History of Arizona, Vol. II, Part 5

Author: Farish, Thomas Edwin
Publication date: 1915-18
Publisher: Phoenix, Ariz. [San Francisco, The Filmer brothers electrotype company]
Number of Pages: 398


USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. II > Part 5


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Emigrants to California continued to pass over the Beale trail, oftentimes suffering the loss of their stock, and sometimes being murdered outright by the Mohaves, Cocopahs, and Tontos. In 1857 and 1858, the Mojaves were brought under subjugation by Colonel Hoffman, which was greatly aided by the establishment of Fort Mohave in 1858, and in 1859 Fort Breckenridge was established for the protection of the Over- land Stage route.


In regard to conditions in this part of Arizona, at that time, Van Tramp, in his work entitled, "Our Southwestern Empire" says:


"From 1857 to 1860, a large amount of capital was expended in transporting and erecting ma-


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chinery, and developing the silver mines south of Tucson ; but in consequence of the inaccessible nature of the country, and the high rates of duties levied upon all importations through Sonora, these enterprises were carried on at great expense and under extraordinary difficul- ties. Boilers weighing six thousand pounds and heavy engines had to be transported in wagons from Lavaca, in Texas, to the Rio Grande, and thence across the continent to the silver regions, a distance of twelve hundred miles. The roads were almost as nature had made them, rough and rocky, abounding in ruts, pitfalls, and heavy sands, and every mile of the way from the Rio Grande was beset with dangers. Fierce and barbarous Indians lurked behind the rocks and in the deep arroyos, ever on the alert to plunder and murder the little bands of white men who toiled wearily through the inhospitable desert. The sufferings of these hardy adventurers were almost without parallel in the history of human' enterprise. Hunger and thirst and burning suns and chilling nights, were among the least of the trials to which they were subject, sudden death from hidden foes or cruel and prolonged torture, stared them in the face at every step. The wayside was lined with the bleached bones of unfortunate men who had preceded them, straggling parties who had fallen victims to the various perils of the journey.


"When after weary months of toil and suffer- ing, the jaded teamsters arrived in Arizona with their precious freight-now literally worth its weight in silver-they found no established homes, no prosperous communities of families to


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greet them, but a country as wild as that through which they had passed, almost desolated by the ravages of the Apaches. For three centuries these Bedouins of the desert had continued their depredations upon stock, robbing the ranches, killing the rancheros, and harassing emigrant parties. No industry could prosper under their malign influence. The whole state of Sonora was devastated and the inhabitants in a starving condition. Arizona possessed at least the pre- tense of military protection. It soon became in- fested with the refuse population of Sonora, the most faithless and abandoned race, perhaps, on the face of the earth. What the Apaches left undone, in the way of murder and robbery, they seldom failed to complete, and, indeed, were re- garded with more distrust by respectable citizens than even the barbarous Indians.


"Nor was this all. The most desperate class of renegades from Sonora and California found Arizona a safe asylum from arrest under the laws. The Vigilance Committee of San Fran- cisco did more to populate the territory than the silver mines. Tucson became the headquarters of vice, dissipation, and crime. It was probably the nearest approach to Pandemonium on the North American continent. Murderers, thieves, cut-throats, and gamblers formed the mass of the population. Every man went around armed to the teeth, and scenes of bloodshed were of every- day occurrence in the public streets. There was neither government, law, nor military protec- tion. The garrison of Tucson confined itself to its legitimate business of getting drunk or doing nothing. Arizona was, perhaps, the only part


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of the world under the protecting aegis of a civil- ized government, in which every man adminis- tered justice to suit himself, and where all assumed the right to gratify the basest passions of their nature without restraint. It was liter- ally a paradise of devils. Under such circum- stances, it is not a matter of surprise that the progress of the country was slow. It was not a place for honest workingmen or for families. Good people feared to go there. The news- papers were filled with accounts of bloody affrays, robberies, and Apache raids. Yet, de- spite of all these drawbacks, men of enterprise began to learn the great natural resources of the Territory. The silver mines of Santa Rita and Cerro Colorado attracted attention as they be- came developed, and in 1860 Arizona seemed in a fair way of receiving a rapid increase of popu- lation, and obtaining through Congress what it had long needed-a territorial form of govern- ment."


The most notable fight with Indians which occurred about this time was in the spring of 1861, when six men, known as the Free Thomp- son party, the names of all of whom I have been unable to learn, were attacked by Cochise and Mangus Colorado at Stein's Pass. The men were well armed with improved rifles and two thousand rounds of ammunition, besides side arms. They were attacked by four or five hun- dred warriors under Cochise and Mangus Colo- rado; they drove the stage off the road to a little mound where the fight occurred, which lasted, according to the Indian accounts, for three days. Cochise did not have more than one-third of the


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warriors Mangus Colorado commanded at this battle. The whites were unable to get water, and the little food they had was soon exhausted. The Indians finally killed them, but at a loss of something like a hundred and thirty-five or forty men. Cochise, himself, admitted that he lost out of his band forty-five men.


This party was on its way from the Mesilla Valley to California; were old frontiersmen, everyone a dead shot, and they fought to the last until every man was killed. Cochise expressed his admiration for their fortitude, and endur- ance, saying they were the bravest men he ever knew or heard of, that if all his band were equal in bravery and endurance to the six men who de- fended themselves from behind the little stone breastwork that they had thrown up on the brow of the hill against such overwhelming odds, that he would own Arizona, New Mexico and Sonora.


Charles O. Brown of Tucson, one of the party who buried the bodies of these men, said that the last one killed was badly wounded, and they could trace his course on and around the hill by the blood which flowed from his body.


The withdrawal of the Federal troops from Arizona began in the latter part of the year 1860, and was continued in 1861. Colonel Poston says that in the month of June, 1861, the machinery at Arivaca was running smoothly and the mine was yielding handsomely and two hundred and fifty employees were working for good wages, which were paid punctually every Saturday afternoon. One day he was handed a note from Lieutenant Chapin by an orderly from Fort Buchanan, enclosing a copy of an order from the


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commanding officer of the military department, as follows:


"Santa Fe, June, 1861. "Commanding Officer, Fort Buchanan,-


On receipt of this, you will abandon and de- stroy your Post, burn your Commissary and Quartermasters stores, and everything between the Colorado and Rio Grande that will feed an enemy.


March out with your guns loaded, and do not permit any citizen within three miles of your lines.


(Signed) Major General Lynde."


At a council of a number of employees of the mine, it was decided that they could not hold the country against the Apaches after the troops had been withdrawn, for not only would they have to fight the Apaches, but they would have to de- fend themselves against the Mexican cut-throats as well. It was concluded to reduce the ore they had mined, which was yielding about a thousand dollars a day, pay off the hands and prepare for the worst. The Indians, thinking that the with- drawal of the troops meant that they had con- quered the whites and driven these enemies from the territory, became very aggressive and, about a week after the above decision was made, they made a descent upon the Heintzelman mine and carried off a hundred and forty-six horses and mules. Concerning the stealing of this stock and the destruction of the headquarters of the company at Tubac, and also the abandonment of the Santa Rita hacienda, Colonel Poston says :


"The corral at Arivaca was constructed of adobes, with a layer of cactus poles (ocotillo)


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lengthwise between each layer of adobe. The Apaches tried their rope saws, but the cactus parted the rope. The bars were up, and a log chain wound around each bar and locked to the post; but they removed the bars quietly by wrap- ping their serapes around the chain, to prevent the noise alarming the watchman. The steam engine was running day and night, and the watchmen had orders to go the rounds of the place every hour during the night; but the Apaches were so skillful, and secretive in their movements that not the least intimation of their presence on the place was observed-not even by the watchdogs, which generally have a keen scent for Indians.


"At the break of day the Apaches gave a whoop and disappeared with the entire herd be- fore the astonished gaze of five watchmen who were sleeping under a porch within thirty yards. A pursuit was organized as soon as possible ; but the pursuers soon ran into an ambuscade pre- pared by the retreating Apaches, when three were killed and two wounded. The rest re- turned without recovering any of the stock.


"This loss of stock made very lonesome times at Arivaca, as it could not be replaced in the country, and we had no animals to haul ores, fuel or provisions; only a few riding and ambulance animals, which had to be kept in stables and fed on grain.


"About the same time the Apaches made an attack on the Santa Rita Hacienda, and the east- ern side of the Santa Cruz River had to be abandoned.


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"At Tubac, the headquarters of the company, where the old Mexican cuartel furnished ample room for storage, about a hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars worth of merchandise, machinery, and supplies were stored. The Apaches, to the number of nearly a hundred, surrounded the town and compelled its evacuation. The plunder and destruction of property was complete. We had scarcely a safe place to sleep, and nothing to sleep upon but the ground."


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CHAPTER III.


EARLY MINES AND MINING.


REPORT OF F. BIERTU - PATAGONIA (MOWRY) MINE - DISCOVERY - FIRST OWNERS - THE EAGLE MINE-THE SAN PEDRO MINE-EM- PIRE OR MONTEZUMA MINE - SANTA RITA MINING COMPANY-MARICOPA MINING COM- PANY-SONORA EXPLORING AND MINING COM- PANY - CAHUABI MINING COMPANY - ARI- ZONA COPPER MINING COMPANY - SOPORI LAND AND MINING COMPANY-ARIZONA LAND AND MINING COMPANY - COLORADO RIVER COPPER MINE-STEVENSON MINE COMPANY- HARRIS MINE-ST. AUGUSTIN MINING COM- PANY-JACKSON, QUARTZ VEIN-SANTA RITA DEL COBRE-ABANDONMENT OF MINES CAUSED BY WITHDRAWAL OF UNITED STATES TROOPS.


In Sylvester Mowry's book: "Arizona and Sonora," 3rd Edition, published in 1864, is given the report of F. Biertu, metallurgist, on the Mowry mine and others situated in that part of the country, which describes, perhaps better than can be done in any other way, the condition of the mining industry around Tubac and Tucson in the year 1860. The report is as follows :


"My first visit to the Patagonia Mine, now called Mowry Silver Mines, has lasted four days -the time necessary to give it a full examina- tion in all its parts, and to make a careful assay of its ores. But why was it called the Patagonia Mine ? Is it because it is situated in a desert inhabited only by Indians ? Such were the ques-


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tions I put to myself while travelling, and which I thought might be answered affirmatively. Great was my surprise, however, when, instead of finding as I expected, barren mountains as at Washoe and Mono, I gazed on beautiful 1. nd- scapes, and a country covered with trees of different kinds, with fertile lands perfectly watered. True it is that the nearest neighbors, the Apaches, are far from being even equal to the Patagonians ; but this, it seemed to me, could not be a reason for giving to such a beautiful spot, which in spring must be covered with flow- ers, so savage a name. Mr. Mowry was perfectly right to alter it.


"This property, containing about five hundred acres of land, is situated ten miles from parallel 32° 20' north latitude, which forms the limit between Arizona and New Mexico, twenty miles from Fort Buchanan, fourteen from the town of Santa Cruz in Sonora, and at an elevation of 6160 feet from the level of the sea; and a good road, 280 miles in length, and which, with a little repair, might be made excellent, places it in di- rect communication with Guaymas. By this route, freight from San Francisco to the mine does not go beyond five cents per pound. The mine is situated on the last hills forming the eastern slope of the Sierra de Santa Cruz, and is bounded on the northeast by extensive plains covered with mesquit and oak trees, which reach the line of Sonora, whose elevated mountains rise in the horizon. Between these plains and the mine is to be seen the Sierra Espuela, called also Wachuka (Huachuca) Mountains.


5


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"The road leading to the mine from Fort Buchanan crosses a range of hills, and mountains completely covered with oak, pine, sycamore, poplar, willow and hazelnut. The land and the hills around the mine are covered with green oak, cedar pine and manzanitas. The whole country abounds with rabbits, quail, and wild turkeys. It is not a rare occurrence to meet droves of deer and antelopes numbering from twenty-five to thirty. The amateur of more intense excite- ment may also indulge in bear and Apache hunt- ing.


"About a mile from the mine, and near a little village, called Commission, of some fifteen houses, intended for the peons and laborers of the mines, there is a creek called Commission Creek, which is on the property itself, whose waters never dry up, and which are more than sufficient to run one or several mills. The build- ings for residences, and those for stores and fur- naces, are halfway between the mine and the small village. Near by there is a spring of ex- cellent water, which also never dries up. There are other springs lost in the hills, and which may easily be turned to some purpose.


"The Lodes and Ores ;- The principal lode of the Patagonia Mine is composed principally of argentiferous galena, and runs south 85° E. Its thickness, which increases as it dips in the earth -now eighty-three feet in depth-is of about three feet. Three small veins, excessively rich, cross each other in the main vein, all running in different directions. The size of these small veins varies from ten to nineteen inches. Other veins, whose outcroppings are visible on the top


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of the hill, and which run in a parallel direction at a great distance, will, according to all prob- abilities, be met with as the working of the mine proceeds. No prospects have as yet been under- taken to ascertain the nature of these veins. The galena of the principal vein contains a small quantity of copper and arsenic. It seemed to me that I detected appearances of zinc, but I had no means to ascertain the fact. An assay of the different ores has given results varying from $80 to $706 in silver per ton, and up to sixty-two per cent of lead. Their reduction is of the utmost facility.


"The Shafts and Tunnels ;- Unfortunately, all the operations perfected up to this day are, I might say, useless. The labor expended on shafts and tunnels has been conducted so care- lessly-the different stratas of earth have been subjected to so little investigation, that while, on one hand unnecessary expense and labor have been incurred, on the other, a quantity of ore, sufficient probably to pay for the whole expense of the establishment, has been thrown aside as worthless. Ores which I have picked up on the creek, being assayed, have given the best results that I have obtained.


"But the actual owners of the mines are not the ones who ought to complain of the bad direc- tion of the works, for, according to my idea, it is principally this bad management which has enabled them to purchase the whole mine at a comparatively low price. However, it will be easy to remedy the evil, either by beginning new works in a more suitable locality, or by modify- ing those already existing. The quality of the


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mine is such as to cover in a short space of time, all the expense which may be incurred in a rational manner.


"The discovery of the Patagonia mine dates only from the Fall of 1858, but it would appear that its existence was suspected long ago, for the first parcels of ore gathered by the Mexicans were taken, at the time of the late discovery, from shafts which had been sunk many years ago, and which had been abandoned.


"The Owners ;- The first owners were Colonel J. W. Douglass, Captain R. S. Ewell, Lieutenant J. N. Moore, Mr. Randal, Mr. Lord, and Mr. Doss,-all belonging to the United States Army excepting the last-named individual and Colonel Douglass. Those parties started some prelim- inary works-sunk shafts, extracted a certain quantity of ore, and built up several furnaces for smelting. But, being short of capital for a regular system of reduction on a large scale, two of the principal shareholders, Messrs. Lord and Doss, who had charge of the whole mine, sold their interest during the year 1858-9 to Mr. Brevoort, who thereupon became superintendent of the mine and principal owner.


"The administration of Mr. Brevoort was not a happy one. The mine, which as I have before stated, had been badly opened and badly worked, being turned into inexperienced hands, fared much worse. A certain quantity of ore was ex- tracted, but, whether the proceeds were expended in useless operations or for any other purposes, they were not sufficient to cover the costs in- curred. These failures gave rise to disagree- ments between the owners, which could not be


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settled except by the sale of their whole interest, which Capt. Ewell and his partners made to Mr. Brevoort, this last-named gentleman turning the interest immediately over to Mr. H. T. Titus. But these negotiations did not put a stop to the difficulties, which were renewed on account of Conse- the payment of the purchase-money. quently, the sale of the whole was resolved upon, and the conveyance took place in the Spring of 1860, in favor of Lieutenant Mowry, all the inter- ested parties joining in the deed. The price of the mine, including the lands surrounding it, all the works and establishment standing at the time, fixed at $25,000, was paid in cash by the new owner, who some time after sold one-fifth to a wealthy capitalist in the East. Hence four- fifths of the Patagonia Mine are now held by Mr. Mowry, who has given his name to it. In the hands of the last-named gentleman, and under the direction of Mr. Charles Mowry, his brother, the works will be started with unusual activity. Already preparations have been made to carry on works of a considerable extent, so that next Summer the mine will be in full operation.


"The Management of the Mine ;- The old fur- naces having been badly constructed, and being out of use, they will be replaced by others con- taining all the later improvements, either for smelting or refining. A steam-engine of fifteen to twenty horse power will be put up for the trituration of the ores, for the working of the pumps, and to run a saw-mill. The waters of the creek will be gathered in large reservoirs, twelve feet in depth, constructed by means of thick embankments. Buildings will be put up


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for the accommodation of the superintendent of the mine and the reducing establishment, and for the engineer and other employees. A laboratory for assays will also be annexed to the works. The ores will be carried from the mine to the re- ducing establishment by a railroad, for the build- ing of which Mr. R. Jones, Jr., has already taken the preliminary steps. Finally for the accom- modation of laborers, numbering from seventy to eighty, and for the inhabitants on the frontiers of Sonora, a large store will be opened for the sale of all sorts of provisions and merchandise. The expenses to be incurred this year to put in operation the different projects in view will ex- ceed the sum of $60,000.


"Such is the history of the mine, which I in- tended to relate to you with details, because within a short space of time it is called upon to rank among mines of the first class. Even now, in the neighborhood, by the abundance and rich- ness of its ores, the facilities for extraction, and reduction, and the convenience of the locality, it is considered one of the best in Arizona. Its importance would be greatly increased if a project in which rich capitalists of the East are actively engaged, is put in execution, which is to build a railroad between Guaymas and El Paso, in Texas, which would connect with the Pacific Railroad. This road, following the ridge of the Sierra de Santa Cruz, would run at a dis- tance of only ten miles from Mr. Mowry's mine.


"The mine which I have just described is not the only one to be found in that part of Arizona. The Santa Cruz Sierra already renowned since the days of the Jesuits. who had opened in that


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locality the Compadre and French mines, has lately given evidence of new richness. Besides the two which I have just named, the Boundary, Empire, Eagle and St. Louis Mining Companies form a part of the Sierra.


OTHER MINES.


"The Eagle Mine ;- this mine is situated to the east of the Mowry mine, and its vein, com- posed of argentiferous galena, exactly similar to the Mowry Mine, is, it is stated, its continuation.


"The San Pedro Mine ;- this mine is situated on the east side of the San Pedro River, about twenty-five miles from the Overland Mail road, and half a mile from the river.


"Empire or Montezuma Mine ;- I have men- tioned above this mine as forming a part of the Santa Cruz Sierra. It is half-way between the Mowry Mine and the town of Santa Cruz. The ores are composed of lead and silver. The first owners were Th. Gardner and Hopkins, who it seems, sold their interest out to New York com- panies.


"Santa Rita Mining Company ;- the Sierra de la Santa Rita as that of the Santa Cruz, in- closes rich deposits of precious ores. The Cazada, Florida and Salero Mines are united in one company, under the above title. The last one was known a long while ago, and was worked by the Jesuits. In that one also the argen- tiferous galena dominates. Shortly furnaces will be put up for smelting and reducing; they will be erected on the very mountains of Santa Rita, which are to the east of Tubac, at the distance of about ten miles. The superintendent of the


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mine is Mr. H. C. Grosvenor, and Mr. Pumpelly is the engineer. The capital is $1,000,000. These mines were opened in 1856.


"Maricopa Mining Company ;- this company is working a copper mine, situated forty miles from Fort Breckenridge at the junction of the San Pedro and Arivaca Rivers, and from three to four miles south of the Gila. The road known as the Leach Wagon Road, near by, renders the transportation of the ores and provisions quite easy. It is under the direction of Mr. A. B. Gray, ex-surveyor of the United States attached to the commission of the Mexican frontiers, and engineer-in-chief of the Pacific Railroad. Mr. Hopkins is the engineer of the mines; the house of Soulter, of New York is the principal owner.


"Sonora Exploring and Mining Company ;- this mine, situated at about thirty miles from Tubac, in the Cerro Colorado, is one of the prin- cipal mines, if not the richest in the Territory. The Company is working the vein known as the Heintzelman Mine, rich in argentiferous cop- pers, and also several other veins on the Rancho


Arivaca. The actual and imperfect system of reduction is by means of amalgamating barrels. Steam-engines of forty horse-power with a new process of amalgamation and refining, will soon be introduced. One of the principal share- holders, Mr. Charles D. Poston, is the director, and at the same time lessee of the mine for the term of ten years. This company was incor- porated in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a capital of $2,000,000 divided into 20,000 shares. The sum already expended for the working of this mine is


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estimated at $230,000, either in ready cash or from the proceeds of the mine.


"Cahuabi Mining Company ;- the mine going by that name is near meridian 112 and 32 north latitude, in a region inhabited by the Papago Indians. The argentiferous copper ores are treated according to the Mexican amalgamatory process known as the patio. I have seen speci- mens from this mine in the hands of Mr. Herman Ehrenberg, president of the company, of extreme richness. The mine was opened since 1859.




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