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| An Arizona Black Diamond Rattlesnake |
Where there are rattlesnakes, there are bound to be some interesting and amazing stories, and Yavapai County is no exception.
Perhaps Prescott’s most disturbing rattlesnake stories were when they were found wriggling around the downtown area. In August 1912, “It was reported [that] two boys had killed three rattlers…in the vacant lot on Granite street to the rear of the Palace hotel,” the Weekly Journal-Miner described.
On July 10, 1917, a rattlesnake was discovered slithering up onto the sidewalk at the intersection of Gurley and Cortez in front of the Biles-Lockhart store. Two workers at the store killed the 4-foot-long, black beast. One kept the hide to use as a hatband, while the other took its seven rattlers, complete with a button to hang on his watch chain. “It is very fortunate that this affair took place after Frontier Days were over,” the Weekly Journal-Miner observed, “otherwise there might have been commotion …when thousands were witnessing events and a panic of women thrown into convulsions might have followed.” The snake made its appearance only one day after the Grand Finale.
So-Called “Cures”
There are a few newspaper accounts of rattlesnake bites being cured through folk remedies. However, the only effective treatment for a venomous snakebite is antivenin (or anti-venom), which is only available at a hospital. Do not waste time with ANY of the following “cures”.
In an unidentified town around the Crown King area, the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner recorded this tale: One Mrs. RJ Schwanbeck was wheeling her baby carriage down the street on which her family lived. Unaware that an unusually large Diamond rattlesnake was in her path, she mistakenly ran over the snake. The poisonous reptile immediately sank its fangs just above her ankle. Thinking quickly, she tore her apron into strips and bound her leg tightly above the wound.
Meanwhile, her husband was informed and arrived on the scene in 15 minutes. “He opened the wound with his razor and sucked the greater part of the poison from the wound. While the wound was being sucked, Mrs. Schwanbeck was given 15 drops of iodine every 20 minutes, until she had taken 6 doses.”
When the doctor arrived from Crown King, he praised the actions of her husband in saving the life of his wife. After this “treatment”, the victim only felt some pain at the bite site, while her husband “has been a great deal sicker than his wife, due to the presence of the poison, some of which reached his stomach. He advises all who try sucking rattlesnake wounds to wash out the mouth as often as possible with ammonia or whiskey. Both survived. Mrs. Schwanbeck stated that she was relieved that the snake struck her instead of the baby.
A farmer in Skull Valley used what he called an “Indian cure”. Arthur Goodman was working in his field when the snake struck, and he rushed to his home to apply this “cure”. It was a poultice consisting of two tablespoons of salt, one-third of a plug of chewing tobacco, and one large onion, all blended well together. He then used a penknife to open the wounds larger before applying the poultice. Still, he drove to the hospital in Prescott to receive professional medical attention when he thought he was able. Of course, today, it is known that with snakebites, time is too critical to bother with anything like this. Get to the hospital!
ALSO ENJOY: Gigantic Cinnamon Bears Used to Roam These Parts
The history of incredibly large Cinnamon bears in central Arizona; some were 2.5 times larger than the biggest ones of today.
Evidently considering himself a snake-charmer, a man named William W Ford was playing with a rattlesnake in 1873, “which he took up in his arms and handled in various ways,” the Weekly Arizona Miner reported, “when the snake bit him in the left arm. Ford has been very sick since and is hardly expected to recover.” However, a couple of weeks later, the same paper announced that he had survived and was recovering. “He attributes his recovery to the use of cold water, 21 gallons of which he drank in 10 hours, always vomiting the water a few minutes after drinking.”
In a related story, a skating rink was opened in the old armory building of the Prescott Rifles, and in early June 1887, the Weekly Journal-Miner reported that patrons would get the additional spectacle of a performance by a lady snake charmer. In this case, no mishaps were reported.
The Rattlesnake Invasion of 1912
In 1912, heavy rains increased the frog and toad population—a meal particularly desired by rattlesnakes. It was a prosperous time for the deadly serpents. However, those same rains drove rattlesnakes out of their dens and into the open. One rattlesnake had already killed a horse on the ranch of DM Wynkoop, north of Prescott. When, in the Granite Dells, it was reported that a vast number of rattlers were driven from the crevices there. At the Denning ranch in the Dells, a valuable horse was struck in its flank and killed by a rattler as the equine slept. “Although every known remedy was applied, the horse died within 2 hours,” the Journal-Miner reported.
Some household pets fared better.
The house cat belonging to the JT Nelson household of Jerome Junction got revenge after being bitten by a rattler. The Weekly Journal-Miner described the incident as one “without parallel.” The first reptile/feline scrap was won by the serpent, striking the cat on her jaw and wounding her badly. Despite having a litter of kittens, she wandered off into the neighborhood and was not seen for several days. “Believing that [she] had crawled under some house to die, the little motherless ones were fed and nurtured for six days when the [mother] came back, and [her] jaw [seemed to be its] normal size.”
“In less than half an hour, [she] took to the outskirts…as it carefully followed a trail and appeared to be hunting,” the paper continued. After stalking for about 200 yards, a major ruckus broke out between the cat and something that couldn’t be identified at first. Later, the cat returned home carrying a large rattlesnake in her mouth. “The supposition is that the snake was one that…struck [her] in the jaw, and this theory will be cherished until the contrary is proved.” But the cat wasn’t done yet. “[She] sat down and commenced to strip the reptile, and devoured practically all of it. When asked if it tasted like chicken, the cat offered no comment. After her feast, “the cat leisurely went to [her] home and again commenced nursing [her] little ones.”
In Kirkland Valley, one man’s brave, best friend dispatched two of the death-dealing serpents from his back porch. “Since the heavy rains of a few weeks ago, [there has been] an invasion of the rattlesnake in great numbers, [which] are bold enough to enter the yards and the home.” One day, “two huge rattlers were found lying coiled up on the doorstep leading into the kitchen.” The family's collie killed both “in a short fight.”
Also during this time, one motorist used his automobile to reduce the rattlesnake population. While driving to Prescott from Williamson Valley, George A Carter came across two rattlers. The first was “stretched across the road” before him, and “he increased the speed of his car to overtake the reptile, the front and rear tires on the right side hitting the object aimed at, and stripping its hide for over 18 inches in length with all the skill of a surgical operation,” the Journal-Miner reported. Carter then pulled off the road to examine the reptile's state. “Although it made several attempts to coil [and] strike, it was unable to do so…” Carter then finished the reptile off with a stone. Later, as he continued his trip, he spotted another rattler on the shoulder of the road. He “[left] the grade to overtake his game, which was done with the same results as above. The second snake, however, had only 10 inches of its hide ripped off, but this proved effective also…” Once again, Carter stopped to view the result. “It made the same effort to coil as the first one, and after 10 minutes of useless agony, it was put out of the way.”
In 1919, another intelligent dog warned his owner that a rattler was headed his way at the Last Chance mine near Walker. It was C. Benjamin Hays's big Mexican foxhound. "The dog was dancing first to one side and then to the other of the tunnel [entrance]," the Weekly Journal-Miner reported. Hayes turned on
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| Mining Muck Scoop |
his flashlight and saw a four-and-a-half-foot-long Black Diamond rattlesnake moving toward him "at quite a swift pace, and...the nearer it got to [Hayes], the more alarmed was that canine for fear it would reach [him]. But when the rattler came into reach, Hayes struck it on the head with a muck scoop, killing it instantly. The "dog then jumped on [his master] and such a demonstration of affection, if not satisfaction, never before was shown."
Rattlers Seem to Love Mines
The Last Chance mine was hardly the only one where rattlers loiter about. One prospector had a close call near the Tip Top mine when he accidentally stepped on the tail of a rattler. “The first intimation the prospector had of the snake’s presence was a sharp, angry, hiss quickly followed by a swishing sound, as the great snake threw itself in a whiplike semi-circle through the air, dashing his head against the prospector’s left top vest pocket, which contained a large square plug of chewing tobacco, into which the snake sunk his fangs and from which he was unable to pull them through the cloth vest, and there the snake hung, with its tail under the prospector’s boot, and its head within a few inches of his mouth, thrashing its body against the overalls…"
The tobacco made the rattler deathly sick, and “a film passed over its eyes [and with] a spasmodic movement of the prospector’s arm, the reptile’s head was crushed against the plug of tobacco.” The prospector then fainted. His companion later found him “all tangled up with the dead snake. He was disengaged, and when he was restored to consciousness, he immediately felt for his plug of tobacco, cut out and threw away a bright green piece from the middle of it, took a chew from the corner of the plug, and told the story.
In the Spring of 1907, workers at the Tiger Mine were crossing paths with rattlers dangerously often. “The miners, who were annoyed by the rattlers on their way to and from work, decided…to start out and annihilate all of the snakes found,” the Arizona Journal-Miner reported. Twenty-five were discovered and destroyed in one day. The following day, the battle was rejoined. Several were found and killed until they were led to “a rocky place on the mountainside about a quarter-mile from camp.” There they peered down a large crevice and were amazed to see “countless rattlers glistening in the sun.” An attack with rocks was considered too dangerous due to the sheer volume of snakes; some “almost as large around the body as a good-sized rabbit.” The miners withdrew to camp to procure one of their common tools: “a heavy charge of dynamite.” Returning to the enormous den, they prepared a charge with a fuse long enough to “allow easy escape,” and with anticipation and excitement, it was dropped into the den.
When the fire reached the Hercules powder, hundreds of pounds of reptile flesh rocketed high into the sky before the entire mountainside was covered with “thousands of wriggling pieces of snakes” raining down upon it. “The delight of the miners…was supreme,” the paper reported. It was as if they just hit the mother lode. When it came to rattlesnakes, they did, indeed. Afterward, the miners spent their free time collecting “all of the rattles they could find as souvenirs.”
If there are lessons to be learned from these accounts, it may be best to exercise extra caution around abandoned mines and after continuous heavy rainfall. When asked where rattlesnakes are found in Yavapai County, one version of Artificial Intelligence generated this response: “Key locations include the Prescott area fringes, Yavapai Hills, and general desert/chaparral transition zones, often near water sources, rocky areas, and brush piles, so watch your step!”
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SOURCES:
Weekly Journal-Miner, 7/11/1917, Pg. 5, Col. 5.
Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner, 9/18/1907, Pg. 6, Col. 5.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 8/1/1917, Pg. 4, Col. 4.
Weekly Arizona Miner, 10/18/1873, Pg. 2, Col. 4.
Weekly Arizona Miner, 11/1/1873, Pg. 1, Col. 2.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/25/1887, Pg. 3.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 8/21/1912, Pg. 4, Col. 4.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 9/4/1912, Pg. 3, Col. 6.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 9/18/1912, Pg. 2, Col. 3.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 8/28/1912, Pg. 2, Col. 5-6.
Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner, 8/10/1892, Pg. 1, Col. 4.
Arizona Journal-Miner 5/4/1907, Pg. 5, Col. 3.
Weekly Journal-Miner, 5/21/1919, Pg. 2, Col. 1.
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