Sasco ... A Nice Place To Visit

If you are in the Tucson/Marana area and you have lots of time for a road trip, this loop around the mountains through Sasco and Silverbell is a fun one to drive if you don't mind really bad gravel roads and the feeling that you have absolutely no idea where you are or where you are going!  What could be more fun?

What made it exciting for us is that there was a train line following this route hauling men and supplies to the Silverbell mine.   So off we went out of Red Rock in Dan's big fancy truck.

The first thing we came across was a feedlot.  A HUGE feedlot that went on and on, as did the smell.  Since I'm an old ranch hand, it doesn't bother me much, but I was quick to roll down the window and roll it back up when taking a picture.  The truck was instantly permeated with eau de cow pie.  I'm pretty sure that's not going to help me attract a man! 

In no time, much faster than expected, the pavement ended and the gravel began.  This is a perfect road for a 4-wheeler or a beat up old truck.  We went slow, all the while I was thinking I didn't bring enough water.

We headed uphill the entire way catching glimpses of the railroad bed here and there.  At some points, we were driving ON the roadbed through cuts in the hills.  In no time, saguaro cactus began to appear.  EVERYWHERE!  I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place.  

I should have done a little more research before we left.  We weren't really sure what we were looking for other than the railroad tracks.  We did see a couple of old buildings, but didn't realize exactly what they were.  With the temps in the 100's, we didn't stray far from the truck.

The Silverbell mine came about when the Development Company of America, headed by Governor Murphy, bought up several mines in the Silver Bell mountains in 1903.  One year later, they brought in the Arizona Southern Railroad, built the smelter and began building the bones of Sasco.

Here's a map of the town we passed by without even realizing it.  This is where all that ore from the Silverbell mine was processed to remove the copper.  There are two things that come from copper processing .... copper and slag.  All the black gooey liquid slag was dumped off to the side (the orangey stuff in the picture).  

Sasco stands for Southern Arizona Smelter Company.  You can see on the map where the railroad goes by town with a short line to the smelter itself.

In it's heyday, this is what the town looked like

This is pretty much the only thing visible today.  Not knowing what we were looking at, we didn't even get out for a look see.  As it turns out, this is pretty much all that remains of the town.  This is what's left of the Hotel Rockland. 

Sasco was basically completed in 1907 and had a maximum occupancy of 600 people, probably all of whom worked in the smelter and the few businesses in town.  With the temps hitting 122 in the summer, I don't imagine it was the most fun place to live.

This is the smelter itself, none of which is accessible today.  It's all on private property and has signs everywhere.  There are some other ruins visible from the road, but we didn't know they were there.  I guess that means I have to go back .....

You can however see the base of the stack from the road.  This closeup picture came from the internet.  You can see the base in the above picture, top left.  There was some excitement in Sasco when in 1919 Mr. Charlie Coleman was shot dead.  

He came to town from Bisbee with the intent of killing two men who had been playing around with his wife.  Wouldn't you know!  When his intentions were made known, Mr. Wilson the saloon owner, asked him to leave town.  Charlie was too intent on his mission.  Mr. Wilson grabbed his 30-30 rifle and shot Charlie dead.  So much for his wife's reputation.

As we drove along, we found this foundation, possibly for a water tower, providing the steam engines with water as they climbed the hill to the far side of the mountains you see here.

The little town of Sasco didn't last long.  By 1911 the Development Company of America had some big losses in their Tombstone mining operations, causing them to declare bankruptcy.  By 1918, an even bigger problem showed up ... the Spanish Flu, which completely devastated the town.  The little cemetery, which we didn't even know existed, is full of townspeople.  I'm definitely going back to check it out.

Part of the way down this road, you actually cross through a corner of the Ironwood Forest National Monument.  Other than this little sign, you would never know it.  BUT .. look at that cactus would you!

It's a CRESTED SAGUARO!!  How cool is that!!  Scientists still have no idea why this happens.  There are apparently TWO in this area, but we only saw this one.  Just another reason to return!

It was a beautiful place to visit.  The cactus make for spectacular scenery, each one completely different.  Some are hugging each other, some are showing their muscles from working out ... I mean the scenarios are endless.  But wait .... the trek continues.

Next up ... we skirt around the Silverbell Mountains, hoping and praying the road actually goes through to the other side, because ..... well ......  we've been on this bad gravel road for 15 miles and the GPS said we were off-roading AND the road kept turning the wrong direction!!