The genesis of White Horse City was the locating of three mines in the Walker district in the Spring of 1899. The original owners, GM Wright, CW VonWolfe, and R Horsecroft founded the Lone Pine, Hammer and White Horse mines. “The property is located only seven miles from [Prescott] in the mountains just east of Lynx creek and to the right of the McCabe road,” the Weekly Journal Miner described, These mines were located between the highly successful McCabe and Mudhole mines in the Walker district.
The three men took what they could easily findgh, but it was soon discovered that heavy equipment, deep shafts, and a good deal of capital would be necessary to make the mines pay.
The mines changed hands several times and eventually at the end of 1900, a group of New York capitalists, calling themselves the Finance Committee of New York, bought these and three other close-by mines for $25,000 (about $939,000 today,) and planned a ten-stamp mill there. These investors were the first to have the finances necessary to properly develop the claim. Lynx Creek had always produced results with placer mining, “but sinking upon ledges has never been done to any extent,” the Arizona Republican noted.
“The White Horse group show unequal to any property in the district and no doubt will be one of the great producing properties in Yavapai County…” the Tucson Citizen declared. By May of 1901, bids were being entertained to sink three 200 foot shafts at the group. By mid-August, twelve men were at work, and the initial results were quite satisfactory.
This brought an increase in operations and a corresponding increase in the workforce, it was around this time that a small little burg popped-up. “A camp is springing up at the White Horse group of mines,” the Arizona Republican reported. “The new town is called White Horse City; the main street is called Vassar Ave. in honor of Major Vassar of Vassar College fame.” To celebrate the town’s founding and the promise the group of the mines showed, the Major gifted a white horse to the president of the White Horse company.
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Six months later in May, 1902, the Finance Committee of New York expanded operations even further, and bought more machinery. “Mining camp buildings proportionate to the…increased working force, and to house the machinery, will also be erected,” the Republican wrote.
In mid-September, 1902, Percival M White came to White Horse City as the guest of President, DC Monroe. White was interested in purchasing the group of mines. “He highly complimented the management for the economical and successful results attained in the development of the property,” the Republican reported.
White would chase the gold exclusively, ignoring all other minerals he came across. Subsequently, six different owners did the same, (one of them being Major AJ Doran, the first supervisor of the Pioneers’ Home,) but each ended up abandoning the mines, and White Horse City dried up after only a handful of years in existence.
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SOURCES:
Weekly Journal-Miner, 4/5/1899; Pg. 4, Col. 3.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 10/9/1901; Pg. 1, Col. 5.
Arizona Daily Star, 11/20/1900; Pg. 4, Col. 2.
Arizona Republican, 6/19/1901; Pg. 3, Col. 3.
Arizona Republican, 8/15/1901 P3 c4
Tucson Citizen, 5/4/1901; Pg. 2, Col. 1.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/1/1901; Pg. 4, Col. 2.
Arizona Republican, 11/24/1901; Pg. 12, Col. 3.
Arizona Republican, 5/27/1902; Pg. 3, Col.5.
Arizona Republican, 9/16/1902; Pg. 3, Col. 3
Weekly Journal-Miner, 10/1/1913; Pg. 8, Col. 2.
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