Wiccan Road To Ghosts -

Maricopa County Ghost Towns

AdamsvilleThe first settlements in the Territory, included within the boundaries of Maricopa County as originally established in 1871, were made along the Gila River at Adamsville and Florence. Some claim that the first building erected was at the old town of Adamsville, about three miles west of Florence. From the best evidence at hand, both towns were located in the same year, 1866. During that year Charles Adams located at what was afterwards Adamsville.

He took out a ditch there and irrigated his quarter section of land and it soon became a prosperous village. In the winter of 1866-67, the first store was opened.

William Dumont was the first postmaster, but the postoffice name was changed from Adamsville to Sanford in honor of Captain George B. Sanford of the First United States Cavalry, who was, for many years, in command at Fort McDowell and the record of whose combats with the Indians has been previously noted. This action of the postoffice department caused much criticism throughout the Territory.

The Arizona "Miner," in 1871, said that ‘‘"at a spot in the Valley of the Gila, situated between Florence and Sacaton, some five years since, a pioneer named Charles Adams located a piece of ground, erected a shanty, and proceeded to divest his property of the offensive shrubbery, preparatory to the sowing of a crop of grain. The location was in the midst of a large tract of land, and soon a thriving settlement sprang up, in the center of which Mr. Adams remained. At the solicitation of his neighbors he laid out a townsite on his property, gave lots to all who wished to build, and with one accord the whole community agreed that the town should be named Adamsville.’’

‘‘"The entire piece of property originally located by Mr. Adams was subsequently sold by him, but the town still retained the name of Adamsville. Territorial Delegate McCormick to satisfy a personal grudge of a political character against Mr. Adams, concluded to have the name changed. With this object in view he managed to have the name of the postoffice changed from Adamsville to Sanford. ’

After the departure of Mr. Adams, the founder of the place, who moved to the Salt River Valley, Adamsville became the headquarters of the Bichard Brothers, well known business men of the Gila Valley, who erected a modern flouring mill at that place. The Bichards were the first traders with the Pima Villages, and about the year 1865, became the owners of a primitive flouring mill at Casa Blanca, which was destroyed in the winter of 1868 by one of the great floods which occasionally occurred in the Gila Valley. Before its destruction this mill was used to grind corn and grain furnished by the Pima Indians. The Bichards constructed a new mill at Adamsville in 1869, which was provided with the most improved machinery of that day, shipped in at great expense from the Pacific Coast, and it was called "The Pioneer Flouring Mill." This mill was the first modern flouring mill erected in the Territory.

Agua Caliente- 12 miles north of Sentinel, with a hotel, a number of adobe and stone ruins of cabins and outbuildings; there is also the pool into which the hot waters flowed, home to an exclusive resort in Arizona. There was a 22- room hotel, built in 1897, and hot springs to boot. Similar to Castle Hot Springs, this hotel has survived into the present. Unfortunately, the hot springs dried up as ranchers used more water for irrigation. Today, there are caretakers but the hotel is no longer open.

Agua Caliente had hot springs used by Indians as a therapy. In 1873 became place popular between the white peoples and they came to the place from everywhere. To protect the business, the owners defended the place with dynamite resulting in the discovery of the spring. Agua Caliente (from Spanish meaning” hot water”) became ghost town. What is left in Agua Caliente is the hotel, the ruins of stone house and one swimming pool in which the hot water were collected and used by the visitors. The hotel, built in 1897, had 22 room and swimming pool. In parallel to Castle Hot Springs, this hotel survived.

A drive on a maintained and mostly dirt road through a natural Sonoran Desert area formed by the Yellow Medicine Hills and the Gila Bend Mountains. The road begins approximately 57 miles west of Phoenix, just south of Arlington. From Phoenix, take I-10 west to State Route 85 exit (to Gila Bend), head southbound on SR-85 towards Gila Bend. After 6 miles, turn right and head west at the Palo Verde/Arlington turnoff on Old Route 80. Follow road through Palo Verde, Hassayampa and Arlington (road turns into old SR-80). About 14.1 miles south of Arlington near the Gila Compressor Station you see a street sign marked "Agua Caliente Road." Turn right at that exit and you are on the road. You will cross a BLM portal sign after one mile.

.The rugged Eagletail Mountain Wilderness and Saddle Mountain areas loom to the north, and Face Mountain to the south. The route passes by the old Sundad ghost town. The hilly parts of the route offer expansive desert views of plains and mountains. Volcanic landscapes and features abound. Black Butte, Fourth of July Butte, Yellow Medicine Butte and Face Mountain are all noticeable landscape features. The southern part of the route climbs onto the Sentinel Plain Lava Flow, a stark landscape of lava 15 to 45 meters thick, the largest flow in the state. There are several old mine sites along the route in Sundad and the Jackpot and Dixie Mines.

Allah - Today Allah is part of Wickenburg with no footprints of its own. It began as a railroad stop on the Ash Fork to Phoenix line but because of the fertile nature of the area, it resembled a desert oasis (i.e. the garden of Allah). They shortened the name to Allah when it had a post office from 1917 to 1919.Until the 1940's Allah had corrals and residences but expansion of the railroad right away required the railroad to bulldoze the site out of existence. The post office operated only in the year of 1936.

Alpha- See Beardsley

Angel Camp-Two miles West of Vulture Mine Road at a point seven miles South of US-60. Clever promoters got control of desert mineral claims and sold them to gullible Eastern investors. Their closeness to the Vulture or Congress mine and the Wickenburg News_Herald and Prescott Miner helped the promotors plan. Angel Camp was one of these camps. In 1901 George Sanders formed tow companies to open the mines and Eastern money built a tent and timber camp and steam hoists to sink shafts into the barren desert. They woke up quick and the money stopped and Angel Camp disappeared.

Beardsley- This little berg was originally a station, which honored Will H. Beardsley began as a developing an irrigation project in the 1880's. For years it served as a sheep-shearing point on the Santa Fe, Prescott & Phoenix Railroad. Beardsley was also the original junction of the branch of the SF and PP Railroad to McMicken. The junction was later located to Ennis 4.5 miles East of Beardsley. His company, The Agua Fria Const. Co. also built a canal named the Beardsley Canal, from Lake Pleasant to ranches as far as 30 miles away

Big Horn-Little remains of this former small community which took the name from the nearby Big Horm Mountians. The coummunity was on the old Buzzard Ranch. The post office came in 1030-1935.

Burke's Station - Allpha- Found near Agua Caliente, Burke's a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage route in 1858. When the Butterfield stopped operating, King Woolsey purchased the site. He managed to get a post office located there from 1894 to 1898, under the new name Alpha for unknown reasons.

A Mexican bandit murdered the station keeper at Burke's Station and hid a strongbox in the 1870s. They never found the money chest, believed to be in the immediate vicinity of the old stage stop, just off the Agua Caliente road, a short distance East of the road on the South bank of the Gila River. The location on topographic maps is township 5, range 10, Section 18.

Coldwater - Coldwater began as a freight station in the 1890's and named after the river and a nearby well. Later, the railroad established a station called Litchfield. The residents of Coldwater moved to the railroad stop. They called the original post office Coldwater in 1896. In 1897, they changed it to Cold Water and continued under this name until 1905. In 1911 it was re-established, this time as Avondale located on the west bank of the Agua Fria River. No footprints to speak of.

Cullen's Well-Sometimes known as the "lighthouse in the desert", Cullen's Well was the only stable source of water between Wickenburg and Ehrenberg. There was a light at the top of a pole at the site to guide travelers at night, which is where the name "lighthouse in the desert" came from. Built by Charles C. Cullen, this well was started in the mid 1800's and continued well after Cullen's death in 1878. One story as to the light's origin was that a young man died within shouting distance of the well, and so the light was put up to prevent that from happening again. Today, only part of the well is left.---

To get to the Well via Highway US 60 , go 1/2 mile West of Gladden and head North 2.9 miles. The 2.9 miles is ok but the road is located at mile post 71.3 (71.3 miles East of the state border with California) and this about 4 + miles W. of Gladden! All Arizona State and Federal Road are marked with mile post signs every mile starting with #1 on the Western Border and #1 at the Southern Border, they increase by increments of one for each additional mile (yes and some driver run over them so a few may be missing here and there! (Increasing from West to East and South to North) The road is almost washed out from recent severe flooding off the Centennial Wash just North of the Grave sites and Well. A high clearance 2 wd could make it but I couldn't get there in my family car last Sat. The Well site is actually in La Paz County, Az and not in Maricopa County. Legends say there were many cavalry soldiers burried here.

Edith- See Phoenix Mill- old Phoenix mine, four miles North of Cave Creek via Spur Cross Rd. The Phoenix mine was located in 1870 when George Treadwell, superintendent of the Vulture mine went to the Cav Creek area in 1880. He saqmpled and tested the outcrop and formed the Phoenix Mining Company that spent years fighting of claim jumpers and laid plans for a 100-stamp mill to turn the rock into bullion.

An instant city grew up near the mine named after the wife of the mill superintendent and postmaster Judson Todd. After $100,000 worth of gold the operation shut down.

A few foundations and rocks in the canyon. As the ore quickly ran out, so did the town and today only a few foundations still cling to the canyon walls north of Phoenix with a steep road ending as a rock trail leads to mine's glory hole.

Post office arrived here to service the Judson Mine in July 1888 and discontinued in December 1888.

Post office arrived in 1890 and discontinued in 1896.

The AZ Republican, 1891- Fell into a Shaft, a shocking death at the Phoenix mine Thursday.

In Friday's Republicn, a mention was made of the death of one Acufia, a laborer at the phoenix mine, by falling into a deep shaft. The lateness of the house prvented a more extended mention of the accident. Mr. W.e. Willimas, the messenger who brought the news to this city, states that Acufia was working alone on the night shift near the top of the 100- foot shaft. He did not show up during the day at his lodging place nor could he be found so the conclusion was reached, near sundown, that the man must have fallen to the bottom of the shaft. '

One of the miners, John Dana was let down by a rope and found his worst fers realized. The body of the missing man was floating in the water of the stump. He tied a rope under the arms of the corpse and then signalled to be drawn up.

When the body was brought to the surface, the primal cause of death was found to be a jagged triangular cut over ove eye, doubless made by a shap projecting rock, struck by th falling man in his headlong descent. The brain hd been pentrated and death must have been instantaneous.

The body was taken to the company's store where he was laid out to await the inquest. Deceased was a sober, hard working man of 42 years of age and leaves a wife and several children. Mr. Williams and justice Richards left Friday morning at l0:30 for the mine where a jury iwll be empanelled upon their arrival and an inquest immediately held.

A following article reported

Manuel Acuna's Death not Accidental One.

Return of the Coroner from the Phoenix Mine- the jury renders an undecided vertdict but a conclusion seems plain.

Cooner James Richards returned Sunday from the Phoenix mine where he went to hold an inquest upon the body of Manuel Acufia, the Mexican found dead at the bottom of a shaft. He arrived at the mine Firiday evening, turning back a wagon which he met on the orad carrying the corpse to Phoenix, a rough box having been constucted by a carpented ot do in lieu of a coffin.

a fury of six men was sworn in by the coroner at once and the inquest proceeded. Evidence was given by the fellow workmen of the deceased and by his wife. Summing it all up the jury gave a verdict to the efrdt that deceased came to his death from a fall into a shaft and that whether the death was accidental or self-inflicted, the jury had no way of knowing.

The testimony o fthe miners was that Acufia was employed on the night shift at the mine, working in a tunnel. He came off duty at the usual time, r on thursday morning and came out in the birht moonlight carrying his pick and drills, going down the path with them to the blacksmith shop to have the tools sharpened.

Only a few feet from the tunnel, his hat blew off and lodged by a rock. When he had placed his tools in the shop, he started back up the path toward the tunnel, several hundred yards distant to get his hat.That was the last seen of him alive.

The shaft where the body was found is an abandoned one, 115 feet deep, situated about midway between the company office and the tunnel though no trail leads to it from either tunnel nor shop. The shaft is of the usual construction with a considerable mund around it and in the light of the early morning, could not have beenn overlooked by any wanderer.

The treacks of the Mexican so far as they could be followed, showe dthat he had gone for his had and had then deliberately walked to the mouth of the uncovered shaft and had presumabley jumped in. the shaft is eight feet in diameter and on the opposite side from where the foot prints end, a large amount of earth was detached about fifeen feet down where the falling man had sturck. the circumstance would seem to carry out the theory that he had jumped in.

The shaft was a dry one, contrary to the first report. The body was foudn in the bottom with the skull smashed and several contusions in various parts of the trunk. His hat lay beside him.

The widow states that her huband had been acting somewhat singularly for sever weeks, complaining of a pain in his head. This she thought came from the fumes of giant powder and she was quite unprepared for the catastrope.

Upon the urgent solicitation of th widow, the body was bourgh to Phoenix and decenty interred in consecratd ground though far advanced in decompostion. Deceased was about forth years of age and leaves no children.

Forepaugh- 19 miles west of Wickenburg off U.S.60.Footprints include 19th century mining trash; 20th century settlement trash.

Post office was established in 1910 with Charles B. Genung as post master and closed in 1916. Was a RR station and there was some mining reduction activities that took place here.. It seems that during WW II the Army Air Corps built an airfield there. It was used very briefly as a training base for glider pilots. There was a hanger, barracks, landing strip, shops, well pump, etc.

All that remains is the hanger, airstrip (unusable), some of the pump and storage tank equipment, and the foundations of the barracks and shops. Seems that the barracks were there until 1995 when a fire burned them to the ground. I also learned that at least one trainee pilot was killed in an accident when the tow cable between his glider and tow plane snapped and wrapped around the glider's tail, sending his glider crashing into the nearby desert.

There is a small cluster of homes and tiny ranches. Vandals destroyed the old barracks and most of the other buildings years ago. Their is only a dangerous looking dilapidatd hanger.

Frog Tanks-See Pratt-

Gillette- Gillett was the mill site for the Tip Top Mine . The town is associated with an Arixona pioneer, Jack Swilling who lived three miles away when the town was formed. He was working his Swilling mine but soon moved into town.

He settled in the Salt River Valley in 1865 and established the Swilling Canal Company utilizing the water of the Salt River by use of irrigation canals. He moved to Black Canyon where he farmed before moving to Gillette.

He moved to Gillette and in 1878 went to Snively Holes, disinterred the body of Co. Jacob Snively and removed it for reburial at Gillette. Being a heavy drinker, he confessd to deeds for which he had not been accused. The first was in Pilos Alton, New Mexico where he said he killed his best friend.

He also admitted to commiting a stage robber and murder while bring Snively's remains to Gilletter. He was sent to Yuma Penitentary where he died. His innocence was proved shortly after.

The post office came in October 1878 and discontinued Aug. 1887.

Gladden- Gladden is now a trailer park.

Goldfield-Thirty five miles East of Phoenix n State Route 88.

It was the winter of 1892-93 when veteran prospectors approaced the foothills of the rugged Superstitiion Mountins, six miles South of the Salt river. There were several promising discoveries in the Goldfield Mountains and when J.R. Morse found a gold laden gold, the stampede began. They threw up palo verde and canvas shacks

By the middle of 1893, Denven mining men one of them Morse and his partners sold their Mammouth claim for $20,000 and with colorado owners put up a 20 stamp mill and cyanide plant and brought out one mllion dollars worth of gold from 1893-1897 with more mills being constructed in the area.

Goldfield's population of 400 supported hotels, chophouses, general stores, saloons and a boarding house all made of wood and canvas and a single main street near the Mammoth mine.

George V. Young built a new mill and worked another $200,000 worth of low-grade gold ore and plotted another townsite. the mines reopened in 1929-1930 but not with much success. Today it is a trourist attraction with some original builidngs.

The post office came in 1892 and discontinued 1894.

Hassayampa River Mills- One mile North to twelve miles South of Wickenburg along the Hassayamp River. It was the site of milling activity during the 1860 s and 1870s. Four mills crushed ore from the Vulture mine. The first, the Coulter 7 Tyuson 5-stamp mill was built in 1865 and enlarged by the Vulture Mining company. Located one mile North of Wickenberg and processed two million in gold between 1866 and 1873.

When that company failed, P.W. "Bill" Smith built a 10-stamp mill nine miles south of Wickenburg and ran it for five years with 100 miners and laborers whose adobe homes surrounded the mill. When Smith sold out to the Central Arizona Mining company, his millsite was abandoned for the new operation at Seymore, three mills further down river.

Ore was hauled by the Cerro Gordo freight outfits during the 1879 to a new 40-stamp mill. there wre 232 residents at Seymore in 1880 with stores, saloons, laundries, hotels, a stage stop, restuarant, butcher, barber and a feed yard in this tent and timber mill town.

When waterlines were run from the river to the mine, the milling shifted to the mine. Only foundations and tailings mark the sites of Vulture, Smith's Mill and Seymore. roads to the last two sites are non-existent. The Vulture Mill site has been absorbed by Wickenburg.

Hellings Mill/ East Phoenix/Mill City-Three miles East of early Phoenix where William Helling built a flou mill in early 1871. A small community arose with the mill as its center. The name was changed to East Phoenix. Post office arrived in 1871 and discontinued in 1876.

Johnsonville/Nephi--Established in 1887 by Mormons. The name was taken from the owner of the land then changed to Nephi .Post office established in 1889 and discontinued 1892.

Jonesville/Bottom City- See Lehi

Lehi -The Jones, Turley, Rogers, Steele, Biggs, McRae, Williams, and Merrill families gathered for their journey at St. George, Utah. They traveled in wagons for three months, and arrived in Lehi (just north of Mesa) in March of 1877. The route they took forced them to leave heavy equipment, such as stoves, sewing machines and plows, along the way.

The Lehi residents lived the United Order: that is, they shared the supplies and food raised. Their first building was a brush shed used as a school, church, and meeting place. In July 1877, they built Fort Utah with adobe bricks.

Jones' invitation to the natives to live with them became a contributing factor that caused half of the colony to leave. Those who left had brought more of the livestock, which they took with them to St. David, near Mexico. The Lehi group that was left was especially small and poor; it had a difficult time surviving.

A flood in Lehi in 1891 destroyed Fort Utah and carried away acres of valuable farmland in low-lying areas. Because Lehi was prone to flooding, had a more limited land area and fewer irrigation ditches, Mesa outgrew Lehi. When the railroad was placed in Mesa about 1895, the growth pattern accelerated. Lehi became part of Mesa in 1970.

Love- Railroad Stop, no further information.

Marysville-A community grew up at the former Rowe Station. Post office established in 1873 and discontinued in 1874.

Matthie- Railroad stop between Wickenburg and Phoenix. No footprints remain.The ARZC was originally constructed between 1903-1907 by the Arizona and California Railway. The line between Matthie, AZ and Parker opened in June 1907. By 1910 the line reached Cadiz, California

Meridan- Settlement existed near the vicinity of the Gila and Sal River meridian and the Gila and Salt River Base Line with a post office from 1894 to 1895.

Mobile- In 1925 a group of forty blacks from Mobile, Alabama homesteaded here with a post office in 1925.

Morristown/ Hot Springs Junction- A depot and a few shacks in 1893 on North side of the tracks about one half mile southeast of Hwy 74 and U.S. 60. See Vulture Siding.

Nephi- See Johnsonville

Phoenix Mill- See Edith

Pratt, Frog Tanks or Lake Carl Pleasant- Came alive in 1890, when William B. Pratt thought it would be a good idea to build a dam across the Agua Fria river and provide a lake to hold water for the thirsty miners along the Humbug and Castle Creeks. During construction of the dam, he built a two- room hotel, a stage station, and more. Then, a flood in 1891 destroyed the dam project but the town lived on for at least another five years as a gateway to the Bradshaw Mountains.

An 1875 search, shows the name 'Frog Tanks' applied to this place, but later in 1890 it was renamed 'Pratt' for William B. Pratt, who had a mine here. In 1926, the name 'Lake Carl Pleasant' was approved by the post office although the name 'Camp Pleasant' had been proposed

AZ Repulican -l/8/1891 His Body Found

News at last of the Agua Fria Crazy Man.

Eugene St. Claire came in form Frog Tanks yesterday and informed the officers that the body of the crazy man seen several days ago in New River had been found. A sheep heerder found the remains about four miles above Ramon Ortega's place on the Agua Fria and told Ortega, who, after making an examination, took the news to Frog Tanks.

The man is thought to be William Sullivan who worked in the mines at Minnehaha Flates and left there a short time ago under curious circumstances. The Coroner's jury with Juctice Goodin will start this morning to hold an inquest and bring the remains.

Red Rover-Bridal Chamber- Privately owned. Obtain permission before going or wait at the gate until you are approached. An unbelievable amount of original buildings

This town was originally called the Bridal Chamber, was a gold, silver, and copper mine. Original claims were made in 1883 but it is rumored the mine was discovered in 1822. Very little is known of the history of the mine and town but it would seem there were at least a few hundred residents. The town changed hands many times in the last thirty years with the mines working sporadically. Red Rover is in the Guinness Book of World Records because the light bulbs in the mine still worked after all these years. It is rumored there is a complete tool shed with all the tools at a considerable distance down the main mine shaft. The mill has crumbled but the wood and foundations remained. The residents left the building just as they were, furniture and even a piano behind. Many have tried to take pictures of the inside of this building without success. Could be the town is haunted.

34 Degrees 0 Min 38 Sec. N

111 Degrees 50 Min. 42 Sec. W

Salt River/ Saltriver-Community next to the Salt river established originally as Saltriver in 1912 and discontinued 1916.

Sanford-See Adamsville-William Dumont was the first postmaster, but the postoffice name was changed from Adamsville to Sanford in honor of Captain George B. Sanford of the First United States Cavalry, who was, for many years, in command at Fort McDowell and the record of whose combats with the Indians has been previously noted. This action of the postoffice department caused much criticism throughout the Territory. The Arizona "Miner," in 1871, said that ‘‘"at a spot in the Valley of the Gila, situated between Florence and Sacaton, some five years since, a pioneer named Charles Adams located a piece of ground, erected a shanty, and proceeded to divest his property of the offensive shrubbery, preparatory to the sowing of a crop of grain. The location was in

Sayerville-Sayer Spring- A small community that existed for a brief moment- See Gilbert, Sayers Station, Sayers, Sayerville. It is halfway between Wickenburg and Constellation on the King Solomon Gulch east of sayer Spring. The King Solomon Mine and the Camp B Mine are nearby.

Follow Constellation Road NE out of Wickenburg, turn right on Buckhorn Road and remain on it. Stay left at all y's until you come to the river botton immediately on the right of the north east bank. Up on the hill about l/2 mile on the right is a fenced enclosure that encloses a cemeter which needs help. It rsembles a mine or cabin or may a future building. Several rock graves can be seen and using dowsing rods, nine graves were found.

See Sayers Cemetery.pdf

Seymore- Tailings, foundations are all that are left. 1879 found Seymore with a 40-stamp mill and 1880 found Seymore with 232 residents, store, saloons, laundries, hotels, stage stops, a restaurant, butcher, barber and feed yard. They processed the ore from the Vulture Mine. Someone had the bright idea to run a water pipeline from the Hassayampa river right to the Vulture Mine and Seymore was shut down as the milling operation moved to the Vulture Mine. Today there are no roads to Seymore and one must walk the river to get there.

The town was names for the owner Jmes Seymour of New York who owned the Central Arizona Mining Company in 1878. He built a twentystamp mill on the Hassayampa River, ten miles from the vulture. The camp of Seymore was on the opposite side of the river from the stamp mill and had one main street, a score of buildings and a large population. The most famous resident was Yellow Dick, the Mayor of Phoenix Chinatown who ran a laundry here.

Like most other small towns in the West at that period, Seymour was basically a facade. Several of the commerical buiidings had false fronts, wood and glass on the side facing the street and canvas on the other side and the rood was put on with the view toward easy dismantling and the ability to move it should the need arrive. The hotels in 1880 was owned by Mr. Strickland and Mrs. Packwood, the latter being next to her husband's feed yard and livery stable.

Smith's Mill -There are no roads to Smith's mill, you have to walk the Hassayampa with only tailings awaiting your arrival. It was P.W. "Bill" Smith who erected a ten- stamp mill, after the failure of the Vulture mill in 1873. He operated it for five years to serve the Vulture Mine. A small settlement of about a hundred people lived around and worked in the mill. Mr. Smith had enough after five years and sold the operation and moved three more miles down the Hassayampa River to Seymour.

Sundad- Sits along Agua Caliente road, West of Arlington. A large triangle, made of white stones, mark the location on the east side of the road that spell out Sundad. There is an anchor and a five-pointed star also to see. Was once proposed as a desert sanatorium.

Sunflower- On SR 87 North, mile marker 218 (Phoenix to Payson). Numerous buildings with some foundations, concrete water tanks and some outlined lots. Sundad was begun as a failed, desert health facility and did not have a post office.

Sunflower was a cavalry water station in 1868 and was a side station to Camp Reno. Known as Camp O'Connell, there was one building by the roadside on a military road from Fort McDowell to Camp Reno and to Payson. The military left Camp Reno and Sunflower in April 1870. Apaches were surprised when they found Camp Reno empty, and they burned everything down to the ground. Sunflower was a short-lived post office in Maricopa County (1943-1949). The area was the Diamond Ranch and also home to the Sunflower Mine otherwise known as the National Mine .

The trail is FR25A, the road to the Mercury mine but a high clearance vehicle is necessary. They abandoned the mine when the Viper Militia destroyed a bridge over a deep chasm while experimenting with explosives. The Forest Service has rebuilt the bridge. It is a short walk to one of the mine tunnels and on beyond to view the large amount of equipment. This is a scenic drive through wilderness and a short walk.

The Sunflower Mine produced mercury. They extracted from an ore called cinnabar. This ore broke down into fine particles, then burned in vertical furnaces to produce mercury gas. After passing through multiple U shaped pipes, the mercury gas cooled and liquefied producing pure mercury. The mine works building still stands and all the processing machinery still seen.

Union-Sixteen miles North of downtown Phoenix of the South Slope of Union Hills. This camp had alot of tlk but little in the way of workeda claims. John Y.T. Smith, Francis Shaw and C.C. Stearns located the Union in 1876 and took out several tons of ore. They worked the mineral in a 3-stamp mill attached to Smith's flour mill in town. They sold the mine to a St. Louis investor who built a 10-stamp mill, assqy office, blacksmith shop and bunk and mess house. the post office opened in 1887 and closed the year after when the mill shutdown. Smith held a mortgage on the property and got it back then leasing for leasers to mine what ore they could find.

In 1916, mining engineer Herbert Strickland talked some men into funding a new mill and searching for ore. The project failed will little return on their money. The abandoned shafts are surrounded by the suburbs extending North from Phoenix.

Vulture- Vulture camp has now been absorbed by Wickenburg so nothing remains. The Coulter and Tyson Company erected a 5-stamp mill in 1866 that ran until 1873 and produced over $2,000,000 in gold from the Vulture Mine. At the time it was one mile north of Wickenburg and supported a small camp called "Vulture". The Vulture Company bought out the mill and when that company failed, they erected a new mill downstream on the Hassayampa called Smith's Mill.

Vulture City- Many original buildings are very well preserved. Vulture City's post office, established October 4, 1880 and was discontinued April 24, 1897. Discovered by Henry Wickenburg in 1863, Vulture was one of the richest gold mines yielding $15/ ton and having, by 1870, two hundred inhabitants. Eventually, they built an 80- stamp mill. Oddly enough, some of the original buildings were made from discarded ore from the mine and after the mill was in operation, these buildings were torn down and run through the mill resulting in about $2000 in gold from the assay office alone. A close examination of htis picture will reveal a "ghost man" in the upper right hand window.

Wickenburg died a pauper despite the fact that his mine produced millions in gold. He ended his own life with a colt revolver. Vulture or Vulture City lies in Maricopa County. Post office opened on October 4, 1880 and closed on April 24, 1897 Some four hundred people lost their lives to the Apaches in the desert around Vulture City. They robbed the stage so often that Wells Fargo considered stopping service all together. A rough town, built around a mine, may be the richest East of Sutter's Fort with a hanging tree, used more than once, and still surviving by the ruins of the town square. A tent city was created across from the mine on the other side of the Vulture Mine Road.

Vulture Siding/ Vulture Siding-- In 1893, the Santa Fe Railroad' Peavine branch construct a depot and a few cabins on the north side of the tracks about one half a mile Southeast of AZ Hwy 74 and the junction of 60 today. The name was changed to Morristown and then Hot Springs also the name Morristown stuck.

Wintersburg- Community developed next ot Winter's Well with a post office in 1931-41.

Wittman- First called Nadaburg, Spanish for the word "nothing". When the community evolved the name was changed to Wittman to honor the man who financed the rebuidling of the Walnut Grove Dam. Postioffice as nidaburg in 1920 and changed to Whittman in 1929 and then Wittman in 1935. Order was rescinded in 1935.

MARICOPA COUNTY TREASURE

Black Mountain- Miners Samuel Walcott and James Mc Nally had a gold ledge somewhere in or around Blue Canyon in the Black Mountains. The miners buried 200 pounds of gold near the mouth of Tsegi Canyon in Marsh Pass of the Black Mountains. The cache is located up the canyon and buried between the creek running through it and the cliff-like wall not far from the present day trading post on Highway 163.

Estrella Mountains- The Lost Epileptic Gold Mine and a hidden cache of $50,000 in gold bars lie hidden in the Estrella Mountains. In 1878, two Mexican prospectors found a rich gold ledge in the Estrella Mountains working out some $50,000 in gold. Pima Indians discovered and killed all but one man. The mine and $50,000 in mined gold is somewhere high in the canyons of the Estrella Mountains, Southwest of Phoenix.

Done Joaquin Campoy worked a rich vein of gold in 1847 in the Sierra Estrella Mountains, West of Phoenix. He loaded 50 bars of gold and 30 rawhide sacks of gold dust on mules and headed them up a trail.

Hidden Valley- F. B. I. agents recovered l.4 million dollars in cash from the desert, 20 miles North of Phoenix in the 1970s. The money belonged to Marjorie Jackson, murdered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Another 1.6 million in cash remains buried in the same general area. The treasure is the Royal Treasure is located in the general area of Northwest Phoenix. A cave of treasure lies in the vicinity of Hidden Valley in the Salt River Mountains or South Mountains on the outskirts of Phoenix. The hoard, seen in the early 1900s , when one $50 gold slug showed up. Fallen rocks and natural washings hide the entrance.

Superstition Mountains- An Apache chief, white Horse stated that a wagon train of Spaniards came to the Superstition Mounts and chose Weaver's needle as the place to bury a store of gold bard, jewels, statues and other articles. They hid the large cache inside a cave near the top then sealed the entrance. The Indians killed all the Spaniards and the sealed cave never found.

Lost Jesuit treasure worth some $6 million is located in the Superstitions. The hoard is possibly in three tunnels leading to three mines secreted when the priest were expelled in 167.

In 1976, famous Western artist, Ted DeGrazia of Tucson concealed more than 100 original artworks inside a tunnel somewhere in the Superstition Mountains, forty miles East of Phoenix.

Wickenburg- Precillano Ruiz had a rich placer mine near Wickenburg in the Black Rock Mining District. He extracted some $50,000 in gold and silver. He was killed around 1890 and his claim taken over by others. His cache of treasure never found and is somewhere around his mine, now called the Monte Christo, a short distance from Constellation Mine in the area of the Bradshaw Mountains and adjacent to Rich Hill, Stanton, Weaver and Octave.

$140,000 in gold coins were stolen from a stagecoach where six people were killed in 1871, and buried about nine miles West of Wickenburg. It was an "inside job" as only the $140,000 and a shovel were missing from the stage, even though other treasure and valuables were on board. Lawmen found the shovel lodged between some rocks and 300 yards from the massacre site where a monument marks the spot. One source places the treasure North of Highway 60- on a dry mesa near an arroyo between two hills in a wash.

Treasure

Wickenburg- A safe and its contents proved to be missing after a flash flood in Fool's gulch, northeast of Wickenburg. Possibly the treasure remains today, underground in some dry stream bed.

Interesting Facts

Gila Bend-In February 1973, Burt Reynolds and Sarah Miles were here making the movie "the Man Who Loved Cat Dancing. After a night of partying, in the Travelodge Motel, Miles' business manager, David Whiting was dead in room 127. Police believe he was murdered but the coroner ruled it a suicide.

Phoenix-On October 16, 1931, 31 year old Winnie ruth Judd killed two girlfirends here at 2929 N. Second St. She sawed one of the bodies into pieces then stuffed them and the other body into two trunks and shipped them by train to Los Angeles. Winnie died in her sleep here in Phoenix at the age of 93 in 1998.

Columnist Walter Winchell and race drivers, Bobby Ball and Jimmy Bryan are buried here in the Greenwood Cemetery at 2300 Van Buren.

Scottsdale- Bob Crane, 41, star of TVs "Hogan's Hero's" was found murdered hre in his bedroom of the Winfield Apatment Hotel on July 29, 1978. His killer and the murder weapon was never found. Now called the Winfield Place Condos at 740 E. Chaparal road.

Major league baseball umpire, John "Jcko" Conlon is buried here in the Green Acres Gardens Cemetery at 401 North Hayden Rd.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright is buried inthe Taliesin West Cemetery