By D. E. Born

In May 1863, the Walker Party discovered gold in the Hassayampa River, a few miles south of present day Prescott. The Walker Party was a group of between twenty and thirty men lead by the well-known mountain man, Captain Joseph Walker. Traveling through the West, they were looking for the next gold find. Following the Gila River, they decided to explore the Hassayampa River, which led to the discovery of gold.

Soon after this discovery, members of the group established a mining district and began locating claims. There were claims on the Hassayampa, Granite Creek, Lynx Creek and even the Big Bug. A few men, however, remained at the original site. With winter coming, they built some cabins. They probably built three originally because there is a record of one burning. 

At this location, the river runs from east to west. The cabins were built on the north side of the river against a small hill with the doors facing east. The two cabins that remained were identical. Each was built of small diameter pine logs with a stone fireplace and chimney in the back. The roofing was reported to be hand cut pine shingles. 

How long the original group stayed is not known, but others filed claim to the location and stayed in the cabins. The original chinking was probably mud and grass or other natural material. This was replaced with plaster. The pine shingles were replaced with galvanized iron. Other, less obvious, changes were probably also made. 

In 1925, my uncle, Robert Born and his partner, known to me only as Mr. Lane, filed claim to the site. They named their placer mine the "Lingerlonger". Mr. Lane decided to live in the cabin nearest the river. Some repairs were required. The chinking was touched up as needed, glass was replaced in the windows, repairs were made to the chimney and the plank flooring was replaced. The other cabin was also repaired for Robert Born. While Mr. Lane would live at the mine, Robert lived in Prescott with his family. Employed in law enforcement as a U. S. Marshal and later as Undersheriff of Yavapai County, he seldom stayed at the claim over night. 

My parents, Charles Dewey and Johanna Born, frequently drove out to the Lingerlonger. Mother usually had a pie or cake for Mr. Lane. On some of these trips, we would stop at the Pay'n Takit grocery on Cortez and pick up some supplies for Mr. Lane. My brother John and I always enjoyed these visits - it was a fun place. 

The photo (below) of Mr. Lane with the gold pan was made on one of these visits in 1930. My uncle Robert is walking in the background while I am the one in the fancy cap. The gold pan is being used to check samples. Gravel is taken from areas where obstacles slow the flow of the river allowing sand and gravel to settle out. This is then washed in a sluice box to separate out the gold. Samples are often taken and washed in a gold pan to determine whether there is any gold in the material. If it pans out, then the gravel is run through the sluice box. 

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, both men left the mine claim: Mr. Lane to California while Robert Born enlisted in the Army. I don't know what Mr. Lane did in California, but Robert spent the war years at a munitions plant near St Louis. 

A few months after the end of the war, Robert returned to the Prescott area and the Lingerlonger. He cleaned up one of the cabins and moved in. Now otherwise unemployed, he started mining again. Mr. Lane did not return and I have not learned any more about him. Robert stayed at the mine for two or three years and then moved into Prescott. The cabins were empty again. 

In June 1961, my wife, Ida, and I went out to the mine claim with my parents. We walked around the claim and we looked the cabins over. A few months after our visit, the Forest Service destroyed both cabins. These two cabins served as shelter for a number of people in the 98 years of their existence. They were in remarkably good condition for their age and should have been preserved as a part of the history of Prescott. 


Photo Courtesy of D. E. Born: (Walker Cabin) Reuse only by permission.
One of the Walker cabins as seen in 1928. The cabin was built by the Walker Party in late 1863. 


Photo Courtesy of D. E. Born: (Lingerlonger Mine) Reuse only by permission.
At the Lingerlonger Mine in 1930 is shown Mr. Lane with the gold pan, Robert Born walking at right and D.E. Born (author of this article) observing the mining process from the rock in the center.