Dorothy Watson

“ The greatest mining excitement of the past fifty years occurred in 1911-1914 when Ira Wright and James Bell leased the Pacific Mines and struck high grade. For 1800 pounds of the ore they received $43,000.00. This was said to be the richest shipment per pound received at the mint in San Francisco up to that time. The values, gold, silver and copper, in the ore extracted and shipped to the smelter more than paid expenses. There is irony in the story of the rich strike. The miners were aware of it first and quietly and expertly did some high grading. ”

“ The camp not only hummed with activity but it pulsated with the steady pounding of the stamps. Every independent operator and lesser companies went to work with fresh enthusiasm from the 101 mill at the foot of the Big Hill to the Atlantic, from the Mountain Key to the Mammoth, from the Gopher to the old Skillicorn mill. If a necessary shutdown occurred at night the silence awakened all sleepers in the neighborhood.
Mr. George Hearst, who had cattle interests in the Southwest, heard of the mines and sent a young mining engineer, Benjamin B. Thayer, to investigate. ”

“ A ghost town should have ghosts but none walk at the present time. However in the past there were events that curdled the blood and made one tremble with fear. There was a strike at one of the Pacific mines, not for higher wages, but perhaps it could be called for better working conditions. Laborers refused to work in a certain stope or to push the tram cars through a long tunnel from the stope to the ore bins. In those days miners carried iron candle sticks, with sharp points that could be stuck in the ground where light was needed. ”

“ There is a legend that Mexicans finding gold here built a small but strong encampment of logs, rocks, and adobe which they called “Pinos Altos”. The wall was built in the form of a horseshoe with the only opening at the narrow end. Inside were shelters for men and animals and a living spring at the foot of a large cottonwood tree. Men and animals lived inside the enclosure but went outside every day and while the men placered the animals grazed. At day’s end the workings were carefully concealed and all returned to camp and barricaded the opening for the night. ”

“ Who plays baseball now or spend an evening around the old piano singing old familiar songs when one can watch sports events on TV, or listen to the radio? No longer do the men gather around the pot-bellied stove in the store or sit on the long benches outside, settling the affairs of the world. ”

“ The 10 mile trail to Santa Rita was the most direct line crossing above present Fort Bayard and across the mountains to Whiskey Creek. The pack trains from Mesilla left the main road to Santa Rita at Fort McLane (Apache Tejo) and came straight to camp. Game was plentiful but hunters had to be sent out daily to keep the people supplied with meat. It was never safe for one man to hunt alone so small parties took turns with the understanding that the venison, bear and other game would be shared by all. ”

“ Not only was there greater mining activity but new businesses were opened. The Ancheta Trading Post had been bought by Bell and Stephens and enlarged into a general merchandise store which handled everything from hair pins to machinery. They subsidized a drug store, a barber shop, and a meat market which had its own slaughter house. Other merchants opened clothing stores—general and “for men only.” The town boasted a band, a baseball team, and a Turkish Bath. Two new hotels were built—The Palmer House and the Pacific. New and larger homes were erected, more orchards planted. ”

“ While Santa Rita could supply staples, it was necessary to go to Mesilla for hardware, clothing, groceries in quantity, which they paid for with 1 · 2 or 3 fingers of gold. The first year was spent placer mining and prospecting to find the “mother lode”. The Apaches were very troublesome, confining their activities to waylaying small parties, the driving off of stock, and to gathering on the hills above the workers, taunting the “Goddammies” as they called the Americans, from the words heard frequently from the men. ”

“ When the California Column had been disbanded at Mesilla many of its members came to the settlement as “Indian fighters” and to make their fortunes in the gold camp. In 1866 the name “Birchville” was changed to the original name of “Pinos Altos”. To many the climate and the beauty of the country made a strong appeal and they considered making permanent homes. There were no American women in the settlement so many men took Mexican and Indian girls as their common law wives, built log or adobe homes and founded families that have been prominent in the history of the Southwest. ”

“ From the earliest days when both Mexicans and Americans traveled through the country they would camp at the springs the Mexicans had called Cienega de San Vicente. Miners from Pinos Altos tried raising corn and beans there, but being loathe to leave their diggings to care for the crops, Indians or animals destroyed them. Captain A. J. Hulburt, more daring and persistent than other miners, built a cabin and took his Mexican wife there to live during the growing season. ”

“ A quarter of a century later a writer in The Enterprise referred to Pinos Altos as “an abandoned camp in Silver City’s back yard”. He, too, used one wrong word—“abandoned”. The opening of mines to the south and west drew many miners away and more adventurers were attracted to this district. Many of these men wanted to get rich 12 quick and engaged in illicit mining deals. The result was that many claims were not being worked. The newcomers were more inclined to gamble than to use a pick and shovel. ”

“ Cochise told of long wagon trains coming into the country with more and more men. If ever the miners were to be driven out now was the time. Cochise returned to his mountains. Mangas Colorado had the herds brought in and driven to secret places, braves and women were given instructions, and suddenly Warm Springs was deserted. One day, on the long slope above the miners’ camp, a bevy of Apache girls and young squaws appeared. They paid no attention to the settlement nor to the miners who were working nearby, but combed and braided their long hair. ”

“ Spaulding had gone into Silver City for supplies and was expected back that evening, Dad hiked over the mountains to Whitewater and caught a mess of trout. He had returned to the cabin when a rider came up calling out that the Indians were on the warpath and were in the mountains and that all the people were to go to Meaders on the Frisco River for safety’s sake. Dad said he was expecting Spaulding so would not leave. He took his binoculars and scanned the hillsides. A movement far up on the canyon wall caught his eye. ”

“ During the depression years one building was used as a library and recreation center and was patronized by both children and adults.
Some years ago an educator wrote “The rural school has been a little house, on a little hill, with little equipment, where a little teacher, at a little salary, for a little while, teaches little children little things”. Some progressive school people decided that was all too true and with the American concept that bigger meant better, thought consolidation was a step in the right direction. Pinos Altos children now “ride the bus” into Silver City. ”

“ Music was a very important part of every service as there were many fine voices in the community. People lost interest in church affairs when mines closed and so many prominent families moved away. Then, too, the general use of the automobile and popularity of the movies furnished excuses for going to church in Silver City or to seek diversion and entertainment of other sorts. ”

“ Water and gold may give out but hope never does. Men and women still prospect. Mr. Richard Allen, who wrote a history of Pinos Altos, published by The Silver City Enterprise in 1889, estimated that $3,000,000.00 in gold had been produced, and he predicted that that much a year beginning with 1890 would come from the mines. The Bureau of Mines’ Bulletin No. 5, states that: “Over $8,000,000.00 worth of gold, silver, zinc, lead and copper has been produced in the Pinos Altos mining district.” ”

“ Even today, after the rains Chelela, Loretto and Epifanio Cuebas find gold in the vicinity of the dump. Often when easy gold became scarce a claim was abandoned and open to relocation. A seventeen year old boy who had run away from his home in Texas wandered into town one day. He watched the miners washing gold and followed them to the store where the gold was weighed. The storekeeper became interested in the boy and let him have a prospector’s pick and gold pan. Each day the boy brought in a few colors and one day appeared with some fair sized nuggets. ”

“ Lunger and Company sank a shaft on the Mountain Key to a depth of 90 feet and found very rich ore. They sold the property to General Boyle and a stock company was organized with John Boyle, Jr., as manager. The shaft was deepened to 470 feet, exposing large ore bodies. In 1890 when James Jackson, who later became a well-known figure in mining circles, went to work at the Key, there were three shifts working with 200 men employed on each. The company built its own mill down Bear Creek where adequate water could be piped from Mill Creek. ”

“ The more enterprising men 25 suggested that each miner be taxed $2.50 to pay for her services, and the miners, wanting to keep a young and attractive woman in camp, heartily agreed. The school was started and continued until the beginning of the War Between the States. However, her duties were interrupted constantly by visits from the miners whose excuses were a new rich find or mines for sale but whose real purposes were proposals of marriage. ”

“ Lincoln learned that the reason was that Catholics were not allowed to use a Protestant church, he suggested that the Ladies Aid make curtains that could be hung between the part used for the reading room and a part used for worship. This was done and the result was amazing. It was a very popular place until the Hearst people sold and Mrs. Hearst withdrew her support. There was a change in the camp. Many men in the more important positions and many miners followed Mr. Benjamin B. Thayer to Santa Rita, and the Comanche Company brought in their own men. It affected church life. ”

“ The sheriff said the man was too young to have murdered the man whose bones were crumbling—that he was just a “crack-pot”. The hole was filled and forgotten, the young man was taken into Silver City and sent on his way. The mystery was never solved.
Schools
Captain Tevis in his recollections of Pinos Altos as told in “Arizona in the ’50’s” tells the story of Miss Rhoda Parker, a young woman from Iowa who came with her father and her uncle, a Mr. McCulloch, who were interested in mining. She was the first American woman to visit the camp and was immediately very popular with the miners. ”

“ The conflict raged along the Continental Divide until one o’clock, when with fifteen Apaches killed, one by a dog belonging to a Mexican named Carlos Norero, the Indians withdrew. Three Americans lost their lives, including Thomas Marston who had been fatally wounded and died a few days later. He was buried beneath the large juniper tree in the Pinos Altos cemetery. Many of the remaining Americans decided that their scalps were more valuable than gold and left to join either the Union or Confederate Forces. The Beans were among them. ”

“ Vincent De Paul Church in Silver City. Ever since the cross was erected on the mountain by Sr. Santiago Brito in gratitude to God for deliverance from the Indians and in honor of Saint Helena, May 3rd has been observed as Patron Saint’s Day. In the good old days miners would sneak sticks of dynamite, every now and then, into their pants or lunch buckets and hoard them for the celebration. At sunset fires would be lighted near the church and around the cross on the mountain. Blasts would rattle the windows throughout the town. This might go on all night if the miners had had a successful year. ”

“ Quartz bearing ore was crushed in arrastras, century-old mills such as the Egyptians and Phoenicians had used to crush olives for oil and grapes for wine, and which had come down through the ages to the Mexicans. A circular pit was dug, sides and bottom lined with flat stones, a stout pole was placed in the center to which an arm was attached and a burro, mule or horse could be hitched. ”

“ Articles of incorporation for a narrow gauge railroad, linking Silver City, Pinos Altos and Mogollon had been filed as early as 1889 and some preliminary surveys and grading done, then the venture was dropped. The Hearst Interests realized the advantage of such a road and began preparations to build a road connecting smelter and mines. A boarding and rooming house managed by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fox, was built on the flat below the mines to accommodate the workers on the railroad as well as many miners who daily walked or rode over the mountain to their work. ”

“ He delighted the boys by buying baseball equipment and playing ball with them, often in the street, and if a ball went through a window Jimmy would send a boy with a five or ten dollar bill to pay for the damage. Mothers with marriageable daughters tried to attract his interest for it wasn’t everyday that a personable young man with $40,000,000.00 was a member of the community. Jimmy gave big parties with guests from the surrounding area as well as the town. He was having fun while keeping one eye on the mining game. ”

“ This may mean that Pinos Altos will again be an active mining community, producing lead and zinc, with gold and silver recovered as a bonus.
35 The Family
There was a time when asking a person in the West where he was from was a shooting matter. Visitors today have no hesitancy about asking that or about how long one has lived here or what brought one here in the first place. Is it more eccentric to spend one’s life here than in a small hamlet in Vermont or elsewhere? Lack of initiative or drive may be partly responsible and surely sentiment is. Some of us just love the home place. ”

“ The quartz was thrown into the pit and broken up as the beast walked around and around. The rubble was thrown out and the bottom scraped of the fine material which was then washed in the ordinary rocker. (Only one arrastra in good condition is intact today) . As more and more miners came in the settlement moved up the creek to a more central location for all placer grounds. The Mesilla Times in 1861 carried items and advertisements from the gold camp. ”

“ If children but knew what they had missed, how thankful they would be, with no wood box to keep filled, no bringing in of chips and water for household needs. No longer do the women bend over a wash tub, scrubbing out grime and grease on a wash board. It is only a fifteen minute drive to a laundromat. Cars, trucks, and “jeeps” have taken the places of horses, mules and burros for transportation needs and pleasures. ”