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    Around Dewey-Humboldt
    Around Dewey-Humboldt
    Around Dewey-Humboldt
    Ebook151 pages53 minutes

    Around Dewey-Humboldt

    By J.P. Gorham

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    About this ebook

    Nestled in the Arizona mountains are several small, unassuming towns that belie the importance of their heyday. These towns are all intrinsic to each other for one reason: mining. The nearby ranches were established to feed the miners, and in many cases, residents moved back and forth among them depending on which mines were prosperous or closed. Some no longer exist, evidenced now by rock walls or other harder-to-find clues. Some have turned into tourist attractions. The first legislative meetings of the Arizona Territory were held at the Woolsey Ranch in nearby Dewey, where the first building in Yavapai County was constructed. Indian wars occurred here, and many of the natural resources used to support the growing country came from iron and copper mines found deep within the bowels of the Dewey-Humboldt area. The towns of Cherry, Dewey, Humboldt, Mayer, Cordes Junction, Crown King, and Bumble Bee still exist. Others, like Agua Fria, Chaparral, Stoddard, McCabe, Poland, and Cleator, have mostly vanished, but their pioneering spirit and importance will never be forgotten.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMar 3, 2014
    ISBN9781439649978
    Around Dewey-Humboldt
    Author

    J.P. Gorham

    Author, historian, and cowboy poet J.P. Gorham has had a love affair with this area for almost 40 years. His work with descendants of pioneering families and his annual Dewey-Humboldt Cowboy Gathering and Western Heritage Festival help keep the history and memories of this part of Arizona alive.

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      Book preview

      Around Dewey-Humboldt - J.P. Gorham

      collection.

      INTRODUCTION

      This is a book about two vastly different yet completely intrinsic worlds nestled next to each other in the Arizona mountains. After thousands of years of sparse and migratory native habitation, it all changed suddenly with the appearance of one King Woolsey, the first white settler in the area. Until then, a handful of prospectors courageous enough to risk Indian attacks had worked hard to try to strike gold in the untapped soil, rock, and creek beds. They certainly welcomed Woolsey when he arrived and hired them to build his two-room homestead. The workers used stones from the long-abandoned Sinaque Village ruins of the Anasazi Indian tribe in the area next to the current Mortimer Farms (originally Young Farms). In 1863, King Woolsey was with the Walker party when they discovered gold along Lynx Creek after reports of paying quantities found by prospectors on the Hassayampa, Antelope, Indian, Agua Fria, Big Bug, and Lynx Creeks shortly prior to that. He enjoyed the mild climate and decided to stay to raise cattle and hay. The Union army was encamped nearby and desperately needed both.

      The ranch was immediately under constant attack by the local Apache Indians. While returning with a wagonload of hay soon after his arrival, Woolsey and two ranch hands were attacked by about 20 members from that tribe. With only one shotgun, his ranch hands escaped with the mules, and Woolsey defended himself, killing the chief of the tribe. The chief’s body was hung from a nearby tree, a warning to others to leave the area alone. There was a long-lasting friendship with members of the Yuma, Pima, and Maricopa tribes, some even employed to work there. But the Apaches were hostile to the other tribes as well as any white travelers who dared to enter the region.

      Throughout the summer of 1864, Woolsey led 150 men on constant hunting parties to eradicate the Apache tribe, and was certainly successful. Appointed lieutenant colonel of the Indian fighting volunteers and an aide to territorial governor Goodwin, Woolsey headed out on three expeditions to finally annihilate the tribe. The large group of white civilians and Maricopa and Pima Indians set out to find the Apaches, discovering them at nearby Fish Creek Canyon. An interpreter was sent to invite the leaders to a parley, and the tribal members arrived to the sight of a large feast of Pinole (a mixture of corn and sugar) and Tiswin (a strong fermented drink made from corn). The Pinole, however, was laced with strychnine, and the chief himself was shot on the spot. The others scattered, but were all shot as they tried to escape. Known as The Pinole Treaty, this incident forever changed the landscape of the area.

      During this encounter, a young Yaqui girl of about 10 years old wandered into Woolsey’s camp after escaping from the Apaches. She was brought back to the Woolsey ranch to be an attendant to Mary, Woolsey’s companion, and learned household skills and the ways of the white man. A few years later, Lucy, as she was now known, was given a small house of her own after Mary realized there was more going on between her and King Woolsey than originally thought. Lucy bore two daughters with Woolsey, who, having no children with Mary, named them Clara and Johanna. They were included in his will, but Mary never acknowledged them, and the courts sided with her. Later, the Catholic Church intervened, and the daughters received support from the estate, which reverted back to the church upon their passing as part of the agreement.

      The ranch house also became a place of refuge

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