A cozy room in shades of beige, double bed,
brass headboard and a large, full bath.

Summer $80.00 Winter $125.00 Peak $150.00
(Maximum Occupancy 2)  Check Availability

Rector Steen was a partner in, if not the discoverer of, Park City's greatest mine. It was the discovery of the Ontario claim in 1872 that started Park City on its way to becoming the West's greatest silver camp. For years, miners argued loud and long in the camp saloons over who it was that actually made that most important and richest of all strikes.

Many years later, R.C. Chambers, then superintendent of the Ontario, claimed that Herman Buden alone had made the discovery and that Buden, then living in California, confirmed the claim. In rebuttal, Steen wrote of his finding the ore:

"I camped in a brush shanty for 6 months at the branch just below the Ontario, waiting for the snow to melt off. I went to what was called Badger Mine on or about the 15th of June, 1872, we discovered the Ontario Mine. There stood right near this mine, a pine tree and nearby was a fine spring. When we discovered this mine we found a little knob sticking out of the ground about 2 inches. We had this rock assayed and it went from 100 to 400 ounces of silver to the ton."

He made a far better miner then business man, however. He sold his mine to George Hearst for a mere $27,000.00! The Ontario produced over $50,000,000.00 and paid out $15,000,000.00 in dividends over the years following his sale. Steen's partners John Kane and Gus Dawell never quite let him forget the decision he made on August 21, 1872.

some text from
"Treasure Mountain Home"
by George A. Thompson