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By the time I entered high school in Arizona, we had moved from Tucson to Scottsdale in the Phoenix area. One fine Saturday or Sunday about 1968 or 69, we took a family trip up to Payson, Arizona to try and "beat the heat". "Payson in the pines", they called it.
Driving up Arizona 87 to Payson, a curious sight caught my eye along the highway. I spotted what looked like a very primitive, single-wire telephone or telegraph line (i.e. a "ground return") line along the highway on short, square poles with a single insulator at the top. Sections of it had evidently fallen down as it would seem to disappear at times and then later I’d spot it again. What was if for and where did it go?
Then the highway, which had been going pretty well due north went through a curve and mountain pass just north of the tiny community of Sunflower then headed more toward the east or northeast in the vicinity of Mount Ord. We went through the short pass and then off the left side of the highway I saw a most fascinating sight. I saw what looked to me like a small ghost town with little houses on grid-like "city" streets. The way I remember this, the highway was sort of up on the hillside and the little town was down below which offered me a good view. Unfortunately, the speed limit was rather high through there and by the time I shouted "Hey, look at that!" the curious little town had already been left behind. The funny little telephone or telegraph line also appeared to come to an end there as well suggesting this had been its destination.
There were also fascinating pieces of equipment dotting the area. Off the right-hand side (south or southeast side) of the highway I spotted what looked like a huge wooden trestle up on the side of the hill. Then a little further up the highway on the west side I spotted what looked like some old, industrial buildings with large, round tanks and a massive structure with huge, squiggly, convoluted tubes resembling giant intestines. What I the world was this stuff and what was it for?
I remember looking for the little town again on the way home and got another view of it although it wasn't as good since it was beginning to grow dark. I asked my dad to take it easy and slow down a little bit and he was like, “Oh yeah? Why?” By the time I explained "why" the little town was already behind us again. It was like you had to look fast or you'd miss it.
I cannot recall if I ever saw this little town again or not. However, around the time I graduated from high school, I began to get really, really interested in mines. I bought U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps of the outlying vicinity around the Phoenix area. One of the maps I got was from the Mount Ord area near Sunflower. I was amazed when I gazed over the map. Why, there were adits shown all over the place accompanied by names like the "Sunflower Mine", the "Ord Mine", "Mercuria Mine" and "Rattlesnake Mine".
I began working on my father trying to get him interested enough to take me up there. Finally one Saturday my efforts bore fruit and we drove up to what I call the "Ord Group" of mines.
After we arrived up there, we turned left off the highway and followed what can only be described as a "primitive" road. It wound its way along the north/northwest side of the canyon while the highway was more on the southeast side. We rounded a sharp bend when I spotted what looked like an unsigned or unprotected railroad crossing ahead. This really blew my mind because I was unaware of any railroads in this area. We crossed the track at an oblique angle and it ran alongside the road a short distance then off onto a dead-end wooden trestle at the edge of a chasm or drop off. We got out of the car and followed the track back across the road. Sure enough, it emerged from a rather clean adit in the side of the mountain! We started in but my father wouldn't go more than a few feet. "This is too dangerous" he insisted. So we took some pictures, got back in the car and went back to the highway.
We proceeded on east/northeast on the highway and I saw to my dismay that the curious little ghost town was completely gone. They had widened the highway through there and I guess the ghost town got in the way of the much larger fill they needed to build. What a shame! But I once again spotted the huge "trestle" on the other side of the highway up on the hillside. My Dad tried to drive up to it and upon closer inspection we saw that it wasn't a bridge at all but somekind of a huge, wooden hammer mill or something. We walked around a little bit and it didn't take me very long to find another adit. This one also had tracks in it. We stood at the opening which was partly caved in but still very accessible. I could feel a cold, damp breeze coming out of the mine suggesting that this must be a large working with multiple openings. No way Dad was going in there, though! The thought later occurred to me that this mine might make a good candidate for exploration since it clearly
'breathed" and probably had good air in it.
Then it was back in the car and further up the highway to the ruins I'd seen before on the west side of the highway. (The east/northeast direction of the highway turned more due north again at this point).
We turned off the highway and into what was left of the ruins off the west side of the road. I spotted what looked to me like an adit with tracks coming out of it. The track crossed a large, level, gravel "parking lot" like area ending at a tailings dump. Dear ol' Dad was starting to get both tired and bored and told me "You go look; I'll stay in the car, but be careful". I grabbed my light and headed for the tunnel opening. I headed in walking on the tracks and spotted what looked like an ore car up ahead under a chute. That's when I realized that this tunnel didn't even go very far, no more than 40 or 50 feet if it was even that far. I thought out loud to myself, "What the heck; this isn't a mine. What is it then?" I went up on top of the tunnel and saw what looked like the remains of some cement foundations. Evidently there had been some kind of a furnace there – long since torn down, and hot or molten material was most likely discharged down a chute into awaiting cars which were then rolled out and dumped. Dad wanted to call it a day, so I got back in the car and we headed for home.
Now fast forward a few years to the mid to late 1970s when I was a music student at Arizona State University. I had a part time job working in the library putting books away. I found a neat book on the mines and ghost towns of Arizona. I long ago forgot the name of the author and exact title of the book but I distinctly recall it had a good history of some of Arizona’ s more noteworthy mines including the Ord Group. I found out they were mercury mines and had been among some of the most productive in the U.S. at that.
The book also had a little map showing Arizona ghost town sites and simply identified this one as "Mercuria". It really didn't say much more about the town and over the years I have found it almost impossible to find any information about it. It seems to be the town that ghost town fans have forgotten – over overlooked. Recently I found an online article about the area here:
http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2000/sep/09/the_mercury_mines/
Interestingly enough, this article referred to the little community as "Goswick Camp". So which was it? Mercuria or Goswick? Or was it in fact called both either by different people or in different time frames? Also mentioned was the fact that the last workings closed around 1965 so they hadn't been abandoned very long when I saw them the first time.
It is also within the realm of possibility that some kind of a narrow gauge rail system may have operated for a time in the vicinity connecting some of the mines to each other and/or to the crusher and condenser. Indeed, one of the online articles in Paysonroundup.com alludes to such. However, it is unclear how extensive the railroad was and the type of motive power used is unknown. If such a railroad ever existed at all, I cannot recall having seen any evidence of it by the late 1960s but, then again, I wasn't looking for that. We do know for a fact, though, that at least three of the major adits and possibly more contained ore car tracks and may very well still have them today.
In the late 70s I had a friend who explored the Max Delta Mine and a few other small adits with me in Phoenix’s South Mountain Park. I tried to get him interested in making a trip to the Ord Group but I just couldn't do it. At one point I just about had him talked into it but then he balked. Pooooh! So I considered just going up there by myself. But although I was rather foolish, I still had enough reservation and good sense not to explore mines alone so I never went. The sad truth is that I never made it back there again before permanently leaving Arizona in 1980. So, exploring the Ord mines has been one of my unfulfilled aspirations in life. Where was the Mojave Underground Team when I needed them? Nearly forty years in the future, that's where!
I wish to high heaven that some of you could check this area out before it is too late. Indeed, it might already be too late. The State of Arizona has been highly aggressive in sealing old mines and had the Ord Group in its crosshairs. They want to make sure these are permanently plugged since they are close to a major highway and therefore readily accessible. What a shame! Here are some pictures someone took and posted online from one of the Ord mines: http://www.pbase.com/geokolb/sunflower_mine
I hope someone makes a trip down there someday. Just two words of warning: Watch out for snakes – and Arizona State Officers!
Regards,
Fred M. Cain
Now from Topeka, Indiana
Driving up Arizona 87 to Payson, a curious sight caught my eye along the highway. I spotted what looked like a very primitive, single-wire telephone or telegraph line (i.e. a "ground return") line along the highway on short, square poles with a single insulator at the top. Sections of it had evidently fallen down as it would seem to disappear at times and then later I’d spot it again. What was if for and where did it go?
Then the highway, which had been going pretty well due north went through a curve and mountain pass just north of the tiny community of Sunflower then headed more toward the east or northeast in the vicinity of Mount Ord. We went through the short pass and then off the left side of the highway I saw a most fascinating sight. I saw what looked to me like a small ghost town with little houses on grid-like "city" streets. The way I remember this, the highway was sort of up on the hillside and the little town was down below which offered me a good view. Unfortunately, the speed limit was rather high through there and by the time I shouted "Hey, look at that!" the curious little town had already been left behind. The funny little telephone or telegraph line also appeared to come to an end there as well suggesting this had been its destination.
There were also fascinating pieces of equipment dotting the area. Off the right-hand side (south or southeast side) of the highway I spotted what looked like a huge wooden trestle up on the side of the hill. Then a little further up the highway on the west side I spotted what looked like some old, industrial buildings with large, round tanks and a massive structure with huge, squiggly, convoluted tubes resembling giant intestines. What I the world was this stuff and what was it for?
I remember looking for the little town again on the way home and got another view of it although it wasn't as good since it was beginning to grow dark. I asked my dad to take it easy and slow down a little bit and he was like, “Oh yeah? Why?” By the time I explained "why" the little town was already behind us again. It was like you had to look fast or you'd miss it.
I cannot recall if I ever saw this little town again or not. However, around the time I graduated from high school, I began to get really, really interested in mines. I bought U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps of the outlying vicinity around the Phoenix area. One of the maps I got was from the Mount Ord area near Sunflower. I was amazed when I gazed over the map. Why, there were adits shown all over the place accompanied by names like the "Sunflower Mine", the "Ord Mine", "Mercuria Mine" and "Rattlesnake Mine".
I began working on my father trying to get him interested enough to take me up there. Finally one Saturday my efforts bore fruit and we drove up to what I call the "Ord Group" of mines.
After we arrived up there, we turned left off the highway and followed what can only be described as a "primitive" road. It wound its way along the north/northwest side of the canyon while the highway was more on the southeast side. We rounded a sharp bend when I spotted what looked like an unsigned or unprotected railroad crossing ahead. This really blew my mind because I was unaware of any railroads in this area. We crossed the track at an oblique angle and it ran alongside the road a short distance then off onto a dead-end wooden trestle at the edge of a chasm or drop off. We got out of the car and followed the track back across the road. Sure enough, it emerged from a rather clean adit in the side of the mountain! We started in but my father wouldn't go more than a few feet. "This is too dangerous" he insisted. So we took some pictures, got back in the car and went back to the highway.
We proceeded on east/northeast on the highway and I saw to my dismay that the curious little ghost town was completely gone. They had widened the highway through there and I guess the ghost town got in the way of the much larger fill they needed to build. What a shame! But I once again spotted the huge "trestle" on the other side of the highway up on the hillside. My Dad tried to drive up to it and upon closer inspection we saw that it wasn't a bridge at all but somekind of a huge, wooden hammer mill or something. We walked around a little bit and it didn't take me very long to find another adit. This one also had tracks in it. We stood at the opening which was partly caved in but still very accessible. I could feel a cold, damp breeze coming out of the mine suggesting that this must be a large working with multiple openings. No way Dad was going in there, though! The thought later occurred to me that this mine might make a good candidate for exploration since it clearly
'breathed" and probably had good air in it.
Then it was back in the car and further up the highway to the ruins I'd seen before on the west side of the highway. (The east/northeast direction of the highway turned more due north again at this point).
We turned off the highway and into what was left of the ruins off the west side of the road. I spotted what looked to me like an adit with tracks coming out of it. The track crossed a large, level, gravel "parking lot" like area ending at a tailings dump. Dear ol' Dad was starting to get both tired and bored and told me "You go look; I'll stay in the car, but be careful". I grabbed my light and headed for the tunnel opening. I headed in walking on the tracks and spotted what looked like an ore car up ahead under a chute. That's when I realized that this tunnel didn't even go very far, no more than 40 or 50 feet if it was even that far. I thought out loud to myself, "What the heck; this isn't a mine. What is it then?" I went up on top of the tunnel and saw what looked like the remains of some cement foundations. Evidently there had been some kind of a furnace there – long since torn down, and hot or molten material was most likely discharged down a chute into awaiting cars which were then rolled out and dumped. Dad wanted to call it a day, so I got back in the car and we headed for home.
Now fast forward a few years to the mid to late 1970s when I was a music student at Arizona State University. I had a part time job working in the library putting books away. I found a neat book on the mines and ghost towns of Arizona. I long ago forgot the name of the author and exact title of the book but I distinctly recall it had a good history of some of Arizona’ s more noteworthy mines including the Ord Group. I found out they were mercury mines and had been among some of the most productive in the U.S. at that.
The book also had a little map showing Arizona ghost town sites and simply identified this one as "Mercuria". It really didn't say much more about the town and over the years I have found it almost impossible to find any information about it. It seems to be the town that ghost town fans have forgotten – over overlooked. Recently I found an online article about the area here:
http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2000/sep/09/the_mercury_mines/
Interestingly enough, this article referred to the little community as "Goswick Camp". So which was it? Mercuria or Goswick? Or was it in fact called both either by different people or in different time frames? Also mentioned was the fact that the last workings closed around 1965 so they hadn't been abandoned very long when I saw them the first time.
It is also within the realm of possibility that some kind of a narrow gauge rail system may have operated for a time in the vicinity connecting some of the mines to each other and/or to the crusher and condenser. Indeed, one of the online articles in Paysonroundup.com alludes to such. However, it is unclear how extensive the railroad was and the type of motive power used is unknown. If such a railroad ever existed at all, I cannot recall having seen any evidence of it by the late 1960s but, then again, I wasn't looking for that. We do know for a fact, though, that at least three of the major adits and possibly more contained ore car tracks and may very well still have them today.
In the late 70s I had a friend who explored the Max Delta Mine and a few other small adits with me in Phoenix’s South Mountain Park. I tried to get him interested in making a trip to the Ord Group but I just couldn't do it. At one point I just about had him talked into it but then he balked. Pooooh! So I considered just going up there by myself. But although I was rather foolish, I still had enough reservation and good sense not to explore mines alone so I never went. The sad truth is that I never made it back there again before permanently leaving Arizona in 1980. So, exploring the Ord mines has been one of my unfulfilled aspirations in life. Where was the Mojave Underground Team when I needed them? Nearly forty years in the future, that's where!
I wish to high heaven that some of you could check this area out before it is too late. Indeed, it might already be too late. The State of Arizona has been highly aggressive in sealing old mines and had the Ord Group in its crosshairs. They want to make sure these are permanently plugged since they are close to a major highway and therefore readily accessible. What a shame! Here are some pictures someone took and posted online from one of the Ord mines: http://www.pbase.com/geokolb/sunflower_mine
I hope someone makes a trip down there someday. Just two words of warning: Watch out for snakes – and Arizona State Officers!
Regards,
Fred M. Cain
Now from Topeka, Indiana