A few years ago in my endeavor to locate some old goodies in our mountains, I did a considerable amount of research into old mining literature. Most of this information was located in the classified sections of our libraries.

We have, near by, a ghost town, Mercur, which had burned down many years ago. The mining Reviews said power was supplied by the first 40,000 volt line in the world. This line ran from Provo to Mercur. I was interested in locating an insulator from this line. 

I found a picture in one review, which showed the smoking remains of Mercur, the day after it burned to the ground. This picture had been taken from the hillside overlooking the town. 

I made a copy of the picture, which showed, on a hillside across the town, a lone power pole, with what appeared to be a white porcelain insulator. So taking the picture I had copied, I located, as near as possible, the spot on the mountainside where the photographer had stood while taking the picture. From there I determined where the pole had stood many years before. Brush had overgrown the hillsides, and the country looked quite different from that in the picture. However, I could locate rather well the location of the pole. 

Going to that spot I scoured the brush on hands and knees. One of the first things found was a rattlesnake, which was dispatched with great haste. Then, there in the leaves and loam about forty yards below where I figured the pole to have been, a white porcelain beauty was found. It turned out to be a U-935A. I believe, or would like to believe, this was the white spot I saw on the pole crossarm in the picture. Looking the area over I tried to determine how a crew of men would run a line through and over those mountains to this old mining town. 

Finally I found an old pole stub barely visible above the ground. It was almost completely rotted and eroded away, a dirt filled shell left. I commenced circling and looking, searching for another pole stub. I found one! This gave me a line direction and a distance between poles. I stepped this off and was on my way. After much cutting brush, crawling, digging and watching for snakes, I found another stub. The day was gone, so I headed for home. 

Next day I returned with a backpack and roll of white toilet tissue. Then retracing the course of pole stubs, I hung strips of white "tracking paper". This would soon be washed into the soil by rain and would not litter the mountainsides. At each stub I spent much time searching the brush down hill. I found several U-935A's, some aqua CD 283 VG Converse and aqua CD 162 R Good Jr. 

I traced this line up canyons and ridges and over the mountain, obtaining many fine insulators. One problem -- many were broken. The glass did not hold up too well, especially since they came to rest many yards downhill on their tops. The moisture from rain and snow had gathered in them, frozen and popped the tops off the glass insulators. The porcelain held up very well, only breaking upon hitting rocks. The puzzling question about it was, "Where were the tops which popped off?" Due to erosion of soil and movement of snow and rain, they were carried away from the insulator bodies. I found very few tops. These tops had been severed as though by a sharp cleaver -- a clean, smooth separation. 

Needless to say, I packed these insulators all out many sweaty miles. They were cleaned and many traded for insulators in the U.S.A. and Canada. This was the nucleus for my collection. I spent many enjoyable summer weekends in this area. What an exciting, invigorating hobby!