By Dana Sharp

(This is the second part of a two-part article that was first published in its entirety in the courier in 1975) 

A walk through Mint Valley on a quiet autumn day gives you the feeling of going back in time, of almost being with the people who once lived and worked there. People with hopes and dreams, people who built homes, planted orchards and raised children and left remnants of their living for us to find. Shards of purple glass that once were whole, gracing the Sunday table, a few pieces of old silverware, broken crocks, steps barely showing through the grass leading to nowhere, but must have once lead into a warm kitchen filled with the smell of rising bread and the sound of laughter.

This is the site where once stood the home of the Zimmerman family. Our own garden spot is still called the Zimmerman Garden and was once the producer of many wagonloads of vegetables for sale in and around Prescott. Mrs. Zimmerman was a butter maker of some note as we see from the Weekly Arizona Miner, published March 21. 1879: "Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman from Williamson Valley are in town. Mrs. Zimmerman is the chief butter maker of that section and therefore finds ready sale for her dairy products." 

A simple practical home on the banks of Mint Wash, now used for storage, was built by Buck Bowen and was the home of Fitzhugh Lee for several years. Fitzhugh purchased the place from a man named Rerberger in 1907. Bowen's homestead was patented April 26, 1896. He sold it to Mr. Hummer that same year. Hummer built the fences that still stand. Being a man who took great pride in ownership, Hummer kept his deed to this property on his person in order that it be handy for showing should company happen by. When Fitzhugh acquired the property, he also acquired a faded, dog-eared and much creased deed which had not been recorded! Part of Fitzhugh's orchard still lives and bears fruit. 

When Henry and Dora Sharp bought their little ranch in 1937, they acquired not only a spot of unsurpassed beauty, but a wealth of history as well. Their home was constructed in 1898 by Robert Postle from hand-hewn logs brought by oxen from the Thumb Butte area. Originally homesteaded by Mary Joyce, this little ranch remains an oasis of timeliness in a bustling world. 

It was in this vicinity on the old Ehrenberg road that the Indians ambushed the Goldwater brothers in 1872. It was also here in this part of Mint Valley that a Mr. McKee first homesteaded and farmed until a drought of three years duration so disheartened him that he deserted his home in 1871 - hopefully for damper climes. 

The vague outline of a dugout house in the side of a low hill brings to mind a story of a resident whose name is long forgotten, who made his way in this world from the fruits of the labors of his fellowmen. The stage and freight lines which passed just beyond his abode were handy targets for his taking ways. 

The picture story of even earlier residents unfolds across the face of a huge rock just off the Hardyville road. These drawings which have stood for centuries are at last slowly fading and giving way to the persistence of the elements. 

Two unmarked graves on a rocky-slope just west of Mint Wash with the long shadows of the late autumn sun drawing lines between then and now recall the story of Spencer and McGee who farmed the field just beyond the slope and built a cabin there. One very cold, windy day in March 1869, against the advice of Charlie Spencer, McGee hitched up his team of black horses and went to the field to begin the spring plowing. The Indians had resumed hostilities in the area and Spencer knew how dangerous it was for his partner to go alone into the field. McGee laughed and said, "I ain't seen any Injuns or Injun tracks since I been here." Spencer remained in the cabin occupied with making bread and soon the terror stricken horses careened into the yard. Unable to catch them Spencer grabbed his rifle and slipped through the brush up the creek to the American Ranch with bread dough still sticking to his hands. Practically incoherent by the time he reached the Lee place, Spencer blurted out that the Indians had killed McGee. Even as he was talking, smoke was rising from his burning cabin. J.H. Lee, with Jesse Rogers, son of Prescott's first schoolteacher, Charmingdale Rogers went back down the creek with Spencer. Keeping well under cover behind the huge rocks behind the burning cabin, they watched the Indians, some 25 strong, as they completed their looting and burning. The men opened fire and succeeded in killing several and scattering the rest. 

Although the graves are unmarked, it is fairly certain from information gathered from long-time residents that one of the graves is that of McGee and the other contains the remains of a man also killed by the Indians a few years later whose name was either Clark or Clack. 

A faint depression and remnants of a rock wall now grown over by oak brush was once the dugout home of a family by the name of Myers and nearby we found a child's toy iron. You can almost hear a little girl happily playing in the late afternoon sun, squiggling her bare toes in the dust outside the door and hear her mother call her in to supper as the shadows of Granite grow long in the little valley. 

The mountain must have been a source of strength to those pioneers who toiled at her feet in bygone days as it is to us now, who are fortunate to live in the shadow of the Granite. 

(Dana Sharp is a long time resident of the Prescott area. If you would like to share your stories of early Yavapai County, please contact Michael Wurtz at the Sharlot Hall Museum, 445-3122) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po1588p). Reuse only by permission.
In 1878 Charlie Spencer (left) and Mr. Wilson were known as the "short haired blondes" of Prescott. About ten years earlier Spencer was involved in a conflict at the base of Granite Mountain between some early pioneers in the area and the Indians that still lived nearby.