The trek to the Silverbell mine was longer than expected. As Patty, Dan and I headed further into the desert, we skirted the edge of the Silver Bell Mountains following the old railroad bed. We could actually SEE the mine, but couldn't seem to GET there.
A little history about the little town of Silver Bell we were looking for, it having been built in 1904. It was built over the remains of a mining camp from the 1880's. It was a bustling little town, complete with a company store, a Chinese Bakery, a dairy, a Wells Fargo station, a billiard parlor and an auto stage.
As the nice wide gravel road winds through a little corner of the Ironwood Forest National Park, it allows for a reasonable speed. Once out of the park however, it returns to a rough rocky bouncing 5-10 mph headache.
The biggest problem for the little town that supported the copper mining was the lack of potable water. It was first brought in by mule and wagon, then by rail and stored in big containers near the company store. Twice a day for two hours only, it was pumped to two taps, one outside the Sheriff's Office door. Many times the tap had to be guarded to keep people from taking too much.
By 1910, they even had two fire stations, a movie house, at least 247 women and MANY children. It didn't last long however. A shaft fire and water troubles at their mine in Tombstone, caused the Silverbell mine to declare bankruptcy and be shut down.
Little did we know as we drove over gully after gully, we drove right by the original town site. These were the only residents we came across.
This is one of the GOOD spots on the road. Doug Laning, this is a perfect adventure for your Jeep and Yuma!!
By this point, Dan's GPS had us offroading. We really weren't sure if the road went all the way through. As we looked across the expanse, you could see all the great roads from the mine, but we couldn't get there. Every cross road was locked with a big gate. Yes Dan's big a$$ truck is 4-wh drive, but there are some HUGE gullies to cross.
There were a couple of windmills, meaning wells to provide the cattle with water. Everything I read said it was not really drinkable. What we DID discover is this mine is HUGE! It runs the length of the entire mountain range.
By now we are almost at the culmination of our adventure. There was a short revival of the mine from about 1916 to 1920, but when the price of copper dropped off the chart, the mine was closed and the town basically abandoned.
Weren't we surprised to find the mine being worked!! Way up on top of the huge mountain, we spotted this guy dumping a load of gravel.
By the 1930's, Asarco company, who fared better than Silverbell Mining, began open pit mining. That led to the newest rendition of the town of Silverbell, situated at THIS location. It lasted from about 1952 to 1984. We were about a mile from this, having traversed the entire mountain range, when everything came to a screeching halt.
The road was washed out. Are you kidding? I think we had been on this terrible road for over three hours. If we could just skinny around that big tree/bush and jump across the two foot gully and not get stuck in the really soft sand, we might just make it!
On the other hand, we could be stuck out there for days ... there's no cell service ... in 105 degree heat. Discretion is the better part of valor. No one wanted to see Dan's beautiful new truck with that fabulous air conditioning get scratched up by the tree.
And so we turned around in a spot barely big enough for my Jeep, let alone his truck, and headed back on the horrible road for maybe 15 miles where we found another way back to Marana. Sadly, we never did find Silver Bell OR Silverbell, but we weren't dead in the desert either.
Here's an image of the steam train coming to town. It looks like there is only one tank of water. This is part of the original town of Silver Bell.
Here's what is left of the second Silverbell of the 1950's. Copper prices continued to fall, along with the water and sewage system of the town. All the houses were moved to other locations around Tucson.
MY trip around the mountain in the Jeep on the same road, resulted in a few treasures along with the location of the original town of Silver Bell and it's cemetery. It's a good thing I took lots of water and food. I'll related the rest of the story tomorrow.
I gotta say, I get such a huge vicarious buzz when you put on your pith helmet, fire up your time machine & go exploring! And these armchair adventures to check out the crumbling foundations of all the lost tiny towns in the desert (who'd have imagined there are so many?) are even more enjoyable when the August heat & Covid19 has made us prisoners in our own hometowns.
ReplyDeleteWhy thank you Leilani! It's fun to try and find old towns and wonder what in the world they were thinking when they parked themselves there!!
DeleteFor $10 you could’ve taken a tour in an air-conditioned bus but then again you had more fun
ReplyDeletehttp://www.asarco.com/about-us/our-locations/asarco-mineral-discovery-center/mine-tours/
Much more fun to take a tour in my air conditioned Jeep!! Although I may have to try that mine tour!!
DeleteOr just southwest of you West of Sahuarita, off 19 There are five open pit copper mines I think you can tour those as well there’s a viewing stand (used to be )where you could look down inside along with equipment that’s one place I used to Take people down there to do the tours back in the 80s
ReplyDeleteOne of those is on my list. It's amazing just how deep they are!
DeleteWell, speaking only for myself, Ed, I don't think modern mining operations would be as interesting as the abandoned ghost mines that made these tiny towns pop up in the desert over a century ago & then vanish with barely a trace. Although, come to think of it, I'll bet Nancy could probably get some good photography out of a visit.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking ... who was the first guy who wandered out into the desert with his mule and a pick ax an said "gee, I wonder if there's any copper here?"
DeleteThe Scientist always say that when Mankind is no longer around Nature will take over eliminating all trace of our existence. I've seen it in Forests and would be certain the Desert would do the same.
ReplyDeleteNice Pictures and History lesson.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
That certainly happens in the desert, although it may take quite some time.
DeleteThat overhead picture looks a lot like an RV park. :)
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does. It was a "planned" development with small houses AND mobile homes.
DeleteI can certainly relate to long slow bumpy rides to nowhere. Not sure I would like that kind of heat but you three had an adventure searching for Silverbell mine.
ReplyDeleteYou do need good air conditioning, but in the wintertime, it would be beautiful!!
DeleteBeautiful pictures of that area! The mine reminds me of the Robinson Mine out of Ely, NV..huge but they do look like they've been groomed. Love the history!
ReplyDeleteThat's right .. you probably have a lot of mines in your area too! As well as ghost towns?
DeleteHard to imagine them bringing in water like that on a daily basis. You have to wonder how long they could have done that for!
ReplyDeleteApparently they did have wells, but the water was not drinkable. They hauled in only drinking water. I think they did it until the Spanish flu hit and the original mine basically closed down.
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