THE ANAMAX PROJECT HISTORY OF THE ROSEMONT AREA IN THE SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA by Jerome Schaefer ✓ Cultural Resource Management Section Arizona State Museum The University of Arizona November 1979 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Trends, Events, and Innovations affecting Historic Activity . 1 2. DEMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS 7 Population Trends 7 3. ROSEMONT CAMP AND THE ROSEMONT MINES 11 Life in Rosemont 15 Transportation 16 The Hotel 17 The Rosemont School '21 The Rosemont Store 21 Entertainment 22 The Rosemont Ranger Station 23 4. OTHER MINES 25 Narragansett Mine and New Rosemont 25 Helena Mine 26 5 RANCHING HISTORY 28 General Trends 28 The Scholefield or Hidden Spring Ranch 29 The VR Ranch 30 Lopez's Ranch 31 Chapo's Ranch 32 Martinez Ranch 32 St. Helena Ranch and_the-St.,Helena,Cattle Company 33 Outlying Range Management Installations 33 6. PROSPECTS AND PROBLEMS FOR HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 34 APPENDIX A, Catalogue of Primary Documents 39 REFERENCES 50 ii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Chronology of events in the history of Rosemont and environs . 2 2. Copper prices and production in the Helvetia Mining District . 5 3. Population trends in the Rosemont, Helvetia, and Greaterville Districts 8 4. Historic localities in the ANAMAX Exchange area 12 5. Plat of the claim of Charles W. Welch, Assignee of Leonard Lewisohn 18 6. Undated photograph of Rosemont, looking west 19 7. The hotel, store, warehouse, smelter, and assayer's office in 1900 20 8. Miner's tent house Helvetia at the turn of the century 36 9. Homes of Mexican miners in Helvetia at the turn of the century . 37 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Soon a large open pit copper mine, mill, and dump will permanently alter the surface of the Rosemont area on the eastern slopes of the Santa Rita Mountains. The rich copper-bearing deposits that are now the focus of the ANAMAX Mining Company have attracted miners since the 1870s. The early miners shared this country with the ranchers who were attracted by other natural resources--the rich grazing lands and numerous springs for their cattle. The archaeological sites left by these early pioneers and their descendents reflect two of the major economic forces which today continue to shape Arizona's history and culture. This report documents the history of ranching and mining in the Rosemont area which will be given to the ANAMAX Mining Company, by the Coronado National Forest in exchange for other lands. As part of the testing phase of the ANAMAX project, this historical framework will aid in the evaluation of archaeological resources which are threatened by the proposed open pit mining operations. Included in the report is an outline of political and economic trends affecting the mining and cattle industries in the Santa Ritas, an outline of major demographic patterns, histories of each mine and ranch in the effected area, and a statement on the problems and potential for using the historical records in interpreting archaeologi- cal remains. Fihally, the primary documents pertaining to the Rosemont area are catalogued in Appendix A. These documents are referred to throughout the text. Trends, Events, and Innovations affecting Historic Activity The history of ranching and mining in the Rosemont area can only be understood within the context of processes taking place on the national and regional level. Political, economic, and technological changes affecting the entire world were sometimes felt in Rosemont, manifested by changing patterns of local population growth, maintenance, and decline, and by chang- ing Intensities of economic activity. A summary of relevant historical events appears in Figure 1, with an emphasis given to mining. The upper time line traces national and regional events which had an impact on the locale ecomomy and settlement pattern. Stippled,amas indicate major events of some duration, such as war and eco- nomic depression. The lower time line is a detailed history of mining. Events labelled above the line refer directly to the Rosemont district. Events labelled below the line refer to the Helvetia and Greaterville areas predominantly. The stippled portions of the lower time line denote periods of intense mining while checkered areas indicate intermittant activity. Areas that have been left clear denote periods of little or no mining. 1 TIME LINES OF HISTORIC EVENTS 6 •OSP e. 4e0c;6 \ oa e 4 t:!1S' OP ,61c c>';/‹ef,..,e Ne.e; c' o' ,,,.. \oz 0 ,P •aP) \<s °°' cf .,(>2CP e,„'1,2' ,.:' e ,d," , ,e,,,,;\ :R":,ef' .\,z," ,<oc..` (e' ... 0 fc.,6 cp i( . ( ,;., \ c., ‘ ,..- k oa *• e- < \ a o 60 ‘sb. c:( e. ..42. .\ < >4\N 6P <( l' 2P •-• 2, \0 6,02.‹, 6 4k, 42' (2.' eP ..' w as tea t)( ( eP *.' \ " <)" \ 6k < 0 (N 2,a \ \ 6 ir ,,,P R . ,c)(4- 40 ,,,,,,? e' 4;N r <'› 4, :r cD• qz., .e o` MAJOR NATIONAL AND REGIONAL EVENTS e at' OC \ 2 / , ,,e'C'C .(4- eP\ IP' lacy (P 41). .t6 ea - 6 e9( t. \6 2:c •C c:c. o . rP\o' teat',,c' NiA •6" .: \ (5P . <,P) e .' i`z • cs 6( ,,•<)e a \ oe 6,,,,• 26 \ o •,a a , ' eo \Is\ ',6° 2::\ 'C GfiP - S's C c,6 S , p e" 4 act' \(.se'e:':S2' • •('a A lcFg) (P \ s ' 'P s ° \ ( Sc\ \.,. .. 4P c> ,c '"P ';° ,:-.,,'; e , ((■ to .ct,6 2> 2a e o'' ..,F.4, .4\ 0"' ,5-. ,:,S, NN K, '‘ (‘e>4 $ a ..0 ea"' 4;" ` l. efP ..2P (.0:( e (!P -a6 4. za „, e t • ( a - C te''IC , C> ,.,c,e c, , ,,,, \(‘ 40 .( - -0• . "c!A. ° ,p, eoat T".' R.P e . ,,° -40,`"‘ e:( ,. a( - (2 4> (> al,P:c s • t::1 '.P et' ex 1P ce -(P se\ oas tf .i., 1.9. ss4 \e l- „(.6 ca 46cs ROSEMONT HISTORY re CP R, 1111111111111•11EMISMINI OTHER MINES & EVENTS (Jo •2' \ oC ea ep.-\ '''\ K., •64: (7, s \ 1,6 Q•C' ...a \ <•R. 2i ° ,,,4V 6 (>''' C 6 ' C6) `62. '''' Key to lower time line 2' CC). ..' .( , e o 6 ...‹,c cp' 1i4v,,,.P \\\eOe. = intense mining e paeg \z u 't 4 .e, . 0 cP,e: a e QR ,i,.\ 0 V NO) \ s'dr at' ° 0 = intermittent mining G°\J ? e:c Ns'e'•,r,N e,\• CP V-4 i'•2.°Y4 = little or no mining •2;\ 111[1111111111111 Mill it 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 Figure 1 3 Specific events in Rosemont's history are fully treated in the text below and are of secondary concern for this discussion. Rather, I will here relate general trends of mining activity to national and regional history. Ranching history is less dynamic in the Rosemont area and while not shown in Figure 1, it is discussed fully in Chapter 4. It was the lust for gold and silver which first attracted Europeans to Arizona. In 1539 Friar Marcos de Niza and Estevan traveled the southwest looking for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola and their mineral wealth. The Coronado expedition to the Pueblos the following year proved that no such riches existed. Miners from Mexico found that indeed such wealth did exist but that it could not be simply taken from the indigenous population as the conquistidores had done, Instead, they exploited the rich silver mines of southern Arizona and the Indian population as well. In 1705, Father Kino described the silver ores of the Santa Rita deposits. Through the 1700s Spanish mines were operated in the Santa Rita, Cerro Colorado, and Ajo regions, The first American mining followed the Gadsden purchase in 1852 when southern Arizona south of the Gila River and southern New Mexico were sold by the Mexicamkto become a new territory of the United States, Soon after in 1856, the Santa Rita silver mines near Tubac were opened. Exploration of the Santa Rita and Cerro Colorado mountains produced many a glory hole and shaft mine in the late 1850s. Notable among the larger operations were the Mowry Mine in the Patagonia Mountains, the Gila Dome Placers near Yuma, and the Heintzelman Mine in the Cerro Colorado Mountains. The Civil War curtailed many mining operations after 1861 because the Army had to be withdrawn and Apache raids grew more frequent. The massacre of the Santa Rita silver miners must have scared many miners off their claims, Following the Civil War and the Apache campaigns from 1871 to 1886, many of the miners returned to the mountainsof southern Arizona. Most of the ranchers and early prospectors had returned to the Rosemont area by the mid to late 1870s and they had to contend with Apache raids until Geronimo's surrender (Docu- ment 27). The procedure by which miners located, patented, and worked their claims was set forth in the 1872 federal mining laws (Thompson 1915). These laws also allowed for local mining customs to prevail when they did not con- flict with federal statutes. All through Arizona and the Western United States, miners working the same area organized themselves into communally recognized mining districts. At periodic meetings they set forth and enforced the rules for making claims and for personal conduct. By 1881 there were fifty districts distributed throughout the ore-bearing regions of Arizona. The number of districts has increased through time until over two hundred districtS and localities can be counted today. A the start of Rosemont's development, it was already part of the Helvetia Mining District and subject to the rules set forth at the annual district meeting. These rules were a conglomeration of practices developed by Cornish, Mexican, and California miners (Shinns 1885).