USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume II > Part 56
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The Copper and Iron Mines .- Seven miles east of Silver City, ad-
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joining Fort Bayard and immediately south of the once famous and now deserted silver camp of Georgetown, are the richest copper mines in New Mexico, and among the most productive in the country. The historical interest centers in the Santa Rita mine, which was discovered by an Indian in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and in 1800 turned over to Lieutenant-Colonel Manuel Carrasco, a Spanish commandant in charge of certain military posts in this section of New Mexico. About this time the Spaniards settled Santa Rita as a penal colony, and it is probable that con- vict labor was first employed in the development of the property under the ownership of Don Francisco Manuel Elguea, a wealthy merchant of Chihuahua, who in 1804 had purchased the mine, or the right to work it, of Carrasco. It is said that the copper had been found to be of such fine quality that the entire production had already been contracted for coinage by the royal mint. Under the management of Elguea considerable metal was mined and transported to the City of Mexico, its means of transporta- tion being pack mules. Three hundred pounds were loaded onto each ani- mal, and it is reported that one hundred mules were thus constantly em- ployed for some time. In 1807 Zebulon Pike, the American explorer, re- ports a copper mine in that part of the Territory which was producing 20,000 mule loads of copper annually, and James O. Pattie, a trapper of the country, describes the property as follows: "Within the circumference of three miles there is a mine of copper, gold and silver, besides a cliff of lode- stone (iron). The silver mine is not worked, not being so popular as either copper or gold mines. The Indians were very troublesome, and the trappers did good service in keeping them in order by force and treaties."
Don Francisco died in 1809, and until 1822 the mine was worked under various leases made with the widow of the deceased. Robert Mc-
Jo E. Sheridan, United States coal mine inspector for New Mexico and a resident of Silver City, has been identified with mining in the west and southwest since 1867. In that year he accompanied the rush to Eliza- bethtown, New Mexico, attracted thither by the discovery of gold. In the winter of 1880 and 1881 he was engaged largely in mining operations in the Magdalena district with the Toledo Mining Company, being active there in the first important development work of that district. In the sun- mers of 1880 and 1881 he operated in the Mogollon country, and there on Mineral creek he erected the Sheridan mill, one of the first mills in New Mexico for handling silver ores by amalgamation. He was also for some time engaged successfully in mining gold in California and Nevada, but since 1885 has made his home continuously in Silver City and has owned numerous mines in Grant county. Since 1900 he has been coal mine in- spector for New Mexico for the federal government. He is one of the noted experts in the west and a recognized authority throughout the coun- try. His reports to the secretary of the interior form the only real authori- ty on coal mining in New Mexico. He likewise has intimate knowledge of the mineral resources of the Territory and their development to the pres- ent time, and his efforts have made him one of the prominent and success- ful men of this district.
Thomas S. Parker, who has developed and is sole owner of mining
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Knight held it from 1826 to 1834, and under his ownership the property was profitable. Then for a few years the mine was abandoned on account of Apache raids, and from 1840 to 1860 it was worked by Siqueiros. Sweet & LaCosta were proprietors from the latter year until the Confederate iņ- vasion of 1862, when all the mines of the Territory closed down. At various periods from 1862 to 1870 the property was worked by Messrs. Sweet. LaCosta, Brand and Fresh, their labor being performed by Mexi- cans from Chihuahua, and their smelter, a small Mexican blast furnace, with a capacity of about 2,000 pounds of copper per month.
The developinent of the Santa Rita copper camp dates really from 1873. since which it has been under American management. Work was con- tinued steadily until the early 'Sos, when, on account of the drop of copper to eight cents. the mines were closed down and lay dormant until the ad- vance in the price of the metal in the late 'gos. It was at this time that the Hearst estate secured an option on the mines from J. Parker Whitney, of Boston, and a few months later, in May, 1899, the option was sold to the Amalgamated Copper Company for $1.400,000 cash. The new owners, operating under the name of the Santa Rita Mining Company, at once in- augurated extensive development works.
The territory owned by the Santa Rita Mining Company comprises an area of about one square mile, the central portion of which is reserved for development, while the remainder is thrown open to leasing shippers. The ore occurs in veins of native copper, varying in width from a knife- blade to bodies of low-grade of from six to eight feet. A leaching process has been adopted by which ore carrying as low as one and a half per cent copper can be concentrated into a product eighty-six per cent fine. There
properties for the Burro Chief Copper Company, maintaining his residence at Silver City, was born in Ohio, where the days of his boyhood and youth were passed. He became familiar with mining properties through practi- cal experience since coming to the Territory. He arrived in Silver City in 1883 and became connected with silver mining at Deming, New Mexico. Later he was at Bear mountain, afterward at Bald mountain, and is now operating in Burro mountain, having developed the mine of the Burro Chief Copper Company, of which he is sole owner and manager. The business was incorporated in May, 1905, with a group of claims adjoining the holdings of the Burro Mountain Copper Company. Mr. Parker is now developing property for sale, and is well known as a prospector and miner. He is interested in the Gem Turquoise and Copper Company, which was incorporated, its stock being placed upon the market by Mr. Parker.
The great majority of the pioneer residents of New Mexico have seen military service, and Mr. Parker is among this number. He became captain of Company B of the Seventieth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry and served in the first Sioux war and also on the frontier against the Indians during the Civil war. He belongs to Silver City Lodge No. 413, B. P. O. E., and to Silver City Lodge No. 412, K. P.
Thomas A. Lister, of Lordsburg, interested in mining operations as the president and manager of the North American Mining Company, was a resident of the Territory for seven or eight years before his removal to this locality. The company has done about eleven hundred feet of under-
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are hundreds of thousands of tons of low-grade ore lying on the various old dumps. Moreover, the camp is equipped with a complete system of waterworks, an abundant supply having been obtained in sinking one of the shafts. The Santa Rita Mining Company has established the rule of throwing open good ground to leasers, and the output from this source is quite large ; the entire production of the mines will average between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 pounds of refined copper annually. Approximately the output of the property from the time of its discovery to 1906 is 90,000,- 000 pounds.
Another important property in the Santa Rita camp is the Wildcat group, consisting of eight claims. The company controlling it has devel- oped large bodies of sulphide ores, which are treated at its 100-ton concen- trating plant. The oldest mines in the district, with the exception of the Santa Rita Mining Company's lodes, are the San Jose and Ivanhoe, both of which have been worked continuously since the early 'Sos in the produc- tion of copper, lead and silver ores. The entire Santa Rita camp employs an average of over 1,000 men.
Natural Features and Ruins .- The Santa Rita mines occupy a depres- sion, or basin, resembling a vast crater. ()n its eastern rim is an isolated and prominent column of stone, known, from its form, as the Kneeling Nun. Such a marked work of nature could not exist in a Spanish country without possessing its legend, which is this: "In the early days of the Spanish conquest of New Mexico, upon the mountain there stood a mission or cloister, wherein dwelt monks and nuns, and one of the latter, a Sister Rita, a nun professed, who had broken her vows, was turned to the stone, or monolith, now standing on its brow."
ground work, taking out gold, silver and copper, some running as high as five hundred and thirty-three dollars, but most of it is low-grade ore. The company is now putting in a big pump preparatory to sinking a deeper shaft, and the operations are carried on along modern lines and processes for the development of New Mexico's rich mineral resources.
The North American Mining Company has recently sold all its hold- ings to the North American Copper Company, and is now operating the Nellie Bly mine and shipping copper-silver ore to the Douglas smelter, Douglas, Arizona, as the following quotation from the Lordsburg Western Liberal, July, 1906, shows: "The North American Copper Company has shipped six carloads of thirty tons each to the smelter at Douglas this month, and is shipping nothing less than ten per cent copper. The ore all comes from the Nellie Bly, which is now showing more ore than ever."
John Deegan, local manager for the Santa Rita Mining Company and the Santa Rita Store Company, has been actively connected with min- ing operations in Grant county since 1900, when the company with which he is still identified began the development of mining properties in this section of the Territory. Benjamin B. Thayer was general manager and superintendent of all of the properties of the company at this point at that time, and Michael Riney was general foreman, and together they in- troduced and inaugurated the only systematic development work which had ever been done here. Mr. Thayer continued his connection with the company until the latter part of the year 1903, and Mr. Riney severed his
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In the Santa Rita district are remains of the old Spanish prison, in which were confined regular convicts or slaves who had proved refractory workers in the mines. At each corner of the prison originally stood a circular adobe fort, or tower, with portholes near the top. Two of these, known as the Martello towers, are still standing in a fair state of preserva- tion. The inside diameter is twelve feet, with an equal height, and the walls are three feet in thickness. When the mines were being worked in the early days the fierce Apaches vainly assaulted this stronghold of the hated settlers.
Hanover Gulch .- To the east of Santa Rita is what is popularly known as Hanover Gulch, in which and around which is a copper- bearing field exceeded in productiveness and historic renown only by the older camp. It received its name from its first thorough explorer and ex- ploiter, Sofi Hinkle, a native of Hanover, Germany, who emigrated to the City of Mexico in the late thirties, where he obtained employment in the national mint. Although a blacksmith by trade, Mr. Hinkle was a skilled mechanic in other lines, and while in the employ of the Mexican govern- ment cut and engraved several dies for copper coins. While thus engaged he learned of the productive copper mines to the far north, and of the ease and cheapness with which the ores could be extracted and smelted. In the summer of 1841 he therefore set out with his own train, but joined a government pack-train before he reached his destination (Santa Rita) in August of that year. For several days after his arrival he made careful examinations of the mines then being operated by the Spaniards, and early in September visited the Arrova de Alamo, about four miles distant from the old fort at Santa Rita. The wealth of both native and red oxide of
connection with the company in the latter part of the year 1905. After the resignation of Mr. Thayer, Mr. Deegan was appointed local manager of the Santa Rita Mining Company and the Santa Rita Store Company, and has since continued in that capacity.
The Santa Rita Mining Company took over the J. Parker Whitney properties here and also some properties which had been controlled by the Hearst estate. The Romero mine was the main district of the Whitney properties, and the principal mine of the Hearst estate was the Carrasco. Both of these were old Spanish workings. In addition to these the Santa Rita Company bought up adjoining claims and all are patented now in a solid block. All property is being worked and the portions that are not being worked by the company are being prospected by lessees, there being about forty-five lessees on the ground now. Twelve shafts have been sunk by the Santa Rita Company, one of these being a large three-compartment shaft. All of the plants are supplied with modern equipments, including steam pumps, air connections, cages, etc. There are about thirty thou- sand feet of underground workings, including shafts, tunnels, cross-cuts, up-raisers, winzes, etc. The company owns a concentrator of a capacity of one hundred and twenty tons per day. Mr. Deegan is local manager of all properties of the company, He is a native of Illinois, and in 1898 went to California, whence he came to the Territory in 1900. He has since been located at Santa Rita.
Frank C. Bell, connected with the mining interests of Grant county
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copper exposed there was so far beyond his expectations that he imme- diately began the erection of a stone cabin and the furnaces or smelter which have since been so conspicuously connected with the history of mining in the southwest. and whose picturesque remains still exist.
The further connection of this hardy mining pioneer with the estab- lishment of Hanover Gulch as a great copper producing region is thus given by the Silver City Independent, in a valuable article published about a year ago:
Mining and smelting operations were in full blast by the end of the month and large quantities of copper shipped to Old Mexico, thence to Vera Cruz and finally to Spain. Raymond's statistics of mines and mining, published in 1870, credits the Han- over mine with having a greater production than the Santa Rita. Hinkle's books of ac- counts show several shipments ranging in value from $25,000 to $35,000 of ingot cop- per each. From the first blow-in of the furnaces in September, '41, until the fall of October, '43, the output was continuous and uninterrupted, and shipments were made regularly and as rapidly as the ingots accumulated into pack-train lots.
The fall of this year was an eventful one, not only in the history of Hanover gulch, but the Territory as well. On a bright October afternoon an Apache squaw whom he had befriended confided to Mr. Hinkle that a plot had been formed by the Indians to kill every person in the gulch, without regard to color, age, sex or condition, and advised him not to leave his house for the next ensuing three days, and place three white marks on the door post. The instructions were followed literally, and near the close of the third day the Indians, numbering hundreds, swept down upon the lit- tle hamlet, murdering everyone in sight. A defense was made, but to no purpose, and, seeing no possibility of winning, stopping or checking the fight, Hinkle and his store- keeper sought safety in flight. The storekeeper was killed as he was mounting his horse ; Hinkle barely escaped, and en route to old Mexico, between Apache Tejo and Carazillo Springs, counted over one hundred dead bodies of whites and Mexicans who had fallen victims of the Apache raid. Remaining in New Mexico until after the con- clusion of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and believing that the change in gov-
and living at Pinos Altos, was born in Grant county, Wisconsin, and came to New Mexico, February 12, 1878. He had previously engaged in min- ing in Colorado, having gone to that state in 1869. Coming to the Terri- tory from Denver, he journeyed over the narrow-gauge to southern Colo- rado and thence staged to Santa Fé, after which he journeyed on by pri- vate conveyance to Fort Bayard, traveling as one of a party of four, his companions being Ernest Brigham and George Shepherd, while "Happy Jack," of Santa Fe, was driver. He reached Pinos Altos, where mining was being carried on in the old way. Mr. Bell commenced operating the Pacific mine on a lease and also the Aztec mine, and has been connected with the development in this camp continuously since. In 1880 he went on a prospecting trip to the Florida mountains, below where Deming is now located, and camped on the Mimbres river on the night of December 30, 1879. The next night he camped on the west side of the Floritas, where he saw signs of the Indians. The following night, January 1, 1880, he again camped on the east side of the mountain, and on the morning of the 2nd of January the party was attacked by Indians. There were ten in the party to which Mr. Bell belonged, and in the encounter Ed Fulton was killed, while Jesse Baxter had a leg broken. Mr. Bell was hit three times, two bullets passing through his clothing, while two balls hit his rifle. This was a band of Apache Indians under command of their chief, Victorio.
Following this skirmish with the redmen, Mr. Bell returned to Pinos Vol. II. 27
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ernments would have a beneficial effect and the stationing of United States troops at Santa Rita would minimize the Indian troubles, he again directed his course to the scene of his early success, and resumed operations about in the middle fifties, and con- tinned the business of mining and smelting until 1861, when the Civil war and the invasion of New Mexico by the Confederates put an end to mining operations at Hanover and Santa Rita.
The Confederate invasion and the discovery of rich placer diggings at Pinos Altos caused a cessation of mining and smelting in the then only known copper region west of Michigan, and the stampede which followed left the northeastern and south- ern portions of the county practically uninhabited. Foreseeing the probable extent of the war, and fully aware that if he continued his business he would be situated as between the upper and nether millstones-the Apaches the one, and the Confederates the other, both a menace to life and property. Mr. Hinkle removed to the Rio Grande valley in the vicinity of San Marcial, where not only himself, but wife also, died of what was then commonly denominated as the Rio Grande fever, which nearly de- populated the valley during the year 1877.
In May, 1860, Robert Kirk, now a resident of Pinos Altos and well known throughout the county as a thoroughly reliable man, was an employe of Mr. Hinkle and worked in the Hanover mine, and was among the very first to go to the new gold fields at Pinos Altos after the announcement of the discovery of gold by Snively, Birch and Hicks in that locality, and was fortunate in securing a good claim. Another employe by the name of Leonardo Zapata, a resident of Santa Rita, now in his 76th year, was employed as a refiner of copper by Mr. Hinkle; and also Mannel Barela, who erected the furnaces at the junction of the west fork of Hanover gulch with the main gulch.
This enterprise of Barela's was conceived of and carried out at a much later date than that of his predecessor, Mr. Hinkle. The late fifties is the commonly ac- cepted date of the inception and completion of the furnace and the second settlement of Hanover gulch. The ore supply for this furnace came in the main from the old Hanover mine, and a portion from the Rattler mine in the near vicinity of the Han- over claim. The product of the mine was very similar in character to the first men- tioned property, which bears the distinction of being the first patented mine in the Territory of New Mexico, besides producing upward of one million dollars in copper from discovery to date.
Before the Civil war the copper from the Hanover mine was run into pigs of from 100 to 120 pounds and hauled by mule teams to the Texas coast, at a cost of six cents per pound ; thence by sail to New York, at five
Altos, where he has been mining continuously since, and at the present time is contracting from the Comanche Mining and Smelting Company. He has some good properties here, including the Maggie Bell, St. Louis and Comstock, and also has the Philadelphia, Chicago and Maggie Bell at Hanover, now leased and bonded to the Comanche company for the sum of $65,000.
Mr. Bell belongs to Silver City Lodge No. I, A. O. U. W., and is a Democrat in politics.
Major B. W. Randall, who is connected with the rich mineral re- sottrces of New Mexico, making his home at Lordsburg, where he has charge of the interests of the Orin Mining Company and the Consolidated Copper Company, is a native of Morris county, New Jersey, where he was also reared. His education was completed by graduation from the Penn- sylvania Polytechnic School at Philadelphia, and he served for four years in the United States navy as an engineer during the period of the Civil war, from 1861 to 1865. He was connected with the East Gulf squad- ron and the South Atlantic squadron, and was present _at Dalgren's attack on Fort Sumter. Drifting into mining, he followed that pursuit in Mexico,
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dollars per ton. At the time of the Confederate invasion and consequent suspension of work, all the machinery and equipments of the mine were confiscated and taken to San Antonio; the transported property also in- cluded 187,000 pounds of copper.
For a number of years afterward nothing was accomplished in the way of development. T. B. Catron, of Santa Fe, and C. F. Grayson & Co. then became proprietors, and in 1897 N. S. Berry, agent for F. E. Simp- son, of Boston, obtained a working lease of the mine for one year. Eight months of the period was occupied in installing boiler, pumps, hoists and other working machinery, and during the remaining four months the lessee took out and smelted 6,000 tons of ore, running from 12 to 28 per cent. The owners refused to extend the lease, and in 1902 the property was sold to Phelps, Dodge & Co., the New York capitalists. This company now owns not only the old Hanover, but a group of half a dozen other copper mines.
Mines of the Hermosa Company, etc .- The completion of the Silver City & Northern branch of the Santa Fe road to Hanover and the develop- ment of the iron mining territory were the agencies which called special attention to various copper properties, some of which had been previously worked, but unsystematically and separately. With the advent of the railroad and the establishment of a new industry in the district, J. W. Bible became an active figure in all lines of mining development. His connection with the railroad company familiarized him with every location producing iron, copper-iron, copper or zinc, and secured him that prac- tical knowledge, which was the foundation of his ability, after years of toil and large expenditure of capital, to organize the Hermosa Copper Company, one of the wealthiest mining corporations in the United States.
In this connection an instance may be given illustrating Mr. Bible's intimate knowledge of the territory in which the Hermosa operates. On the occasion of a sudden rise in the price of lead he was confined to his bed with an attack of rheumatism; but he summoned E. H. Simmons and told
Tennessee and Texas, and came to New Mexico in 1897, making his way to Gold Hill, where he engaged in mining for two years. In 1899 he re- moved to Lordsburg, where he has since made his home, and he now has charge of the business of the Orin Mining Company and the Consolidated Copper Company. His long experience with mining interests has made him thoroughly familiar with the business in every department and an expert in his estimation of the value of ore, and he now occupies a responsible position in connection with the two mining companies men- tioned.
Major Randall has a family, consisting of a wife and two children, and they have maintained their residence in Lordsburg since 1899. He was made a Mason in New York, and he belongs to Utopia Lodge No. 23, K. P. He has intimate knowledge of the history of the southwest be- cause of his long connection with mining interests in various localities in this part of the country, and has firm faith in the future of New Mexico, knowing that the value of its material resources must event- ually be recognized by the world and utilized in matters of trade and commerce.
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him that he knew where shipping ore could be found, and if he could be driven to the place he would indicate the spot. A horse and buggy were procured and the two men drove to the Surprise mine. Upon arriving there, without a moment's hesitation Mr. Bible indicated the place to look for ore, and, as he predicted, high grade mineral was uncovered in car lots. Following this, success with other mining ventures still further familiarized him with the conditions of the district, and he was among the first to observe that as depth is gained in the iron deposits and iron con- tacts, there was an increase in the copper values of the ore.
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