Smelting at the Ironworks in 1857

On April 8, the steam engine arrived from Great Salt Lake City and the next day they hauled it to the ironworks. On April 13, they commenced clearing an area 32’ x 18’ for the foundation of a two-story building to house the new engine, gearing and equipment. On the 21st, they hauled rock for the foundation. On the 27th they laid the foundation and pit of the engine house that would house the steam engine and flywheel. Next they laid the timbers to support the cylinders of the engine and the flywheel and counter-wheel.

According to the company ledger, they continued “fitting up” the steam engine and working on the new engine house. On May 26, they commenced on the adobe work of the engine house and completed it on June 3.

The Minutes contain no entries in June but from the company ledger it is clear that they continued working on the engine, flume, boiler, flues, flywheel, and gearing along with the furnace with its hearth, bose, tuyers, stack and its lining.

The Early Ironworks in Cedar City

On July 8, they started the engine and had a successful trial run but found that the boiler fire had insufficient draft. On July 13, they lined the boshes and installed the timp stone in the blast furnace to prepare for a run. After relining the stack they tried the steam engine. However, there was still insufficient draft for the fire. In addition, the engineer wanted to raise the furnace stack by 20 feet, which they worked on until July 23.

Continuing to work on the problem of insufficient draft, on July 27 they ran an inclined flue from the engine firebox to the furnace stack and shut down the old underground flue. They tested the engine again and found it considerably improved. Next, they installed a charge into the furnace through the top of the stack. The charge consisted of coke, charcoal, limestone and a mixture of “magnetic” and “lean” ore. On July 28, they put the blast to the furnace to initiate the smelting process. It worked well initially but late that evening, one of the boiler flues to the engine “sprung a leak,” causing a shutdown. While they repaired the leak, the blacksmith forged a new part for the force pump to replace the part that was found to be too small.

On July 30, they “put on the blast” again. However, a cloudburst caused a flashflood in the creek. Soon the flume delivered muddy creek water to the steam engine and deposited sand in the cylinders. They were forced to stop the engine in the predawn of August 1. Quickly, they determined to solve this new problem by constructing a reservoir. That would allow sediment in the creek water to settle to the bottom of the pond and allow “good clear water” to flow to the boiler of the steam engine. Immediately, they “made a call on the brethren” and a large gang of more than 40 men plus teams responded. By that afternoon, they had completed a pond measuring 75’ x 25,’ which they lined with “fire clay” and gravel and filled with water. Filling the engine boiler, they renewed the blast in the furnace. But soon Isaac Haight discovered that one of the valves on the steam engine had broken, jamming the receiving pipe. The blacksmith forged a new valve, which the engineers installed in the engine.

On the evening of August 1, they resumed the blast in the furnace. At dawn on August 2, they tapped the hole of the base of the furnace and “run a little iron.” Excitedly, the furnace keepers reported that it was “better than they ever noticed from so short a run in any country.” This judgment proved premature, however, as they would be dogged by repeated mechanical problems and technical challenges. The engine “worked pretty free all day” but by evening the charge within the furnace appeared “cool and stiffer.” They tapped the hole at the base of the furnace and found plenty of “cinder” but very little iron.

On August 3, the furnace was “in the same state” so they decided to alter the mixture of the raw materials in the charge – coke, charcoal, limestone and iron ore – by increasing the limestone, eliminating the charcoal, and increasing the percentage of lean ore to “magnetic” ore. The next day, the charge, or burden, in the furnace was still “very stiff.” They also had to dig out the “tweers” [sic, tuyers] at the base of the furnace several times during the day.

And so it continued. On August 13, the furnace was “about the same.” Continuing to experiment, they increased the limestone in the charge. Tapping the furnace that morning, they found “bogus” but little iron. The lining of the furnace was made of adobe brick rather than firebrick, making it less resistant to high furnace temperatures and requiring that it be replaced periodically. Now they found that the burden pressed “too heavily” and the lining “came down too quickly.” They tapped the hole several more times but also determined that they would have to “blow out” the furnace and “take down the lining.” They tapped again on the 14th but shut down the blast on the 15th and were “taking out the bear” (the residue of slag and iron). Unfortunately, they only found “some little iron in the bear.” On August 17 and 18, they rebuilt the interior of the furnace by replacing the lining and reinstalling the hearth and boshes.

On August 20, they “[p]ut fire in to warm [it] up.” Next day in the late afternoon, they began filling the furnace with wood and coke followed by limestone and ore, which continued all night. Continuing to experiment with the mix, they installed coke, limestone and ore in altered proportions.

On August 22, they put the blast to the furnace. For several days, they alternated between tapping the hole and refilling the furnace, always adjusting the mix in hopes of improving the results. By August 25, the furnace was “not working very well” and when they tapped the hole, it produced cinder but very little iron. Periodic tapping continued but produced the “same kind of stuff.” The furnace was working “very bad” but still they continued the run, always tinkering with the mix of raw materials in the charge.

There is a lacuna in the record from August 25 to September 5, perhaps because of other pressing concerns in that busy season. Evidently, they continued the run because the record resumes on September 5 with the notation that the furnace was “working very middling” but they continued to tap the hole. They saw some improvement but determined to “clean out the congealed stuff . . . and start afresh.” The next day they “got the bear out” and installed a new hearth and timp stones in the base of the furnace.

On the evening of September 6, they “put fire in” along with 20 charges of coke and pinewood down the stack. After that, they placed the limestone and ore, again adjusting the mix of the burden. By the evening of the 7th they had completed the charge and were ready to “[p]ut on the blast.” The furnace worked “very well” that night so that when they tapped the hole the next morning they netted 75 pounds of iron. By adjusting the limestone burden, their next tap produced even “more iron and less cinder.” This continued with the tap on the evening of the 8th and in the wee hours of the morning on the 9th. Continuing their experimentation, they changed the limestone burden to “Creek limestone.” They continued tapping and recharging with varying results until September 13 when the Minutes break off.

The record resumes on September 26 with no explanation for the lacuna. They began a run that continued through September 30 when they stopped the blast. The Minutes note that in November they held their annual company meeting, but there were no further runs that year.

This summary is based largely on the Deseret Iron Company Minute Book for 1857, supplemented by information from the company ledger book.