New Mexico Mineral Symposium — Abstracts

Although two other mining districts in Arizona have produced more copper than Bisbee, none have produced such an impressive array of metals or meant so much to the development of Arizona. During its history, Bisbee produced:

• • 8 billions lb of copper
• • 324 million lb of lead
• • 355 million lb of zinc
• • 28 million lb of manganese
• • 2,792,000 oz of gold
• • 102,215,000 oz of silver

As with many of the early mineral discoveries in Arizona, the original location was made when an Army scouting party stopped in the area. John Dunn, a member of that party, discovered lead mineralization in the summer of 1877.

John Dunn then made the mistake of grubstaking George Warren. It was the custom in those days that the prospector would stake claims on an equal basis with the person who grubstaked him. Mr. Warren drank Dunn's money away in Tombstone, then went out, and staked the claims, including the Copper Queen claim, in his name and others he took with him. He ultimately lost his share of the Copper Queen claim by betting he could outrace a horse in a 100 yard race. Unfortunately, he was drunk at the time and misjudged both the distance and his running ability. He died in 1895 as one of the town's drunks, but his name lives on with Warren, Arizona.

Development started on the Copper Queen, and 22 percent oxide copper ore was found. The property was then sold to Lewis and Ben Williams in 1880, and they brought the technical expertise so badly needed to really develop the property (Lewis for his smelting experience and Ben for his mining skills).

In 1882 Dr. James Douglas was sent out by the firm of Phelps, Dodge and Company to examine the adjoining Atlanta claim. They purchased it and spent $80,000 and the next 2 yrs exploring it. No ore was found, but Dr. Douglas made the case for spending another $15,000, which finally paid off with the discovery of a rich oxide orebody.

In 1884, rather than continuing to compete for adjoining properties, the Copper Queen Mining Company and the Atlanta Mining Company merged into a single company. Thus began a lifetime partnership and kinship between James Douglas and the Williams brothers.

Smelting capacity was constantly changing by upgrading and expanding. This was necessary to keep the operations as economic as possible. The Czar mine had the most distinctive smelter stack because it was constructed up the side of the mountain instead of built vertically.

Before 1889 all supplies were hauled into Bisbee with 20 mule teams, and the black matte copper was hauled out. An attempt was made to replace mules with mechanical pulling devices, such as a steam-powered tractor. The tractor worked fine when the roads were dry, but the mule teams could work in all kinds of weather. Once the railroad came to Bisbee in 1889, the cost of moving freight plummeted.
As the sulfide mineralization oxidized, it shrank leaving voids above the now incredibly rich-oxide orebodies. Over the millennium, significant caverns were formed. A high school graduation was held in one of the caverns, and a second cavern hosted a board of directors meeting. The miners learned that the caverns could be used as exploration targets by digging straight down. Fortunately, not all of the orebodies were directly below the caverns, and some of these still exist.
By 1898 Bisbee was a prosperous mining town with the usual collection of bars and saloons and even a photographic business located on Main Street. The Fourth of July celebrations included single and double jack contests—a mining camp knew they had made it if they were around long enough to participate in such contests.

By 1908 there had been three devastating fires in Bisbee. Firebreaks were created when the miners brought dynamite out of the mines and blew up some of the buildings. After 1908 brick replaced wood buildings. Adding insult to injury, the summer monsoon rains came with a vengeance. With the mountainsides stripped of trees that fed the smelters and provided timber to the miners, the rain had no place to go but down through the canyon in Bisbee.

The Calumet and Arizona was the other big mining company in Bisbee. Bill Hoatson, from the Michigan copper country, got a foothold in the district because of a personality conflict between Ben Williams and the owner of the Irish Mag. Pride got the better of the Copper Queen Mining Company that day. Dr. Douglas could have purchased the mine for $10,000 but felt honor bound to the feelings of his general manager and brother-in-law.

The property was ultimately sold to the Lake Superior and Western Development Company for $500,000. This was another Bisbee story of almost running out of money before the ore was hit, but this time Cap'n Jim had to sink to the 1,050-ft level before he struck pay dirt. This 15-acre claim ultimately paid $10,000,000 in dividends. The Calumet and Arizona absorbed the assets of the Lake Superior and Western.

By the early 1900s the Copper Queen controlled the northwest portion of the district, and the Calumet and Arizona held the deeper reserves in the southeast part.

When the great depression hit, the two companies found themselves in opposite positions. The Copper Queen Mining Company, now known as the Copper Queen Branch of Phelps Dodge Corporation, was running out of reserves but had plenty of cash. The Calumet and Arizona had huge reserves but had paid out most of their available cash in dividends. Negotiations were entered into between the two, and Phelps Dodge was the successor.

The Sacramento pit was the first open-pit mine in the Bisbee area. It was started in 1917 and continued through 1929. Low-grade, high-volume mining came to Bisbee in the early 1950s when stripping the Lavender pit began. Art era of Arizona mining came to an end in the mid-1970s when the ore reserves dwindled and the mines at Bisbee were closed, probably for the final time.

Both James Douglas and Ben Williams had an appreciation for mineral specimens. Dr. Douglas' collections in the Smithsonian and the Canadian National Museum include some of the best that Bisbee had to offer. What was not widely known was that Ben Williams not only collected minerals but was also the main seller to dealers, including A.E. Foote. Ben Williams saved hundreds, if not thousands, of Bisbee specimens.

Bisbee is also one of the great mineral localities in the world. As of the printing of Dick Graeme's second article on the minerals of Bisbee in 1993, his list had grown to 285 distinct species, including several that Bisbee is the type locality. We are all familiar with the magnificent azurites, malachites, cuprites, coppers, and calcites that have come from here. These specimens grace collections throughout the world. In addition, some of the rare minerals are attractive and well crystallized, including spangolite, connellite, and even graemite.