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| Henry Wickenburg |
In 1870, Wickenburg was a young, booming town. Founded in 1863, it wasn’t officially incorporated until 1909. The boom was largely due to Henry Wickenburg's discovery of the Vulture Mine—“The biggest and richest gold mine yet discovered on this continent [the Vulture] is yielding plenty of ore,” the Weekly Arizona Miner stated. Two mills were running at this time, one of which had a whopping 40 stamps to crush the ore.
“The Vulture mine is looking better than it has for the past two years,” the Miner reported in July. “There is at least four years’ ore in sight.” The main shaft would be extended 100 more feet in 1870. “This, with the levels that will be run from it, will [keep] the Vulture mill running steadily, [and] its capacity for producing rich ore seems unlimited.”
Working at the Vulture required following some stiff rules that other mines did not have. “Laborers about the mine and mill are promptly discharged for drunkenness, profanity, or raising any disturbance among the workmen by tale-bearing or otherwise,” the Miner explained. “No whisky mill or gambling den is allowed at the mine, and a store is kept where employees are supplied with needed articles at a mere trifle above cost.”
The Vulture mine made Wickenburg prosper and increased the need for better roads. In February, Congressional Representative for the Territory, Richard McCormick (after whom the downtown street in Prescott is named), got a bill through Congress to build needed wagon roads in Arizona. One would be an improved route from Prescott to Wickenburg. Additionally, in the springtime, a new route from Wickenburg to Phoenix shaved 15 miles off the old route.
Besides Henry Wickenburg, one well-regarded resident was James Grant, who was the proprietor of the stage stop in town. Grant was married with a son and daughter, and told the Miner at the beginning of the year, “that Wickenburg was spreading itself.”
Grant also carried the majority of the mail in the region. In 1870, he won the mail contracts to run mail service from Hardyville to Yuma, from Hardyville to St. George, and from San Bernardino to Prescott. He told the Arizona Weekly Citizen that he “intends to have the route between Tucson and Wickenburg well stocked, and will put the passengers and mails through on that route with dispatch and make close connections at Wickenburg for La Paz, Prescott, and all other points to the north and west. All of which will be advantageous to the people and ought to be to Mr. Grant.”
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| Grant's Stage Stop, Wickenburg |
Grant deserves kudos for this public service, as the Indian Conflicts were still in full bloom, and such work could prove deadly. The infamous “Wickenburg Massacre”, where a stagecoach was ambushed, and six were killed, occurred the following year.
One of the most notorious incidents in Arizona history, the story of the Wickenburg Massacre is revealed using local newspaper accounts.
Indeed, in February, the Miner supposed that “Wickenburg ought to have one or two more mills at work, and she would, but for the [Native Americans].” April, in particular, saw several conflicts. On April 7, a group of Natives “swooped down upon a herd of mules…one and a half miles from the Vulture mine…killed one of the herders, wounded the other, and drove off 75 head of mules. They were pursued by a party of Mexicans and some workmen from the Vulture mill,” but were not caught. The owner of the mules had already lost a similar number in the past year. On April 18, “a man named Truly was killed…near Wickenburg.”
On June 18, Native Americans reportedly attacked and wounded a Mexican just outside the town, and in August, Natives took two horses. This was the same month that Gov. Stafford Stafford came to Wickenburg and “in response to a demand, addressed [the town],” the Miner chronicled, “where he specifically requested that the citizens should not be the first to give cause for any new outbreak with the Apache Mohaves. That he trusted all men would go prepared for defense in traveling about, but that they would abstain from any hostile acts towards the [Natives], unless fully assured that their safety demanded otherwise, and there was a general acquiescence in these views. Really, the outlook in this respect is brightening,” the paper concluded.
Wickenburg's business was growing in 1870. The mercantile of Mannasse & Co. took over Gray & Co.’s old store in 1868. Julius A Goldwater was a partner. Mannasse was also appointed postmaster of Wickenburg in 1870. A. Barnett, who bought his goods wholesale in Prescott, also had a mercantile. In April, John Rush opened a third mercantile.
Of course, Wickenburg also had saloons; one was owned by AH Peeples, and another was owned by Henry Wickenburg himself.
Wickenburg also had at least two doctors. RB Yuill advertised as a physician and surgeon in the Miner throughout the year, while Dr. Pierson gave a grand ball in his new house. “The music was not first-rate, but was the best the Dr. could find,” the paper explained. Another party made the newspaper: AH Peeples (for whom the valley is named) held a large party, which was considered “a pleasing affair.”
All of this building growth required large amounts of lumber, which was readily available in Prescott. The Miner noted that after unloading goods in Prescott, wagons filled with lumber were taken to Wickenburg, where “business has been good, and is steadily improving.” Lumber wasn’t the only import to Wickenburg. Campbell & Buffum, who had a mercantile store in Prescott and a ranch in Chino Valley, sent 9 tons of Irish potatoes to an unnamed merchant in Wickenburg.
Despite a lack of potatoes, the land surrounding Wickenburg produced a great deal of surprising produce in 1870. In August, the Miner reported these totals: 205 acres of barley, 12 acres of wheat, 14 acres of corn, 10 acres of sorghum, 2 acres of garden vegetables, 1615 grape cuttings, 185 peach trees, 35 pear trees, 33 apple trees, and 5 quince trees.
Wickenburg was a wild-west town and had its share of crime. One Saturday night in September, a group of Mexicans “got on a spree, and, just as Peeples’ saloon was closing, they fired several pistol shots through the glass door [in]to the bar, smashing glasses and mirrors,” the Miner reported. “Those inside returned the fire, and the next morning, a dead Mexican was found in the street, opposite the saloon. The Mexicans made no fuss, and nobody else seemed to care, and so the matter stands.”
In November, two army deserters were captured in Wickenburg. Foolishly, they attempted to flee from their guards. When ordered to stop, they continued to run and were fired upon. One was killed, and the other wounded.
As 1870 came to a close, the atmosphere around Wickenburg was entirely optimistic. “Wickenburg [is] prosperous, as usual, ” the Miner reported. The Vulture was “crushing rich gold rock, and producing a great deal of bullion. Many new houses have recently been erected in the town, and above and below it, on the banks of the Hassayampa. Long trains of wagons, drawn by mules, were constantly arriving from Ehrenburg, Phoenix, Prescott, and other points, with goods, grain, lumber, etc.”
However, it would all come crashing down 20 years later when the Walnut Grove dam failed, and a 40-foot high wall of water struck the town, wiping it out in the middle of the night.
And here is that story:
The Dam, The Drunk, & The Disaster
The complete, heartbreaking story of the Walnut Grove Dam Disaster of 1890 in Yavapai County. It is still regarded as the worst natural disaster in Arizona's history.
CLICK HERE to find out what it was like to live in Yavapai County in 1870!
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SOURCES:
Arizona Weekly Citizen 11/26/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
Weekly Arizonian 4/16/1870, Pg. 2, Col. 3.
Weekly Arizona Miner:
6/5/1869, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
6/12/1869, Pg. 3, Col. 3.
1/1/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
1/8/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
1/231869, Pg. 2, Col. 5.
1/29/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 4.
2/12/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
2/19/1870, Pg. 2, Cols. 2 & 3.
2/19/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
2/26/1870, Pg. 4, Col. 3.
3/5/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
3/12/1870, Pg. 2, Col. 3
4/9/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
4/16/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
4/30/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
6/25/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 3.
7/9/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
7/23/1870, Pg. 3, Cols. 1 & 3.
7/301870, Pg. 3, Col. 4.
8/20/1870, Pg. 1, Col. 4
8/27/1870, Pg. 2, Col. 2.
8/27/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
9/3/1870, Pg. 1, Col. 4.
9/24/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 2.
11/26/1870, Pg. 3, Col. 1.
12/17/1870, Pg. 2, Col. 3.
1/7/1871, Pg. 3, Cols. 3-4.
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