An Old Time Arizona Silver Mining Pioneer Adventure
Installment 1:
A-Tiny-Story-Romance-and-Savagery-in-19th-Century-Southwestern-Arizona
Installment 2:
Apache-Land-Travels-and-Surprises
Installment 3:
an-old-time-arizona-silver-mining-pioneer-adventure
Rise and Shine
Jack was still snoring
Nell could feel warmth on her right forearm. She knew immediately that the Arizona sun had risen. Breaking her drape, she clearly saw the outline of mesquite trees at the bosque winding in the distance south.
She had mixed feelings as she made her way to their small kitchen area. She thought pensively to herself, "Such a beautiful day. I hope it is for Jack as well."
Nell spied the three eggs Jack's Mexican friend had given him. Reaching for a knife she called out, "Time to get up. Jack. Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey."
She mixed flour and water with drippings for a gravy and warmed up biscuits. With any luck at all, Jack would soon make the money to buy a bit of meat.
Groggily walking to their small sideboard, Jack dropped in a chair and inhaled deeply.
"Mmmmmm... That looks good," he mumbled. When he bivouacked in the Army of the Union, Jack and his messmates would sit around a kettle. Hard tack and heated salt pork was what he had to look forward to. The drippings cooking with eggs smelled so good on this morning. Here he had a breakfast served with caring hands, and what's more, he always anticipated the conversation. Nell was a good listener, and as such, Jack loved her talk. It was not because she let him babble on, but because he knew she understood his point of view.
An Ominous Interruption
Pushing his chair out from the table, Jack was about to holster his Colt when a great bang shattered the serenity.
Thwack! went a shutter. The two looked seriously mindful.
"Was just a dust devil, better lower the window," Jack retorted firmly. Then with a warm embrace the two said their goodbyes. Jack rested his cheek on Nell's and said, "Every man is a miner, one way or another.
Nell shook her head a little, "Come home safe to me."
Riding to Work at the Mine
There was a promise in the air as Jack rode to the mine. It was about a one-half mile trek to Harshaw, and then another one mile to the mine. The morning was already warming. But with thoughts of paying work, Jack and his horse moved confidently toward town.
Soon, Jack's horse slowed a bit and then, with no warning, the horse refused to continue.
Jack rarely heard his horse snort. Stopping rigidly was truly eventful, but with a snort it made the situation alarming.
Contemplating a dismount to investigate, Jack focused his attention at the movement on the side of the road. Momentarily, he witnessed a pop and a rustle in the brush to the right. Then, a projection from the grass appeared to be a boot toe. The color was nearly identical to the brush.
With an air of concern, Jack spoke with little vocal strength, "What's the matter, boy?"
Contemplating dismounting to investigate, Jack focused his attention at the movement on the side of the road. Drooping desert thicket grass on the side of the road was suddenly moved, popping and rustling was heard. Then a projection from the grass appeared to be a boot toe? The color was nearly identical to the desert brush. After a temporary pause, Jack was stunned by a forked tongue that flicked. He knew what was on.
Slowly a giant Gila Monster entered the road. Wit a deliberate and swaying motion it got to the middle. Turning its head toward Jack, it tarried and flicked repeatedly. After a suitable time to the lizard, it straightened its head and moved toward the other side of the road. The horse seemed to be less inflexible that before. That gave Jack a shot of trust that the worst was over.
The body of the monster was 36 inches long not including its tail. Its short little legs moved in unison, the left side dropping while the right side lifted. Once a step was taken, the same motion occurred on the right side. It therefore seemed to rock left and right as it lumbered along. Surely this was the largest Gila monster he had ever seen.
Later in the 20th century, zoologists would discover the Komodo dragon. An average adult male will weigh 174 to 201 pounds and measure 8.5 ft. Yes, Gila monsters can be large, but monsters, maybe not? "The Gila monster may measure 20 to 22 in. The tail is about 20% of the body size. Body mass can reach 1.76 lb."
- Alina Bradford
What Jack saw was an outlier. There have been unsubstantiated reports of Gila monsters twice this size.
Approaching the Mine Tunnel Portal
The low hanging sun cast shadows over the adobe buildings of Harshaw. The townsfolk watched Jack and his horse walk by giving him a nod here and a hat tip there. The trail ahead wound upward with switchbacks running across the carved rock.
Starting to ascend the miner's hill, the air smelled of sage and old rain. As he climbed the dusty dirt trail, twisted juniper appeared. They were gnarled survivors of the desert, their roots gripping the dirty spaces between rocks.
Soon, Jack could see the mine portal. As he approached, he could see seven men sitting in a cue outside. The last man raised an arm to wave.
Jack could see burros tied up on the other side of the portal and road his horse to the picket line. His horse watered and tied up; Jack moseyed over to the other men lined up in wait.
Picket Meaning Sharp Point (Hammered) Securing A Line
A picket line is a horizontal rope along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height (above the knees, below the neck) or overhead. The overhead form is usually called a high line.
Day Shift
They called it the day shift, and Jack and the others were about to go in. Spout oil wick lamps, mounted on beams or on caps, and candlesticks were the lighting tools most usually used. Whale oil and kerosene were the fuels of the day for bringing light into the caverns. The candlestick's flames danced like ghosts illuminating pickaxe strikes on the walls.
The environment was new. There was some reticence in Jack's heart, but this was his chance to make a living off the desert. The mine tunnel was dark. Small sparkles emanated from the walls as light bounced off particles of silver. It was cooler in there - there was a tiny scent of smoke. Strangeness of place sent Jack back to his days on the battle front.
When he felt a bit uneasy, he would travel back in his memory to those war places that had scared him the most. He recalled the desperate feeling he had as bullets passed his head, and he heard the screams of friends. Conjuring these thoughts when he felt uncomfortable helped him relax a bit; the present seemed less intimidating.
Mind Your Light
The miner who had loaned candles to Jack was named Jeb. He was in front.
Head turned to the side, he said, "We're pretty close. Be alert. Watch your candle." Small notches were carved in the walls near operations and held the candles.
Excavation was their job at the end of the mine. From the conversation the others had, it sounded as if they were near that point. Turning a bend, the tunnel halted, and the face of a huge end wall appeared. Everyone stopped and put their belongings to the side.
Jeb stopped as if in thought, and then turned to Jack. "Mind your water. I'll tell you when to quit for Twal-hours" - (Scottish for lunch.) It was cooler in the tunnel than outside, but thirst is generated fairly soon when breaking rock.
Of course, there are belongings, and then there are belongings. The tools of the trade stayed close by. Jack had some light, along with his fellow miners, but he had no tools of his own. He was a newbie.
There was a broken-down locker against the opposite wall with a few tools. Jack raced to get a pick. He saw a sledgehammer and grabbed that too. Finding his place again, and copying Jeb, he began to beat the wall. It was slow going, but eventually large chunks of ore would fall.
Jeb hollered, "Put your bock into it and then after strike, relox your bock. You'll last longer that way."
Between the 1860’s and 1880’s many processes were tried and abandoned before some were successful. Jack and his fellows were mining at a point just prior to a breakout in a scientific approach to mining. By the early 1870's the efficacy of stamping mills to crush the burden Jack and his fellows would haul out, was proven.
In the latter half of the 19th century, furnaces were used to cook silver cake. This cake was not pure enough to make silver items from (for instance, coins) but it could be shipped elsewhere (like San Francisco) to be refined. Indeed, most of the U.S. coinage minted was from Arizona, California, and Nevada mines.
Black powder was first used to fragment rock in mining in the early 1600s1. There is a doubtful claim that it was used in mining operations in Germany in 1613 and fairly authentic evidence that it was employed in the mines of Schemnitz, Hungary (modern Banská Štiavnica, Czechoslovakia), in 1627. The term black powder was coined in the late 19th century.
A mandrill, also called a miner’s pickaxe is used in traditional mining, or old-school mining, as it is a mining method involving the use of basic manual tools, like pickaxes. This was the method of the individual miner until the early 20th century for hacking at tunnel or shaft walls to break ore loose for removal.
-In the 19th century, miners commonly referred to their tools as pickaxes or mattocks. A pickaxe typically had a pointed end for breaking up hard ground and a flat end for prying.
Echoes Reverberate in the Mine
They had been working for about an hour, and Jack could hear a loud rumbling. It was like a thunderstorm in the distance. Jeb stopped his work, which seemed unusual, and then the sound became more intense. At the point when gnashing and banging began, followed by debris and dust falling, Jeb threw his pickaxe down and screamed. "Run! Get to the portal."
The mules were braying and stomping their feet. Suddenly a rock slab fell from the ceiling. It just missed Jeb behind the back of his head. But a piece of shoring fell and and down he went.
Though the light was minimal, Jack saw Jeb lying in a heap, covered with dust. Amidst the dust and turmoil, Jack ran and hopped toward Jeb. He knelt down and gently raised the wooden shoring away. Jack put his hand behind Jeb's head and asked, " Partner, can you walk?"
Jeb seemed to be dreaming. He said, "Yes." But then he wondered out loud, "Did you order me ale?"
Jack encouraged Jeb to help get up. "Come on, Jeb. Let's get the hell out of here."
As Jeb was getting upright, Jack brought is hand down to secure Jeb's shoulder. The lifeline on Jack's hand had rivulets of bright red crimson, warm blood quickly running to the side and dripping off. The iron square head nail on the shoring had ripped Jeb's head. Jack took his shirt off and wrapped the injured miner's head.
There was dust in the tunnel, and by this time the mules and their wagons had run to the portal. Jack and Jeb, arms wrapped around each other, stepped out of the mine. The air immediately felt cleaner and was easier to breathe. A couple miners grabbed their mining friend and got him to some shade.
Jack looked up and was astonished. Standing right in front of him was John Walther, owner of Copper Ridge Mine.
Standing there with his hands in his trousers and with a gruff tone, yet a small smile, John declared, "We seem to meet at the most violent of times, don't we?"
More Good Reading
For a collection of gold mining tales, buried treasure, silver hoards, and much much more, see, Golden Legends Tales of Buried Treasure
https://goldlegendstalesofburiedtreasure.blogspot.com/
Treasure & Wellness: Gold, Money, Silver, and DIY Guides https://diywealthhealth.blogspot.com/
Sources of History
McClintock, James Harvey. (1916). Mining and Miners in Arizona, Legends of America retrieved from Mining and Miners in Arizona – Legends of America on Aug 20, 2024
No author. No date. Black powder - History of Mining Technology, American Mine Services retrieved from History of Mining Technology | American Mine Services on August 21, 2024
Grove, Stephen. (2009 - 2024). Exploring the Evolution of 19th Century Mining Tools: A Comprehensive Guide, retrieved from Evolution of MINING TOOLS - 19th Century GUIDE on August 18, 2024
No Author. EDCITEment! National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved from BackStory: Blasts from the Past: A History of Dynamite in the United States | NEH-Edsitement on August 10, 2024
Johnston, Keith. (November 12, 2020), 11 Wonderful Old Words for Lunch, retrieved from Old Words for Lunch We Should Bring Back | Mental Floss on August 12, 2024
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