By Richard Gorby
In 1863, a year before the birth of Prescott, a group of miners from the Walker diggings on Lynx Creek wandered into a steep canyon containing a creek which flowed out of the Bradshaw Mountains. As they followed the creek downstream they noticed a great number of huge flying insects, and the stream suddenly had a name - "Big Bug Creek."
Shortly after, when mining started in earnest, the area, about ten miles southeast of Prescott, became the Big Bug Mining District, called by many Bogg's Big Bug after mine owner Theodore Boggs.
Theodore Boggs came to the new territory in 1863, from California with his brother John. They were born in Missouri, nephews of the former governor. Their uncle was governor of Missouri at the time the Mormons were expelled from that state and their prophet, Joseph Smith, was assassinated. The governor's wife, whose maiden name was Miss M.G. Boone, was a granddaughter of Daniel Boone. The elder Boggs moved his family to California when the rush for gold started in the 1850's, and the two boys, John and Theodore, grew up there. Theodore had for playmates the sons of General Vallejo, who commanded the Spanish forces when California was a province of Spain. It was then that he learned to speak Spanish "correctly and fluently."
Theodore and John arrived in Prescott a few weeks after its birth, possibly with the Walker mining party. John Boggs was made a member of the First Territorial Legislature, which convened in Prescott on May 30 of 1864, meeting in the cabin later called "Old Fort Misery." It is possible that Theodore was not also chosen as a member of the Legislature because of his physical appearance.
Theodore was tall and handsome except for one side of his face, which was badly scarred. As a youngster in California he was an avid hunter, and big game was his specialty. It was a life and death struggle with a wounded grizzly bear that nearly cost him his life. In that fight he was terribly mangled, one side of his face being crushed by the maddened bear. When he showed no more signs of life, the grizzly left him for dead.
Hunting big game in those days was very dangerous, especially if someone, like Theodore, was doing it alone. There were no repeating rifles, and the hunter had to depend on a single shot. Fired at something as big and strong as a grizzly, it would be hard for one shot to do the job.
One of the best accounts of the early Boggs comes from Alfred Calhoun who with his friend, botanist Dr. Perry, was looking for a guide to the Hassayampa area, then on to Wickenburg and up to La Paz, on the Colorado River. Arriving in Prescott in 1866, they went to the home of the governor, Richard McCormick. From Calhoun:
"The governor's home was picturesquely situated at the base of a hill, across Granite Creek from the little cluster of wooden buildings that went to make up the capital of the infant territory. Although the most important structure of the place, the chief magistrate's abode was anything but imposing. It was one story high, built of pine logs, and consisted of three rooms and a half-enclosed annex that answered for a kitchen." Meeting Governor McCormick, they explained their need for a guide.
"Oh, you want Boggs," said the governor.
"Who is Boggs?" I asked.
"Well," said the governor, "Boggs is a man from the ground up, as they say here. He is a cousin of Kit Carson and a great-grandson of Daniel Boone, and so he comes naturally by his love of the wilderness. He is about thirty-five years of age, slender, strong and active, and the fact that his face has been plowed up by the claws of a grizzly bear has somewhat impaired his beauty. But he knows the country quite as well as Cochise. He's the man you want."
A messenger was sent across the creek to the office of the Arizona Miner and he came back with Boggs. Calhoun says:
"The cousin of Kit Carson and the great-grandson of Daniel Boone answered to a letter the governor's description. I may add that he had fine, honest gray eyes and thick brown hair and beard, both long and inclined to curl. He was straight as an arrow, and his movements were as quick, quiet and graceful as a young brave's."
For a "very moderate sum," Boggs agreed to guide them to Wickenburg, and from all accounts was successful.
By this time, about 1866, Boggs had spent three years in the Big Bug region, and had already discovered what he thought were areas of rich mineral sources. His working as guide for a "very moderate sum" made it possible for him to start establishing mining claims, which he did rapidly and successfully. Only ten years later the Arizona Miner reported:
"The furnace at the Agua Fria mill started up last week and ran a few hours, producing 180 pounds of bullion from one of the Boggs' mines."
And only twenty years later, again from the Miner:
"It was currently, and seemingly reliably, reported on the streets of Prescott last evening that T.W. Boggs had sold his Butternut and Gold Reef mines...to Mr. Van Zandt for $125,000. (Dec. 19, 1899)." This would be over a million dollars in today's terms, and Boggs still had on hand more mines, a mill and a smelter.
On June 8, 1905, the Arizona Miner reported:
"Old residents of Prescott were shocked yesterday upon hearing the news of the sudden death of T.W. Boggs, of the Big Bug mining district, which occurred as a result of a runaway accident while driving a team from the smelter. The horses ran away, wrecking the rig and throwing him and a niece, Miss Lydia Boggs, who accompanied him, upon a pile of rocks."
The niece was unharmed, and it was discovered later that Boggs, who had eight brothers and sisters, had left his entire estate to her.
The brothers and sisters fought furiously over the Boggs inheritance, but that will be another story.
Richard Gorby is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum's Historical Archives.
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (m104pf). Reuse only by permission.
Boggs Smelter in about 1885. Theodore Boggs was one of the principal mining developers along the Big Bug Creek in the area of Mayer. Boggs was also known for a large scar on his face due to a run-in with a bear.