pain, made my work much easier. We delivered over 4,000 babies in homes and without an infection, which speaks volumes for the good care these women gave in homes of Italians, Greeks, Slovakians, and just plain Americans. Many of these mothers could not speak one word of English. The children from these homes are some of Utah's finest first citizens.

We lived through floods, fires, snow slides, and mine disasters that brought us close together. You could count on everyone in town being where needed — serving coffee and food to the workers, comforting the bereaved, hustling clothing for freezing children, opening their homes to the homeless, and being the good neighbor. A more kindly group of people never lived.

When I pass over the great divide I want Annie and Phoebe Masters to sing at my funeral. These sweet girls have sung at most of the Bingham funerals and have comforted the hearts of many people.

We have had some great characters too. Joe Berger I think tops the list. Joe came to Bingham as a mortician and has run the gauntlet — cigar store, pool hall operator, and souvenir salesman. Joe tells of the big shooting in Bingham — the Lopez man hunt. When an outlaw by the name of Lopez killed several men, Joe was to bury one of the victims. There was no money. So Joe dressed the victim in a black suit, put his gold watch chain across his vest, a cigar in his mouth, and a plug hat on his head, stood him up in the back of his funeral parlor and charged admission to see him. Joe said he had enough left over for flowers.

One day while passing by Berger's "Nest," I heard a big commotion on the inside. Joe was stripping a young dude of his trousers. The fellow owed Joe a bill and would not pay him. The poor fellow caused quite a scene as he ran up the street in his shirt tail looking for a policeman to get his pants back. Where else could these things be done outside of a roaring booming mining camp?

Another character that every one in Utah knew was Dr. A. L. Inglesby. Besides being a good dentist, Doc, as everyone called him, ran the Bingham-Salt Lake stage line, the garage, and had one of the finest rock collections in the state. Bill Fahrni the manager of the Lark Mercantile came over to have Doc put an inlay in a tooth. After the metal clamps, rubber dam, and pads were in place, the phone rang. Doc grabbed his hat and flew out of the office, telling Bill he would be back in a minute. After about 45 minutes the phone furiously rang. It was Doc, calling from Midvale. The stage driver had not shown up and he had driven the stage to Salt Lake — completely forgetting his patient. He told Bill to go down stairs and get the druggist to cut him loose.

There were several gathering places in town — The Copper King, Berger's Nest, and Doc Woodring's drug store. The center of attraction at the drug store was a nickel slot machine where everyone contributed their small change and listened to the juciest and latest gossip.

On Saturday afternoon the "good" women and their daughters did not come uptown. The girls from "up the street" started their parade to the Doctor's office for their weekly check up. At one time there were over 50 of these girls in town. As they came rustling down the street in their silks and satins and big picture hats, the pool halls all emptied on to the narrow steps out in front. Of course no one spoke. This was "etiquette."

The narrow street was part of Bingham — seven miles long and 40 feet wide with a narrow strip of concrete for a side walk. The houses were built back up the mountainside. My roof was your front porch and running right down through the center of town was the open sewer — no stench and no bacteria. You probably wonder why we did not all die from some epidemic. The copper water from the mines killed both stench and bacteria.

Bingham was not all pool halls and speakeasies. We had four churches that were well patronized. The L.D.S. Church always had a missionary in the field. The churches sponsored scouting. Men like Bishop Lyons and Reverend Lester Fagan did a great job with the young boys of the camp. The community house in Highland Boy was run by Miss Ada Duhigg a Deaconess. This was a great religious and culture center and an inestimable influence for good. Her gym was always full of boys and girls. The basketball teams were made up of all nationalities and religions, as were her Sunday School and church services. She was a shining light to a community of over 2,000 people, who did not have another church in the District. She was a very much loved individual.

We had good schools with devoted teachers, such men as Tommie McMullin, Joel Jensen, Howard Hausknecht and many others. The State of Utah could use a page out of Bingham's Book. We had no juvenile delinquency. The word was not heard. Basketball and baseball were run by the American Legion. There was scouting, both for the boys and girls, and everyone participated.

When you realize we were a polyglot of nationals you may wonder at the truthfulness of the above statement. The boys and girls were made to mind at home. The teachers were wonderful disciplinarians. From these foreign born parents came doctors, lawyers, teachers, mining men, financiers. The present sheriff of Los Angeles County is a product of a Greek home from Bingham Canyon.

Ivy Baker Priest, a national figure, was from a home up Carr Fork. Her mother ran a boardinghouse, her father lost his leg in the mine. Ivy was a born leader — in her church a Sunday school teacher, in school the center of activities. Ivy was born to be great; she always had a smile and a cheery hello for everyone she met.

Bingham is very proud of Ivy Baker Priest, Mitchell Melich, Elliott Evans, Dr. Andrew Controtto, Dr. Lamar Marriott, Dr. Peter Pitchos, John Creedon, and a myriad of others. I could name names ad infinitum.

I am very proud to have been a part of this fine old mining town. They were happy years working with these hard working men and women. They are scattered throughout our valley towns still working at the mines, still being good neighbors and fine citizens — proudly looking back on the years to the town that was Bingham Canyon.

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