It was autumn when a representative of the Arizona Miner made a railway trip from Jerome Junction (today a part of southern Chino Valley), along the narrow-gauge line to Jerome. His description of the journey, published in the October 20th edition of the Weekly Arizona Miner, was delightfully depictive.
At this time, the population of the Verde Valley, including Jerome, was 3000. The alley boasted 14 public schools staffed by seventeen teachers. The county’s climate was much wetter in the 19th century, and the Verde Valley was largely farmland.
“There are some fine farms on the lower Verde [river],” the Journal-Miner stated, “and also several thousand acres more” that could be cultivated. “Four full crops of alfalfa can be cut every year, and fruit has been successfully and profitably grown for over a quarter of a century [including] peaches, apples, pears, and plums.”
There were also stockmen, but after a drought in 1895, they were still trying to rebound. In March of 1896, the stockmen were “riding among the few cattle there [were] left on the range, and taking a look at the many carcasses as a result of the drought,” the paper described.
Still, the valley longed for a flour mill and more settlers. “Even the Yankee, if of not too broad a stripe down the front, is a very welcome class,” the Journal-Miner concluded in 1896.
After taking the standard gauge Santa Fe, Prescott &. Phoenix railroad north to Jerome Junction, the traveller caught the 10 AM train to Jerome on the narrow-gauge United Verde & Pacific railroad.
Immediately, the traveler described it as “a pleasure, made so by the gorgeous splendor of the scenic panorama that greets you at every curve of the narrow gauge as it winds its way around the steep mountain sides, many times causing the little train to groan with pain caused by curvature of the spine.”
Back then, miners were probing everywhere, and it was obvious. “Leaving [Jerome] Junction, you are borne rapidly along through a wide valley 14 miles; then you enter the foothills that soon give evidence of the prospectors’ invasion in the holes that peep out at every turn, and in more ways than one telling of the blasted hopes of the seekers after suddenly acquired wealth.” A hundred and thirty years later, nature has grown over these spots, and they lie camouflaged.
The trip was proceeding normally when disaster struck. “We were speeding along at a fairly good gate, anticipating an early arrival in Jerome, when all of a sudden we came to a standstill, and knew we were confronted with our first experience of a railroad wreck! There were 20 passengers aboard, several of whom were women. As a result, feminine screams and feminine tears with vigorous clutching at masculine coat tails added to the excitement of the moment.”
“Finding we were all safe, there was a hasty landing of the passengers to find that the engine and tender had left the track within 20 feet of a 45-foot trestle, and rolled down the bank, landing upside down. Amidst the roar of escaping steam, neither engineer nor fireman were visible, and we believed them killed.” However, “the engineer [soon] crawled out of the wreck, practically uninjured, and the fireman was found 50 yards away sitting on a rock, with blood streaming down his face,” but as bad as he looked, "his injuries were only slight.”
ALSO ENJOY: The Crazy, Two-Hour Jerome Junction Gold Rush
Fantastic story of the finding (and losing) of a small, rich gold vein outside of Jerome Junction around 1905.
A messenger started back to Jerome Junction—a 13-mile trek, and a telegram was sent to Jerome for a wrecking crew. They arrived at 3 PM, and the passengers would finally make it to the Copper City at 8 PM, seven and a half hours late. However, the delay offered a vista not often seen.
“The descent into Jerome from the mountaintop at night is a sight long to be remembered," the traveler exclaimed. "As you look down into the fiery furnaces [of the roaring United Verde smelter] with [its] livid lava pouring into the waste pots, and then down for a thousand feet at the ore roasts that terrace the mountain side and send up their lurid blue flame, you feel that Dante should have visited the scene before attempting to write his ‘Inferno.’”
Describing Jerome as “the city that practically hangs on to the mountain by its toenails,” the traveler found the city buzzing after the Friday payday. “Jerome is prosperous,” the reporter continued. “It is building up rapidly [with] many new houses being under construction [and] many new mines being developed in all directions, and the town, with a present population of 2500, expects to double its size within the next year.”
“The fertile Verde Valley, that nestles between the lofty mountains, teems with farms that furnish the town with considerable produce…”
“Jerome is pretentious,” the traveler concluded, “as well it should be, for it enjoys a prosperous present, and has a still brighter outlook for the future.”
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SOURCES:
Weekly Arizona Miner, 4/8/1896; Pg. 1, Col. 4.
Weekly Arizona Miner, 10/20/1897; Pg. 2, Col. 4.
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