USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. III > Part 2
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"I am, general, respectfully, &c., "JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas,
"Adjutant-General U. S. A., Washington, D. C. "Official : "Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., September 13, 1863.
"General: I have the honor herewith to en- close, for the information of the War Depart- ment, copies of letters received from Samuel J. Jones, Charles O. Brown, and King S. Woolsey, in relation to the new gold fields southwest from the San Francisco mountains, about which I have so frequently written you. Brown and Woolsey are men whose statements are to be credited. Jones simply transmits Brown's letter.
"Surveyor General Clarke, and the officer and men I sent with him, have not yet returned.
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
They should be back before the end of the month, when their reports will be forwarded. It is unnecessary for me to take up the time of the War Department by making comments on the prospective results of such startling develop- ments of treasure, whether to Arizona and New Mexico, or to the country at large; they will be apparent to all on a moment's reflection.
* * * * * * *
"In other letters heretofore written, I have endeavored to impress upon your mind the im- portance of sending an additional regiment of cavalry-a full regiment-to this country. Au- thority has been received by the governor of New Mexico to raise in the Territory two regi- ments more of troops, but it is very doubtful if even one can now be raised; first because of the real scarcity of men; second because other more profitable pursuits interpose; third because nearly all the floating population will go to the new gold fields. An effort will be made to raise one regiment of infantry, as there are not horses in the Territory which can be spared from other labor to mount a regiment of cavalry. If a full regiment of cavalry could at once be sent here from the States, I would have troops quite suffi- cient, I hope, to whip the Indians, and to pro- tect the people going to and at the mines. The authority to raise one independent company in each county, for the protection of the people and flocks and herds of that county, should be given to me. I have no inclination to ask for more authority or more troops than I need. I beg respectfully to say, if I am considered wor- thy of commanding so remote a department, some confidence should be reposed in my judg-
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
ment-being, as I am, upon the ground-of what is absolutely wanted. If troops cannot be sent, permit me to recruit in Colorado territory. One thing should be borne in mind: Every regi- ment you send here, whether from the east or from California, will stay. Thus each one is a military colony, to people the vast uninhabited region between the Rio Grande and the Pacific. As winter is so near, time now is everything.
"Pray let serious attention be given to the subject of these new discoveries of gold. A new revolution in all that pertains to this country is on the eve of commencing and the government should provide for approaching emergencies. The people will flock to the mines, and should be protected.
"Providence has indeed blessed us. Now that we need money to pay the expenses of this ter- rible war, new mines of untold millions are found, and the gold lies here at our feet, to be had by the mere picking of it up! The country where it is found is not a fancied Atlantis ; is not seen in golden dreams; but it is a real, tangible El Dorado, that has gold that can be weighed by the steelyards-gold that does not vanish when the finder is awake.
"I hope I may not be considered visionary, and therefore be denied reasonable help. This is a great matter not only for our present wants, but for the future security of our country; for, henceforth, in place of a desert, dividing peoples, we find a treasure which will attract not only a population to live upon that desert, but which will, as sure as the sun shines, bring the great railroad over the 35th parallel, and thus unite the two extremes of the country by
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bars of steel, until, from the Atlantic to the Pa- cific, we become homogeneous in interest as in blood.
"I beg you will send to New Mexico a first- rate topographical engineer to map the new gold fields, and fix their position instrumentally. Congress should, by early legislation, determine whether the government shall have the right of seigniorage in these new treasures, and whether foreigners shall come and take gold from the country ad libitum and without tax.
"I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas,
"Adjutant-General U. S. A., Washington, D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., September 13, 1863.
"Sir : I have had the honor frequently to write to the War Department of the new gold fields which have been discovered along the Gila River, and upon the line of the 35th parallel, between the Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado. En- closed herewith please to find copies of letters upon this subject which I have just received.
"You will at once perceive that the capital, as well as the population, of the new Territory of Arizona will be near that oasis upon the desert 2
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
out of which rise the San Francisco mountains, and in and beside which are found those extraor- dinary deposits of gold; and not at the insignifi- cant village of Tucson, away in the sterile region toward the southern line of the Territory. This will render absolutely indispensable a new mail route over the Whipple road to the new gold fields, and thence crossing the Colorado at old Fort Mohave (now abandoned), and thence up the Mohave river and through the Cajon Pass to Los Angeles, California. People flocking towards these mines will clamor for, and will deserve to have, mail facilities. They will go from the east; they will come from California; therefore liberal appropriations should be made early in the approaching session of Congress to prepare the road; to establish a post near the San Francisco mountains; to re-establish old Fort Mohave; to have a first-class permanent ferry across the Colorado at that point; and to provide for an overland mail from Albuquerque to Los Angeles. The reason why I have pre- sumed to write to you upon this important mat- ter is that you may give it timely consideration.
"There is no doubt but the reports of these immense deposits of gold are true. As a states- man you will readily imagine all of the political results which must at once ensue from such startling developments when they obtain pub- licity. This should not be given to them until we have official reports from Surveyor General Clark and a party I sent with him to see pre- cisely into the matter. We know from various other sources what that report must be, at least sufficiently to make timely preparations for emergencies which will then at once arise.
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
"For myself there comes no little satisfaction in the thought that, for all the toil through the desert of the troops composing the column from California, there will yet result a substantial benefit to the country ; that if those fellows, who encountered their hardships so cheerfully and patiently, who endured and suffered so much, have not had the good fortune to strike a good, hard, honest blow for the old flag, they have, at least, been instrumental in helping to find gold to pay the gallant men who have had that honor. Somebody had to perform their part in the grand drama upon which the curtain is about to fall. The men from California accepted un- murmuringly the role that gave them an obscure and distant part upon the stage, where it was known they could not be seen, and believed they would hardly be heard from; but in the great tragedy so cruelly forced upon us, they tried to perform their duty, however insignificant it might be, and to the best of their ability; and now, a finger of that Providence who has watched over us in our tribulation, and who blesses us, lifts a veil, and there, for the whole country, lies a great reward.
"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON, "Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Hon. Montgomery Blair,
"Postmaster-General, Washington, D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
The foregoing ends correspondence before re- ports were made by Surveyor-General Clark.
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico.
"Santa Fe, N. M., September 20, 1863.
"General: I have the honor to report that Mr. John A. Clark, the surveyor-general of the Territory of New Mexico, has returned from his visit to the newly-discovered gold fields. He has written to me a letter giving a brief synopsis of his observations, a copy of which please to find herewith enclosed.
"General Clark is very careful to keep well within bounds in all he says about the gold, as he desires to give rise to no expectations which may not be realized. That there is a large and rich mineral region between the San Francisco Mountains and the Colorado River there can be no doubt.
"I am making preparations to establish a military post of two companies of infantry at or near the lines; and it is my purpose to have the troops leave the Rio Grande for that point some time about the 10th proximo.
"I beg again respectfully to urge upon the War Department the expediency as well as the necessity of having an appropriation for the making of a road from the Rio Grande to the new gold fields and thence to Fort Mohave on the Colorado River. From the latter point there is already a road up the Mohave River through the Cajon Pass to Los Angeles. Mail facilities should also be put upon the road. The new government of Arizona, if it ever come, will be at the gold fields, not at the insignificant vil- lage of Tucson.
"I am, general, very respectfully, your obedi- ent servant,
"JAMES H. CARLETON,
"Brigadier-General, Commanding.
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
"Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas,
"Adjutant-General, U. S. A., Washington. D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
"Headquarters Department of New Mexico. "Santa Fe, N. M., September 20, 1863.
"My dear Sir: Knowing the great interest which you feel in all matters that will increase the prosperity of our country-and more par- ticularly, at this time, in all matters that relate to the moneyed resources-I have ventured to write to you concerning the new gold fields recently discovered near the San Francisco Mountains on the 35th parallel, and between the Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado. Surveyor- General Clark, of this Territory, has just re- turned from these new gold fields, and has writ- ten a letter to myself, giving a brief account of
what he saw. General Clark is prudent in his expressions, lest extravagant expectations might be raised on what he says, leading to disappoint- ment. From what he says, and from what I learn from other sources, a large region of coun- try, extending from near the head of the Gila along the southern slope of the Sierra Blanca, Sierra Mogollon, (copper mountain, ) San Fran- cisco Mountains, and thence to the Colorado, is uncommonly rich, ever. compared with Cali- fornia, in gold, silver, cinnabar, and copper. On the prieta affluent to the Gila, from the north, gold was found by my scouting parties last winter as high as 'forty cents to the pan.' And veins of argentiferous galena were found
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
which, I am informed by the best of authority, yielded more than a dollar to the pound of crude ore. If I can but have troops to whip away the Apaches, so that prospecting parties can explore the country and not be in fear all the time of being murdered, you will, without the shadow of a doubt, find that our country has mines of the precious metals unsurpassed in richness, num- ber and extent, by any in the world. Rich cop- per, in quantity enough to supply the world, is found at the head of the Gila. Some of this cop- per abounds in gold. Some is pure enough for commerce with but very little refining. The gold is pure.
"I send you herewith a specimen of copper from near Fort West, on the Gila, and two speci- mens of pure gold from the top of Antelope Mountain, spoken of by General Clark. These specimens were sent to me by Mr. Swilling, the discoverer of the new gold fields, near the San Francisco Mountains. If it be not improper, please give the largest piece of the gold to Mr. Lincoln. It will gratify him to know that Providence is blessing our country, even though it chasteneth.
"Now, would it not be wise for Congress to take early action in legislating for such a region ; to open roads; to give force to subjugate the In- dians; to give mail facilities; to claim rights of seigniorage in the precious metals, which will help pay our debts, &c. ?
"To so eminent a statesman as yourself it will be sure to occur that timely steps should be taken for the development and security of so rich a country.
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EARLY OPINIONS OF ARIZONA.
"Pray pardon my having trespassed upon your time, and believe me to be
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant, "JAMES H. CARLETON,
"Brigadier-General, Commanding.
"Hon. Salmon P. Chase,
"Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.
"Official :
"Erastus W. Wood, "Captain 1st Vet. Inf. C. V. "A. A. A. General."
The world's progress has always been marked by 'a plenitude of gold and silver. There is little doubt but that the glory of Solomon's reign was created by the discovery of the gold of Ophir. The civilization of Greece and Rome was promoted by the working of the mines of Europe and Asia for precious metals. The civilization of the world relapsed into barbarism during the Middle Ages, but was revived by the discovery of the wealth of the Incas and the Aztecs. The gold fields of California gave new impetus to the wheels of industry in all direc- tions, and, in our day, the highest stage of civil- ization of the Twentieth Century has been pro- moted to a great extent through the plenitude of gold and silver as a circulating medium.
In 1863 the placer mines of California were exhausted, but through vein mining and hydrau- lic mining, the output of gold for that State amounted to about twenty-five millions of dol- lars per annum. The discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, and of silver in other portions of
ยท
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
Nevada and in Utah, was sufficient to direct the attention of prospectors to the possibilities of rich mines in Arizona and New Mexico. To this fact can be attributed the addition of many thou- sand energetic and adventurous men who have assisted in reclaiming our State from savagery to civilization.
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PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
CHAPTER II. PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
REPORT OF MILITARY PROSPECTING EXPEDITION- A. F. BANTA'S STORY - SELECTION OF SITE FOR MILITARY POST - WALKER AND OTHER EXPEDITIONS - PAULINE WEAVER - EARLY TIMES AROUND PRESCOTT - ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT WHIPPLE-FRED HUGHES' STORY.
By the foregoing correspondence of General Carleton, it will be seen that the news of the dis- covery of placers in Apacheria created great excitement in New Mexico. Captain Pishon, with Bob Groom as pilot, following the old Beale Wagon Trail along the 35th parallel, made his way into the Valley, where he established a tem- porary camp. From there he discovered the Walker Party on Lynx Creek and other creeks around Prescott, and from the report which he gave to General Carleton, the great expectations which had been built up in Carleton's mind, seemed to be on the point of realization. It will be remembered that this was only about fifteen years after the discovery of the rich gold placers of California, and, at this date, 1863, mining was the business in California, Nevada and Utah. The rich discoveries of gold and silver in the two latter territories were published throughout the world. The Government, at that time, needed the precious metals to finance its military operations. The bonds of the Govern- ment, while the principal was payable in cur- rency, bore interest which was payable in gold. This interest ranged from six to seven and a half per cent per annum, and at this time, which was just before the battle of Gettysburg, gold
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
reached its high-water mark in New York, sell- ing at about 280 premium, so everyone can sym- pathize with General Carleton when, from re- ports, he supposed that the gold fields of Arizona would equal, if not surpass, the placers of Cali- fornia.
Upon their return, Captain Pishon and Gen- eral Clark, the Surveyor-General, after spend- ing two weeks in the mines, reported them of extraordinary value. Men, they said, were mak- ing from ten to a hundred dollars a day with a rocker. In and around Weaver, fortunes had been picked up in large nuggets, and it was sup- posed that the placer fields had been only touched and were a great deal more extensive than they afterwards proved to be. In the meantime expeditions had been organized by private citizens to go to the new El Dorado. The first is that mentioned by Col. Banta :
"Much has been written about the 'Captain Joe Walker' party; its aims and objects, etc. One 'authentic' account says it was a prospect- ing expedition headed for the canyon of the Little Colorado river, where Walker had found gold in the early forties; all these stories are erroneous and far from the truth.
"Captain Joseph Walker was an honorable man, and a natural commander of man. Cap- tain Sibley, of the Southern Confederacy, had undertaken the conquest of New Mexico, and the capture of Fort Union, the great depot of sup- plies of the U. S. Government. However, the defeat of the Sibley expedition at Apache Can- yon, changed the aspect of affairs.
"Captain Joe Walker, with a few followers, started eastward from California, gathering
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PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
new members en route, until he reached Colo- rado. He had no intention of going to Arizona when he left California; otherwise he would have gone south from California and entered Arizona either at La Paz or Yuma, and cer- tainly would not have gone eastward through several states and territories if Arizona had been his objective point of destination. Captain Walker and all his followers-with one excep- tion-were Southern sympathizers. The defeat of General Sibley at Apache Canyon was an un- expected event, which Walker had not thought possible, and Sibley's complete evacuation of New Mexico left that Territory in the hands of the Union troops. This changed the aspect of affairs, and the Walker party metamorphosed
into a 'prospecting party.' At this time New Mexico was under martial law, and naturally all armed parties were viewed with suspicion, hence
the 'prospecting party.' There was one man with the Walker party of Union sympathies, named A. C. Benedict, who informed General James H. Carleton, the Union Commander in Santa Fe, of the purpose of the Walker Expedi- tion. Captain Walker, feeling that his move- ments were under military surveillance, decided to make a strategic movement and hoped by the ruse to deceive the U. S. military. Instead of going down the Rio Grande, he struck westward from Albuquerque over the old immigrant trail leading from that place to Los Angeles. Hav- ing reached Antelope Springs at the base of the San Francisco mountains, and the present site of Flagstaff, Walker knew he must be north of the Gila river, and a southward course would lead to that stream. From any point on the Gila
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
his course would be eastward to Texas. But, reaching the Black Forest mountains, and dis- covering gold, which was merely an accidental incident, the Walker party were loath to leave the 'real thing' to go gallivanting after such an unsubstantial product as 'empty glory.' Be- fore the party had pulled out of Albuquerque, Benedict had apprised Carleton of the westward movement.
"In the meantime the late Col. Bob Groom, following in the wake of the Walker party, was arrested and put in the guardhouse. Bob had a friend in Congress, Senator McDougal of Cali- fornia, to whom he wrote to get him out of 'hock.' The Senator called upon Secretary Stanton, who informed him that his friend Groom must take the oath of allegiance to the U. S. Government, or remain under guard until the close of the war. There was no alternative,-Bob took the oath. After his release from the guardhouse General Carleton sent for Bob, and asked him if he de- sired to join the Walker party in Arizona; that he was about to send out a scouting party to look up the party, and if he so desired he (Bob) could go along as guide to Capt. Pishon, who would command the scouting party. Bob ac- cepted the proposition and joined the Pishon expedition in search of the Walker party. Pish- on's orders were to follow the trail of Walker, and if the party were permanently located, as rumor had it, to select a site for a military post as near the Walker party as practicable. The trail was followed to Chino Valley, but here it had become obliterated. However, Pishon came up to what is now known as Granite Creek, where he made camp about four o'clock in the after-
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PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
noon beneath some large pine trees ; about where the courthouse at Prescott now stands. Shortly after making camp, a shot was heard up the creek and Bob went up to investigate, hoping to find the Walker party. About a mile above Bob met old Pauline Weaver, and, to inquiries, was told by Weaver : 'I was up the side of this moun- tain yesterday, and saw a smoke over there' pointing southeastward, 'and it was not an Apache smoke; perhaps your people are over there, I don't know.' Bob returned to camp and the next day they went 'over there' and found the Walker party. Pishon selected a site for a military post near the mouth of Walker's Gulch, about where Col. King S. Woolsey built the first house, now known as 'Bower's ranch.' This done, Capt. Pishon returned to Santa Fe, and Groom remained with the Walker Party.
"It may be of general interest to know how I became aware of these 'inside facts.' I was at Albuquerque at the time; the country was under martial law; Lieut. Johnson was Provost Mar- shal; H. S. Johnson published the Rio Abajo Press; he was on the 'inside' in matters military and I worked in the office, so I, too, was on the 'inside.' Nuff sed.
"In the summer of 1864, Captain Joe Walker, still having the Southern cause in mind, a plot was hatched in Prescott and Walker's Gulch to capture Fort Whipple and the Capitol, and then organize the Territory as a dependency of the Southern Confederacy. In the event of success, General Coulter-one of the Walker Party-was to be made provisional Governor, and Captain Walker, Adjutant-General. Of course, Benedict was on, and gave it away to the commanding
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
officer at Whipple, and the 'plot' was nipped in the bud. Benedict immediately left for Tucson, and soon afterwards took up a ranch on the Sonoita. One day, while plowing with a rifle strapped on his plowhandles, he was attacked by Apaches. Securing his rifle, and from the shal- low breastwork of the furrow, though desper- ately wounded, he put up so hard a fight that the Apaches finally left him. He survived for a time, though he never fully recovered, and finally died from his wounds.
"In regard to Captain Pauline Weaver: Very little was known about Captain Weaver. He had lived with the Yumas, Apache-Yumas, Mo- haves, Apache-Mohaves and other tribes of Apaches since 1841. He was very uncommuni- cative and stoical; more Indian than white. I first met Weaver in 1864, at which time he was along in years. He soon after became a pen- sioner of the military and at Camp Verde was taken down sick, but strenuously opposed going into the hospital, declaring he could not live or breathe in a house. Before he took sick Weaver lived in a camp north of the post, perhaps a half mile or more away, and when found sick the com- manding officer ordered a party of soldiers to take a tent and erect it over the sick man. Even this was objected to by the old man, but he was too sick to do more than object. Here he died and was buried by the military; and thus ended the career of this peculiar and mysterious char- acter. It was generally believed that Weaver had been an officer in the army at one time, but nothing of a certainty was ever known."
The Walker expedition was followed in rapid succession by others. General Carleton as be-
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PRECIOUS METALS IN ARIZONA.
fore stated sent an expedition to Arizona to take possession of the country and to establish a mili- tary post in the neighborhood of the Walker party. Of this expedition, Mr. Banta says:
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