Beyond California Fever

As soon as reports about gold in California emerged, new reports were already being told of gold in Nevada and Arizona.  Then in Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming...even Washington and British Columbia.  It was gold frenzy!

The stories magnified with each telling, the nuggets growing as big as a man's fist, of shimmering dust just waiting to be scooped into a prospector's pan, transforming him from a pauper to a prince overnight.  All he had to do was to get there.

In southern Arizona  in 1853, along the Gila River, a strike was made and eventually 1200 prospectors and suppliers established the thriving community of Gila City.  It's reported that it began with "a saloon to supply the necessities of life and later added a grocery store and Chinese restaurant for the luxuries."  Gila City could be said to be the model for all mining towns that sprang up throughout the West.  Wickenburg and Tombstone in Arizona, Elk City and Oro Fino in Idaho, Diamond City, Virginia City and Bannock in Montana, Virginia City and Aurora in Nevada.

These cities rose out of the wilderness, boomed for a few years, then lapsed into obscurity and decay when the ore was gone.  Gila City, for instance, held the reputation for the wickedest city in the West, but by 1874 when the $2 million worth of gold was gone, one traveler said it was "three chimneys and a coyote."

These gold rushers formed the beginning of permanent settlement in America's vast interior from Missouri to the Sierras.  Many would spend the rest of their lives wandering the West in search of new gold.  Some did manage to find rich veins of gold or silver, but most never managed to find their El Dorado.

Next time...Some towns became mighty cities
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Today in Pioneer History:   "On July 24, 1911, On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world's top tourist destinations.

Prescott Honors Captain Joe

Joseph Walker continued to keep a small cabin near Prescott, Arizona.  In 1864, he led Governor Goodwin and other officials on a tour of the Little Colorado River basin. He was 66 years old.

Walker returned to California and spent several months on his ranch, returning to Prescott to lead private explorations, visiting the country along the south rim of the Grand Canyon where he had been so curious 30 years before. 

At the 4th of July celebration in 1866, the new Governor McCormick said, "The real pioneer is seldom a man of words or seeker of notoriety...Walker is one of a few who has experience so rich and valuable and worthy of public presentation."

Walker left Arizona for good and returned to the family ranch in California in 1867. 

Picture of Captain Walker by Matthew Brady circa 1860...


Next time...The Victory Lap

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On This Day in History:  On January 28, 1855, the Panama Railway, which carried thousands of unruly miners to California via the dense jungles of Central America, dispatches its first train across the Isthmus of Panama.  (Nothing newsworthy happened on January 29th :) 

Walker vs. Mangas

Mangas Coloradas, the only Apache chief with enough influence and reputation to work with other
tribes, met with the calvary military at Apache Pass in Southeast Arizona.  Along with his son-in-law, Cochise, and 200 Apache, Mangas fought well.  After 6 hours of battle, he was wounded and forced to retreat.  By the time Captain Joseph Walker and his men came along, the Apache wanted revenge.

It was a human chess game between the two old veterans.  Walker wanted to get out of Apache territory and to the Continental Divide in southern Arizona.  Mangas wanted to harass and stop Walker altogether.  Both wanted as little bloodshed as possible.

Since Walker and his men were outnumbered 3:1, they were relatively safe in the open with their sharpshooters inflicting ocassional wounds, while Mangas tried to lure Walker into an ambush and raided his livestock. 

Walker's party went up and down New Mexico, staying to the east of the mountains and looking for a way through.  Constantly dogged by the Apache, they eventually ran out of water and had to travel through Apache territory to a spring.

In the end, they outwitted the Apache, made it to water and out again to present day Sioux City and Fort McLane in January 1863. 

Next time...Walker's New Plan

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Today in History: On January 19, 1847,  Mexicans, angered by the abusive behavior of American soldiers occupying Taos,  strike back by murdering the American-born New Mexican governor Charles Bent.  (refer back to earlier posts in Pioneer Pieces for Captain Joseph Walker in Taos)

This is Familiar!

Enter the familiar mining town scene - wild and crazy overnight.

Long before the secret was out and covered wagons in droves began arriving, Arizona was unfriendly to any pioneers.  Many lost their lives to the murderous Apache, to the elements, and to whiskey and accidents.

But when the wagons began arriving at Tombstone, they kept coming.  By 1879, Tombstone was organized and emerged overnight as a metropolis in an otherwise wild country.  Stage coach service was established from Tuscon to Benson.  Main streets bore the names Tough Nut, Allen and Fremont.  Saloons like the Alhambra, the Crystal Palace, and the Oriental sprang up along with the prostitutes who serviced them.  Gamblers in well tailored frock coats arrived as soon as the final proof of "civilization" was apparent.

The five newspapers were born the Epitaph, the Evening Gossip, the Prospector, the Nugget, and the Expositor.  Tombstone became like the mining towns of the rest of the Wild West - wild and unruly.

Next time - Interesting characters and places of the new town