Wattis began as a coal operation organized in 1917 by W.H. Wattis, E.O. Wattis, and M.S. Brownin. A surface tramway and 2.5 miles of standard gauge track were built to connect with the Utah RR at Wattis Junction, with coal first moving over the tramway in March 1918 and first shipped on the railway in April 1918. In May 1918, the property was sold to the Eccles family and merged with the Lion Coal Co., whose new company built boarding houses and frame homes for miners. In November 1919, Lion Coal Co. sold its spur to the Utah RR for $20,000 cash and free shipping at $0.15 per ton until the purchase price of $170,954.00 was met. During World War II, about 250 miners were employed there. Like most coal camps in the area, Wattis declined sharply in the 1950's as demand for coal fell, and it ceased to exist as a town. In 1964, Mountain States Machinery of SLC bought the mine for salvage, found that only 10% of the coal reserves had been mined, and reopened it as Plateau Mining Co. Plateau was sold to United Nuclear Corp. in 1967, to Getty Minerals in 1980, and to Cyprus Minerals in 1985. Cyprus mined until 1999, when the property was sold to RAG American and closed. Reclamation began in February 2000 and was completed in 2003.