William Tecumseh Barbee
Besides John Kemple, the next most significant person responsible for developing Silver Reef into the boom town it became, was William Tecumseh Barbee. With the help (funding) of his partners, Barbee would develop two mining areas in Silver Reef: Tecumseh Hill, which he would sell its collection of mines to the Christy Mining and Milling Company. Following that, he developed the Barbee & Walker Mine and Mill that would continue to operate until 1916.
Barbee’s Beginnings
Unfortunately, no known picture of Barbee exists. He was born December 1831 in Greencastle, Warren County, Kentucky. In 1847, the family moved to Weston, Platte County, Missouri. At age 28, he served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War being a private in the First Missouri Cavalry.
By October 1869, Barbee was the mining recorder for the Clifton Mining District near Tooele, Utah. The next year he was engaged in mining in Tintic, Utah. In the nearby Ophir District, he discovered and located the Silveropolis and Silver Chief claims. He served on the committee that prepared a code of mining laws for that district. In 1874, he built himself a prospecting cabin. Eventually, he sold the Silveropolis mine to the Walker Brothers for $27,000.
Sent to Silver Reef
In 1875, a prospector from Silver Reef sent a sample of horn silver to the Walker Brothers. These were four affluent brothers in Salt Lake City firmly involved with banking and State politics. Knowing Barbee’s expertise in the silver mining business, they dispatched him to what was known then as the Harrisburg Mining District to investigate.
Arriving in June 1875, Barbee was enthused when he found this unusual circumstance of silver in sandstone. He even reported that silver was found inside petrified wood. He located 22 claims on what he called, using his middle name, Tecumseh Ridge. He then hurried back to Salt Lake City for supplies.
Returning in October, knowing that there could be a potential silver rush, he laid out a proposed townsite named Bonanza City, hoping to also cash in on a potential real estate development. It would have been situated just south and east of current-day Silver Reef. His plan included a racetrack, assay office, blacksmith shop, sampling works, boarding house, and several wick-a-ups. He even planned a miner’s supply store. But the land Barbee offered for sale in the new town was expensive, so nobody bought his land. Instead, a tent city arose nearby, called the Rockpile. When the rush occurred, Rockpile became Silver Reef City.
Tecumseh Hill & Bonanza City
On August 23, 1875, Barbee recorded the Barbee mine for himself and the Walker claim for one of the Walker brothers, Joseph R. Walker. He returned to Salt Lake City in September to obtain supplies and funding. The Walker brothers had no faith in the mining district and turned over their claim to Barbee and they refused to finance him further.
The following month, Barbee returned to Silver Reef. In November, when Barbee was passing by a resident in a wagon, it skidded, tearing up soft rock in the road for several feet. Barbee stopped to inspect the rock and found it to be rich in chlorides of horn silver.
By December, Barbee filed several more claims near the area where the wagon skidded. It was also about this time when he began setting up his real estate venture of Bonanza City close by. As this was going on, Barbee continued to report his doings to people in Salt Lake City, and a flood of prospectors soon arrived and staked more claims.
It was also in December that Barbee shipped his first ten and one-half tons of ore to Salt Lake City for milling. The ore was assayed at $502 per ton, looking very appealing to would-be prospectors. In reality though, Barbee sent ore that was already sorted and was “high grade” to make it look more valuable. It wasn’t ore that was taken directly out of the ground.
Later, Barbee sent more ore for milling to Pioche, Nevada. This ended up bringing more attention to miners there that later resulted in what would become known as the Pioche Stampede (to Silver Reef).
The End
Although Barbee bought and sold stakes in mining claims and operations, making big amounts of money along the way, he died in 1896 of heart failure without a cent to his name.