Joseph Mitchell remained a hard worker when he arrived at his new home in Salt Lake. For about a week and a half, he worked ten hours a day digging a canal. This was difficult work, but he gained a sense of confidence in his ability to work hard through this job. After this, he was offered work with the Denver and Rio Grande Western (D & RGW) Railroad and also as a bricklayer. Shortly after these offers, he was offered a job working in the Temple Quarries in Little Cottonwood Canyon. After discussing the options with his mother, thinking it over, and praying about it, he made the following decision:
“I then decided to go to the Quarry and surprised Mother by asking for a quilt and pillow as I had decided on what was best for me to do. That move proved to be of great value to me. The work was pleasant as well as profitable. It was just what I needed to get acquainted with the county and the customs of the people, and to get worked out of my system the condition I was in after working 10 years in the mines, inhaling all day long lamp and powder smoke as well as dust and foul air. The pure mountain water and the Canyon air and good wholesome food improved my health and gave me the start I needed.”
He worked in the Quarry from the summer of 1882 until the spring of 1884. At this time, he was again offered a job with the D & RGW Railroad, this time through connections of his sister. He took the job, and this company became a significant source of employment for much of the rest of his life.
All above information about Joseph's life came from the personal history that Joseph Mitchell wrote about himself in 1934.
