Uncle Bert was Secretary of a rich, Silver Mine in Tintic, Eureka, Utah, with his office in Salt Lake City. He was enthusiastic about a future for me as a Mining Engineer. I was to go to the mine and see for myself if I would like it, and also if I thought I could make the grade. Of course I did not know a thing about it, but the math, geometry and mapping interested me, as it did in school.

So I went to Eureka to study under their Chief Engineer, a dour Scotsman named Harry Pitts. At the time I did not know it but I was to grow to like him, and I was to become his best friend. He put me to work underground, drilling “uppers”, holes in solid rock, for survey plugs, and carrying mule loads of stakes, posts and equipment up large mountains to survey claims. It started to get interesting when I learned to “run a transit” and make maps by plotting co-ordinates.

I was soon surveying by myself with a helper to do the “mule” bit. I learned about raises, winzes, stopes, drifts, and shafts. Also how to put in a Railroad siding, build good roads, install Aerial Tramways, and how to use explosives.

Kipps stayed in Utah for a couple of decades and then followed other mining projects around the world as he tells in his autobiography:

The Odyssey of Bert Kipps