By Ed T. Nesdill

The first European contact in what is now Arizona is believed to be by the Spanish explorer, Coronado, in 1541. Another Spanish explorer, Espajo, has been credited to be the first European in what is now known as Yavapai County in 1581. About 300 years later, in 1848, travel across northern Arizona and southern Arizona was frequent with traffic to California because of the gold rush and the end of the Mexican War. The ceding of the Arizona territory north of the Gila River by Mexico and the Gadsden Purchase in 1853 brought all of present Arizona into the United States, with Statehood coming 59 years later, in 1912.

In 1861, Capt. Joseph R. Walker, of Tennessee and California, organized an expedition party to explore the area that lay between the known travel routes across the territory. Eighteen men left Kernville, California, and headed towards the Little Colorado River with the San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff as their landmark. Failing to find gold, they continued eastward and reorganized the party in Colorado in 1862. With 34 men, they set out to the south and then west along the Butterfield trail to the Hassayampa River and then northward into the Prescott area. Their journals tell us that they set up a base camp when "they reached the wooded areas along the Oolkilsipava (Hassayampa)" early in 1863. There are different accounts as to exactly where this base camp was located with one version locating it in the area between Indian Creek and Groom Creek as they join the Hassayampa (just one mile south of Ponderosa Park) and another version locates this camp at the Potato Patch nearer the headwaters of the Hassayampa. The original journals are available in the County Recorder’s Office with copies available in the Prescott Library.

After the discovery of gold on Lynx Creek, they held a "Mineral Meeting" on May 10, 1863, and drew up their rules and regulations for staking out claims. Some of the provisions of those resolutions included extra claims for the original prospectors and a number of other provisions that certainly would be illegal today. As an example; one article states: "no Mexican shall have the right to buy, take up or pre-empt a claim on this river or in this District for the term of six months, to date from the first day of June, 1863." This was later amended to read "Resolved that Asiatics and Senoranians be excluded from working in this District." These exclusions were no doubt prompted by the sentiments of the general public as a result of the recent war with Mexico and their experience with California’s anti-alien laws. There had been considerable strife and violence in California during this period and it had even caused international repercussions with Japan. They also identified their resolutions as taking place in the "Territory of Arizona or New Mexico" since they were not sure as to the exact locations of the boundaries and the Civil War was in progress.

The Peeples Party (A. H. Peeples, including Pauline Weaver) was organized in late 1863 after hearing of the gold strike. It entered Arizona in early 1864 by way of Yuma and discovered Rich Hill (near present day Congress) on their way to the "Walker Diggings." By early 1864, the town of Prescott was founded, Governor Goodwin’s party had arrived and a military post was established at Fort Whipple (then located in Chino Valley). A printing press also arrived and began publication of the Arizona Miner.

Very little is known of Frederich Barth, original owner of the Ponderosa Park Subdivision property. From the archives of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Great Registers of Yavapai County, we do know that he was born in 1832 in Germany (Prussia) and that he was naturalized in Pennsylvania in 1859. He was known to be in the Prescott area from 1876 to 1884 but no records of marriage or family have been found. On January 26, 1884 he sold the Howard Claim to Chas B. Rush and from that we assume that he was engaged in mining and/or prospecting. On December 13, 1884, he was granted Homestead Certificate No. 82, Application No. 200, signed by Chester A. Arthur, President of the United States. This Homestead was for 160 acres and designated: "the west half of the southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 29, Range 2 West, Township 13 North". This is the property that now comprises Ponderosa Park Subdivision.

Barth was 52 years old when he obtained the homestead. There was a great demand for foodstuffs and other supplies during these early days of Prescott and freighting was a considerable industry. It is assumed that Barth was using his land for cattle raising and ranching with ready nearby markets from the military and miners. However, there is no further record of Barth from 1884 onward. He disappears from the "Great Registers" and no reference can be found of him in newspapers or County Records. There are a number of other Barths in the area with some in Flagstaff and a Sol Barth, who was quite famous from New Mexico to all parts of Arizona. No connection or association has been found between Frederich Barth and the others.

There is one indirect record from October 8, 1903, in the Recording of Deeds (Book 64, Page 151). At the request of Zeba Oetux Brown, the Homestead Certificate was faithfully copied into the records, for whatever reason, 19 years after it was issued. Z. O. Brown has a story all of his own. The records are full of his buying and selling mining claims and town real estate. We can only guess why he wanted the deed recorded other than to clarify ownership of certain areas in which he had an interest. In any event, tracing the disposition of the property through Grantees and Grantors becomes an arduous task since lawyer’s names appear acting as agents and sheriff’s names acting in foreclosure can break the link between original owners to current buyers. By starting at the other end, you find that the property was so cut up and sold off in pieces that it is also difficult to trace the lineage back to Barth.

We do know some of the names of the major landowners at the time the Ponderosa Park Subdivision was formed and a trace to fill the 40-year gap between 1900 and 1940 will be left for some future historian. M. Adele and Lenord F. Albrecht bought property from Ben Smith on August 15, 1941, and 1.64 acres from Western Exploration Ltd. on July 3, 1946. All these transactions are for pieces of property of the original homestead. Albrecht obtained another piece from Ralph S. Hall (3/12/50) and the major part consisting of 120 acres was bought from Grace B. and C. W. Poole (2/19/51). Additional pieces were bought in October of 1951. The Albrechts now had title to just about the entire Ponderosa Park area. In April 1952, Albrecht was awarded a judgment and decree against the Benedictine Mining & Milling Co. and the Consolidated Maricopa Queen Oil Co. for non-payment of mortgage. Title was reverted back to Albrecht although no record was found showing that he originally sold property to these Companies. Right-of-way grants were issued for transmission lines from the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management in 1954, 1956, and 1959.

Records show that the property was surveyed for tax purposes by the State of Arizona in 1925 and it was determined to be 160.11 acres. A Ponderosa Park Tract Unit 1 (listed as "unrecorded") was filed with the county in 1954 and can be found in Book 104, Map 23. Ponderosa Park Tract Unit 2 was filed in 1961 found in Book 104, Map 24. Unit 3 was filed in 1963, Book 1204, Map 25 and Unit 4 was entered in 1967, Book 104, Map 21.

In the late 1950s, a Mr. Rudger Smith and Mrs. Grace Smith became involved and traded property in San Diego, California to the Albrechts for the balance of the unsold lots in Ponderosa Park. Rudger Smith is now deceased and Grace Smith currently lives in the State of Washington. She owns (through trusts) the roads in Ponderosa Park in which the main distribution system of the Ponderosa Park Domestic Water Improvement District (PPDWID) is located. We also know that a Rudger Smith, Jr. exists and it is assumed that he is an heir to the trust(s). As of 1997, the PPDWID was in process of negotiating an agreement to obtain clear title to the road rights-of-way with Mrs. Smith. The Water District also owns property where wells are located and has use permits from the Forest Service for roads and the location of their main storage tank to the east of the subdivision.

Next week, Part II will include the geology and early mining in the area of Ponderosa Park Subdivision.