Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-12-11
Mining in Todd Basin.
At Drasa,, ,ha,s .. mora active m;n;r


 At present there IS more active mining going on in Todd Basin than in sn y other camp in the county outside of Mineral Park and Stockton Hill. While the mines of the two latter camps are scattered over a considerable area, those or Todd Bssn are centered m one small basin, and can nearly all be seen gt a glance. To the visitor thIs little camp presents at the present time ssene of activity and progressiveness such as has not been witnessed ID MOhEve county Tor years. Nestled m the hills of the Cerbst range, about four mil5s from Mineral Park and fifteen miles frOm hingmsu, the camp Is easy of access, and in lew cBJs the largest ore teams will be able 10 load right at the dumps of the miues. Much of this activity and progress i' due to Superintendent Wattles, who has charge of the Gro Plata ani Maricopa mioes. lt the work of development which has been done under Mir. Wsttlas' manage ment during the three or four months m vhic1 Ls has had control ot these two mines IS an earnest of what We may expect in the future, the permanent prosperity of the camp is fully assured. That he means business in all that he does IS apparent even to a casual ob- server. Much of the work heretofore done has been merely preparatory, and has consisted mainly in running drifts and tunnels ID both mines.
 On the Gro Plata mlne the msiu tua- nel IS being driven night and day, 10 good pay ore. and some sto2ing is being done. The Iresent force on this mine consists of twenty men, and the number will be largely increased in weJ O. two Shipments of ore are made regu- larly to the kingmAu sampllDR works, two large eIght-mule teams being kept on the road all the time.
 On the MsricOpa mine tunnel has been run TO feet to cro'E-'ut the ledge, and drain the mine. This tunnel was completed & few days since, and men are now drifting both ways U1 the ledge, and more will be crowded on as soon ss room 3 IS made for them to work to advantage. Considerable ore IS being taken from the shaft abov- the tunnel. which Is being sunk to 8 con nection, and is also shipped to KinRmsn Outside of the mines Mir. Wattles is pushing things as rapidly as on the in side. A boarding house 161G0 feet is be- ing erected on the Msriposs ground for th- use of the men employed iu the mines. A blacksmith shop, ore houses, office. etc, are also going up as fast as can build them; over 1000 l feet of lumber having besn consumed ] during the past week. When these ne- ce ssary buildings are complet-d one or | two small residences for the use of the l r..l rk1ars ted. Before any of the lumber could l be hauled to the mine 1t Was necessary | to build over a mile of new road ta rough | @ pretty rough canyon. Tbis road Is not l yet completed. but Is passable even now for teams not too heavily loaded. Two men are HOW employed in grading It of 90 that the ore teams can load up Rt ihe | mines iustead of at the mouth of the | canyon, a. at present
 On the Prosperity mine nothing IS be- ing done at present. but the owners, Messrs. Wright and Lsyne, expect to start up in few weeks. aud will proba- bly employ quite force of men.
 Many other mines higher up n the basin are being profitEbly worked by lessees ar d chloriderH, but lack of time prevented our paying them a visit. Alto gether. the outlook for the mines of Todd Basin at the present time i5 eI- ceedingly encouraging, snd we are pleased to know that those who have had faith enough ID them to invest their capital are meeting with substantial re- turUs.
 In a future article we shall give an eI- teDded description of the Gro Plata, MarIposs and Prosperity mines which are the three principal ones m the basin.