By Robert "Bob

While preparing for a jaunt in the hills and scanning the Forest Service map of roads south of Prescott, my wife asked the innocent question, "who was the Senator of the Senator Highway?" Now being familiar with that highway, I explained it was not a person but a mine, the Senator out on the Hassayampa River bank. 

"But didn't the mine need to be named after someone?," came the obvious follow-up question.

Hmmm. So, having near at hand my copy of Will C. Barnes's Arizona Place Names (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1988 reprint) I looked up the definitive response. Barnes writes, "Senator...well known mine about ten miles south of Prescott, north side of Mount Union." See, I point. Then she points to the next sentence, "Origin [of name] cannot be definitely determined" (p. 396). Uh, oh. 

Faced with such a challenge, I needed to dig some more. The quest was on. A historian loves nothing more than to be sent on an errand to find the definitive answer to an innocent question. 

First (and easiest) reference for the history of a gold mine is the old bulletin of the Arizona Bureau of Mines, Arizona Lode Gold Mines and Mining (Tucson, 1937, reprinted). The Senator gets its page: big producer of the 1890s, some half million in gold, the Phelps Dodge Corporation held it at one time -- big outfit but no U. S. Senator among PD ranks. Rawhide Jimmy Douglas is mentioned (of course, he made his millions over at Jerome with the UVX; he was just a kid when working the Senator). 

The bureau of mines' volume has a reference to the mine as early as 1871, but no U. S. Senators mentioned. 

Setting aside the quest, we got up Tuesday morning and, with plenty of water, kid surrounded by amusements in the back seat, we headed out Mt. Vernon Street and off for the Bradshaws. Not far up the dirt road the right rear tire took on the form of a mangled mass of rubber. 

Such a set-back allowed for a return to Prescott and a further search for the Senator of Senator Highway. 

The Sharlot Hall Museum has an excellent collection of clippings on Yavapai county mines. In the file marked "Senator" are yellowed scraps of newsprint from the Arizona Miner praising the work of one S. O. Frederick, who, between 1872 and 1877 opened the Senator lode. Frederick was a savior of the gold district since so many of the 1860s gold prospects didn't pan out. 

Frederick was also a hard-nosed Nevada miner, and according to Sharlot M. Hall (founder of the Museum that bears her name), it was he that gave the miners of the district the derogatory name of "Hassayampers" (meaning not just a liar or commonplace braggert, but an exceptional manipulator of the truth). Since he wanted only experienced workers he posted a notice: "Hard Rock miners wanted -- No Hassayampers hired." 

Frederick also helped pay for a wagon road to his mill, the Highway to Senator mine. 

But, again, no Senators. Just a hint that one needed to look deeper. A few clips mentioned that the mine was worked in the mid-1860s. 

So, the search needed to continue, this time to the county recorder's office. 

But first a day was dedicated to driving out the Senator Highway to Crown King, a trip eventful, fun, and highly recommended. We got back to Prescott in time for a quick trip to the recorder's office to search the mine claim records back as far as possible, back, hopefully, to the prospectors who first staked the Senator mine. 

Prescott is fortunate in that its historic county records are extant and cared for so well. Their easy access made for quick work for this last minute visitor to come up with results (I arrived at 4:30 and since they close at 5:00 I had plenty of time). 

I pulled the bulky "Index to Mines, Volume 1," down. It gave me the chain of title, from when Phelps Dodge took over back to the first claimants. The Senator mine was staked January 6, 1865, according to the first book of mine recordings, page 2, under the newly passed territorial mining laws, by John N. Goodwin, Richard C. McCormick and a half dozen other folks. Eureka! 

Territorial Governor Goodwin and the Territorial Secretary, "Little Mac", were carpet bag politicians selected to organize the territory, hold elections, and call the first legislature together in Prescott the fall of 1864. Among the first laws passed was the territorial mine law. Both men promoted mines and, more importantly, sought higher office. In October 1864 Goodwin was elected to represent Arizona Territory as its non-voting member or Delegate to the U. S. Congress. McCormick would follow him. 

As a side note, mining rushes had established states and early bird politicians had become U. S. Senators, in California shortly after the gold rush of '49, and in Nevada in 1863. Why not Arizona? McCormick especially pushed for premature statehood and his own selection as one of Arizona's first U. S. Senators. Men with Senatorial aspirations might indeed name their mining claim the Senator. In this case, the Senator mine's name did not reflect the titles of Goodwin and McCormick, but their ambitions. 

But then, maybe not. It would be forty-seven years before Arizona became a state, and the last Delegate to Congress was Ralph Cameron. Yes, he did become a U. S. Senator. 

The other January 6, 1865 stakers of the Senator mine included three of the original Walker party. They undoubtedly discovered the deposit and brought in the Prescott politicians, the governor and secretary, as partners and backers (you probably already guessed that Governor Goodwin was not one to pack a burro and head out to prospect the hills). 

One of the claimants, D. Ellis, known to us as Daniel Ellis Conner, gave his account of the winter 1864-5 prospecting and staking of claims, including, according to county records, the Senator mine. His reminiscence was published as Joseph Reddeford Walker and the Arizona Adventure, still a great read about that dangerous but optimistic time. In it Conner praised Goodwin and McCormick, the hope-to-be U. S. Senators of the Senator mine. 

(Robert Spude is a freelance writer in Santa Fe New Mexico. He has an avid interest in mining history of our region) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (m302pg). Reuse only by permission.
This postcard view from about 1900 shows the Senator Mine camp along the Senator Highway. The Author suspects that the mine (and eventually highway), staked in 1865 by 12 men including John Goodwin and Richard McCormick, was named for the aspirations of the men who started it.