~ My Take As A North Fork of Long Island Freelance Writer...

BY DANNY McCARTHY
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU. For years there was a gold rush in western United States ~ as I point out briefly in my Captain Henry Green post:

https://patch.com/new-york/nor...
Online within The Republic / azcentral.com author Weldon B Johnson's "Arizona's mining history: Danger for many, riches for a few" comments are featured in my own take quoting where necessary, okay -{?}-
Here goes:
"Life in a mining camp wasn’t easy. In addition to the hard work, miners had to deal with the threats of raids from Native Americans as well as bands of robbers looking to steal their hard-earned wealth." "Disease, floods, fires and injuries also were constant threats." "From 1888 to 1900, hundreds of people died of typhoid fever, according to Arizona Memory Project documents." "But there was always the uncertainty of the work. Miners lived with the constant knowledge that a claim could dry up, leaving them out of work and having to move on."
Minerals such as "cinnabar, coal, turquoise, clay, pigments and other minerals" were used by Native [I]nhabitants "as early as 1000 B.C." "Spanish explorers followed a few hundred years later, searching for fabled lost cities of gold and other riches." In 1858 Prescott {Arizona} "at one time served as the territorial capital." Prescott "was a hot spot for gold exploration in the late 1800s as rich deposits were discovered in the Bradshaw Mountains." "Jacob Snively led an expedition that discovered a deposit of gold on the Gila River about 19 miles east of Yuma." Jacob Snively founded Gila City ~ "and La Paz were boom towns that grew around around gold findings. {stet} Both were left high and dry when the Gila and Colorado rivers shifted." "Many prospectors who arrived in the mid-1800s with dreams of striking it rich with gold quickly adapted to the more abundant copper and silver. There were times during mining's boom period when those metals were more valuable than gold." "In 1863, a group led by Paulino Weaver, A.H. Peebles and Jack Swilling (who would also play a major role in the development of Phoenix) led a group of prospectors up the Hassayampa River, according to the Arizona Mining Association’s 'A History of Mining in AZ.' They discovered such a significant deposit on top of Antelope Hill that they renamed it Rich Hill. The thing is, they weren’t searching for gold when they made their discovery. They were searching for a lost burro. {NOT A BUREAU -{!}-" "Another lucky find in that area was made by Henry Wickenburg who, in 1863, {stet} reportedly threw a rock at a pesky vulture. The rock broke open and Wickenburg discovered gold ore inside.""In a 23-year period starting in 1885, Bisbee {Arizona} had to rebuild from three devastating fires. The 1908 blaze wiped out three-quarters of the town." "Mining was also the driving force in the development of the Verde Valley cities of Jerome {Arizona} and Clarkdale." "Clarkdale {Arizona} was established in 1912 with the construction of a giant smelter to process the ore coming out of Jerome {Arizona.}" "Jerome, for one, became a hotbed of prostitution, gambling and other vices. It was described as the wickedest town in the West by the New York Sun newspaper in a Feb. 5, 1903, article."
CHARLES POSTON "played a significant role in securing Arizona’s territorial status" -{&}- is "sometimes called the father of Arizona." In 1854, CHARLES POSTON opened mines near Tubac {Arizona} "that employed nearly 1,000 miners." CHARLES POSTON " owned the state’s first printing press." {H}e was literally printing money. {according to WELDON B JOHNSON} "{The} famous Arizona town {that} got its name from the swagger of its founder, Ed Schieffelin, {is Tombstone."} When Schieffelin set out to seek his fortune, soldiers at nearby Fort Huachuca told him the only thing he would find prospecting in Apache {L}and would be his tombstone. Schieffelin found silver and decided to name the town that sprang up nearby Tombstone." "Tombstone {Arizona} had a population of more than 4,000 people{,} and at one point in the 1880s was the biggest city between New Orleans and San Francisco." "{I}n 1886 a fire destroyed the pump house in the mining camp and in 1893 the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused a severe drop in silver prices."
In the early 20th Century, "construction of opera houses and theaters" in "mining cities tried to bring culture to places like Jerome and Bisbee."
JENNIE HILTON "was described as 'the only active miner of her sex in the United States' in a March 13, 1896, article on the sale of her share in a southwestern Arizona mine in the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican.' "One of the most famous of Arizona’s mining women was Nellie 'the Angel of Tombstone' Cashman, who was known for being honest and caring in mining communities in Arizona and other territories." "According to her biography on the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame website, {Nellie} Cashman was knowledgeable about geography and made accurate predictions about ore deposits. She made her fortune selling supplies and equipment to miners."
"Arizona’s most infamous mining character is probably Jacob Waltz, who, despite being German, became known as the Lost Dutchman. Waltz was prospecting in the Superstition Mountains in 1864 and was believed to have discovered a mother lode of gold. Waltz died in 1891, having led a modest life, but tall tales of his gold discovery have persisted. In the decades since then, people have died, been swindled and spent countless hours searching for Waltz’s fabled Lost Dutchman Mine. It hasn't been found."
ALL-WRITE NOW... As a facebook member I have made a new acquaintance/friend whose dad was a miner in SILVER BELL, ARIZONA. I have a goal to assist in personally learning more ABout SILVER BELL, ARIZONA -{&}- trying to give some genealogical assistance to my new acquaintance/facebook friend DEENA HITT PEBBLES.