The Gold King Mine and Mansion: Relics of Mining Histot-y in Mohave County, Arizona

By Douglas E. Kupel

While copper mining is closely associated which Arizona takes its name, lured miners with the development of Arizona, other min­ to the northern frontier of New Spain. Min­ eral resources have played a significant role ing continued throughout the Spanish and in the history of the state. Silver discoveries Mexican eras. In 1846 the United States and at Tombstone rivaled those at the Comstock Mexico went to war over the annexation of Lode of Virginia City. Gold discoveries in the Texas. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Walker Mining District near Prescott and at ratified in 1848, ended the war. The treaty the Vulture Mine in Wickenburg were second also brought a tremendous amount of new to none during their heyday. land into the United States. 1 The Gold King Mine in Mohave County, As a result of the war, the present states located south of Kingman, is representa­ of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, tive of the smaller gold mining operations Ca lifornia, Utah, and a portion of Colo rado of Arizona. Although not as well known as were taken from Mexico. These new lands some of the more prominent areas in the were the culmination of the concept of state, Mohave County was once a backbone Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United of the Arizona's gold mining industry. One States was destined to reach from the Atlan­ reason was the close proximity of 1\ilohave tic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. In Arizona, County's mines to Ca li fornia, which resulted lands north of the Gila River became part of in a steady flow of in terest and investment the United States for the first time. This area into Arizona from the Golden State. did not include Tucson, which remained a One of the most dramatic relics of gold part of Mexico. mining in Mohave County, and in Arizona as In 1848, almost before the ink was dry a whole, is located at the Gold King Mine. on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, gold Known as the Gold King Ma nsion, this large was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Ca lifornia. reinforced concrete office and residential This triggered a stampede of men to the West building is a reminder of the importance Coast, a mass migration called the California Mohave County gold mining once had to gold rush of 1849. Many thousands of miners the state as a whole. It also represents Cali­ passed through Arizona, but few lingered fornia's influence on mining in the western long. Their goal was to get across the area part of the state. Today, the Gold King Mine as quickly as possible and begin prospecting and Mansion are significant Arizona mining in California. 2 history sites. In 1850, Congress created the Territory of New Mexico. This territory included all of Early Mining History of Arizona what is now the states of Arizona and New Mexico. During this early era, Arizona resi­ Mineral resources attracted the first Eu­ dents were ruled from the territorial capitol ropean explorers to Arizona. In 1736, Span­ at Sa nta Fe. ish conquistadors discovered a large silver The inclusion of the new territory as deposit at Arizonac. This discovery, from part of the United States led to demands fo r 68 2005 .Mining History journal

Gold King Mansion c. 1930. (Courtesy of the Mohave County Museum, D. Shurtz Collection.)

construction of a transcontinental railroad. transcontinental railroad. Of course, the Several railroad surveys identified possible railroad route was not the most noteworthy routes. One mute followed the thirty-sec­ difference that led to civil war between the ond parallel. Because this route ran thro ugh two regions after the election of Abraham Mexico, its supporters-Southerners who Lincoln in 1860. would benefit from a transcontinental ter­ As the gold rush played out in California, minus in their portion of the country-con­ prospectors began to gradually drift back vinced Congress to purchase additional Janel east to their homes. Along the way they con­ fmm Mexico to accommodate the southern tinued to look for gold, hoping to discover railmacl ro ute. the next big strike. During the late 1850s On 30 December 1853, James Gadsden and early 1860s many prospectors passed executed an agreement with Mexico to through Arizona. Charles Poston and others purchase the territory in Arizona south of established the Sonora Exploring and Mining the Gila River for the proposed railroad. Company in 1856, and developed a silver The United States agreed to pay $10 million mine in the Patagonia Mountains by 1860. for the Janel. Known today as the Gadsden Military expeditions associated with the Purchase, this exchange brought what is Civil War brought others into Arizona, many now the Southern Pacific route through intent on making a discovery of their own. In Arizona into the United States. It also made 1862, discoveries of gold along the Colorado Tucson, the largest city in Arizona, a part of River allowed the mining town of La Paz to the Union. flourish for a short Lime . Henry \X1ickenburg Despite the commitment Congress ex­ discovered the Vu lture Mine in 1863. Also hibited by the expenditure associated w ith in 1863, Joseph R. Wa lker discovered gold the Gadsde n Purchase, sectional differ­ in central Arizona. Miners soon established ences between North and South prevented the \Valker Mining District near today's an agreement on where to construct the Prescott. The Gold King Mine and .Mansion 69

The discovery of gold in Arizona during leading industty by (he turn of the twentieth the Civil War led President Abraham Lin­ century. Copper mining continued to boom coln and the Republican U.S. Congress to after Arizona received statehood in 1912, clue separate the territories of Arizona and New to increased demand for armaments during Mexico in 1863. Union officials hoped that ·world War One. this action would break up any Confeder­ ate bloc of territory in the Southwest and Mining History of Mohave County preserve Arizona's mineral wealth for the Union. Arizona's first territorial capitol was Mohave County in western Arizona is established at Fort Whipple in the Ch ino one of the state's original counties, formed Valley, and soon moved to Prescott. -~ in 1864 by the first legislature of the Arizona Although the first mineral discoveries in TerritOiy. The county seal was located in Arizona were associated with gold mining, as several small communities in the first few time went on miners developed other met­ years before the legislature designated the als. First was silver, keyed by the discovery railroad town of Kingman as the permanent of the tremendous deposits at Tombstone by county seal in 1887. Mohave County shares Eel Schieffelin in 1877. After the silver boom a geography similar to other gold-bearing played out, miners turned to copper. Nature areas in central Arizona. Here mineralized deposited massive amounts of the reel metal rock has been up-thrust to create isolated in Arizona. With the increased demand for mountain ranges that have lured prospectors copper at the beginning of the electronic for centuries.4 age in the last half of the nineteenth cen­ Mohave County is best known for its tury, copper mining emerged as Arizona's gold production from mines such as the

Gold King Panorama c. 1930. Original shaft to the right, Pinnacle Vein shaft to the left. (Courtesy of the Mohave County Nluseum, Ross Housholder Collection.) 70 2005 .Mining History journal

ing the boom in the 1870s and 1880s. Other minerals of commercial interest in Mohave County included bismuth, tellurium, argen­ ite, galena, cinnabar, molybdenite, tungsten, and mica.6 Despite some unique characteristics, min­ ing in Mohave County shared many similari­ ties with the history of mining in Arizona. Gold proved to be the first draw, but could not be successfully mined as long as con­ flict with Native American tribes continued. General George Crook's campaign to place Native Americans on reservations, that began in 1871, gradually opened up new areas to exploitation by American settlers. This trig­ gered a boom in silver, epitomized by the Tombstone strike of 1877. The silver boom continued until the mid-1880s, when the falling price of silver, due to overproduc­ tion and pursuit of the gold standard as the basis for national economic policy, caused a severe decline in production. Silver was demonetized in 1893, nearly ending its pro­ duction. AILhough little copper mining occurred in Gold King Mine and Mill c.1930. Shows the Mohave County, for the Territory of Arizona headframe at the original shaft. (Cowtesy of as a whole, copper production increased the Arizona Historical Foundation, M. l.\'lamm as silver production decreased. This was Krause Collection.) due to the increasing demand for copper in electrical applications. Inventions such as Gold Road, Tom Reed, and United Eastern the telegraph, telephone, and electric mo­ in the Oatman District. Mohave County ranks tor created a great need for copper wire, a second in the amount of gold produced by demand that continued to increase through Arizona counties, with more than $40 million World \Xfar One. worth of the precious metal being removed. With silver in reduced demand and cop­ More than $37 million of this amount rep­ per in heavy production elsewhere, miners resents lode deposits, of which the majority in Mohave County followed general trends in came from the Oatman District. Other signifi­ the industty. From 1883 to 1900, gold mining cant gold districts in Mohave County include increased as prices for other metals faltered. the Lost Basin, Gold Basin, Northern Black The discovery of the cyanide process for re­ Mountains, Union Pass, Music Mountain , fining ore contributed to this upswing. From Cerbat Mountains, McConnico, Maynard, 1900 to 1930, gold mining was subordinate 5 Cottonwood, and Chemehuevis. to other metals. Mohave County was the Beyond gold , a number of other signifi­ one exception to this trend. Discovery of cant metals were mined in Mohave County. rich deposits at the Gold Road, Tom Reed, These included silver, lead, copper, and and United Eastern mines boosted produc­ zinc. Most of these metals were produced tion and led to boomtowns at Oatman and as by-products of gold production, although Chloride. there was early interest in silver itself dur- The decline of metal prices caused by The Gold King Mine and Mansion 71 the Great Depression in 1929 actually led were developed in the Maynard District. to an increase in gold mining, both in Mo­ These included the American Flag, Great have County and for the nation as a whole. Eastern, Enterprise, Old Hackberry, and the Gold now had a better value relative to Siamese Group.9 other metals. The establishment of an of­ The next development of the Maynard ficial price for gold by the United States in District occurred shortly after the turn of 1933 stimulated production, which increased the twentieth centllly. Improved economic more than twelve per cent over 1932. The conditions for silver and gold led to another gold boom faded as the economy improved wave of interest in the area. Thomas Sick­ late in the decade. During World \Xfar Two, les was instrumental in turning mines into the government closed most gold mines silver and gold producers from 1906 until as non-essential to the war effort. Miners 1909. His best effort became known as the were needed in other areas, such as cop­ Green Back Mine, which he developed in per production. \Vorld \Xfar Two brought an conjunction with Alonzo H. Wells. The two end to gold production in Mohave County. men recorded the location of the Green Back Gold mining has now faded as a significant claim on 21 November 1906.10 economic activity in the county.7 The relationship between the early Sick­ les claims in the Hualapai Mountains and the Early History of the Gold King Mine Gold King Mine is uncertain. When interest in Mohave County mining picked up in the The Gold King Mine is located in the late twenties and early thirties, the Gold King Hualapai Mountains south of Kingman in Mine's owner, Paul M. "Paddy" Woods, used Mohave CoLmly. The Hualapai Mountains are the name "Sickles" for a number of claims in not as well known as the Cerbat Mountains the Hualapai Mountains. On 3 August 1929, and the Black Mountains for gold produc­ P. M. Woods recorded a number of locations tion, although the Hualapais share a similar that formed the basis of a group of claims geologic history. The Cerbat Mountains are he called the Gold King Coalition. I Ie had known for several mining districts centered located these claims in the field and posted on the boomtown of Chloride, while the them on 30 July 1929. 11 Black Mountains are the location of the Little is known about Paul M. Woods. Oatman mining area. In the Hualapais, the He was born on 4 April1879 in Greece. His most noteworthy mining area is the Maynard middle name was Machukos. He became Mining District. While gold is found there, a naturalized American citizen on 10 May the Maynard District is more noteworthy for 1911. He joined the U.S . Navy in 1917 and silver, lead, and copper.8 received an honorable discharge in 1920. Although the Gold King Mine is located While in the navy he rose to the rank of geographically within the Maynard Min­ Chief Petty Officer and served in the com­ ing District, its history and development missary. After \Vorld War One, he continued have very little to do with the district itself. to serve his adopted country in the Naval The Maynard District dates to the Wheeler Reserve.12 expedition of 1871, which camped on the The first news of the Gold King Mine east side of the mountains near what is came in April 1929, when the Jl!Iohaue today called Wheeler Wash. A large group County .Miner, a Kingman newspaper, re­ of prospectors camped nearby and located ported that "an important strike" had been surface deposits of silver. They named the made in the "Wallapai" (meaning Hualapai) district after Lafayette Maynard, a respected Mountains. Workers, under the direction member of the prospecting party. For the of]. W. Mullin, had excavated an adil one next fifteen years, until the silver collapse hundred feet into the mountain, then sunk of the mid-1880s, a number of silver mines a winze seventy-two feet deep. At the bot- 72 2005 Mining History journal

tom of this winze the men discovered a vein reported that "a splendid road" had been of high-grade material three feet wide and connected with the county highway, making eleven feet long. The discovery occurred "in it easier to ship the ore. '4 the group known as the Sickles Silver. " The By May 1929, the miners had turned their newspaper reported that the miners hades­ attention to excavating the shaft from the tablished a camp, and were in the process of end of the adit. Here the company planned forming a company to handle the property. to install a "big hoist" and "a big gas engine In addition to the winze, which reached a and a compressor of capacity sufficient depth of 150 feet from the apex of the vein, to operate the drills and pumps being in­ miners were proving up surface and shallow stalled." Manager Mullin also reported that outcrops. '3 the company was considering installing a Later in April, the newspaper disclosed mill to process the ore on site. '5 that]. \YI. Mullin had "been in charge of the The promise of the ore body apparently mines since he took them over sometime last attracted investors. By July 1929, Mullin had fall. " This would date the first activity at the passed from the scene. A 12 July article in Gold King to sometime in the fall of 1928. the Jlifoha ue County .Miner referred to Paddy Mullin reported that he was pleased w ith the Woods as the "president" of the company. amount of development he had achieved The green light for additional investment at low cost. He stated that he would raise a may have come from a positive report by shaft to the surface, where he would install mining engineer E. Ross Householder, who a hoist and compressor. The newspaper also concluded that the mine could be developed

Men at wodG at the Pinnacle Vein shaft of the Gold King Mine, c. 1930. (Courtesy of the .Mohave County .Museum, Ross Housholder Collection.) The Gold King JVIine and Mansion 73

Dam at/be Gold King, c.1930. (Courtesy of the Jl!Iohaue County Jl!Iuseum) economically. Householder documented the was clone for the same reason that com­ features of the properly with a "movie pic­ panies continue to incorporate in Nevada ture" which the group planned to show at a today: a favorable tax climate and liability board of directors' meeting in Los Angeles. protection of individual officers in the cor­ Work had pushed the shaft of the mine poration. Three men from Reno, Nevada, to the 220-level by July of 1929. At the col­ incorporated the Gold King Coalition, Inc., lar of this shaft the company planned the on 19 June 1929. It appears that]. H. Sul­ installation of a hoist, compressor and shops. livan, E. Armstrong, and F. C. Morton had This new equipment would make it easier little interest in the firm other than serving to push \NOrk in the mine to the 300- and as the initial incorporators. The firm solicited 400-foot levels, where lateral work was the setvices of Kingman attorney E. Elmo being planned. The company was also in Bollinger to process corporate papetwork the process of extending a drift to a new in Arizona. On 10 July 1929, Bollinger filed discovery, the Pinnacle Vein. The drift had incorporation papers with the Arizona Cor­ been extended 160 feel toward the vein, poration Commission in Phoenix. With the with an estimated 50 feet to go. The miners corporate paperwork in order, P.M. \Voods estimated that more than two hundred feet staked the mining clain1s on 30 July and of vein lay between the drift and the surface registered them with the Mohave County exposure of the Pinnacle Vein. 16 Recorder on 3 August. 17 Although the newspaper mentioned a di­ At the beginning of August 1929, the rectors' meeting in Los Angeles, the directors .Mohave County Jl1iner reported that a new of the Gold King Mine chose to incorporate shaft to the Pinnacle Vein had reached its their company in Nevada. Presumably, this destination 190 feet from the surface. Here, 74 2005 Mining Histo1y]ournal

180 feet below the apex of the vein, the min­ the absence of activity is related to seasonal ers encountered an ore body thirty feet wide. conditions, a lack of funds, or the stock The total distance of the new discovety from market crash in October. The next mention the original shaft was seven hundred feet. of the property in the newspaper occurred At the old shaft, miners planned to erect a on 20 June 1930 in an article noting that forty-five foot high gallows frame. In August, Paddy Woods had "been getting finances contractor L. H. Foster was in the process of in shape for further operations of the Sick­ constructing a new road from the Pinnacle les property." He arrived in Kingman that Vein shaft to the collar of the old shaft. P. week with a small group of men intent on M. Woods announced that the company "getting affairs at the mines [sic] shaped up" intended to extend the old shaft to a depth and deepening the shaft. Despite the small of five hundred feet. 18 number of men employed, the newspaper During the remainder of August, miners noted that "a rrangements have been made concentrated on uncovering additional bod­ to carry on with a large force of men later ies of ore by drifting. This work continued in the year." 21 to expose high-grade material along the By the end of June 1930, the Miner re­ Pinnacle Vein and in the lower levels of ported that miners had pushed the shaft the original shaft. By the end of August the down from the season's starting point at vein had been opened for more than fifty the 220-foot level to the 230-foot level. This feet. This achievement was well received information was conveyed by P. M. Woods, by "three stockholde rs from Los Angeles" whom the newspaper described as "manager who "inspected the works this week and of the property, who is here now in personal were delightfully surprised to see the ex­ charge of operations." Woods stated that tent of the ne·wly opened ore body in the the intent of the company was to catve a development tunnel. " Despite this progress station at the 330-foor level before pushing below ground, bad weather caused by late­ downward to five hundred feet. In the same season rains delayed work on the surface. article, the newspaper observed that mine The men encountered difficulty in placing superintendent Pete Vukoye reported that equipment on the collar of the shaft. With the mine's ore assayed at $1 ,100 per ton.22 good values of gold and silver blocked out, In July the newspaper reported that Pad­ the men expressed a desire to get the mine ely Woods was "getting good results from the into production as soon as possible. 19 expenditure of money on the property. The Transportation problems seemed to mine is equipped with machinery and has a plague the mine for the remainder of its first private road leading to it from the main high­ year. In September company workers took way." The newspaper went on to state that over the road project from the contractor. '\.vonderful ore" had been discovered and Under the supetvision of new mine super­ that "the showing recently opened is largely intende nt Pete Vukoye, the men pushed gold bearing and the values are exception­ the road closer to the collar of the original ally high." The discovery was credited to the shaft. Vukoye planned a new gallows hoist installation of "suitable machinery such as a for the shaft, then in the process of being hoist, compressor, combustion engines, and frarning up, a nd the installation of new air machine drills," including the completion hoisting equipment that would extend the of the forty-five-foot gallows frame that had depth of the shaft from the 220-foot level to been started the season before. 23 the 600 level. 20 The annual report of Gold King Coali­ Mention of the Gold King Mi nes in the tion, Inc., filed with the Arizona Corpora­ Mohave County .Miner stops in September tion Commission on 13 August 1930, gives 1929. This evidently corresponds to a cessa­ a good indication of the financial health of tion of activity at the mine. It is not known if the company. President P. M. Woods, who The Gold IO'ng lii!Iine and A1ansion 75

listed his addresses as Kingman, Arizona, concrete structure now known as the Gold and the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angles, King Mansion. In July and August 1930, the valued the mining property in Mohave company installed "a new electric lighting County at $1 million. Mining equipment and system" at the mine. This provided light "to accessories were valued at forty thousand the camp, hoist house, and underground dollars. The report indicated that 605,000 workings. "27 shares were paid up and issued, at a value At the end of August, the company an­ of $1.00 each. Company officers besides nounced that it had started building "the Woods included Vice President H. P. Duey, first of a series of model bunk houses, us­ acting Secretaty Dorice Clark, and Treasurer ing reinforced concrete construction." The G. M. McCleary. H. P. Duey also listed his company seemed to have the best interests address as the Ambassador Hotel in Los An­ of its workers at heart. Mine superintendent geles, while Clark listed 854 North La Jolla Pete Vukoye stated that each bunk house and McCleaty listed 422 Van Nuys Building, would "contain an adequate sleeping room both in Los Angeles.2'1 to accommodate several miners, a modern The filing of the annual report pointed bathroom, and be provided with electric out a paperwork problem for the corporate light. " In addition, "each is fire proof and offlcers of the Gold King Coalition . It turned so built as to be cool in summer and warm out that they had never appointed an official in winter. "18 statutoty agent for their operation in Arizona. A construction photo of the first (and The board of directors rectified this situation only) reinforced concrete bunk house at in August 1930 ala meeting in Kingman. The the Gold King Mine has survived. Because board designated Kingman attorney E. Elmo the stairs are not complete in the photo, the Bollinger as its statutoty agent. Directors vot­ picture was most likely taken during the late ing at the meeting included P. M. \'(foods, Dr. summer or early fall of 1930. Only one-half H. P. Duey, and R. L. Dimmick.2s of the present building was complete in the A project such as the Gold King made construction photo. a big impact on all segments of society in It appears that the owners of the Gold Kingman and Mohave County, from profes­ King Mine scaled back on their plan to have sional men like Bollinger to laborers working individual bunkhouses for tbeir miners. By in the mine. Rancher John Odie recalled that October 1930, Superintendent Pete Vukoye Woods owned a "high-priced Cadillac" and reported that the shaft had reached beyond would stop by to say hello on his way to three hundred feet. He noted that he was the mine. He didn't stay long, Odie recalled, "getting satisfactoty results with a small force because the rancher's "goats would jump up of workmen." Rather than build more indi­ on his car." Stories circulated in the Johnson vidual bunk houses for the miners, it appears family reveal that company secretary Dorice that the smaller number of men required Clark, later Dorice Clark \Xfoods, literally fewer facilities. The company apparently rode shotgun in the16-cylinder Cadillac, with decided to roughly double the size of the a 12-gauge on her lap, bringing the mine original reinforced concrete bunkhouse by payroll across the desert from Los Angeles 1933, giving the building its present con­ to the Gold King. 26 figuration. 29 Rancher John Odie, vvho arrived in the Constntction of the Gold King Mansion area near the Gold King Mine in 1933, recalled the completed appearance of the With the ore in the mine now well de­ mansion. He observed that the company's fined, the company turned its attention to the use of the building did not match its original surface components of the property. These purpose of worker housing. He stated that soon included the two-story, reinforced "it was quite a place; they would take pro- 76 2005 Jl!fining Hist01y ]oun'lal

spective stock buyers up there and wine and general increase in gold mining after 1933 cline them and put them up in the house." must have had a positive effect on produc­ Odie also noted that "all the windows had tion at the property, although there is little copper screens and, on the east side, there evidence of work at the mine after that date. was a concrete fish ing pond."3° In July 1935, mining engineer S. S. Jones Despite its great promise, production at prepared a map of the mine tunnel and the the Gold King may not have lived up to its Pinnacle Vein to accompany a report on the billing. This may have been clue to a number property. This was evidently the last work at of factors, including an illness in the family the Gold King in the thirties; a 1937 map of of Paddy Woods or the general economic the county does not show the mineY climate of the times. Records at the Arizona Corporation Commission indicated that a Later History of the Gold King Mine family illness in 1931 caused P.M. Woods "to neglect his business to some extem" and that After an apparent decline in the second "he has been absent from his office a great half of the 1930s, the Gold King experienced deal of the time." The firm filed its annual a period of revival from 1941 to 1947. This report for 1931 on time, but listed assets of may have been associated with increased only $673,414, clown from the $1 mill ion of metals prices clue to the conflict in Europe, the year before. which broke out in September of 1939 The company failed to file an annual when Germany invaded Poland. Although report in 1932. On 10 July 1933, company the United States would not join \Vorld War officials filed a combined report for the Two until after the attack on Pearl Harbor years 1932 and 1933. This filing listed P. M. in December of 1941, much of the economy Woods as president, Dr. H. P. Duey as vice was already on a war footing. president, and Dorice Clark Woods as sec­ In July and again in November of 1941 retary and treasurer. By that time the total the Arizona Corporation Commission fielded assets of the company had rebounded to inquires from persons interested in the status $721 ,497. 31 of the Gold King Mine. Chief Clerk Florence The combined 1932-33 report was the K. Lange reported that although the corpora­ last fi led by Gold King Coalition, Inc. The tion had failed to fi le annual reports for the years from 1934 to 1941, the commission had not taken any action against it. Once the back fees were paid and the proper reports filed, the corporation would be considered to be in good standing.·B By the fall of 1942, rnine owner P. M. Woods found an individual willing to re­ sume production at the Gold King. That man employed "a small crew" to open the mine in October 1942. An article in Tbe Jl1ining]ournetl noted that "the property, which was operated at one time by the Gold King Coalition, Inc. , with Woods as manager, has bee idle for .some time."34 This decision could hardly have come Detail view of I be Gold King Mansion under at a less opportune time. On 8 October cons/rue/ion, c. 1930. (Courtesy qftbe Bureau of 1942, the War Production Board issued Land Management, Kingman Area Office) Limitation Order L-208, halting gold pro­ duction at "non-essential mines." The pur- The Gold King .Mine and Mansion 77

pose of the order was to make manpower available for the production of materials more central to the war effort. Despite the severity of the order, there were excep­ tions for small gold mines and for mines that <.leveloped other values. The Gold King met both of these exceptions, since it had been idle and since it produced good values of lead and zin<.:, both needed in the war efforr.3s In December 1942, Elgin B. Holt, field engineer for the Arizona Department of Mineral Resources, reported on concli­ tions at the Gold King. Elgin stated that the mine was being worked by Frank Ahlburg, a lessee to owner P.M. \Xfoods of Gold King Mansion in 1983. (Courtesy~( tbe Los Angeles. Actual work on the property Jllfobcwe County Museum, D. Sburtz Collection.) was under the supetvision of Roy \Xfaughtel. According to Waughrel, five drifts had been nomic climate for gold production proved run on different veins at the Gold King. difficult. The death of mine owner P. M. These averaged eight feet in width, and were Woods in 194H created uncertainty about reached by a main tunnel 160 feet long. The the title to the property. Work stopped soon main shaft of the mine reached a depth of after.39 360 feet. ~(\ In 1952, the Arizona Corporation Com­ Frank Ahlburg had remodeled an old mill mission revoked the corporate status of' the at the property into a thirty- to forty-ton grav­ Gold King Coalition clue to its inactivity. By ity concentration plant. He started operations J 957, Mark Gemmill of the Arizona Depart­ on 1 November 1942, but closed the plant ment of Mineral Resources classified the on 20 November because sufficient values Gold King property as idle. The Gold King were not being recovered. Ahlburg planned Mine passed into the realm of history.•0 to convert the mi ll to flotation treatment, and Noted Mohave County historian Roman in the meantime kept up development work Malach wrote a brief history of the Gold King with a crew of three menY Mansion in 1972, stimulating interest in the Roy Waughtel continued to operate the old property. Malach reported that every mine throughout \Vorlcl \Var Two, produc­ door and window, and all of the wood trim ing small amounts of gold, silver, lead, and had been removed at that point. An ornate zinc. \Xfaughtel's main interests were in mica decorative fireplace mantle was partially and tungsten, which were in high demand vandali zed but still present. ln 1980, Desert because of the war effort. I Ie took over the Jlfagaz ine author .Joe Blackstock visited the Mica Giant Mine owned by T. Max Smith of mansion. Tie observed that the ornate mantle Tucson and located close to the Gold King. had been removed, along with other plaster In 1943, \Vaughtel filed on a water right three work. 11 miles from the Gold King. He used the Gold In J 979, casino developer Don Laughlin King as a staging area for the mica minc.311 engineered a brief paper revival of the Gold Following the war, Ahlburg organized the King property. Laughlin employed John \VI. Moss Canyon Mining and Milling Company Cochrane to record a number of claims in the to resume production at the Gold King Mine. vicinity of the old Gold King Mine. Laughlin Ahlburg conducted some developmem work and Cochrane located the Gold King and on the mine in 1947, but the post-war ceo- Gold King No. 2 claims on J J August 1979. 78 2005 Jllfining HistOIJ' journal

On 12 December 1980, Bill and Bette Crum­ Another episode of vandalism occurred in baker located nine additional claims, each 2000. This time, three volunteers from the called the Gold King, surrounding Laughlin's Arizona Site Stewards program observed 1979 claims. The Crumbaker claims may the perpetrators. They were apprehended be related to the Laughlin activity. On 21 and fined. 43 December 1983, John Cochrane located an Today, the BLM and the Site Stewards are additional sixteen claims for Don Laughlin in taking active steps to protect the property. the vicinity of the Gold King. The last assess­ These include this documentation of the ment for all of the Laughlin and Crumbaker Gold King Mansion. With proper care and claims occurred in 1985 and the claims are supervision, the Gold King Mansion will see now closed. It appears that these claims a new era of riches in the future-one of were made more for real estate speculation heritage and respect. fll than for mining purposes.42 \XIhile Malach's and Blackstock's articles Douglas E. Kupel is an environnzental stressed the beauty of the mansion and its historian for the City ofPhoenixLaw Depart­ unique history, their publication encour­ ment, where be conducts historical research aged additional visitation to the remote site. for water rights litigation. He bas conducted Many visitors did not respect the history of extensive research in the area of water his­ the locale. In 1986, officials of the Bureau tOIJ!, specializ ing in Indian water rights and of Land Management reported considerable m.unicipal use. He is the author of several vandalism of the site to the Mohave County articles in the Journal of Arizona Histoty, and Sheriff. The sheriff's office failed to pursue published an article on tbe Magmall1ine in the report, citing a lack of manpower. BLM tbe 1999 Mining Hist01y Journal. The Uni­ employees responded with a clean up versity of Arizona Press published his hook project in 1987, linking with volunteers to Fuel for Growth: Water and Arizona's Urban remove graffiti and clean up the property. Environment in 2003.

Notes:

1 The best short summary of gold and silver mining Eldred D. \XIilson, ]. B. Cunningham, and G.M. in A rizona is the context study prepared as a Butler, "A rizona Lode Gold M ines and Gold component of the Arizona Historic Preservation Mining," Arizona Bureau ofMines Bulletin no. Plan. See l'vl elissa Keane and A. E. Rogge, Gold 137 (Tucson: University of Arizona, 1934; revised and SiluerMining in Arizona, 1848-1945 (Phoe­ 1967): 17; 73-5. nix: Dames & Moore, 1992). 6 Roman Malach, Mobaue County Mines (Kingman: ! For maps of the early boundaries of A rizona, see Mohave County Board of Su petv isors, 1977), H enty P. Walker and Don Bufkin, Historical 7-8. Atlas of Arizona (Norman: University Press of - \XIilson, et al, "Arizona Lode," 16-7. Oklahoma, 2"<1 eel., 1986). s Messersmith, Histo1y ofA!obaue County, 109-11 . 1 · For a good summary of the Walker Mining District ~ F. C. Schrader, "Mineral Deposits of the Cerbat and the establishment of the capitol at Prescott, Range, Black Mountains, and Grand Wash Cliffs, see Thomas E. Sheridan, Arizona: A J-Jist01y Mohave County, Arizona," United States Geologi­ (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995), cal Survey Bulletin no. 397 (Washington, D.C.: 70-1. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1909): 139-42. ' For the early history of Mohave County, see Dan See also Roman Malach, Mobaue County Place W. Messersmith, 17Je Histo1y ofMobaue County Names (Kingman: .Mohave County Board of to 1912 (Kingman: Mohave County Historical Supervisors, 1976), 28. There are a number of Society, 1991). other Gold King mines in Mohave County and Tbe Gold King !Vfine and .Mansion 79

in Arizona that are not associated with the Gold County Miner, 23 Aug. 1929. ·'Drifting Continues King Mansion that is the subject of this study. at Gold King," Mobaue County Miner, 30 Aug. These include a Gold King Mine in each of the 1929. following Mohave County mining districts: Lost 20 ··vein of Gold King \XIidens, ·· Mobaue County Min­ Basin, Gold Basin, San Francisco, Minnesota, er, 6 Sep. 1929. ··Nine Feet at Gold King Assays Aubrey, and Chemehuevis. A Gold King l\llin­ $28," Mobaue County Miner, 13 Sep. 1929. ing Company owned twenty-t\VO claims in the 21 "Gold King to Be Started Up," Mobaue County Peck and Crown King mining districts south of Miner, 20 june 1930. Pre!:icotl in Yavapai County at the turn of the 11 "Shaft of Gold King is Down ro 230 Level,·· Mobaue twentieth centu1y Another Gold King Mine was Col/Ill)' Miner, 27 june 1930. located on the Tohono O 'odham Indian Reser­ !.\ "Gold King is Sinking Below Tunnel Level," Mo­ vation in the Baboquivari Mountains, and still baue County Miner, 11 July 1930. '· Good Show­ another w as located nea r Wickiup. ing of O re in Sickles Group." Mobaue County 111 Mobaue County Book of Mines V, 613, 21 Nov. Miner, 18 july 1930. See also the Aliningjoumal 1906. Mobaue County Miner, 17 Nov. 1906, 16 (PhoenL-x), 15 july 1930, 28 and 30 july 1930. 2 Oct. 1909. "' Annual Report o f the Gold King Coalition, Inc., 13 11 Mobaue County Book ofJ\Ilines 3L, 36-49. L. H . Fos­ Aug. 1930, Arizona Corporation Commissio n, ter, "Group Map, Gold King Coalition, Inc., May­ Phoenix. 2 nard Mining D istrict, Mohave County, Arizona," ' Gold King Coalition, Inc., file, Arizona Corporation july 1929, microfiche, E. Ross Householder l\llap Commission, Phoenix. Collection, Rack 10, Arizona l\'lines and l\llinerals 26 Alice Sennott, "Va ndals Nmv King of Mansion," Mo­ Museum, Phoenix. Woods's locations consisted baueCountyMiner, 28 Feb. 1996. Interview w ith of the Sickles No. 1, Sickles No. 2, Sickles No. 3, Sarah Michael johnson, 22 june 2002. Interview Big Wonder No. 1, Big Wonder No.2, Big Won­ w ith Michael D . j ohnson, 29 june 2002. der No. 3, Big Wonder No. 4, Big Wonder No. r Jllining journal, 15 Aug. 1930, 25. 5, Coverall, Wedge, Eastside, Southeast, Big Matt !H Mining journal, 30 Aug. 1930, 27. No. 1, Big Matt No. 2, Big Matt No. 3, Big Matt 29 Mining j ournal, 30 Oct.l930, 26. J'lt!obaue County No.4, Big Matt No. 5, Comet No. 1, Comet No. Miner, 3 Oct. 1930. 2, Comet No. 3, Comet No. 4, Comet Extension, .1o Sennott, "Vandals." 11 Rock Cabin, Rock Cabin Extension No. 1, and · Gold King Coalition, Inc., files, Arizona Corpora­ Rock Cabin Extension No. 3. tion Commission, Phoenix. 12 Interview w ith Sarah Michael johnson, 22 june 32 S. S. j o nes, "Map of Mine Tunnel, Gold King Mine, 2002. Interview w ith Michael D. johnson, 29 Maynard Mining District" and "Map of Pinnacle june 2002. E-mail from Leo Banks, 17 june Workings, Gold King Mine, Maynard lvlining Dis­ 2002. trict," 19 july 1935, microfiche, E. Ross Ho use­ u "Fine Ore Body is Opened on Gold King, " Mobaue holder M ap Collection, Rack 10, Arizona Mines Co unty Miner, 12 Apr. 1929. and Minerals Museum, PhoenLx. County High­ 1 ' "Gold King Hits Ore in the Drift," Mobaue County way Map, Mohave County, 1937, Arizona State Miner, 19 Apr. 1929. Library, Archives and Public Records Agency, ""Gold K ing Has Good Ore Body," Mobaue County Phoenix. Miner, 17 lvlay 1929. .u Gold King Coalition, Inc., files, A.lizona Corporation Com­ '6 "Developing of Gold King is Progressing [sic)," mission, Phoenix. Mobaue County Miner, 12 july 1929. No copy _,., Mining j oumal, 15 Oct. 1942, 17. of Householder's movie could be located at the 3' "Nation's Gold Mines to Cease Production," llfining Mohave County Museum, although it may sur­ journal, 30 Oct. 1942, 2-4. vive elsewhere. 36 Gold King MILS fi le, Arizona Mines and Minerals ,- Gold King Coalition, Inc., files, Arizona Corpo­ Museum, PhoenLx. ration Commissio n, Phoenix. For the mining 3- Gold King MILS file, Arizona Mines and Ivlinerals claims, see Note 11 . Museum, Phoenix. Ill "Drifting and Sinking on the Gold King," Mobaue 3ll Gold King MILS file, Arizona Mines and Minerals County Miner, 2 Aug. 1929. Museum, PhoenLx. Mobaue County Book 4 of 19 "Gold King is Highgrade in the Drift," Mobaue Mill Site Claims and \\'letter Rigbts, 94-5, 15 May 80 2005 Mining HisiOIJI journal

1 1943. " Roman Malach, "Mansi.on in the .Mountains," Jllo­ 39 Gold King MILS file, Arizona Mines and Miner­ bave, Dec. 1972, 56. Joe Blacksrock, 'The Ghost als Museum, Phoenix. Interview with Wayne Mansion of the Hualapais, Desert Magazine, Waughtel, 29 June 2002. Interview with Michael Dec. 1980, 51. Johnson, 29 June 2002 . ' 2 Mining claim geographic report for Meridian 14, ..o Gold King Coalition. Inc., file, Arizona Corporation Township 19 north, IRange 15 west, Section 14. Commission, Phoeni..x. Gold King MILS file, Ari­ run elate of 18 June 2002. Bureau of Land Man­ zona Mines and Minerals J\luseum, Phoenix. agement, Kingman Field Office. ,,~Go ld King file. Bureau of Land ~lanagement. King­ man Field Office.