South Hecla Mining Company signed by George Watson founder of Alta Ski Area - Alta, Utah 1910

Beautifully engraved certificate from the South Hecla Mining Company issued in 1910. This historic document has an ornate border around it with a vignette of a woman holding up a wreath in the air. This item is hand signed by the Company's President, George Watson is over 95 years old.




Certificate Vignette

Alta had its last fling with mining between 1915 and 1917. One of the miners of the day, George Watson, was a regular on the social circuit with always a story for the ladies. Over the decade of the twenties, he went about acquiring as many mines and claims as he could, and, as the decade came to a close, George was looking pretty good, at least on paper.

In the 1920's, George Watson, appoints himself Mayor of Alta and runs the railway to and from Alta as a scenic attraction on a bus-like contraption called his "Jitney."

In the fall of 1929, his paper fortune dried up. He gave up his high living, moved into a cabin near the South Hecla Mine (near the base of Wildcat chairlift) and became Alta's sole year-round inhabitant.

With his paper fortune he also inherited a paper debt-a substantial tax bill which accrued each year. Watson had an idea. After electing himself mayor, he set about searching for something that would bring the people back to Alta. Mayor Watson loved to read and was extremely excited when he came across an article about skiing. Alta had mountains and snow. Skiers had money.

Coincidentally, the US Forest Service, along with local businessmen, also had the same ideas. It was a match made in heaven. Mayor Watson was all too happy to deed his 700 acres, which along with William O'Connors' Wasatch Mines totaled 1600 acres to be developed for winter sports by the Forest Service. Watson stayed on as mayor.

By the mid 1930's skiing in the Wasatch Mountains was in full swing. The Wasatch Mountain Club organized group tours and took on the responsibility of establishing and maintaining a small system of huts throughout the high country. One of the popular tours was to leave from Park City, ski over Guardsman Pass to Brighton, spend the night at the Rose Hotel, then ski over Catherine's Pass all the way out to Little Cottonwood Canyon.

In 1938, a group of local businessmen and ski enthusiasts formed the Salt Lake Winter Sports Association for the purpose of erecting a chairlift up Collins Gulch. They built it using parts from the old aerial tram that ran from Tanner's Flat to Michigan City, an impressive work of engineering in itself at 4 1/2 miles long. The Forest Service granted permission for use of the land and took the lead in building a public shelter for the skiers' use. It was a beautiful building with two floors made of stone and the third of a large timber beam construction. It was destroyed by an avalanche before it was finished.