William Ascarza
"Southeastern Arizona has a rich mining history
dating back over 1,000 years. The indigenous people known also as the Hohokam
or vanished ones were the first to exploit the vast mineral resources in the
landmass known today as Arizona. They used minerals such as copper and
turquoise for ornamental jewelry and to trade among settlements. Hopi Indians
near the present day town of Holbrook mined coal as a means of keeping warm in
the winter, for cooking and also firing of ceramics. There is evidence that the
Tohono O'odham (Papago) Indians mined Hematite in the Ajo area for use as war
paint in the fifteenth century shortly after the disappearance of the Hohokam.
Native Americans were involved in mining turquoise in the Cerbat Mountains and
cinnabar in the Castle Dome Mining District near Yuma. They also mined salt
near Camp Verde. Although they were the first to mine the surface of Arizona,
it was the Spanish who were the first to extensively penetrate its earth in
search of mineral wealth most notably in Southeastern Arizona.
The Spanish first entered the region later called
Arizona in the early sixteenth century. Their mission was to obtain the “Three
Gs” for Spain (glory, God and gold). The two primary objectives were to
Christianize the natives and obtain mineral riches for the Spanish crown. Early
Spanish exploration of Arizona began with the exploration led by Fray Marcos de
Niza in 1539. The following year his reports of great wealth in the form of
gold and silver, reached Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who mounted a several
pronged expeditions aimed at discovering the “Seven Cities of Cibola"
rumored to rival the Aztec and Inca gold caches in Mexico and South
America. The mineral wealth of the
fabled “Seven Cities of Cibola" proved elusive for the Spanish however,
they did succeed in colonizing New Mexico and establishing distant mining
claims across the southwest including Southeastern Arizona.
During the time of Spanish rule advancements were
made in mining and refining minerals. The Spanish used an arrastra to pulverize
ore deposits of gold and silver. Run by animal power usually a horse or mule,
the raw ore was crushed, sometimes amalgamated and later sent to a sluice to
maximize the most collection of mineral content. The process of amalgamation
was introduced to the New World by the Spanish in the sixteenth century as a
means of separating silver from its ore. Mercury is mixed with silver removing
it from its ore forming amalgram. The applications of heat or nitric acid
remove the mercury from the silver. Placer mining was also conducted by the
Spanish as a low cost alternative for finding mineral wealth using techniques
such as panning and the sluice box.
The arrival of the Jesuit missionary Eusebio
Francisco Kino in the 1690s along with the added protection of recently
established missions of Guevavi, San Xavier del Bac and Tumacacori gave the
Spanish impetus to explore the region for precious metals. According to the
accounts of Father Kino the Tubac-Tumacacori area was mined by both the Spanish
and the Pima Indians for rich veins of gold and silver. Some sources speculate
the origin of the name “Arizona” may have been derived from a mining district
called Real de Arizonac located in
northern Sonora southwest of the present town of Nogales. The mine produced two
tons of silver during its operation in the late 1730s. Located in the historic
mining district often referred to as slabs of silver "Plancas de Plata” or balls of silver “Bolas de Plata”; some weighed in at 2,500 pounds.
Mining proved a risky venture in many parts of
Arizona until the late nineteenth century because of the danger posed by the
Apaches and Navajos. The Spanish continued to mine the region during a thirty
year reprieve of hostilities brought about by the Viceroy Galvez introduction
of the "Peace by Deceit" plan. In return for a cessation of
hostilities against the Spanish, the Native Americans were given food, guns and
whiskey. Hostilities in the region resumed after Father Hidalgo's "Grito
de Delores" initiating Mexico's long War for Independence from Spain. The
Mexican Revolution of 1822 further reduced military protection for miners in
Arizona against the onslaught of deprivation perpetrated by Apaches and
outlaws.
Manifest Destiny brought American mining interests
into Arizona by 1847. Tom Childs, Jr.
led a party of 19 Americans into the region on the quest to discover Plancas de
Plata in search of the fabled cache of silver.
He discovered abandoned copper mines in Ajo before his expedition was
evicted by Mexican inhabitants. However, the discovery of gold in California
brought about a resurgence of mining activity to the American southwest. The
combination of land acquired from Mexico after the Mexican War and the Gadsden
Purchase of 1853 brought the remaining land comprising Southeastern Arizona
under the jurisdiction of the United States.
The Americans drew upon many sources of mining to
develop Arizona’s mineral deposits. Beginning with the site of Arizona’s first
gold rush in the defunct town of Gila City, mining became more prevalent across
the state with additional major gold strikes found in La Paz, the Bradshaw
Mountains, Rich Hill, Vulture Mine and Greaterville. After the War Between the
States the value of silver increased and so too did the mines in Arizona. Some
of the more prominent silver mines in Arizona during the latter half of the
nineteenth century included the Silver King Mine in the Pinal Mountains and
Tombstone.
Whereas gold and silver were the initial draw to the
region by the Spanish and early Americans; copper mining became more standard
especially the southern portion of the state. Demand for copper increased by
the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. Because copper
is a good conductor of electricity and has many uses that range from pipes,
electrical wiring, machinery, transportation and coinage.
By the twentieth century mining towns in
Southeastern Arizona such as Bisbee, Clifton and Ray were well established and
noteworthy for their large deposits of copper. Technology revolutionized the
mining industry with the advent of Pneumatic drills which replaced the standard
single and double jacking techniques employed by miners during previous
centuries. Block caving, a mass mining method for extracting large bodies of
lower grade ore along with open pit mining revolutionized the mining industry.
Advances in the refinement of mineral extraction led to the ability to remove
greater amounts of copper from otherwise lean ore deposits. The floatation
process, cyanide leaching and electrowinning are examples of some twentieth
century advancements in copper production.
The 1906 strike in Cananea, Mexico certainly had its
influence in the region. Many of the participants on the American side were
from southeastern Arizona and had a vested interest in the mines of Cananea.
The Arizona Rangers were called in to quell the strike by Colonel William
Greene President of the Cananea operation and southeastern Arizona miner,
cattle rancher and land mongul. Although the strike was forcibly ended the
repercussions would be far reaching with the Mexican Revolution several years
later and the impetus for future labor strikes in Northern Mexico and
Southeastern Arizona.
Despite many decades of tension throughout the
twentieth century relations between miners and mining companies have improved
over the past 100 years. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, miners
had to work under primitive conditions ten to twelve hours a day six days a
week. Wages were lucrative although most were spent by the miners at the
company store or the gambling hall to buy spirits, food, and partake in
ventures with the ladies of the night. At the turn of the century labor unions
began to gain a foothold in the state much to the disapproval of mine managers.
During the period of 1884 through 1917 conflict between miners affiliated with
the union and mine companies resulted in strikes, firings and deportation.
However, improvements were made such as a reduction in daily work hours,
medical benefits, and salaried positions, adding to a more unified workforce
present in Arizona mining operations today.
Today copper mining remains a major industry in
Southeastern Arizona and is one of the state’s renowned “Five Cs” which include
cattle, citrus, climate and cotton. Over 400,000 documented mining claims have
existed in Arizona since the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th
century. Sixty percent of the copper produced in the United States owes its
provenance to Arizona. Arizona’s mining localities active, inactive and future
attract national attention for both economic and environmental concerns. Some
of these inactive mining towns have become meccas for artists and tourists
alike who thrive on the vintage architecture and the historic experience that
characterize the latter years of territorial Southeastern Arizona."
Ø Southeastern
Arizona Mining Towns. Charleston, South Carolina, Arcadia Press 2011
