The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-07-15

speed through every camp In the salt
River Valley and over to Prescott. In
less than two weeks all that part OF
Arizona was deeply stirred by the re-
ports, which no one seemed to have
time to investigate. Of the richnes Of
the mines that Stevens had found.
A thousand or more miners caught
the fever 90 badly tnat they started
on foot across the country for Stevens
camp without delay. 1t was q hot, dry
summer. and the journey entailed sew.
eral weeks Of severe physical labor. tor
turing thirsts. and the endurance. Of o
temperature that usually stood over
100 degrees In the shade. Having ar
rived at the Stevens camp they realized
that there were claims worth working
by about hundred men. Several hum
dred claims were staked out in less
than day after the excited miners
got to the scene. but in fortnight the
camp population fell from 1900 to less
than 400. In a month more about 100
persons were left to do all the mining.
The camp was abandoned entirely ten
years ago.
The Rush for Tombstone.
With the possible exception Of the
rush to the Leadville mining district In
Colorado. there has been none any
where in fof.y years attended with the
excitement that followed the news Of
the finding Of great deposits Of gold and
silver in Tomtston, in 1879. Miners
from every pa:ls of the Pacific coast
caught the fever for geld. and as week
after week samples of the Tombstone
rock were more widely circulated, and
lrmors went forth concerning the for
tune this or that man or company was
getting out Of the hills and mountains
about ..ie new camp. thousands started
for Tombstone. Hundreds of young men
and youths In the older states were wild
WI ii zeal to hasten to the new EldoradO
and started across the continst with
little or no preparation. In less than
four months after G!rd and the Haw-
kins boys began getting several thou
sand G;.lars a dcy from their mines
there were over 5000 persons in the
camp. ana several months later Tomb
stone had population Of over 10000
men and 200 women.
There never was another camp in the
southwes. like that at Tombstone in
1879 and 1880. Indeed there have been
very few similar communities in the
world. Fer over seven months the daily
output of precious metal averaged about
$50,O00. Over a dozen men went there
nearly pennylesss and came away worth
over half a million dollars in less than
year, and six or seven men struck It
lars each. Fully half the population
walked hundreds OF miles to get thsre.
No railroad ran through southern Ari-
zona In .hose days and the awful Colo
RADIO and Mojave deserts had to be
crossed In wagons or on foct by the
mul.itu6ss Of fortuns-seekers from Cal
iforn.a. Dess:t sand storms were en-
cour.ered, and for days travellers to
Tombstone endured temperature Of
over $50 degrees in the shade. Many a
man died on the hot, sandy plains.
Miners on sheir way to the new camp
from the east and south toiled across
the Arizona alkali plains, through I'M
mense cactus areas. and risked their
lives in the then hostile lands Of the
Apache Indians.
But hardship. pain. suffering and risk
Of life were all secondary to an early
arrival In Tombstone and the location
Of q mining claim. When Tombstone
was reached there were n.w privations
and more physical distress for the
greater number. especially for those
who had FASTENED from Offices, stores,
shops, clerkshirs and even the pastors
study. Over one-th.rd Of the men in
camp had very little money. or none
at all. and knew no way Of earning It
except by the hardest kind of manual
labor, to which they were unused.
Where the Mines Gave Out.
It cost 81 a night to sleep in q dirty,
roughn pie bunk. Water sold at 20
cents a gallon, q small dish Of beans at
so cents, tallow candles at two bits
(25 cents), common overalls at IS each.
smoked hams at 312 each, and cow-hide
boots were disposed of as fast as they
could be hauled to camp across the
desert from Los Angeles and Yuma for
$35 q pair. It was a grounding case
with these commodities for the first
ten months Of Tombstone-take them
at the prices asked or go without. In
1881 all the Tombstone mines that paid
we'll were In the hands Of few per-
sons, and the population OF the place
had gone down ito 5000. In 1883 the
mines, with two exceptions, began to
peter out, and the population dropped