8 lb. Gold Bar Awaits to be Found

Many lost treasure stories are based on lore and campfire stories. This one is based on newspaper accounts of a tragedy.

Preacher’s Son Shoots Bully

It was all over some disparaging remarks made about a young Mayer woman “whose name none of the witnesses were able to pronounce or spell,” the paper reported. She confronted Louis Price, age 20, about the “sliding remarks” purportedly made by him at the Mayer mercantile. Price became embarrassed, and later, angry. When Price asked her where she heard the rumor, she evidently replied that it was Ned Cagle, age 18, and son of Prescott Methodist Pastor CM Cagle.

Now it was Price’s turn to confront Cagle.

1910: Shootout in Downtown Mayer

T.F. Averill had “long been known as a resolute and desperate man,” the newspaper wrote, and he was now infuriated with a Mayer saloon owner named Charles Wells. He told nearly everyone he came across that he intended to kill Wells at noon on September 29, 1910.

The Prehistoric Residents of Mayer, AZ

The modern town of Mayer, AZ, was not the first time this area was inhabited; at least three times previously, the area was settled by indigenous, prehistoric peoples. Radiocarbon dating revealed human activity between the 6th century AD and 1800 AD.

Story Behind the Place Name: Poland Mine, Creek & Junction

His name was Davis Robert Poland, and he was a true frontier placer miner. He came to Yavapai County early, when one could walk down a creek bed trail and find large gold veins, embedded in quartz ledges, glittering in the sun. Indeed, this happened to Poland several times.

The Forgotten Mother-Load at Richenbar, AZ

Many are familiar with the mining riches that came out of Tip Top and Crown King, but there was another mother-load of gold in that area known as Richenbar.

It was 1867 when three miners decided to explore what appeared to be an ancient, worked-out mine. They descended a 45-degree angled shaft into what appeared to be a cave. There were no timber reinforcements to be seen, and the only thing connecting the ceiling to the floor was a single 4-foot pillar in the middle of the expanse. Upon closer inspection, they noticed a pure vein of gold within the pillar measuring 2 inches thick. Two of the miners wanted to extract it, while the third thought it was too dangerous. The two carefully worked the pillar and were successful in extracting a “coffee sack” full of ore, which eventually was found to contain a whopping 937 ounces of gold.

This mine would come to be known as the Aztec Mine when ancient Native American tools were discovered inside. Eventually, the entire surrounding area would have claims, and the town of Richenbar was born. Soon, the gold deposit there became famous, and the famous would invest in an area so rich that one miner thought it would bring "death to gold."

The Invasion of the Horseless Carriage!

It was 1903 when the first automobile drove into Prescott, and before the year was over, the city fell in love with the new contraption!

Well, mostly...

Still, these "machines," as they were often called, would begin to infiltrate every aspect of life in Prescott.

Mayer Onyx Was Unique, Beautiful, World Famous (Updated)

As Professor Price sat on the train, he looked again at the sample of onyx sent to him from Mayer, Arizona. So impressed was he by the beautiful sample and the accounts of its source that he was now on his way from San Francisco to see the deposit for himself.

When the train pulled into the station at Mayer, he looked out the window and was astonished at what he saw. Previously, all known deposits of onyx had come in the form of boulders and smaller rocks and were mined. However, this Mayer onyx was part of the natural strata of the earth! It could be cut into blocks of nearly any size, like sandstone or granite! (*1)

Indeed, this was no boulder of onyx. This single deposit covered nearly two-thirds of a square mile and ran from 10 to 20 feet deep! It was more factual to call Mayer an onyx quarry. Nothing like this had ever been found before.

Before departing, Prof. Price found an onyx-rich tract of land that had not yet been claimed and quickly procured it for himself.

Entrepreneur Joseph Mayer & His Town

Joseph Mayer

It was with a small amount of irony that Joseph Mayer's funeral was held in Prescott. For it was a fateful trip to that city that unexpectedly ended 30 miles short that would define his life and his legacy.

"He was loved and mourned by all who knew him. People came from all over the state, rich and poor alike, hundreds of them. They said among themselves, 'There will never be but one Joe Mayer'" (*1)

An Apache chief who lived across the creek came to pay his last respects. "My people have lost their Big Chief," he said, "our brother and best friend." (*1)

"Tears were shed by both men and women as the remains were lowered into their last resting place." (*2)

As both an entrepreneur and a kind-hearted man, Joseph Mayer brought a great deal to both his town and Yavapai County.

Cactus Needles for Toothpicks? (An Early Mayer Industry)

Anyone who has ever suffered the burn of being "bitten" by one of our local cacti will tell you that the last place you'd want a cactus needle is near your gums!

Despite this, two Mayer, Arizona, pioneers decided to start a business that produced toothpicks from cactus needles. They developed and patented a process that "skinned" the needle of its burning barbs and removed the surgically sharp point so it could be used as a toothpick.

They were called "Indian Souvenir Toothpicks" and were wildly popular...at first.

1956: Teen Delinquents Beat Blind Man; Murder a Veteran

The headline in the paper spoke to the shock of the city: 

"TEENS HELD IN PRESCOTT GANG DEATH."

It began as seven males were drinking at the Prescott Cafe. Three of the males, two 17-year-olds and one 18-year-old, were members of a rebel teen gang. (*1)

Perhaps they desired a change of scenery; perhaps they were asked to leave, but all seven decided to drive together to Phoenix. However, just south of Mayer, the car suffered a flat tire. (*2)

The three gang members decided to take the opportunity to rob the four other men. Soon, a 50-year-old former patient at the Whipple VA lay dead in a pool of his own blood. A second, blind man was in the County Hospital suffering from serious injuries, including a possible fractured skull. (*1)

In a rare move for the day, Yavapai County Attorney Jack Ogg would seek to try the three teens, Joe Mungia and Joe Rudy Daniels, each 17, and Earl Padilla, 18, as adults. (*3)

Remembering the Mayer Smokestack

Cynics say it was a memorial to a boondoggle. Locals say it was a memorial to Mayer's mining history. Unwittingly, it was also a memorial to the end of World War I.

Whatever one wants to call it, the old smokestack celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017.

For commuters, it used to mark that one is 17 miles away from Prescott Valley. To tourists, it was an oddity. But the 129.5-foot-high tower, which sat as a silent sentry over the town of Mayer, had an interesting history.

It was meant to carry smoke into the sky from the smelting of precious metals mined around Mayer. It was never used for that. In fact, it was never even finished!