Wiccan Road To Ghosts -

Alma- Founded in 1891 by Frank Doll. The post office closed in 1898. Wooden water tanks, concrete ore chute and metal ore buckets are the only footprints left.

American Flag - Started in the late 1870s by Isaac Loraine, the American Flag Mine was the first in the district to be extensively developed. The Post Office came to American Flag in 1880 and lasted until 1890, with a capacity load of 40 people. Not much news came from this little camp since 1884 when the residents dwindled to about fifteen residents. Few footprints, if any.

Though the post office continued until 1890, little is known of the camp since 1884 when Lorraine turned his back on mining and started is American Flag Cattle Ranch.

Barcelona-Named for the miners who came from Spain. Was covered over by the expanding mine along with Sonoro and Ray.

Camp Rivers- Butte Camp -Canal Camp- Both camps are located on the Gila River Indian reservation. Exit 175 from L-l0 West to see a small museum. There is a monument overlooking the valley and the actual site of the camps. The camps housed Japanese Americans from 1942- 1946 and housed about 13,000 people.

Cochran - Coke ovens are all that remain at this camp established with a post office in 1905. It had a store and a boarding house and several other businesses.. It was not only a mining camp but a station of the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railroad. The Coopper Butte and Silver Belle mining companies worked the mines in the ara with about one hundred people. It's name came from John S. Cochran, the first postmaster.

Copper Creek- The town's post office opened 1907 and lasted until 1942. It served as a camp for the Arizona Commerical Iron Cap and the Superior and Boston mines. It is across the river from Mammoth and has the best preserved ruins The town is in the Galiuro Mountains and had 50 buildings and about 500 people. it once had stores, boarding houses and offices, hospital and a school. A doctor, stage line, mansion still remains. The mansion is up on the creek and requires walking.

DeNoon - The Post Office came in 1890 and it was a brief visit, lasting only eleven month from March 19, 1890 and discontiued April 1, 1891. The milling town for Reymert mine which was two miles away. It once had 150 residents and some footprints remain.. DeNoon was the milling town for nearby Reymert. James DeNoon Reymert was responsible for starting and of course naming the town. Only two miles from Reymert, DeNoon was a short haul for the ore. The town of 150 did not survive very long and nothing is left today. Bulldozed in the late 1970's.

The spots where the homes were are still there with the retaining walls, and the old smelter is still standing. There is not as much as I had expected but it is still interesting. There is what appears to be a dam, made from the tailings of the smelter Goldfield- Youngsberg- The town started out as Goldfield with a post office from 1893 to 1898. J.R. Morse, Orrin Merrill and C.R. Hakes discovered the ore in 1892. Three million dollars worth of gold came out of the mine. The town got a second life in 1910 when christened Youngsberg. The name came from George U. Young, the secretary of Arizona and acting governor at that time. Even thought they installed a mill and cyanide plant, the gold played out after a few years. It is now a tourist town with museum and many buildings.

Doak- Post Office Established in 1919

Feldman- Originally the PZ Ranch abd served as a stage coach stop for it had a store and post office. In the early day when the Indian were attacking, the drivers drove horeses, coach and all into the station house which stands today. It has a large fireplace in its large main room and its adobe walls, are thick. When the big, heavy doors closed behind the coach, an pursuing Apache warriors were held at bay.

Goldfield-Goldfield's post office was established October 7, 1893 and discontinued November 2, 1898, later to be re-established under the name Youngsberg June 8, 1921 and discontinued October 30,1926. The mines at Goldfield were discovered by J.R. Morse, Orrin Merrill, and C.R. Hakes in 1892 and the boom was on. There was a very large body of ore discovered, in a funnel shape, in the early 1890's. This strike was dubbed as one of the richest in the world during that time period yielding more than 3 million dollars worth of gold. But, eventually, the mines played out and closed and the townsfolk moved on.

Then, a second boom came in about 1910 when the town was christened Youngsberg after George U. Young, secretary of Arizona and acting governor at the time. A mill and cyanide plant was installed and ore was mined once again. A few years later the gold ran out and Youngsberg died. Today, the location is a tourist town with mine tours, gold panning, a saloon, and more. One can also take the only narrow gauge railroad in operation in Arizona at Goldfield.

Kelvin- Had a store and a post office and was a stage coach stop. There are still a few rmains.

The only thing found on this place is an article from the AZ. Republican Newspaper on 11/16/1905.

Joseph Dunnigan, night watchman and Deputy Sheriff, died this morning of pnemonia after a confinement to his room since last Sunday morning. His illness began the middle of last week and on Friday he took to his bed. the next evening feeling a little better he resumed his duties but by morning it became necessary for him to go to bed again. It was thought on Monday that he would die but the following day thee was a slight improvement in his condition.

Some time on tues night in the absence of his nurse he arose and bathed his burning chest in cold water. a constriction set in at once and contined until he could no longer breathe. The dead man was of power physique and great strength. Th virulence with which he was attacked is shown by the fact that in the first two days of his illness, he lost fifteen pounds.

The funeral will take place tomorrow aftrnoon and will be donducted under the direction of the Phoenix Fire Department. He was a member of the hook and ladder company.

the dead man, who was about thirty years of age, was well known thoughout the southern part of the territory where he had lived for about fourteen years. He first followed ranching near Yuma. Afterwards he movd to Pinal county whre he resided until he came her less than a year ago. His last palce of residence in Pinal County was at Kelvin where he was a Deputy Sheriff under Sheriff tom Willis. When he came here he brought a good recommendation from the Sheriff and was shortly afterward appointed deputy sheriff.

It is said he had sisters in law living in or about Phoenix but last night their names could not be learned. his relatives live in New Mexico and California.

Mammoth- Patty Lynch lived near the head of Aravaipa Valley, ten miles north of Mammoth, on the road from Wilcox to Globe. Someone who ransacked his house killed him. They never found his cache because it was probably buried somewhere on his property. Mammoth was the site of a mill to handle the ore from the Mamoth Mine.

Maricopa Well- Maricopa Well is at the base of the Pima Butte and was a stage stop for the Butterfield Overland stage and other stage companying. It was home to the main military telegraph post for all of Arizona. A few stables and foundations are the only footprints left.

According to the AZ Republican on August 23, 1905 a drunken row in which a woman and three Mexicans figures, Refugio Contreras, age 35 was shot and killed here on a Monday afternoon. Two men are in the county jail at Florience awaiting the result of an investigation of the affair and the woman, the wife of the man who was killed, is at Maricopa, nursing several wounds received in the frzy.

Conflicting stories are told by the men under arrest but in a statement the dying man accused Francisco Fernandez of being his slayer. Cota, also known as Jose Cista, Charles Wilson and Jose Maza, an Indian is accused by Fernandez of being the instigators of the quarrel and the guilty parties. the circumstances point to a verification of the statment of Fernandez for a gun of the same caliber as the one which killed Contreras ws found in his possession when arrested. The dying statement of the man it is argud by the authorities, is not of a great del of value sine he was shot in the back and could not under ordinary circumstances have seen the shot fired. the arrests were made by Constable Smith of Maricopa.

The closest place a corner cold be secued was Tempe and the body of the dead man was taken to that place. However, Juctice Neilson was out of the city and Justice Burnett of htis city was notified. He left here for Tempe yesterday and empanelled a jury consisting of F.R. March, Phil Fogal, Roy Martin, J.E. Sturgeon, Earnest Schmidt, and F.E. Rich. What evidence it was possible to obtain was taken and a verdict rendered that death came to Contreras as the rsult of a gunshot wound, the weapon being in the hands of parties unknown.

Martinez Canyon- Some cabins and the Martinez Mill and the Columbia Mine are just up the road. From Phoenix according to Arizona Ghost Towns, take the US 60 past Apache Junction, just past Florence Junction about 4 or 5 miles. The road is on the south side of the US 60. The road is rough for twenty miles and gets worse. A GPS is suggested for sure.

Look for the remains of the cabins and Martinez Mill with the Columbia Mine just up the road. They look like they were built sometimes in the 1940s.

Pinal- Picket Post Butte- Tordilla-Tortilla Peak- About three miles southwest of Superior with few remains. It began as a cattle ranch owned by L. DeArnett. In 1877 he sold the property to the Silver King Compny for the mill for it was only five miles from the mine with ample water. It was one of the largest and richest of the silver camp. It flourished below Picket Post Mountain, west of today's Superior. It boomed in 1877. The Post Office came in 1878 and closed in 1891. It was the milling town for the Silver King, which was five mile away. First called Picket Post Butte and also knwn as Tordilla or Tortilla Peak. By 1879, the name was officially changed to Pinal.

Two thousand people lived and worked here. In 1881 the town had two large hotels, six restaurants, twenty-four saloons, two blacksmith shops, two drug stores, grocery stores, watchmaker, photograph gallery, brickyard, lime kiln, several general merchandise stores, two livery stables, two barber shops, six lawyers, four doctors, a bank, Wells Fargo office, two churches, a Methodist and a Catholic,a school house and a Wagoner shop.

During its boom years, a memorable gunfight took part between some Chinese residents and reported in The Drill Newspaper. It began in one of Hoptowns gambling dens. Qui Gee shot Go Chu and Dang Folk and Wang Wee shot Sue Gee and then took off with the law in hot pursuit. Go Chu's friends wanted to give Go Ghu an American style funeral and a bartender offered to read the sure. Without a bible, he showed up with a copy of Shakespeare's plays and read from Romeo and Juliet. The friends were very impressed and give the bartender a forty-dollar tip which he used to buy drinks for all at the cemetery.

Hi grading was common and the teamsters had their own system. As the mule teams plodded from th Silver King, the drivers would yell at their teams and throw a chunk of silver at the mule. This would happen as one of their friend were passing and they would pick up the rock and the team would split their ill gained silver.

By 1890, when silver prices hit bottom there were only ten people left in town. Wyatt Earp's second wife, Mattie lived here from 1871 and was buried on July 4th, 1888 in the Pinal Cemetery. The cemetery is off Silver King Road and U.S. 60, near the power lines that run through the desert.

Queen - Present site of Superior at the mouth of Queen Creek Canyon. The Queen's Post Office came in 1881 and only lasted five months. There were 100 residents and the Gem mill long with a general store, saloons, a boardinghouse, restaurant and two hotels.- a total of twenty buiildings and a number of tents. It is the location of the Apache Leap where a band of Indians leaped to their death in 1870s. Queen residents found bones and skulls when the Queen was alive in the 1880s. Nothing left for all has been absorbed by Superior.

Ray- Established in 1870 and lived till 1957. The town was named for Ray Bullinger, the daughter of a man who founded the Ray Copper Company in 1899, the same year the Post Office came. The mine expanded and the people had to move. On old Hwy 77 now 177 south between Superior and Kearny. Not accessable. All that remains is the Black Mine shaft.

Reymert- Started by James De Noon Reymert and the Post Office came in 1890 and stayed until 1898. Seventy-five men worked the mine until the 1950s. They bulldozed the site in the late 1970s and left no footprints.

Riverside - Near present day Kelvin was a large farming community with the Gila River running on both sides providing an abundance of water for the crops. The Pennsylvania Mining Company established itself about a quarter of a mile up from the town. They had a post office from 1877 to 1900 and a Wells Fargo station in 1904. Now all that remains is the station which was protected by Tommy Dean of Ray, the owner of the property.

Sasco- (Southern Arizona Smelting Company)The smelter, jail and hotel are left and the cemetery sits a few miles away. The Post Office came in 1907 and lasted until 1919. The town processed the ore from the nearby town of Silverbell. Six hundred people once lived here and a daily train ran from Red Rock to Silver Bell. Epidemic of influenza in 1918-1919 helped populate the nearby cemetery.

A murder occured here in April of 1919 when Charley Coleman, a man with a dubious background arrived in Sasco from Bisbee announcing he had come to kille two men. Mrs. Coleman lived in Sasco in a room in the saloon building owned by Mr. Wilson and had attracted many male suitors although she was a married woman. Her husband heard about two of his wife's suitors and decided to do them in. He jumped from a moving train as it pulled thorugh Red Rock, hired a horse and rode to Sasco.

He first went to his wife's room and after a huge disturbance, the saloon owner stepped in and asked Mr. Coleman to leave. Coleman refused so Wilso went and got a thirty-thirty rifle. Whille he was gone, Mr. Coleman forced one of the saloonwomen to write letters to the wife's suitors asking them to come and see Mrs. Coleman. The bartender got back wit his gun and without a moment's hesitation, he shot and killed Coleman.

Foundations o fthe smelting furnace, a stone building, a concree building, foundations, brooken glass and rusty cans are all that remaim. Sasco Road via Exit 226 on I-10 . Sasco is left and right of the road. Four wheeler is suggested.

Silver King- Where the town was, is now private propert, the post office established in 1875 was discontinued in 1877, then rediscovered again in 1912. The first time General George Stoneman trying to apply more effectivemeasures toward controlling the apache began constructin of a road leading from Camp Picketpost, near the present site of Superior into the Pinl Mountains. This road was called Stoneman's Grade.

A soldier by the name of Sulivan working on the road, pickup up some black metallic roacks on his way back to camp. He didn't ecognize it as raw silver but the fact that when he tried to brak the rock, it flattened. When he left the ary, he went to work on Charles Mason's ranch and often showed his metal but never told anyone where he got it. One day he disappeared and it was believed that the Apache's killed tem and many attempts to find the source of the silver were made.

In 1875, Mason, Benjamin W. Regan, William H. Long, Isaac Copeland and another companion went to the Globe mines. One their way back they were attacked by the Apacke and one member of their party was killed. The survivors took the man's body to Stoneman's former camp and buried it in a stone baking oven.

Later that day one of the mules strayed and Copeland went to get him. While looking for the mule, Copel;and found a projecting silver outcropping which was the same one that Sullivan had found earlier. In 1882 when the mine was in full swing, a rugged looking man showed up. He was Sullivan, the original discoverer.

A milling town of Pinal grew up five miles away which ened he shipping of the the Silver King ore and it was then taken to Pinal with twenty-mule teams hauling the wagons. The concentrates were then freighted on to San Francisco. The town of Silver King had two hotels one ownd by Bob Williams and the other Bill O'Boyle. It was a competition that ened in some shootings but neither were gun men and neither were permanently injured. when in 1888 the bottom fell out of silver prices and so did the town leaving few remaining traces except for the two-story building that was once the offices of the Silver king Mining Company and the living quarters of the mine superintendent.

Sonora- South of Superior but covered over by the Ray Mine which took over all the property. The Mexican employees of the Ray Mine established the town. With a town hall that covered a four-block area, the gathering place for the community, today, nothing remains of the old ghost town.

In the Oct. 10, 1905 Arizona Republican Newspaper the following article appeared.

The latest reports from E.F. Grindell adds to the fears of those who believe his brother T.F. Grindell and party, for whom he went in search a few weeks ago, have perished by foul play in sonora.

E.P. Grindell was in Nogales o Friday having just returned from Altar whre with the aid of local officials, he found the Papago guide who left that place with the party last June, returning later without them. the subsequent actions of the guide and his later sudden disappearance indicate that he either murdered htem or knew more about their fate that he cared to tell.

When mr. Gindell found the guide the lattr told him that before he left the party they had passed the four hands nailed to stakes in the ground, that were mentioned in an earlier report and believed to hve been the hands of T.f. Grindell and some member of his party. They wre en route to Escalantes ranch thirty five miles from the coast and camping one night where there was no water, turned the hourses loose.

The horses wandered awaqy and the next day was spent in loking for them. He then left the party and returned to Caborca. He offered to take E.P. Grindell to the place and a bargain was made but the night before Mr. Gindell was informed by a citizen of Caborea that the guide was not a saf man to trust alone, he voolunteering to accompany them. When the Indian was otld this man would go with them, the Indian demurred at first, but later agreed providing two of his brothers be allowed to accompany them also. But when the time came for the start, it was discovered the Indian guide had fled.

Mr. grindell says he believes the story of the horses scattering and fears that while the men wee separated in their search for them, the guide iilled them one at a time. He also believes that had he gone with the guide alone he would have met the same fate.

E.P.Grindell next went to Hermosillo and told his story to Governor Ysabel who said h would try in every way possible to apprehend the Indian guide. Mr. Grendel will be in Tucson for a time and if he fails to har anything from the Governor he will organize another expedition ot search the country in the vicinity of Escalantes Ranch.

Tiger-Schultz- Frank Schulta located the ore body that developed into the Mamoth Mine. Post office came in under the name Schultz in 1894 and discontinued service in 1954. The mine, discovered in 1881 ended up with the name Tiger with some 1800 residents. The name came from Sam Houghton's purchase after WW 1 and he named the town and the mine for the mascot of his alma mater, Princeton University. Lack of water at the mine promped the building of a mill on the San Pedro banks at the present site of Mammoth. First the ore was hauled the three miles by mule teams and wagons from the mine to the mill but by 1903, an aerial tamway was constructed to more the ore. The nearby town of Mammouth served as the milling site, but when the mines played out, the town went ghost. The San Manuel Copper Company razed the camp buildings so there is nothing left to see.

Troy- Thirty to forty buildings remain on this property now owned by a ranch. The Post Office came to this little town in 1901 and lasted until 1910 and as a model camp, alcohol was prohibited. The town had 200 people at one time with a school, assay lab, boardinghouse, stores, union hall and hospital. It was the stage coach stop on the stage run from Globe to Florence. By 1903 two companies had consolidated to form the Troy Manhattan Copper Company and developed all the mines at Troy originally known as Skinnerville. Tents and seven wooden frome company houses spring up.

The copper was transported to Kelvin by the narrowest narrow-gauge railroad in the territory.

Vekol - Many stone foundations remain in the little town whose Post Office was established in 1888 and discontinued in 1909. John D. Walker, Juan Jose Gradello and P.R. Brady founded the camp in 1880 when they found the Vikol silver min in 1880. The camp had about 150 residents with stores, boardinghouse, post office, school library, reading room and comfortable houses. The miners were not allowed to patroize the one saloon and it son went out of business. There was no jail for if someone committed a crime they would be discharged from their job and force to leave the camp.

John Walker was the head of the company and there was much jealosy from his brothers. when John had a slight stroke , Lucien and William had him committed to an insane aslym. The made themselves official guardians of their borhter's wealth.

After a short stay, John was released and moved to Tucson whre he married in April of 1891 to Ellinor Rice, a long time sweetheart. The brothers tried everything they could to separate John from his wife forthey did not want her to get his money. John finally snapped and on September 2, 1891 he died in the Napa Insane Asylum.

After his death the legal battle started for the $3,000,000 between his widow and his brothers. About this tim another claimant arose. It was Juana Walker, half blood daugher of John and an Indian woman called Juanita. The brothers tried to discredit the union but proof was given that John and the Indian wife had been married in accordance with the tribal rites and were indeed legally married.

The court went from the Probate Court of Pinal County to the United States Supreme Court. A verdice in 1907 gave the wealth to the brothers stating that the tribal wedding with a white man was not valid.

After John's death the camp went inactive and a change of ownership rejuvenated Vekol during the early years of the twentieth century. There were about 154 people with several families. Four adobe builidng, rock foundation and mill ruins still exist.

Florence- Cowboy actor Tom Mix was killed in a car crash near here on October 2, 1940. A riderless horse monument marks the spot where he died, 17 miles south of town on U.S. 89.

Murderess Eva Dugan was handed here in 1930. When she fell thorugh the trap door of the gallows, the force of the jolt ripped her head off.

Superstition Mts.- In addition to coin accounts, stories about the lsot silver and gold mines, the legend of the Lost Dutchman Mine at Superstition Mountain is a staple item in the folklore of this state of Arizona.