Wiccan Road To Ghosts -

Graham County Ghost Towns

Algodon- A small settlement originally located on land included on the Goods;peed Ranch. The ranch was bought in 1900 by John A. Lee and William Franklin Lee and soon Mormons joined them. Post office was established in 1915 abd duscibtubyed 1921,

Aravaipa/Dunlap -(See Fort Grant)This little town had a post office from 1883 until 1893. For nine of those years it was Dunlap after Burt Dunlap, a local rancher. With another town with the same post office name, they renamed the town for the Aravaipa Indians.There was a school. store, and even a pool hall in this mining/ranching town. Today there are a few buildings and outhouses . Aravaipa is located west of Graham County on Araivaipa/Klondkye Road.

Black Rock- See Spenazuma

Bonita- At the end of SR 266 west of US 191 Bonita was the town that catered to the soldiers and ranch hands in the area as well as Fort Grant. Its post office was established in 1884 and lasted until 1955

No immediate visible remains but a couple of small buildings still in occasional use.According to local legend, one of the Old West’s most notorious troublemakers has ties to Bonita. Many believe Bonita was where Billy the Kid killed the first of many in his legendary lifetime.

Bueno Vista- A fairly unknown site. Many walls and foundations

Calova-Began as a AZ Easter Railroad station under the name of Dewey. A big flood washed the station out and a second was built under the name Calva after an Indian chief. Post office was established in 1938 and discontinued 1941. All that remains today are cattle pens.

Camp Grant- Originally called Camp Arivaypa. 144 Appaches were killed here in their camp just outside Camp Grant on April 230, 1871, by a Tucson American vigilante group. All but 8 of the 144 dead were women and children. they were ravished, wounded, and clubbed to death, hacked to pieces or brained by rocks. It was one of the most sadistic slaughters ever seen on the frontier. All the dead were buried around the camp. Camp Grant was located on the west side of the San Petro river where the Aravaipa Crek meets the San Pedro River, between Mannouth and Winkelman.

A robbery occurred sixteen miles Northeast of Camp Grant in the late 1800s. Eleven black cavalrymen escorted Major Doughtery's wagon. The twenty-five thousand dollars, never recovered.

Another coin cache near or on the old Camp Grant, reported by Arizona Bill who reportedly help bury It around 1877.

In 1903, Chales E.D. Flagg and his wife lived in Camp Grant.

Cedar Springs- Post office established in 1887 and discontinued 1892.

Cork- A small railroad community with a post office established 1916 and discontinued 1918.

Fort Grant, Old- The unhealthy location of Old camp Carnig in pinl County and the tarring of its reputation because of the massacred there wre among the factors which led to the new location in 1872. The post office came here in 1869 and in 1879 the name was changed to Fort Grant and discontinued in 1905.

Fort Grant- William B. Royall and thirty men scouted in the vicinity of Mt. Graham for a new location for two hundred and seventy-five men stationed at the old Camp Grant. They found it on a plain about fifteen miles wide and manymiles long, on a mesa with an abundance of wood, grass and good water. Fort Grant was abandoned except for one caretaken in 1905.

In 1912, the state of Arizona took steps necessary to take over Fort Grant and to move the Industrial School to that place. It has been converted into a state prison today. It is about 15 miles Northwest of Safford off State Route F-266.Fort Grant, now a prison, was originally a United States Army Cavalry Post. Because of unhealthy living conditions at Old Camp Grant, General Crook relocated the post some 45 miles northeast of the old camp at the foot of towering Mount Graham.

On December 19, 1872, Fort Grant was established at the foot of Mount Graham by the direction of General Crook. In January of 1873, eleven companies of cavalry and infantry were transferred to Fort Grant, under the command of Major Brown. They immediately started work on the construction of a commissary building, officers' quarters and a wagon road up the side of Mount Graham.

Troops patrolled Southeast Arizona and Western New Mexico, chasing small marauding bands of Apache Indians and keeping the peace. Ft Grant was a hub of activity during the Apache Campaigns. It boasted a quartermaster store second to none. The building later called Brown's Folly was over 200 feet long and 40 feet wide. It was constructed of solid stone and is still in use. Troops from Fort Grant participated in the military campaign against Geronimo ending with Geronimo's surrender in August of 1886. In 1888, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry were used in civil duties and for chasing train robbers. On May 11, 1889, Paymaster Major Wham was robbed of $29,000 in gold and silver coins while en route to pay the soldiers at Fort Thomas and Fort Apache.

On November 27, 1889, about nine o’clock in the evening, the post trader’s store was closing and the clerks had gone. Two masked men entered the office by the back door and held up Mr. Sheen, the bookkeeper and Lieutenant Evans. Holding cocked six-shooters, they gave a sack to Mr. Sheen into which he placed the cash contents of the safe. The affair lasted but a few minutes during which little was said to lead to any identification.
Upon leaving, the robber fired their guns to scare off any would-be pursuers. The cash taken was estimated at from 2,000 to 5,000. A reward of $500 was offered for the arrest of the robbers plus a 25% bonus for all monies recovered.

During the winter of 1870-71, a body of Apache Indians, short of rations during the winter of 1870-71, went to the post of Camp Grant upon the lower San Pedro in Southern Arizona and asked for rations. The Indians camped some six miles from the post but not upon any reservation as there was none, drew their rations from the post and continued depending upon the settlers.

No roads were safe from the Apaches and the military authorities under General Stonemas scouted the idea that these Indians were depredating.

In April, four men were killed at Tres Alamos on the San Pedro, a hard of mules and horses driven off and traced to this Indian camp at the mouth of Aravaipi Canyon. A man named Wooster and his wife were killed near Tubac which led to the organization of an avenging party in Tucson and San Xavier. The party consisted of fifty Mexican citizens, forty-five Papagoes and six Americans. The Americans were W.S. Oury, Charles T. Etchellis, Bernet, James Lee and a man in Lee’s employ whose name is not known and Sidney R. DeLong.

Some eighty-six Indians wee killed any much stolen plunder was found in their camp or ranchoria, among other things, the dress of Mrs. Wooster and a pair of long legged moccasins identified in court as having to belonged to Mr. Wooster, also some of the party shot an Indians from a horse that was brought to this town and identified as belonging too Leopoldo Carrillo that he did not know had been stolen.

When the news reached the outside world there was a commotion. General Sherman, at that time commencing the army, believe the report of his officers that they were harmless and demanded that the whole party be arrested and taken outside the territory of Arizona for trial. However, this event led to the speedy removal of General Sherman and brought General crook upon the seen who first organized the policy, which resulted after many failures, in placing the Apache Indians upon reservations, and led to their ultimate extinction as a tribe/

Soldiers making Adobe brick of dirt for Fort Grant buildings - 1890
The Quartermaster's Storehouse Fort Grant Circa 1885
1st Cavalry Standing Inspection Fort Grant Circa 1880

Starting in 1900, Fort Grant was a collection point for troops going to the Philippines during the Spanish American War. On October 4, 1905, Captain Jenkins marched Troop D across the parade grounds for the final time. The troops were transferred to Fort Huachuca and Fort Grant was left to a caretaker. In 1912, the federal government turned over Fort Grant to the new state to be used as the State Industrial School for Wayward Boys and Girls. Ft Grant had a taste of delinquency long before the State Industrial School was moved there. William H. Bonney (AKA Billy the Kid) allegedly killed a man at this frontier outpost in a fight.

In 1968, the Arizona State Legislature passed a bill making the Fort Grant State Industrial School a part of the State's Department of Corrections. In 1973, Fort Grant became an adult male prison. In December of 1997, the Arizona State Prison at Fort Grant became the Fort Grant Unit of the Arizona State Prison Complex Safford (ASPC-Safford).

Eden- An agricultural town established by Mormon settlers in the 1880s. The town mimicked the name of a town in Utah. The post office opened in 1882 and closed at some undisclosed date. E Though scattered, residents still remain in this town. Eden is about
15 miles northwest of Safford on Eden Road.

Geronimo - This little town is found on highway 70 between Bylas and Fort Thomas, West of Safford, located on the South bank of the Gila River with one major building. Named after the famous Indian chief and used to be a station on the Arizona-Eastern railroad. The post office, established in 1896, closed shortly thereafter.Geronimo was named after the famous Indian chief and used to be a station on the Arizona-Eastern
railroad. thereafter. Because few structures are left standing, the rolling hills are all that’s left to whisper the stories of the past. Geronimo is on Highway 70 between Bylas and Fort Thomas, west of Safford.

Glenbar, Matthews, Fairview /Hogtown- RR station and remnants of a flourmill.

An agricultural settlement whose name was Matthews from 1897 to 1906, Fairview from 1909 to 1917 and Glenbar from 1917 to 1956.

Graham-Began in 1880 by Jorgen Jorgenson, George W. Skinner, Andrew Anderson, and James Wilson. The land was known as Rustler's Ranch with good cause. owned in 1879 by the Power brothers and a man calld Snyder. , four miles from present day Pima.

The townsite was laid out in 1881 when Mormon settlers arrived. It had a meeing house made of mosquite poles and dirt roff and walls of heave unbleached muslin. Post office came in 1892 and discontinued in 1885.

Hubbard-Elisha F. Hubbard, Sr. was the Mormaon's first ward bishop of this community. The settlement developed from the older Grzham and Bryce Wards, which puts Hubbard at a rathr late date probably in the late 1890s. The current name is now Kimbal, called for the name of a dam the Mormons built before Graham which burned. The post office came on June 13, 1902 and discontinued March 11, 1912

Klondyke General Store, 1910
Courtesy Arizona Historical Society

Klondyke This little town is not a total ghost for there are some current residents. Stop by the general store and see some of the many original buildings built in the early 1900's and named for its Canadian counterpart.

Founded around the turn of the century by gold diggers, returning from the gold rush in Klondike, Yukon Territory in Alaska. They believed it would bring luck to name the new home after the big gold found in Klondike. The town reached a population of 500 people and besides the mining operation they lived from ranching. Unfortunately, the founders couldn't spell very well and the town wound up with a "y" instead of an "I" in the name. Silver and lead were the mainstay of the mines. Klondyke's peak population was about 500. Today there are only about a dozen residents.

The first store in the town was started from Mr. Bedoya in a tent and later a saloon and wood store were built.. In 1904 he opened the John F. Greenwood store and post office and was the first postmaster who served the town between 1907-1917. His store burned down later but he immediately built a new one. The town had school and church.

Half of the town's residents left the town during the Depression. The post office closed in 1955. Like other ghost towns not much left to see here. Located after Aravaipa Canyon in beautiful Aravaipa Valley where Aravaipa Creek is running dry, surrounded by harsh Galiuro Mountains in southwest and Santa Teresa Mountains in the north, Klondyke is the most beautiful and extreme peaceful place to live in and in the middle of 1980s a half dozen people lived here.

People don't travel to Klondyke like in other towns, but those who come here, love this peaceful place and area around the town. Klondyke is the home of one of Arizona's most notorious stories which has elements of "Old West" tragedies. Southeast of the town is Klondyke cemetery where Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Power, his wife, daughter and two of their three sons lie. Jeff Power brought his family from Texas to Arizona in 1909 and he started a cattle ranch. Powers wife, Martha Jane died in a buggy accident in 1915 when the horses started to run wild. One year later, Power took his children to his mine in the Galiuro Mountains where they built a cabin in Ratlesnake Canyon. Here his daughter Ola May died when she bitten by snake in 1917. Charley, Powers oldest son was wounded in the First World War and the old man decided that his other sons John and Tom Jr. shall never be food for the canons. The boys stayed home when called for military duty and they declared them, deserters.On February 10, 1918 four lawman from Graham County came to arrest the brothers. When they arrived at Powers place, the shooting started. When the shooting ended, three of the lawman and old man Power were dead. They wounded brothers Tom and Jim but they managed to escape to Mexico before being captured. They brought them back to court and convicted them of murder. On February 26 and 28, 1918 they were send to jail in Florence and Charley, their brother, left the area. The Power brothers left the jail in 1960 after 42 years in prison and John returned to the Klondyke area. Tom died in 1970 in Sunset, Arizona (about 47 miles south of Klondyke). John moved the bones of his father and brothers to Klondyke cemetery and placed them beside his mothers and sisters grave. On his father grave he wrote: "T. J. Power Sr. 1918 - Age 54. Shot down with his hands up in his own door. Now John lies buried beside them in Klondyke Cemetery.

Ladybug Saddle- Located in the Pinaleno Mountains (Mount Graham). Access is closed by the U of A, to save the Red Squirrel. The clearing near High Peak is the observatory building are now in concrete was once a meadow filled with ladybugs.

Lompoc- The nw vanished community of Lampoc was settled by people from Lompoc, California. Post office came in 1913 and was discontinued in 1915

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Maxey/Camp Thomas/ Fort Thomas - Maxey came into being because of the relocation of Camp Goodwin at Fort Thomas of which Maxey was the civilian adjunct. He earned a reputation as a place where government supplies could be bought from the Indian traders. In 2880 Maxey was thoroughly disreputable with its saloons and houses of prostition. The post office was established as Camp Thamas in 1877 and changed to Fort Thomas, 2883. Name was changed to Maxey in 1886 and then Fort Thomas in 1887.

Morristown- Town was built by T.D. Morris as a mining town but never developed. the loction was on the stage road in the Clark Mining District.

Sanchez- Sanchez was a small farming settlement along the Gila River which had a post office from 1901 to 1903. Sanchez is about five miles east of Safford and founded by Lorenzo Sanchez who settled here in 1889 with his twelve children.

San Jose- the first sttlers in the Graham County portion f the Gila Valle were Mexican who moved there in 1873. The place was first called Mumsonville becasue William Munson owned a store which he sold in 1874 to I.E. Solomon. A community grew up around an old adobe rune, the village had almost twenty five adobe huts in 1879.

Near San Jose was the place where Mormons used early Indian irrigation canals which they called montezuma Canal after the long vanished Indians. In July 1873, the San Jose settlement, probably in existence during the construction period of Morman canlsa was called in a newspaper dispactch, Montezuma. The post office was established as San Jose in 1872 and discontinues in 1878. It was reestablished in March 1904 and discontinued in November 1904.

Spenazuma- The new mining camp of Spenazuma better known as Black Rock was baptized in blood last Sunday ;night. Charles Gardner shot and killed his partner, Charles Denson. Gardner is now in the county jail, Constable J.J. Putnam having brought him here Monday evening.

Denson and Gadner were partners in some mining properties located about four miles from Spenazuma which they had been developing. some two weeks ago Denson went ot Globe to see parties concerning the sale of the mines. Gardner and one or two men remained at work on the mines.

the mail carrier between Thomas and Aravalpa was in the habit of stopping at the Denson-Garner camp for dinner. During the absence of Denson at Globe Gardner accused the mail carrier nd Denson with making way with a letter which he was expecting with mney it it. He drove the mail carrier away from the camp and told him never ot come ther again. It afterward transpired tha tthe missing letter continging the money for Gardner was at the Thomas post office..

Sunday afternoon Denson returned.from Globe with the men who proposed to examine the mines mowned by Denson and Garner and buy them if satisfactory. Garder had come to Spenazuma that afternoon. Denson on his arrival, heard that Gardner was in town and went at once to see him, coming up with him first in the strett. Denson told Gardner that the parties who desired to buy their mines had arrived with him and wanted to know what was best to be done concerning the sale.

Gardner answered in an insulting way and a quarrel ensued, during which Denson drew a sixshooter and struck at Gardner with it twice but never touched him. Garner went away saying he would get a bun and kill Kenson. that was in the afternoon.

About 10 o'clock that night with his back to the door, readin g a letter to a friend, Garner appeared on the outside o fthe door and without a word shot Denson though the body with a Winchester rifle, killing him.

Gardner fled but was captured next morning by an officers' posse. He had a preliminary hearing monday before Juctice Reashau and was held without bail for murder.

J.J. Putnam, the constable was a parnter of Denson in the mines. Putnam had been furnishing the board, power, tools etc. and Denson and Gardner had been doing the mwork on the mines, solomonville Bulletin- 9/25/1898 , Az Republic.

Sunset- Located on Ash Creek Rd (FR 651), behind Ash Creek Black Hills. To get to Ash Creek Rd, take Fort Grant Rd from Wilcox. Sunset is also available from Bonita (SR 266) via High Creek Rd which run together with Ash Creek Rd. Not problem for 2WD. A few buildings remain.

Sunset owed its existence to the mines on Sunset Peak just west of the town site. It had a post office from 1917 to 1932.

GRAHAM COUNTY TREASURE SITES

Graham Mountain- Padres transporting church treasure along a trail through the Graham Mountains buried a large store of gold coins, jeweled church vessels and other valuable in a cave prior to an Apache attack.

Shannon Canyon -There are signs of a caravan of early Spaniards burying a cache of gold bullion on Mt. Graham. The party was traced as far as their stopping place in Shannon Canyon where the gold is believed to be buried,