USA > California > Los Angeles County > Los Angeles > Men of achievement in the great Southwest Illustrated. A story of pioneer struggles during early days in Los Angeles and Southern California. With biographies, heretofore unpublished facts, anecdotes and incidents in the lives of the builders > Part 12
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There is one copper mine at Bisbee that may be fittingly classed among the phenomenal copper mines of the world; it might, indeed, be properly spoken of as the most phenomenal of all copper mines-it is the Calumet and Arizona. Less than two years ago it was nothing more than a prospect; a prospect, true, having good prospects, but still an undetermined quan- tity. Some two years ago it was purchased by some mining capitalists of Calumet, Mich., and of Pitts-
BEFORE THE ADVENT OF THE RAILROAD.
INTERIOR OF A IOO-STAMP MILL.
burgh, Pa. Possessed of ample means, they issued instructions for the development of the property on a large scale, and within those two years they have converted a prospect into a mine producing 30,000,000 pounds of copper a year. This company has also a large smelting plant at Douglas, the capacity of which is to be increased.
Another copper property in Cochise county that may be classed among the phenomenal copper mines of Arizona is the Black Diamond, in the Dragoon Mountains. This property, as in the case of the Calu- met and Arizona. has had the good fortune to be in the hands of men of large means; men who could afford to open the property in a large way, with the additional good fortune of having in their manager a practical and careful mining man, who understood, after study, the proper methods to be practiced for the economical reduction of the ores. When the ore bodies were sufficiently developed, a smelter of 200 tons a day was erected and an aerial tramway, one and a half miles in length, connecting the mine with the smelter, was constructed. The next thing done was the laying of a water-pipe line from Pearce to the smelter, a distance of about six miles, and the con- struction of a reservoir of a capacity of 1,000,000 gallons, sufficient for smelting requirements and for all uses at the camp. The water is obtained at the Commonwealth mine at Pearce, and runs by gravity to the Black Diamond pumping station, 900 feet dis- tant, where a high-pressure pump raises it 800 feet and a distance of over five miles to the reservoir at the smelter. They are treating 150 tons of ore a day, turning out a copper matte which carries 65 per cent. refined copper, and an average of 140 ounces of silver
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
to the ton of matte, making the silver values alone worth about $200 per ton of bullion, sufficient to pay the costs of mining and smelting. The ore has the great advantage of being self-fluxing, no mixtures of ores being necessary; the ore is shoveled into the fur- i!
showings under development, notably the Copper Crown, owned chiefly by Minnesota parties ; the Cop- per Belle, which is already making ore shipments to the smelter at El Paso; the Peabody, and the Middle- march. For this latter a contract for a 100-ton con-
VF
BUTTE LODE MINE, RANDSBURG, CAL.
naces just as it comes from the mines, and the slag loss is probably the lowest of any smelting plant in Arizona, being not over 0.30 per cent. copper, and as low, at times, as 0.26 per cent. The company is ship- ping an average of fifty tons of copper matte a week to the East. Oil is the fuel used.
There are many other copper-mining properties in that part of Cochise county that are making good
centrating plant was recently let to a Los Angeles machinery firm.
But in addition to its great copper mines, Cochise county is rich in gold, having in the Commonwealth at Pearce one of the two largest gold-producing mines in Arizona-the Congress in Yavapai county being the other. The Commonwealth is equipped with an 80-stamp mill, crushing 200 tons of ore a day, using
DETROIT COPPER CO.'S SMELTER, MORENCI, ARIZONA.
MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
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...
HOISTING PLANT, CONSOLIDATED MINES CO., TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA.
oil for fuel. The mine is opened to a depth of 900 feet, and as the vein is as strong and as rich as at any of the upper levels, it is safe to affirm that the Com- monwealth has a long and profitable future.
But there is no district in Arizona that is more interesting at this time than Tombstone. When, in the year 1885, the price of silver went down, Tomb- stone went out of sight, disappearing, practically, from off the map of Arizona as a productive region. In 1885 it had a population ex- cecding 10,000; twelve years later all it could boast of was a popula- tion of 600; and a camp that in its palmy days had a record of $35,- 000,000 of silver bullion shipped out in four years was not shipping a dollar; all mines were closed down and allowed to fill with water. Then it was that E. B. Gage conceived the idea of un- watering these mines, and made plans to do so. He convinced him- self that with improved methods of mining the ores could be profit- ably worked for their silver and gold values. He associated with him in his enterprise W. F. Staun- ton. Pumps of enormous lifting power were contracted for, were installed, and have been kept at work for nearly a year. To ac- complish these things, the Tomb- stone Consolidated Mines Com- pany was organized : Mr. Gage was elected president of it, and the
necessary funds for machinery and work were pro- vided. This was the resurrection of Tombstone; that city is again one of the busiest and most prosperous in Southern Arizona. The pumps are lifting 2,150,000 gallons of water every twenty-four hours; the shafts have been cleaned out and retimbered, and the mines are sending out a carload of ore a day, rich enough to bear the expense of shipping, and ore that was formerly regarded as worthless is yielding good
TRAMWAY TOWER, BLACK DIAMOND COPPER MINES, ARIZONA.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
returns, the building of the railroad into Tombstone having made that possible. The Tombstone Consoli- dated Company is working 200 men.
Next to Cochise county, the largest copper-producing county in the southern portion of Arizona is Graham county, in which is the Clifton district, with which may be properly linked Morenci district, the two dis- tricts being one district, so far as centralization of mining interests and operations is concerned. Clif-
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ON THE ARIZONA DESERT.
ton and Morenci are in the extreme castern part of Graham county, close to the New Mex- ico line. In the former are the mines of the Arizona Copper Com- pany, the fourth larg- est copper-producing A WATER HOLE IN THE DESERT. property in Arizona, with an output of about 22,000,000 pounds of copper a year. This property affords another excellent illustration of what intelligent, economical manage- ment can accomplish when applied to working large bodies of low-grade orc. The mines of this company are near Morenci, while its smelting plant is at Clifton. Up to a few years ago Morenci, speaking of it as a town, was almost isolated from the world. Situated at the head of a very steep, rocky gorge, seventy miles from the railroad, with Lordsburg, in New Mexico, as its nearest point of communication, few persons, outside of those interested in its mining properties, knew of its existence. Now, two powerful companies are busy developing its mineral resources, together pro- ducing about 35,000,000 pounds of copper a year; they are the Arizona Copper Company and the Detroit
Copper Company. The former company is a Scotch organization ; the latter is controlled by Phelps, Dodge & Co., of New York, who also own the Copper Queen mine at Bisbee. The first man to realize the value of the ore bodies of the Morenci-Clifton district was William Church, who, while out on a prospecting trip, went there in 1873. He secured by location and purchase a few claims, and began working them. In those days the ore was hauled by team to a small smelter on 'Frisco River, six miles dis- tant, and from there the bullion was hauled to Santa Fé, N. M., two trips a year being made. Later, the Detroit Cop- per Company was organized, with Mr. Church as president, and, aided by some additional capital, operations were en- larged ; mule teams were used to trans- port the ore to the smelter, and the amount of bullion produced was increased. But in those days in that part of Arizona it was not necessary to go far to find trouble, and the Apache Indians fur- nished lots of it. Those were the days when Geronimo was "on
ENTRANCE TO DEATH VALLEY.
deck," and he made it very lively for the muleteers, these latter considering themselves very fortunate if they succeeded in making a round trip without being scalped-which was of frequent occurrence. Because of these dangers, it was decided to move the smelting plant near to the mines, and in 1884 this was done. But to do this invited a problem difficult of solution- the water problem. The only water supply was the
MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
87
'Frisco River. How to raise it to the mines was the dif- ficulty. Pumps were in- stalled. Tanks with a ca- pacity of half a million gal- lons constructed : since then there has been no serious bother about water.
In the year 1897, Mr. Church disposed of his in- terests in the Detroit prop- erties to Phelps, Dodge & Co., and one of the first projects which that firm undertook in connection with these Morenci mines was the construction of a railway up the canon, the ascension of which required a road built somewhat on the lines of a corkscrew. The engineer to whom the task was entrusted was Maj. W. M. Wambaugh. There had already been constructed from Lordsburg, N. M., on the Southern Pacific Railway, a branch road to Clifton, built by the Arizona Copper Company. Maj. Wambaugh made a survey for the Morenci road in 1900, and within one year the railway known as the Morenci Southern, con- necting with the Arizona Copper Company's road (Arizona and New Mexico) at Gutlirie, a distance, by air line, of twelve miles, but eighteen miles as the road goes, was completed. In its course two rivers and numerous cañons were spanned, many tunnels driven and cuts made, making it one of the most extraordinary bits of railroad in the world. The most momentous piece of the work was reached when within a mile of Morenci ; there was a great elevation to be overcome in a narrow cañon. This was accom- plished by a series of loops with cuts and trestles.
There are six trestles and four complete cir- cles. In this mile there are three miles of track. Over this road some two hundred and fifty tons of freight, not including ore, are daily trans- ported.
The Arizona Copper
MILL, AND ORE BINS OF THE CEDAR VALLEY MINING AND SMELTING COMPANY, OWNED BY LOS AN- GĘLES CAPITAL.
Company's concentrator has a capacity of 300 tons of ore a day ; that of the Detroit Company is in excess of 500 tons a day. There is a 20-inch gauge railway con- necting the Detroit concentrator with its mines and with the smelters. This road is also used by the Ari- zona Copper Company to transport its ore from the mines to the concentrator, and from there to its incline track for shipment to Clifton. This lilliputian road
PIONEER DNUĆ STORE.
LOVING WIE
TEAMING ON TIIE DESERT-22-HORSE TEAM IIAULING MACHINERY TO GOLD ROADS MINE, FROM KINGMAN, ARIZ
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
THE RATCLIFF MINE, BALLARAT DISTRICT, INYO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
passes through a tunnel with but a single track. On by Hon. C. M. Shannon, of Los Angeles. He sold it the Morenci side the road branches to the smelter and mines ; on the other side of the hill it branches to the two concentrators, to the gas plant and to the Arizona Company's incline road. Over this single track, com- mon to both companies, there are handled daily about 1200 tons of material, a quantity greater, in all prob- ability, than is carried by any other railroad in the country, outside of the trunk lines.
to Boston parties, retaining an interest. The Boston people organized the Shannon Copper Company and furnished the necessary money to open the property in a large way. This is being done; a concentrating plant has been erected, the concentrates being shipped for treatment. While the stock of the Shannon Com- pany is listed in the Boston Stock Exchange, it can hardly be said that there is any of the stock on the mar- ket.
MEXICAN PEONS Carry 250 lbs. of Ore on Their Backs from the Mines.
There is another property in the Morenci - Clifton district that is he- ginning to assume large proportions and which will soon take its place among the large producers-it is the Shannon. The group of claims comprising the Shannon property was formerly owned
North of Graham county, in Gila county, is the Globe copper mining dis- trict. The United Globe and the Old Dominion mines are the most im- portant in the dis- trict. The former are owned, practic- ally, by Phelps, Dodge & Co., of
"CHICKEN LADDER,", On Which Peons Climb Down the Mines.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
New York, who also own the Copper Queen mines at Bisbee, and the Detroit mines at Morenci. While the United Globe has been worked for a number of years, the production has been small compared with other copper mines in Arizona. The largest produc- tion was in 1899, when there were mined 4,451,180 pounds of copper. Since that year their production has decreased, not because of a lack of ore, such as it is ; rather because it is more expensive to reduce. It is a highly silicious sulphide, requiring heavy fluxing, making it necessary to ship it. There is a 200-ton smelter on the property.
The Old Dominion mines have been a source of much and constant trouble to the stockholders in the com- pany. It is a Boston or- ganization ; is in strong hands, but the property has suffered from a want of good management - good management in the sense of how to profitably treat the ore. Each succeeding superintendent has had his own peculiar views respect- ing that, but all of them seem to have been imbued with the notion that it was the proper thing to make the ore fit their theories, rather than determine just what the ore required in the way of treatment, and put away their theories in a museum. The property is well equipped, and is a good producer, being in the neighborhood of 800,000 pounds of refined copper a month, and which, under more intelligent manage- ment, could be increased a good one-half. The valtie of production to the pres- ent time, including gold and silver in the copper bullion, is probably not less than $6,000,000; yet, with the exception of some small dividends paid by the orig- inal Old Dominion Company, the stockholders have never received a dollar. At this writing a plan is tinder consideration in Boston for the consolidation of the Old Dominion and United Globe mines, which, if carried out, will, in every probability, prove profitable to both, bringing both under the same management that has made the Copper Queen and Detroit mines such paying properties.
Northwest, again, of Gila county is Yavapai county, in which is the United Verde copper mine, owned,
TEST MILI, ON THE NEVADA- KEYSTONE, NEVADA.
NEVADA-KEYSTONE MINE AND ORE BINS.
chiefly, by Senator W. A. Clark of Montana, one of the greatest of the world's copper mines. It is in the Jerome district, in the same great mineral belt that traverses Arizona in a northwesterly-southeasterly direction. This history of the United Verde is among the most interesting of any published on mines. Up to the time it came into the possession of Senator Clark, it was being opened and worked as a gold-silver mine, but with depth the character of the ore changed to a sulphide, and it was then that Senator Clark realized he had a copper mine of an undetermined value. There is nothing, however, undetermined about it now ; it stands fifth on the list of the world's copper producers, the only ones exceeding it in pro- duction being the Ana- conda, of Montana; Calu- met & Hecla, Michigan ; Rio Tinto, Spain, and the
HAULING HAY ON THE DESERT TO THE MINES.
Boston and Montana, of Montana. It is quite pos- sible, however, that for this 1 year the Copper Queen at Bisbee will give it a close call. Present production is about 35,000,000 pounds of copper a year, but if there were nothing to interfere with the reduction of all the ore that could be pro- duced under its present equipment, the United Verde could easily turn out 45,000,000 pounds of copper a year. In the year 1899 it produced nearly 44,000,000 pounds, but that year was followed by caves in the workings and by fires, reducing production for the following year to less than 40,000,000 pounds ; in 1901 to less than 35,000,000, and in 1902 to about 30,000,000 pounds. New furnaces were erected this year, and, barring labor troubles and fires, the United Verde's
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
production will soon be as great as it was four years ago.
The United Verde was originally incorporated nineteen years ago, four years before Senator Clark secured control of it. The present par value of the stock is $10 a share, with a total capitalization of $3,000,000. The stock has sold during those nineteen years as low as 50 cents a share, and as high as $350 a share. Practically, there is none of the stock on the market; if there were any shares knocking around loose, it is safe to say that Senator Clark would get possession of them. It began paying dividends eight years after its incorporation. In 1892 it paid 25 cents a share monthly; in 1896 dividends were increased to 50 cents a share, and in the year 1898 were further increased to $1 a share. At present, and for some months past, dividends have been 75 cents per share. From the year 1892 to November 30, 1903, the United Verde has paid a total in dividends of $27,673,680.
"The ore of the United Verde has averaged 7 per cent. copper, with good values in gold and silver. The stopes are of great width, and as a consequence the mine is as yet only opened to a depth of less than 700 feet. In mining, no assortment of ore is made, and no concentration is attempted ; everything from the mine :
GOLDEN TREASURE MINE AT THE QUARTETTE, SEARCHLIGHT, NEVADA.
goes to the furnaces. As the ore is rich in sulphur, much heat is generated, and, as a result, spontaneous combustion is not infrequent. In time of normal con- ditions about 1200 men are employed in and about the mine. One of the most interesting things con- nected with the property is its possible future produc- tion. Some of the few mining men who have been permitted to go through the workings have made esti- mates-guesses would be the better word-of the ore in sight. The more conservative of these guesses place it at from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 tons of ore, which, at a percentage of 7 per cent. copper, would represent about 1,250,000 tons of copper. Figuring that on the basis of short tons, you have 2,500,000,- 000 pounds of copper, which, computed at the present market price of the metal (13 cents a pound) represents a gross value of $325,000,000. Truly, those are interesting figures.
The Jerome district, sometimes called the Verde district, contains many other copper mining prop- erties undergoing develop- ment, among which the following are among the more prominent : The Iron King, owned by Senator W. A. Clark, in which that gentleman has great
TEST MILL, NEVADA-KEYSTONE, SANDY, NEVADA.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
faith. A smelter is now being erected on it; is nearing completion, and having large ore bodies already blocked out, the Iron King will soon take its place among the producers. The Verde King, owned chiefly by Los Angeles parties, is another property that is being opened up in a large way, with excellent prospects. The Verde King has over 3000 feet of development. The property of the Black Hills Copper
ble gold mines in Arizona-the Congress mine. It is owned by the Congress Consolidated Mines Company, Limited, Hon. E. B. Gage, president, and W. F. Staun- ton, superintendent. The property is equipped with an eighty-stamp mill, has a large cyanide plant, and employs 500 men. If the figures of the Director of the Mint, Washington, are correct, in which he gives Arizona credit for a production last year of $4,112,-
Company is in the same district. South of the Iron King is the Copper Chief, and south again from that is the group owned by the Mingus Mountain Copper Company, which is undergoing development, showing large bodies of ore. Other properties could be named, but what are mentioned are suf-
ficient to show that all that portion of Yavapai county known as the Black Hills region is mineralized, and will, undoubtedly, prove up some valuable copper mines, the ores of which, as invariably shown, carry gold and silver, which, when the copper bullion is re- fined, represent a good percentage of value.
In addition to its great United Verde copper mine, Yavapai county possesses one of the two most valua-
IIAULING BORAX BY TRACTION ENGINE-BORAX BINS AND VIEWS OF THE MINES AND CRUSHER-PROPERTY OF TIIE PACIFIC COAST BORAX COMPANY.
300 in gold, it would be safe to put the Congress mine down for a good 25 per cent. of the amount.
The King of Arizona, in Yuma county, is another of Arizona's gold producers. In this property the vein has been proved to a depth of over 600 feet, and shows continuity and maintenance of its values. Shipments of gold bullion from this mine have been as high as $45,000 a month.
The Fortuna, also in Yuma county, has a remark- able record as a gold producer. The Papago Com- pany, a Los Angeles organization, owns some gold
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
claims in Yuma county, and which are being opened.
It is of some interest to note, en passant, that the first mining of any consequence in Arizona was in Yuma county, at La Paz. This former busy placer camp lies about midway between Yuma city and the Needles, and about two miles distant from the Colo- rado River. ' The story of the first discovery of gold there is well authenticated. A man named Ferrara- Don Juan Ferrara, as he was called-found, during one of his prospecting trips, a gold nugget weighing nearly four pounds. That was a fact difficult to con- ceal. The news of the find spread quickly, and there was a rush to the diggings. That was in the latter part of 1861. The ground proved to be very rich, and many strikes were made, the gold, as a rule, being coarse, running up to nugget size. Capts. Polhamus and Mellon, who navigated that portion of the Colo- rado River for over forty years, tell of the large quan- tities of gold dust they carried down the river. During those days La Paz was infested with gangs of Mexican and American toughs; street and saloon shooting
SANTA ANA TIN MINES, ORANGE CO., CALIFORNIA.
scrapes were of common occurrence. One of the most notorious of these "toughs " was Less Danewood, afterward hanged in Los Angeles. Another was a man who went by the name of " Texas," and who was one of the most dreaded scoundrels in the camp. The
following story is told about this man and another named "Red Kelly," the latter, however, being more peaceably inclined, and who at times acted as the
A STATION ON A LEVEL IN THE SANTA ANA TIN MINES.
" avenging angel." The story is that one day, when Capt. Polhamus was in La Paz collecting freight, he came up with "Texas," and together they walked along the street. Suddenly the captain heard some- one yell from the across the street, "Stand aside, if you please, captain, I am going to kill that damned scoundrel." Polhamus had barely time to get out of range before "Red Kelly " opened fire. "Texas " returned the compliment, but he was too late; "Red Kelly " had three shots into him, and "Texas " dropped. No objection was made to "Red Kelly's " act, and shortly after he left for other diggings.
HOISTING MACHINERY.
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MEN OF ACHIEVEMENT IN THE GREAT SOUTHWEST.
Mohave county, north of Yuma county, can lay claim to being the pioneer in quartz mining in Arizona. As far back as 1872 a party of miners from Nevada, mostly from Pioche, attracted by stories of rich ore found in the Cerbat Mountains, Mohave county, pitched their camp where now is the town of Chloride. Later, there came other bands of prospectors from California, until about one hundred men were gathered near what was called Silver Hill, because of a large vein of silver-lead ore, running the entire length of the low ridge rising from the valley. Since then, and
in operation but since June of 1903, the production to date has been most satisfactory. A more complete article on the Gold Roads will be found in another portion of this book. The Sheeptrail and the Minnie are among the groups of mines in that section which have been opened in a large way and equipped with mills and machinery. The Chloride district, north of Kingman, is another in which there is much mining being done. One of the most important strikes in that district was made this year, in what is known as the Dempsey and O'Dea group. As almost the entire county is heavily mineralized, there is every reason to believe that more dis- coveries of value will be made.
About twenty-five miles east of Yucca, a station on the Santa Fé, are the prop- erties of the Cedar Valley Mining and
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