In 1882, George Morrison hired Nicolas Paul to build four charcoal ovens, with records indicating help from Ole Hans Jacobson and Herman Lundahl, and that Christian Overson at one time was in charge of operations. Wood cut in mountain canyons to the east into four-foot lengths was packed by mules and horses to the canyon mouth, then taken by wagon or cart to the ovens, with local men including John Carson and Louis Nielson helping cut and haul the wood and fire the ovens. Each mule carried about one-fourth cord of wood, and 18-year-old Mathias Caleb Dutson made three such trips a day for a total of three cords. At the ovens, the wood was loaded through the higher charge door and stacked around and above a wooden fireplace built in the center and filled with chips and shavings for tinder until the oven held about 25 cords. A long torch lit the tinder, and the fire's oxygen supply was controlled by placing or removing rocks in two rows of holes around the oven base, while the color of the smoke guided control of the burning wood. After six to eight days, all air was shut off to smother the fire, the ovens and wood were allowed to cool, and the charcoal was removed and sold. The charcoal was used by smelters in making steel, as insulation to keep foods at an even temperature, as a hot smokeless cooking fuel on trains and elsewhere, and by blacksmiths in their forges. The record is unclear on exactly how long the ovens were used, but their use appears to have overlapped by one year the establishment of the Ibex Smelter in 1895 two miles to the northwest; when that smelter closed after one year because of a lack of ore, this probably ended use of the ovens.