By Al Bates
This article is one of a series that will appear in this space during this year and the next on historic events relating to the Arizona Territory’s Sesquicentennial.
As stated in a previous article in this series, General James H. Carleton at Santa Fe reacted favorably to reports of gold findings in the central Arizona highlands in the spring of 1863 by the prospecting parties led by Joseph R. Walker and Paulino Weaver. He made plans to establish a military presence in the area, but first he dispatched New Mexico Territory’s Surveyor General John A. Clark to the “diggings” for first-hand verification.
After a false start—caused by a change in the intended route from Santa Fe—Clark, with a military escort commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Pishon, and with Robert Groom as their guide, left Fort Craig, New Mexico Territory, on July 2, 1863, for an isolated place none of them had ever seen. The expedition consisted of 35 men mounted on horses and mules and three wagons, each pulled by a six-mule team
The initial stage of their journey via Fort Wingate and the Zuni Pueblo to the Flagstaff area was well known since the route had been surveyed by Lt. Amiel W. Whipple in 1853-54, as part of a federally funded search for railroad routes across the west. From the Flagstaff area they angled southwest into rugged and unexplored territory using advance scouts led by Groom to find routes that offered water for men and animals and terrain passable by the wagons.
John A. Clark, Surveyor General for New Mexico and Arizona territories until the first Arizona territorial government took office (Photo Courtesy of Palace of the Governors Photo Archives – Call Number: NMHM/DCA, Neg, #47652).
The final stage of their journey was simplified on August 17 when the advance scouts, Groom and one of the military escort, encountered Paulino—aka Pauline, birth name Powell—Weaver who brought them up to date on events at the diggings. (The illiterate old mountain man, trapper and guide had changed his given name when he was forced to become a Mexican citizen while living in Taos in the 1830s because of the Mexican government’s strict residency requirements.) Two days later Clark’s party was at the Hassayampa diggings.
They had learned from Weaver that most of the Walker party—plus newcomers—had moved eight or ten miles east to Lynx Creek where there were miners “dry washing.” Also, an even richer find had been made by members of Weaver’s party 35 miles to the southwest.
Placer mining still predominated, despite water shortages, but some lode claims were being made by miners around Lynx Creek. Clark’s immediate reaction to what he had learned, noted in his personal journal “convinces me that this is a very rich & extensive mineral country. The gold is very coarse & is found in almost every ravine.” Clark observed miners at work and also went on prospecting parties, and was given a share in two claims discovered while he was there. He also obtained samples of gold nuggets and specimens of mineral-bearing quartz.
An ongoing problem for the miners was a seasonal lack of water in the creeks which limited their take since dry washing yielded only the coarser gold while the smaller flakes were lost. Another problem was getting from place to place over roadless and rugged terrain.
Clark left until last a visit to the unusual—and so far the most productive—placer gold find that was located atop Rich Hill, between Prescott and Wickenburg. There he saw “a quantity of the gold which has been picked up in working over the ground with a butcher knife.” At that point the placer had already yielded $20,000 ($1,300,00 at current rates) and less than half the ground had been worked over. Jack Swilling, one of the claim’s six partners, gave him “a fine specimen” and sent two specimens to General Carleton. Carleton, in turn, would forward his nuggets to Washington where the larger was presented to President Lincoln.
Clark’s return to Carleton’s Santa Fe headquarters was much quicker than the trip out, reaching there on September 17. Carleton responded to his very favorable report by sending troops to establish a military presence at the diggings for the protection of both the miners and the long-awaited party of territorial officials.
Meanwhile, Governor Goodwin along with other territorial officials and their military escort were about to suffer a humiliating start from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where they would struggle to find their way westward.
(Days Past is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners, International (www.prescottcorral.org). The public is encouraged to submit articles for Days Past consideration. Please contact Assistant Archivist, Scott Anderson, at SHM Archives 928-445-3122 or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information.)