The Copper King Mining and Smelting Company was incorporated on 13 August 1901. Its mine was located in the Lelande and Hunter Mining District in Shoshone County, Idaho, near the head of Deadman Creek, about four miles from the town of Mullan.
Copper King's Board of Directors changed often, but most of the business was transacted by H.W. Ingalls, secretary. In 1930 the company was sold to E.H. and W.B. Heitfeld, David Smith, F.M. Rothrock, and Henry L. Day, who became the mine manager. Jerome Day was also a company officer until his death in 1941.
Little ore ever came out of the Copper King, though reports to the stockholders were consistently optimistic: Something big lay just ahead and, with another assessment, would be revealed in the next phase of development. During 1917 the directors claimed that the main ore body had been found but the mine was not yet self-sustaining. The same year the board proposed construction of a small milling plant for the site; but abandoned the idea when cost estimates doubled. Work stopped for nine months in 1918-1919 because of the war, and the 1920 report to the stockholders confessed that exploration and overall ore production had been disappointing. Still, the board requested another assessment, and further assessments were levied throughout the 1920s.
Finally, in 1933, development efforts ceased and all of the mine's machinery was removed for storage at the Hercules Mill. In 1941 the Board briefly entertained the idea of putting the mine back into operation. Instead, in November 1943, Copper King stock was exchanged one share for three of King Mining Company.
The records of Copper King span the years 1901 to 1949, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1904 to 1944. Included are minutes of meetings, reports to stockholders, assessment records, stockholder correspondence, ledgers, journals, and tax records.
Of particular note in these records are the fifteen assessment ledgers, which are of a number, completeness, and style found nowhere else in the records obtained from Day Mines, Inc. Originally squarish volumes that opened to reveal two distinct sections, the left half was the assessment ledger. The right half was an assessment receipt book, from which the company's record keepers copied the information into the ledger portion. One sample of the redundant assessment receipt books has been retained.
The records of the Copper King Mining and Smelting Company consist of six series: Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1901-1943; General Correspondence and Related Records, 1905-1945; Capital Stock Records, 1901-1945; Financial Records, 1906-1949; Personnel Records, 1941-1942; Tax Records, 1929-1944.
The first series, Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, includes two minute books, one file of annual reports from 1942, reports to stockholders, and other files containing notices of meetings, minutes, proxy notices, ballots, and lists of stockholders.
General Correspondence and Related Records, the second series, includes a folder of legal papers, 1908-1929. Included therein, in no particular order, are the certificate of incorporation, the certificate of stock increase, deeds, leases, indentures, proofs of labor and of publication, and lode claims. An alphabetically-organized file contains similar documents for the period 1908-1916. Other folders hold records relating to by-laws, insurance, licenses for explosives, wages, and disincorporation. There are three folders of correspondence, organized alphabetically, handled by secretary H. W. Ingalls, 1908-1912. A final folder contains annual reports and statements to Idaho agencies, 1931-1944.
The third series is Capital Stock Records; included are a ledger, a transfer ledger, and a journal, all oversized items. The ledgers cover 1904-1944; the journal, 1904-1932. A stock register and cancelled stock certificates cover gaps in the ledger/journal record. Ledgers, receipts, and correspondence, provide a good record of assessment activity, 1911-1941. There are five sets of general stockholder correspondence, all organized alphabetically. One covers 1916-1945, the other four cover two- or three-year periods from 1921 to 1931.
The fourth series, Financial Records, contains two ledgers and two journals, three of which are oversized items. One journal covers 1906-1913, the other journal and the ledgers cover 1932-1944. A miscellaneous file contains a bank book from 1930, a few statements of account with the Hercules Mining Company, and five bank statements, 1945-1949. Also included here are a folder of monthly and yearly financial statements, incomplete, 1927-1943, and a folder of check registers dating 1910-1930. The latter fills a gap in the ledger/journal coverage.
The fifth series, Personnel Records, includes only two thin folders. One contains payroll records for the second half of 1941, the other contains five employee cards and two notices concerning wages and taxes.
Tax Records, the final series, includes capital stock tax returns and correspondence, and federal and state tax returns.
Removal of cancelled stock certificates, assessment receipts, vouchers, proxy statements, and duplicate reports reduced the bulk of this collection by 10 cubic feet.
The records of the Copper King Mining and Smelting Company are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985.
Initial processing of this Manuscript Group was done by Clay Williams in March 1988.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.