EARLY MINE NAMES DESCRIPTIVE OF EVENTS

Early Mine Names Were Descriptive Of Events

PRACTICALLY every stranger arriving in Arizona becomes interested immediately in our system of names. They are all intrigued with the apparent oddity of them but they each applaud the appropriateness of the nomenclature.

Perhaps in no other state were names given that are so apt, terse, descriptive and even pretty, not to say difficult. Can you pronounce and spell “Chiricahua” or “Huachuca” offhand for example?

Horse Thief Canyon, Funeral Mountains, Tombstone, Superstition Mountain, just to mention a few, easily suggest interesting stories. Very often the name alone tells a whole story in itself. A study of them often reveals the originality, sturdiness and intelligence of those pioneers who made our state great; therefore, their history is unusually interesting.

Upon looking at a map of the Tombstone mining district you note the names of the principal claims and immediately know there is a story somewhere. Their apparent absurdity, yet their clear sequence, arouses your curiosity, and you look further. There are the Grand Central, Lucky Cuss, Toughnut, Contention and Tranquility. The Lucky Cuss is the first mining claim ever recorded from the Tombstone Mining District. As this was a part of Pima county in 1877 before the formation of Cochise county, naturally the record is carried in the Pima books at Tucson.

In 1903 M. M. O'Gorman, the original owner of the Tombstone townsite, completed his sale of La Cananea to “Colonel” W. C. Greene. As Cananea was in Mexico it had been necessary for Mr. O'Gorman to take out Mexican naturalization papers in order legally to possess Mexican land within one hundred kilometers of the American border.

As the state of Texas had been taken away from Mexico by Americans who had settled inside the boundary, Mexico had passed this law to prevent any further encroachments on her domain. Shortly afterwards Mr. O'Gorman made a final accounting of the money received from Greene to two of his partners, Mr. Richard Gird and Senator George O. Perkins of California. At the conclusion of the business meeting the three men relaxed and reviewed old times in Arizona and Mexico. That is, Senator Perkins asked questions and Gird or O'Gorman answered them. They spoke of old Governor Pesquiera of Sonora, who reigned in lordly style; who always was escorted by a corps of battle-scarred fighting men with outriders and all the trappings that mark a king. He made all his own laws for the government of the state, dispensed with such trifles as legislatures and got away with it until the day he died.

By E. J. KELLEY, Pearce, Ariz. Might Made Right

They spoke of Emilio Kosterlitzky, a deserter from the American army who virtually ruled northern Sonora from the time of Governor Pesquiera's death until the first Madero revolution. This Kosterlitzsky started in modestly as an officer of rurales, which would correspond somewhat to our old ranger force. From this modest beginning he rose to greater heights until he became a terror in all Sonora. Kosterlitzky, among other things, could never see why the state should be made to go to the expense of bringing in a criminal for trial. He considered the cost of apprehending a criminal, feeding him and prosecuting him was a total loss to the state. Hence, when he went after a man of bad reputation it became noticeable that the man of bad reputation never again appeared in Sonora or anywhere else.

They also told of the joy in western Sonora when the Santa Fe R. R. completed the railroad between Benson and Guaymas. At that time. Silver was $1.29 per ounce. At that high price one Mexican discovered he could afford the wonderful luxury of a cake of ice and a keg of beer delivered by express daily. Others caught on, and, as this was primarily a wonderful silver country, the principal function of the train was delivering ice and beer until the demonitization of silver.

How Mines Were Named

Other stories they told until finally Senator Perkins asked Mr. Gird “how in thunder” the early mining claims of the Tombstone district received such odd names. There must be a story and he wanted to hear it.

A far-away look came into Mr. Gird's eyes. It took him a minute to review the past. Then he settled down and told us all about it as follows:

"It was very early in 1877 when

Ed Schieffelin, Al Schieffelin and myself were camped at what is now Charleston on the San Pedro river. Ed Schieffelin had found a piece of wonderful ore while acting as scout for the army; but when we got down to the San Pedro he could not go directly to the ledge. We prospected for it and while so doing camped near the river to insure a supply of water.

"A few days later a stranger came into camp. He had a ranch near Fort Huachuca and was hunting for a pair of mules he claimed to have lost. None of us had seen any sign of mules, but we invited him to eat and spend the nig... with us. He had breakfast the next morning and then resumed his search for the mules. He came back the same night unsuccessful and again we invited him to share our grub and camp.

"This kept up for several days. Each morning he started out to look around and returned each night empty-handed. He was somewhat of a joke to us as we figured any man should be able to trail a pair of mules in very short order, unless they were killed or run off by Indians. Even that we could find out in quick time. We thought him a little queer, but kept inviting him to share with us, lest we be accused of in-hospitality, which was a serious thing in those days.

"However, he surprised us. One night he came into camp with several pieces of rock in his hands, saying, “Aha, I have found that ore you fellows are looking for.” Sure enough he had wonderful specimens of the real thing. Furthermore, he had a map drawn on old wrapping paper, showing where he had located all of the country around the place of his rich discovery. Everyone else, we included, were completely shut out. And what is more, he intended to hold on to all his locations.

"In those days everyone, as a matter of course, carried a rifle and pistol with plenty of ammunition, so he felt able to keep what he had.

Taming a Tightwad

"The next day all of us went up to view the discovery. It was the identical ledge from which Ed Schieffelin had knocked off the original piece of ore. It looked bad for us, but we could take things philosophically when we had to. Nevertheless, we did a lot of thinking