The Arizona sentinel., 1903-04-15
The AtO Copper Mines.

Ll1o IS once more to be breathed int 1- the old Ajo copper mines. For nearl l one hundred years they have beer . worked at irregular intervals. Firs crudely by the Mexicans, then by al
 adventurous band of American pioneers
 again by Mexicans and again by Amer jeans for all time. When first opened
 they produced much native copper anC
 considerable traffic was kept up be
 tween the mines and the gulf coast.
 AZ at once the mines were aban
 doned. The camp was suddenly at
 tackled by an overwhelming force -o
 Apaches, and men, women and children
 were murdered by the wholesale. All
 northern Sonora was in mourning over
 the Ajo massacre. The Indians then
 turned to the east till they reached the
 Santa Rosa valley, down which they
 went in the direction of Sonora, killing
 the PapagOes and burning their vil-
 lages as they went along. When near
 Altar a desperate stand was made
 against them and the murderous band
 was beaten and turned back. They re-
 treated through Arizona by way of the
 Baboquivori valley and were repeated
 ly attacked by the Papagoes; the lat ter, however, almost as often defeated, and portion of them being hard
 pressed, took refuge on the great peak. Seeing that death by starvation or at the hands of the Apaches was inevita- ble, the men deliberately killed the women and children and then them selves. Such was the story told to the writer by CoOucan, an old Papago chief well known to all early prospectors in the Quijatoa country, near which he had his rancheria.
 A big battle is also said to have been fought in the neighborhOod of Arivaca. The evidence of the struggle was great heap of skulls; among them was one that had been cleft from the crown to the chin, probably by two-handed sword in the hands of some valorOus Mexican. This sword was in posses sion of the late Dr. J. c. Handy and was destroyed at the time his office was consumed by fire.
 Subsequent to the Apache massacre the Ali mines were worked by band of adventurous Americans. Considera- ble ore was shipped by them to Swan sea, Wales. But they in turn were driven away by a large body of Mexi can soldiers, the mines at that time being claimed by the Mexican govern ment. Following this they were long idle. About twenty years ago man by the name of P. T. Dawling secured control. organized a company, and stocked them for a million or so and endeavored to float the bonds, but they were not properly ballasted and re- fused to float. In the meantime the mines have changed hands repeatedly, the present owners being Thomas Doak and sons. Mir. DOak is a mining engi- neer of considerable celebrity. A care ful examination of the property has convinced him of its value. He has also an option on the Shotwell and the New Ajo properties. These are all To- cated in the Ajo Basin, about 170 miles | of Yuma and about 120 miles | southwest of Tucson. The basin proper is a depression in the volcanic hills | of a mile wide by about | twice as long. The ShOtwell property i an outlay of probably S10, ,O00. Considerable development work has been done on the claim. It has a ten stamp mill and couple of Woodbury | tables. These will be used by the present owners to thor oughly test all the properties under | their control. If the results are as an- ticipated extensive reduction works will then be put in place Mir. Doak and one son were at the Gandolfo dur ing the early part of last week.
 Captain DOak crossed the plains with 1 Major Russell in 1857. On the outbreak of the civil war he returned to Missou- ri and raised company for the gov ernment service, but being unable to obtain arms for them he offered his services to the First Nebraska and was accepted. He served with that regi- ment during the war.