Stockton was born of the first mining boom in the Utah Territory. The mining industry began in the early 1860s with the arrival of Col. Patrick E. Connor, commander of the Third California Volunteers, who had been sent to the territory in 1862 to keep an eye on the overland mail routes during the Civil War. Connor wanted to counterbalance his perceived dominance of Mormon leaders in the area by exploring and developing the territory's mineral wealth. He posited that if precious metals could be discovered in Utah, the resulting flood of miners into the territory would overwhelm the Mormons, and outsiders would balance the Church's power. So he sent the men under his command out to prospect, and they almost singlehandedly opened the precious metals industry in Utah in 1863 by locating deposits, staking claims, and establishing mining districts. Mines were dug on the western slopes of the Oquirrh Mountains, and Stockton became a base camp for some these operations.