Harshaw, Arizona
Encyclopedia
Harshaw is a ghost town
in Santa Cruz County
in the southeastern part of the U.S. state
of Arizona
. The town was settled in the 1870s, in what was then the Arizona Territory
. Founded as a mining
community, Harshaw is named after the cattleman-turned-prospector David Tecumseh Harshaw, who first successfully located silver
in the area. At the town's peak near the end of the 19th century, Harshaw's mines were among Arizona's highest producers of ore
, with the largest mine, the Hermosa, yielding approximately $365,455 in bullion over a four month period in 1880.
Throughout its history, the town's population grew and declined in time with the price of silver, as the mines and the mill opened, closed, and changed hands over the years. By the 1960s, the mines had shut down for the final time, and the town, which was made part of the Coronado National Forest
in 1953, became a ghost town.
Today, all that remains of Harshaw are the ruins of a few abandoned wood and adobe
structures, a small cemetery, and dilapidated mine shafts.
, Yaqui and Hohokam
Indians who settled on the banks of local waterways, including Harshaw Creek, in order to facilitate farming. Spanish explorers and missionaries visited the area beginning in the 16th century, with the Spanish Friar Marcos de Niza
, the first European to visit the area. In the late 17th century, Eusebio Kino
came to the region to establish Jesuit missions and to map the land for Spain. It was not until 1752, in response to hostilities by the Pima Indians, that Spain established its first formal settlement and military presence in Arizona at Tubac
on the Santa Cruz River northwest of the site of Harshaw.
The accounts of Spanish missionaries who traveled through the area shortly after the founding of Tubac state that the site that was to become Harshaw was originally a Spanish settlement and ranch. The settlement was known as Durazno, meaning "peach" or "peach orchard," supposedly due to the peach trees which had been planted there at some time in the past. According to a missionary account from 1764, the settlement of Durazno was attacked and destroyed by Apache Indians on February 19, 1743, with significant loss of life. Along with the nearby Salazar ranch, which was also attacked on that day, the lives of 44 residents were lost.
When the United States acquired all of present-day Arizona as part of the Gadsden Purchase
in 1853, the numerous Mexican mining and ranching settlements still in existence became part of the United States, and American settlers moved into the area.
in the 1860s as a sergeant in the First Regiment of Infantry
of the California Column
. When he left the army, he returned to his previous occupation of ranching. He had been ordered off of Apache land by Indian agent
Tom Jeffords
in early 1873 for illegal grazing, and he settled later that year in the area that was to become Harshaw, still known locally as Durazno, in order to find new pastures for his cattle.
After a few years of prospecting in the region, Harshaw staked claims to several deposits of silver ore, one of which he sold to the Hermosa Mining Company around 1879. In addition to digging and working what was to become the Hermosa mine, the company also began construction on a nearby twenty-stamp mill
designed to process or "stamp" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting
. The combined need for miners and mill workers caused the town to grow rapidly. The post office
opened on April 29, 1880 under the name Harshaw in order to honor its founder. The Hermosa Mill commenced operations on August 5, 1880, and the company soon employed approximately 150 people in the mine in addition to those working the mill. At the town's peak, the mining and milling of silver was performed cheaper in Harshaw than in any other mining settlement in the Arizona Territory, and the mines were considered to be potential rivals of the productive Tombstone
mines.
Harshaw was soon home to some 200 buildings, 30 of them commercial, including eight or ten general store
s, hotels, blacksmith
s, stables, breweries, dance halls, and numerous saloons
arrayed along its 3/4-mile (1.2 km) main road. In addition to the mining industry, the town's merchants did a good trade with Sonora
in Mexico as well as smaller regional mining camps. Harshaw received mail service on the Southern Pacific Railroad
via Tombstone three times a week, and had its own newspaper, the Arizona Bullion, run by Charles D. Reppy and Company. The Bullion was launched on April 28, 1880, and had reached a circulation of 400 as of 1881.
Harshaw was dealt a devastating blow when the Hermosa mine and mill both closed down in late 1881 due to a drop in the quality of silver ore extracted from the property. Coupled with the Hermosa closures, severe thunderstorms which caused a large, damaging fire that same year almost put an end to the settlement. Shortly thereafter, in 1882, The Tombstone Epitaph noted Harshaw's decline, and wrote that over 80% of the town's 200 buildings stood empty "with broken windows and open doors."
resident James Finley purchased the Hermosa mine for $600. In addition to the rebirth of the mining industry, 1887 also saw the end of Apache
raids in the area. The last recorded raid took place that year when 20 Indians raided Harshaw, resulting in the death of one man in an area mine.
As of 1891, Harshaw was connected to the Arizona and New Mexico Railway lines, and had mail service three days a week. It still housed seven businesses, as well as a school and a hotel. In addition, David Harshaw's initial reason for coming to the area was still very much a factor in its use, as the land was noted for its exceptional grazing, and stock raising was second only to mining in area industries. The Hardshell Mine that David Harshaw discovered in 1879 and sold to R. R. Richardson began to produce silver in 1896, further spurring the town's growth. This smaller incarnation of the town continued until just after the turn of the century when the market price of silver declined, and mine owner James Finley died in 1903, closing the Hermosa mine again. Most residents left the town and the post office closed on March 4, 1903.
Rough Riders
, was arrested for fraud associated with selling a Harshaw district mine to a business associate for $800, even though Daniels had no ownership of the property.
In May 1929 when a forest fire swept through the Patagonia Mountains
, Harshaw was reportedly down to 50 residents, all of whom were forced to evacuate, along with residents of other nearby mining camps. On May 13, 1929, after four days, and the burning of 15000 acre (60.7 km²; 23.4 sq mi), the fire was contained, and the blaze was extinguished just in time to spare Harshaw from destruction as it had been directly in the path of the fire.
The town again saw activity between 1937 and 1956 when the Arizona Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO
) worked the Flux and Trench mines located nearby, and tapped into the region's non-silver ore. After 1956, when ASARCO left, Harshaw returned to its status as a ghost town.
In 1963, Harshaw ran afoul of the U.S. Forest Service. By this time, the town housed about 70 inhabitants, and consisted mostly of collapsed buildings, abandoned cars, and run down shacks. The only well-maintained structures in town were the Roman Catholic Church, and a small school. The borders of the Coronado National Forest, established on July 1, 1953, included the town of Harshaw, and because most of the residents never actually gained titles to their land, which could have been done starting in the 1880s, the government's property included the town. Because no titles existed, and the land was then owned by the federal government, the residents were labeled as squatters. Further, once the National Forest was formed, obtaining titles to the land was no longer an option. Harshaw's rundown landscape proved to be an irritant to the Forest Service who, in 1963, tried to work with the residents to facilitate a plan to relocate the remaining families and clean up the town site. The relocation efforts were not successful, however, as a few residents remained in Harshaw at least into the 1970s.
as of November 19, 1974. Built around 1877 as a residence for the superintendent of the Hermosa Mine, the house was located just 100 yards from the Hermosa Mill. When the mine was later purchased by James Finley, he took up residence in the house. The house is important historically as one of the few remaining buildings from Harshaw's mining heyday, and architecturally as a representation of period building styles in the Arizona Territory. Notably, the house is of brick construction rather than the adobe used in most other period buildings.
There is also a small cemetery and the remains of an adobe building located on the outskirts of town, and there are several other partial wood and adobe structures, as well as scattered mining remnants, throughout the area. Of the remains, the cemetery and the nearby adobe ruins are most easily accessible, as both are on the side of Harshaw Road, today designated as Forest Route (FR) 49.
As of 2009, efforts are underway by the Center for Desert Archaeology to have the Santa Cruz Valley, including the remains of Harshaw, declared a National Heritage Area
.
es, with areas of lush forests and grasslands interspersed with areas of exposed rock and jutting mountains. It is bordered by the Patagonia District to the south, the main ridge of the Patagonia Mountains to the west, Meadow Valley Flat at the north end of the San Rafael Valley
to the east, and Harshaw Creek to the northeast.
The bedrock
of the district is made up of at least five formations, the most prevalent of which are composed of rhyolite
. These areas are porphyritic
, tridymite
-bearing rock impregnated with pyrite
, chalcopyrite
, chalcocite
, and, in some places, copper
. Rhyolite formations include a wide swath across the northern section of the district, a section along the western border of the district, and almost all of Red Mountain, so named due to the color caused by the oxidation of the iron in the region's mineral deposits. The next most common bedrock is andesite
mainly present in lava
flows and tuffs in low-lying areas, and deposited over the rhyolite and other older sediments. Andesite formations include a circular area just north of Harshaw, and a belt extending northward along Patagonia Road for about 3 miles (4.8 km).
In smaller areas, the bedrock is a narrow, 3 miles (4.8 km) long strip of quartz diorite
running from the southeast of Harshaw northwestward to Alum Canyon, a narrow belt of granite porphyry beneath deposits of rhyolite along the western border, and Paleozoic
limestone
in a small east-west belt along the middle part of the southern border of the district. In addition, Quaternary
period gravel
deeply covers the underlying bedrock in two areas in the northeast and southwest borders of the district.
Mineral deposits are varied, with the andesite and rhyolite yielding surface deposits of silver, as well as zinc
, lead
, copper, and small amounts of gold
, and the limestone containing deposits of manganese
-silver ore. In addition, there are a few small, low grade placer gold deposits scattered throughout the area. The two silver lode
s associated with the Hermosa Mine are fault breccia
s embedded in rhyolite dating back to the Triassic
or Jurassic
period. The two lodes intersect at some depth below 330 feet (100.6 m), and runs to a depth of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The ore mineral, cerargyrite, is located in a gangue
of quartz
with hematite
, psilomelane
, and limonitic
material. The veins are of irregular and varying widths, which is a negative factor in mining.
Local ore was plentiful, and other mines sprung up in the area around the town throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Some of the mines closest to Harshaw included the Bender, Alta, Salvador, Black Eagle and American mines. Today, the Hardshell property, which includes many of the original mines from the 19th century, encompasses an area of approximately 3154 acre (12.8 km²; 4.9 sq mi), including eight patented claims. From 1896 through 1964, mine production across all Hardshell property mines amounted to approximately 280000 troy ounces (8,708,973.6 g) of silver.
Including the Hardshell property, the area in and around Harshaw, known today as the Harshaw District, is home to approximately 50 mine sites, some dating back to the 1850s, and others mined during the early- to mid-1900s. In addition to silver, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including zinc, copper, manganese, rhyolite, quartz, lead, and many others. Through the mid-1960s, total production from the Harshaw District mines included 86000 short tons (76,785.5 LT) of zinc, 72000 short tons (64,285.5 LT) of lead, 9200000 troy ounces (286,151,988.4 g) of silver, 3100 short tons (2,767.8 LT) of copper and 4300 troy ounces (133,745 g) of gold.
As of 2006, interest in mining the area resurfaced when the Canadian Wildcat Silver Corporation acquired an 80% share in the Hardshell property and began feasibility assessments. Initial reports, published in 2007, were positive, and tentative plans called for the annual production of 2750000 troy ounces (85,534,561.8 g) of silver, 12600000 pounds (5,715,263.9 kg) of zinc, 670000 pounds (303,906.9 kg) of copper, and 84400000 pounds (38,283,196 kg) of manganese over an expected productive life for the mine of 13.5 years. A 2009 assessment also included lead among the expected products of the mine. Wildcat is currently assessing a plan to construct an on site mill capable of processing 1500 short tons (1,339.3 LT) tons of ore per day.
Similar assessments are underway in other nearby parts of Santa Cruz County, which historically accounted for one percent of the state's mining production by weight, and ten percent of the state's total lead and zinc production. Some residents are opposed to restarting mining operations as they are concerned about the impacts on the environment, on property values, on the tourist trade, and on traffic. Assessments are ongoing.
. The town lies within the borders of the Coronado National Forest, on United States government land, approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) north of the Mexican border and approximately 70 miles (112.7 km) south–southeast of Tucson. The Hermosa Mine is located at 31°27′22"N 110°42′33"W, and the Hardshell Mine, the region's other top producer which rivaled the Hermosa during the last two decades of the 19th century, is located at 31°27′29"N 110°42′51"W.
At its peak in the 1880s and 1890s, Harshaw's location was considered scenic as it was surrounded by oak forests, lush pastures, and enough pure mountain water to adequately run the mill and work the ore. Today, Harshaw Creek is lined with sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows which are typical foliage in more arid riparian zone
s, as well as enough grass to sustain limited cattle grazing. While the waters of Harshaw Creek still flow, they are no longer as pure as they were in the 19th century, as recent studies conducted in compliance with the Clean Water Act
have found high levels of copper and zinc, as well as high acidity in the creek. While several factors likely contributed to this pollution, mining and milling residue
from waste dumps have been identified as the most significant source. In particular, the waste dump of the abandoned Endless Chain Mine, which is located near the headwaters
of Harshaw Creek, is one of the largest contributing factors in the pollution.
, and the nearest stations at Canelo Pass, San Rafael Ranch, and Nogales are not representative of the weather in Harshaw due to significant differences in environmental factors, such as differing elevations and their various locations relative to mountains.
According to US Census data, the population of Harshaw reached its recorded peak of 640 residents in 1880, shortly after its founding. However, the closing of the Hermosa mine and mill coupled with the damage done from storms and fires between 1881 and 1882 caused the population to plummet to an estimated 150 in 1884. The small resurgence of the late 1880s drove the population back up to 260 by 1890, before the town entered a steady decline culminating with its abandonment in the 1960s. From 1960 on, the census no longer recorded any population for Harshaw, although approximately 70 residents remained as of 1963, and a few reportedly lasted into the 1970s.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*73.5% White*0.4% Black*0.7% Native American*0.5% Asian*0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*2.0% Two or more races*22.9% Other races*82.8% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
in the southeastern part of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. The town was settled in the 1870s, in what was then the Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
. Founded as a mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
community, Harshaw is named after the cattleman-turned-prospector David Tecumseh Harshaw, who first successfully located silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
in the area. At the town's peak near the end of the 19th century, Harshaw's mines were among Arizona's highest producers of ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
, with the largest mine, the Hermosa, yielding approximately $365,455 in bullion over a four month period in 1880.
Throughout its history, the town's population grew and declined in time with the price of silver, as the mines and the mill opened, closed, and changed hands over the years. By the 1960s, the mines had shut down for the final time, and the town, which was made part of the Coronado National Forest
Coronado National Forest
The Coronado National Forest includes an area of about 1.78 million acres spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico....
in 1953, became a ghost town.
Today, all that remains of Harshaw are the ruins of a few abandoned wood and adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
structures, a small cemetery, and dilapidated mine shafts.
Early settlement
The earliest known residents of what is now Santa Cruz County were the ApacheApache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
, Yaqui and Hohokam
Hohokam
Hohokam is one of the four major prehistoric archaeological Oasisamerica traditions of what is now the American Southwest. Many local residents put the accent on the first syllable . Variant spellings in current, official usage include Hobokam, Huhugam and Huhukam...
Indians who settled on the banks of local waterways, including Harshaw Creek, in order to facilitate farming. Spanish explorers and missionaries visited the area beginning in the 16th century, with the Spanish Friar Marcos de Niza
Marcos de Niza
Fray Marcos de Niza was a Franciscan friar. He was born in Nice , which was at that time under the control of the Italian House of Savoy....
, the first European to visit the area. In the late 17th century, Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Francisco Kino S.J. was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who became famous in what is now northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States in the region then known as the Pimaria Alta...
came to the region to establish Jesuit missions and to map the land for Spain. It was not until 1752, in response to hostilities by the Pima Indians, that Spain established its first formal settlement and military presence in Arizona at Tubac
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census. The place name Tubac is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name, which translates into English as "rotten". The original O'odham name is written...
on the Santa Cruz River northwest of the site of Harshaw.
The accounts of Spanish missionaries who traveled through the area shortly after the founding of Tubac state that the site that was to become Harshaw was originally a Spanish settlement and ranch. The settlement was known as Durazno, meaning "peach" or "peach orchard," supposedly due to the peach trees which had been planted there at some time in the past. According to a missionary account from 1764, the settlement of Durazno was attacked and destroyed by Apache Indians on February 19, 1743, with significant loss of life. Along with the nearby Salazar ranch, which was also attacked on that day, the lives of 44 residents were lost.
When the United States acquired all of present-day Arizona as part of the Gadsden Purchase
Gadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...
in 1853, the numerous Mexican mining and ranching settlements still in existence became part of the United States, and American settlers moved into the area.
Founding and early town history
David Harshaw was stationed in TucsonTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
in the 1860s as a sergeant in the First Regiment of Infantry
1st California Infantry
The 1st Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent its entire term of service in the western United States.-History:...
of the California Column
California Column
The California Column, a force of Union volunteers, marched from April to August 1862 over 900 miles from California, across the southern New Mexico Territory to the Rio Grande and then into western Texas during the American Civil War. At the time, this was the longest trek through desert terrain...
. When he left the army, he returned to his previous occupation of ranching. He had been ordered off of Apache land by Indian agent
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with Native American tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.-Indian agents:*Leander Clark was agent for the Sac and Fox in Iowa beginning in 1866....
Tom Jeffords
Tom Jeffords
Thomas Jonathan Jeffords was a U.S. Army scout, Indian agent, and later a stagecoach driver in the Arizona Territory. His friendship with Apache leader Cochise was instrumental in ending the Indian wars in that region....
in early 1873 for illegal grazing, and he settled later that year in the area that was to become Harshaw, still known locally as Durazno, in order to find new pastures for his cattle.
After a few years of prospecting in the region, Harshaw staked claims to several deposits of silver ore, one of which he sold to the Hermosa Mining Company around 1879. In addition to digging and working what was to become the Hermosa mine, the company also began construction on a nearby twenty-stamp mill
Stamp mill
A stamp mill is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operation....
designed to process or "stamp" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
. The combined need for miners and mill workers caused the town to grow rapidly. The post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
opened on April 29, 1880 under the name Harshaw in order to honor its founder. The Hermosa Mill commenced operations on August 5, 1880, and the company soon employed approximately 150 people in the mine in addition to those working the mill. At the town's peak, the mining and milling of silver was performed cheaper in Harshaw than in any other mining settlement in the Arizona Territory, and the mines were considered to be potential rivals of the productive Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
mines.
Harshaw was soon home to some 200 buildings, 30 of them commercial, including eight or ten general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
s, hotels, blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
s, stables, breweries, dance halls, and numerous saloons
Western saloons
A Western saloon is a kind of bar particular to the American Old West. Saloons served customers such as fur trappers, cowboys, soldiers, gold prospectors, miners, and gamblers. The first saloon was established at Brown’s Hole, Wyoming, in 1822, to serve fur trappers...
arrayed along its 3/4-mile (1.2 km) main road. In addition to the mining industry, the town's merchants did a good trade with Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
in Mexico as well as smaller regional mining camps. Harshaw received mail service on the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
via Tombstone three times a week, and had its own newspaper, the Arizona Bullion, run by Charles D. Reppy and Company. The Bullion was launched on April 28, 1880, and had reached a circulation of 400 as of 1881.
Harshaw was dealt a devastating blow when the Hermosa mine and mill both closed down in late 1881 due to a drop in the quality of silver ore extracted from the property. Coupled with the Hermosa closures, severe thunderstorms which caused a large, damaging fire that same year almost put an end to the settlement. Shortly thereafter, in 1882, The Tombstone Epitaph noted Harshaw's decline, and wrote that over 80% of the town's 200 buildings stood empty "with broken windows and open doors."
Rebirth and subsequent decline
In 1887, Harshaw was reinvigorated when TucsonTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
resident James Finley purchased the Hermosa mine for $600. In addition to the rebirth of the mining industry, 1887 also saw the end of Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
raids in the area. The last recorded raid took place that year when 20 Indians raided Harshaw, resulting in the death of one man in an area mine.
As of 1891, Harshaw was connected to the Arizona and New Mexico Railway lines, and had mail service three days a week. It still housed seven businesses, as well as a school and a hotel. In addition, David Harshaw's initial reason for coming to the area was still very much a factor in its use, as the land was noted for its exceptional grazing, and stock raising was second only to mining in area industries. The Hardshell Mine that David Harshaw discovered in 1879 and sold to R. R. Richardson began to produce silver in 1896, further spurring the town's growth. This smaller incarnation of the town continued until just after the turn of the century when the market price of silver declined, and mine owner James Finley died in 1903, closing the Hermosa mine again. Most residents left the town and the post office closed on March 4, 1903.
Continued activity
Despite a dwindling population, Harshaw gained some notice in 1906 when it was reported by the national press that Ben Daniels, one of Theodore Roosevelt'sTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
, was arrested for fraud associated with selling a Harshaw district mine to a business associate for $800, even though Daniels had no ownership of the property.
In May 1929 when a forest fire swept through the Patagonia Mountains
Patagonia Mountains
The Patagonia Mountains is a 15 mile long mountain range south of the Santa Rita Mountains. Sonoita Creek flows in the valley north of the Patagonias. Both ranges are east of the Santa Cruz River Valley...
, Harshaw was reportedly down to 50 residents, all of whom were forced to evacuate, along with residents of other nearby mining camps. On May 13, 1929, after four days, and the burning of 15000 acre (60.7 km²; 23.4 sq mi), the fire was contained, and the blaze was extinguished just in time to spare Harshaw from destruction as it had been directly in the path of the fire.
The town again saw activity between 1937 and 1956 when the Arizona Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO
ASARCO
ASARCO LLC is a mining, smelting, and refining company based in Tucson, Arizona that mines and processes primarily copper. The company, a subsidiary of Grupo México, is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy...
) worked the Flux and Trench mines located nearby, and tapped into the region's non-silver ore. After 1956, when ASARCO left, Harshaw returned to its status as a ghost town.
In 1963, Harshaw ran afoul of the U.S. Forest Service. By this time, the town housed about 70 inhabitants, and consisted mostly of collapsed buildings, abandoned cars, and run down shacks. The only well-maintained structures in town were the Roman Catholic Church, and a small school. The borders of the Coronado National Forest, established on July 1, 1953, included the town of Harshaw, and because most of the residents never actually gained titles to their land, which could have been done starting in the 1880s, the government's property included the town. Because no titles existed, and the land was then owned by the federal government, the residents were labeled as squatters. Further, once the National Forest was formed, obtaining titles to the land was no longer an option. Harshaw's rundown landscape proved to be an irritant to the Forest Service who, in 1963, tried to work with the residents to facilitate a plan to relocate the remaining families and clean up the town site. The relocation efforts were not successful, however, as a few residents remained in Harshaw at least into the 1970s.
Remnants
Not much remains of Harshaw today. The most prominent remains are the remnants of the James Finley House, now preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as of November 19, 1974. Built around 1877 as a residence for the superintendent of the Hermosa Mine, the house was located just 100 yards from the Hermosa Mill. When the mine was later purchased by James Finley, he took up residence in the house. The house is important historically as one of the few remaining buildings from Harshaw's mining heyday, and architecturally as a representation of period building styles in the Arizona Territory. Notably, the house is of brick construction rather than the adobe used in most other period buildings.
There is also a small cemetery and the remains of an adobe building located on the outskirts of town, and there are several other partial wood and adobe structures, as well as scattered mining remnants, throughout the area. Of the remains, the cemetery and the nearby adobe ruins are most easily accessible, as both are on the side of Harshaw Road, today designated as Forest Route (FR) 49.
As of 2009, efforts are underway by the Center for Desert Archaeology to have the Santa Cruz Valley, including the remains of Harshaw, declared a National Heritage Area
National heritage area
National heritage area is a region defined by a government as notable for cultural, historic, natural or recreation reasons. Compared to a national park, a national heritage area is not subject to the same level of zoning and regulations on land use. They are typically managed at a local...
.
Geology
The 5 miles (8 km) wide Harshaw Mining District is a rough and rugged landscape of numerous gulchGulch
A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Occasionally, sudden intense rainfall may produce flash floods in the area of the gulch....
es, with areas of lush forests and grasslands interspersed with areas of exposed rock and jutting mountains. It is bordered by the Patagonia District to the south, the main ridge of the Patagonia Mountains to the west, Meadow Valley Flat at the north end of the San Rafael Valley
San Rafael Valley
The San Rafael Valley is a high intermontane grass valley in eastern Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The valley is bounded to the west by the Patagonia Mountains, to the north and northeast by the Canelo Hills and to the east by the Huachuca Mountains in Cochise County...
to the east, and Harshaw Creek to the northeast.
The bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
of the district is made up of at least five formations, the most prevalent of which are composed of rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
. These areas are porphyritic
Porphyritic
Porphyritic is an adjective used in geology, specifically for igneous rocks, for a rock that has a distinct difference in the size of the crystals, with at least one group of crystals obviously larger than another group...
, tridymite
Tridymite
Tridymite is a high-temperature polymorph of quartz and usually occurs as minute tabular white or colorless pseudo-hexagonal triclinic crystals, or scales, in cavities in acidic volcanic rocks. Its chemical formula is SiO2. Tridymite was first described in 1868 and the type location is in Hidalgo,...
-bearing rock impregnated with pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, chalcocite
Chalcocite
Chalcocite, copper sulfide , is an important copper ore mineral. It is opaque, being colored dark-gray to black with a metallic luster. It has a hardness of 2½ - 3. It is a sulfide with an orthorhombic crystal system....
, and, in some places, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
. Rhyolite formations include a wide swath across the northern section of the district, a section along the western border of the district, and almost all of Red Mountain, so named due to the color caused by the oxidation of the iron in the region's mineral deposits. The next most common bedrock is andesite
Andesite
Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...
mainly present in lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
flows and tuffs in low-lying areas, and deposited over the rhyolite and other older sediments. Andesite formations include a circular area just north of Harshaw, and a belt extending northward along Patagonia Road for about 3 miles (4.8 km).
In smaller areas, the bedrock is a narrow, 3 miles (4.8 km) long strip of quartz diorite
Quartz diorite
Quartz diorite is an igneous, plutonic rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase with 10% or less potassium feldspar. Quartz is present at between 5 to 20% of the rock. Biotite, amphiboles and pyroxenes are common dark accessory...
running from the southeast of Harshaw northwestward to Alum Canyon, a narrow belt of granite porphyry beneath deposits of rhyolite along the western border, and Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
in a small east-west belt along the middle part of the southern border of the district. In addition, Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
period gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
deeply covers the underlying bedrock in two areas in the northeast and southwest borders of the district.
Mineral deposits are varied, with the andesite and rhyolite yielding surface deposits of silver, as well as zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
, copper, and small amounts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, and the limestone containing deposits of manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
-silver ore. In addition, there are a few small, low grade placer gold deposits scattered throughout the area. The two silver lode
Lode
In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock....
s associated with the Hermosa Mine are fault breccia
Fault breccia
Fault breccia, or tectonic breccia, is a breccia that was formed by tectonic forces....
s embedded in rhyolite dating back to the Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
or Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
period. The two lodes intersect at some depth below 330 feet (100.6 m), and runs to a depth of at least 500 feet (152.4 m). The ore mineral, cerargyrite, is located in a gangue
Gangue
In mining, gangue is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. The separation of mineral from gangue is known as mineral processing, mineral dressing or ore dressing and it is a necessary and often significant aspect of mining...
of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
with hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
, psilomelane
Psilomelane
Psilomelane, also known as black hematite, is a group name for hard black manganese oxides such as hollandite and romanechite. Psilomelane consists of hydrous manganese oxide with variable amounts of barium and potassium.-Formula:...
, and limonitic
Limonite
Limonite is an ore consisting in a mixture of hydrated iron oxide-hydroxide of varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as limonite often contains a varying amount of oxide compared to hydroxide.Together with hematite, it has...
material. The veins are of irregular and varying widths, which is a negative factor in mining.
Mining
The Hermosa Mine was the largest ore producer in the area during the last decades of the 19th century, processing 75 short tons (67 LT) of ore per day, and peaking at about $365,455 in ore production over a four month period in 1880. Mine works at the Hermosa are extensive, with a total tunnel length of 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) by 1915, including five levels of tunnels descending 500 feet (152.4 m). As of a 1972 survey, the existing works were actively caving in, rendering them not viable for further mining use.Local ore was plentiful, and other mines sprung up in the area around the town throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Some of the mines closest to Harshaw included the Bender, Alta, Salvador, Black Eagle and American mines. Today, the Hardshell property, which includes many of the original mines from the 19th century, encompasses an area of approximately 3154 acre (12.8 km²; 4.9 sq mi), including eight patented claims. From 1896 through 1964, mine production across all Hardshell property mines amounted to approximately 280000 troy ounces (8,708,973.6 g) of silver.
Including the Hardshell property, the area in and around Harshaw, known today as the Harshaw District, is home to approximately 50 mine sites, some dating back to the 1850s, and others mined during the early- to mid-1900s. In addition to silver, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including zinc, copper, manganese, rhyolite, quartz, lead, and many others. Through the mid-1960s, total production from the Harshaw District mines included 86000 short tons (76,785.5 LT) of zinc, 72000 short tons (64,285.5 LT) of lead, 9200000 troy ounces (286,151,988.4 g) of silver, 3100 short tons (2,767.8 LT) of copper and 4300 troy ounces (133,745 g) of gold.
As of 2006, interest in mining the area resurfaced when the Canadian Wildcat Silver Corporation acquired an 80% share in the Hardshell property and began feasibility assessments. Initial reports, published in 2007, were positive, and tentative plans called for the annual production of 2750000 troy ounces (85,534,561.8 g) of silver, 12600000 pounds (5,715,263.9 kg) of zinc, 670000 pounds (303,906.9 kg) of copper, and 84400000 pounds (38,283,196 kg) of manganese over an expected productive life for the mine of 13.5 years. A 2009 assessment also included lead among the expected products of the mine. Wildcat is currently assessing a plan to construct an on site mill capable of processing 1500 short tons (1,339.3 LT) tons of ore per day.
Similar assessments are underway in other nearby parts of Santa Cruz County, which historically accounted for one percent of the state's mining production by weight, and ten percent of the state's total lead and zinc production. Some residents are opposed to restarting mining operations as they are concerned about the impacts on the environment, on property values, on the tourist trade, and on traffic. Assessments are ongoing.
Geography
Harshaw is located on the northern fringe of the Patagonia Mountains at 31°28′2"N 110°42′25"W (31.4673182, -110.7070290), northeast of Nogales, ArizonaNogales, Arizona
Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 21,017 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County....
. The town lies within the borders of the Coronado National Forest, on United States government land, approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) north of the Mexican border and approximately 70 miles (112.7 km) south–southeast of Tucson. The Hermosa Mine is located at 31°27′22"N 110°42′33"W, and the Hardshell Mine, the region's other top producer which rivaled the Hermosa during the last two decades of the 19th century, is located at 31°27′29"N 110°42′51"W.
At its peak in the 1880s and 1890s, Harshaw's location was considered scenic as it was surrounded by oak forests, lush pastures, and enough pure mountain water to adequately run the mill and work the ore. Today, Harshaw Creek is lined with sycamores, cottonwoods, and willows which are typical foliage in more arid riparian zone
Riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by...
s, as well as enough grass to sustain limited cattle grazing. While the waters of Harshaw Creek still flow, they are no longer as pure as they were in the 19th century, as recent studies conducted in compliance with the Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that...
have found high levels of copper and zinc, as well as high acidity in the creek. While several factors likely contributed to this pollution, mining and milling residue
Tailings
Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore...
from waste dumps have been identified as the most significant source. In particular, the waste dump of the abandoned Endless Chain Mine, which is located near the headwaters
Source (river or stream)
The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...
of Harshaw Creek, is one of the largest contributing factors in the pollution.
Climate
The climate in the Harshaw Creek basin includes sub-zero temperatures and freezing precipitation in the winter, with snow accumulations at higher elevations sometimes lasting for several weeks, while summer frequently brings severe thunderstorms. Due to Harshaw's status as a ghost town, there is no local weather stationWeather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...
, and the nearest stations at Canelo Pass, San Rafael Ranch, and Nogales are not representative of the weather in Harshaw due to significant differences in environmental factors, such as differing elevations and their various locations relative to mountains.
Demographics
Although by some accounts the town grew to 2,000 residents by 1881 at the peak of its mining prosperity, the fact that the town was already in decline a few years later along with the timing of population data collection makes that theory difficult to document.According to US Census data, the population of Harshaw reached its recorded peak of 640 residents in 1880, shortly after its founding. However, the closing of the Hermosa mine and mill coupled with the damage done from storms and fires between 1881 and 1882 caused the population to plummet to an estimated 150 in 1884. The small resurgence of the late 1880s drove the population back up to 260 by 1890, before the town entered a steady decline culminating with its abandonment in the 1960s. From 1960 on, the census no longer recorded any population for Harshaw, although approximately 70 residents remained as of 1963, and a few reportedly lasted into the 1970s.
See also
- American Old WestAmerican Old WestThe American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
- BoomtownBoomtownA boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
- History of ArizonaHistory of ArizonaThe last Native Americans arrived in Arizona between 16,000 BC and 10,000 BC, while the history of Arizona as recorded by Europeans began when Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan, explored the area in 1539. Coronado's expedition entered the area in 1540–1542 during its search for Cíbola...
- List of ghost towns in Arizona
- Silver mining in ArizonaSilver mining in ArizonaSilver mining in Arizona was a powerful stimulus for exploration and prospecting in early Arizona. Cumulative silver production through 1981 totaled 490 million troy ounces . However, only about 10% of Arizona's silver production came from silver mining...
External links
- Harshaw at Ghosttowns.com
- Patagonia Back Road Ghost Towns including Harshaw at LegendsofAmerica.com.
- Ghost Town of the Month, with an entry for Harshaw including recent photos and visitor information.
- Harshaw photos on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...
. - Harshaw at Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project.