Settled in: Copper galena ore was discovered in the newly-formed Lucin and Islet Mining District in 1870 by early miners
Origin of Name: A small mining camp at the north end of the Desert Range of Box Elder County, named after the copper fields found in the area
Original Name: Some old maps list the camp as Copper Hill
Known for: Early pioneer expeditions, including Bidwell-Bartleson in 1841 and the ill-fated Donner-Reed Party in 1846, bogged in the mire of the area’s salt flats, making progress extremely slow and laborious; no other party would attempt to cross the West Desert after the tragedy of the Donner-Reed Party until historian Charles Kelly crossed the area in 1927, recovering many articles discarded by the Donnor-Reed Party as they lightened their load of heavy possessions, including George Donner’s wooden chest which he buried with $15,000 inside, and was never found
Location: Southwest of the Lucin Cutoff’s Newfoundlands rail stop, and accessible only on poorly maintained dirt roads
No population figures for this rural southern Box Elder County, Utah ghost town & mining community
Source: “Some Dreams Die: Utah’s Ghost Towns and Lost Treasures,” by George A. Thompson