Mohave County miner. [volume] (Mineral Park, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1882-1918, 1906-04-21
Wallapai Mountains.
One of the Richly Mineralized
Sections of the County.
A Section Ideal fer Economic Mining and
Ribbed with Immense Veins.

Fifteen miles to the east OF hlngman
lies the main range of the Wallapai
mountains, one of the richie It of the
mineral bearing section of the county.
The first discoveries of mineral in this
range was made in 1852 by Lieutenant
HUMPHREYS and party of surveyors,
who were establishing a route for a
railroad along the 35th parallel. In
this party were biologists and mineral
ogists who predicted great things for
this range of mountains, which they
named the Cerbats. Along the east
base of the mountain they found lead,
silver and copper ores. The party
depressed from the established parallel
and passed down the Big Sandy to its
confluence with the Bill Williams
Fork of the Colorado, which was then
known as the Ha-will-a-lnook. Here
they found copper ores in abundance,
float rock from the big veins covering
a large extent of country. Details
were sent out into the mountains and
in the report of Lieutenant HUMPHREYS
to the war department, gives an en-
thusiastic and accurate description of
the great outcrops of mineral and the
vast possibilities of that region.
In the fall of 1864, after the separa-
tion of the territory of Arizona from
New Mexico, a party under the guild
ance of John Moss, locator of the ia
nous Moss Mine, of this county, was
organized in San Francisco and came
to this county. They prospected
through the Union Pass and what is
now known as the Cerbat ranges and
finally passed on to the high peaks of
the Wallapais, that range having been
renamed after the Indian tribe inhab-
iting this region. The party was COM
posed of Howard B. Colt, caller for
many years on the San Francisco ex-
change, Lieutenant Evans of the Cali
fornia volunteer, and others. The
party located the mines known for
many years as the Pride of the Pines
and the Florence, and named the dis
trict the Wauba-Y Yuma. This district
covered the whole mountain range
from Wallapai Springs, on the north,
to the southern extremity, near Sig
nal. Within a few months of the dis
covery of the mines the party were
forced from the mountains by the
Wallapai Indians, who were then on
the warpath. In 1866 some of this
party returned to the mines, but were
again driven out by the hostile In
dians. Not until 1870 did the Indians
allow the whites to mine nor prospect
in the county, but killed off every i'm
migrant that showed up. During the !
early seventies the whites in numbers
that overawed the savages made their |
appearance in and around Mineral |
Park and Cerbat and later branched |
out into the Wallapais. In 1870 Lieu
tenant Wheeler was sent into this |
county by the government to survey
and lay out the boundary of the mill |
tary reservation at Fort Mohave and |
in the following year was detailed to |
make reconnaissance through north |
western Arizona, Utah and Nevada. |
for the purpose of getting data of the |
mineral resources of this section. In |
the fall of 1871 he camped in the big |
canyon on the east side of Wallapai |
mountain, which canyon is now known |
as Wheeler's Wash. Wheeler's camp |
was known by the name of Bottle |
Camp for years. With Wheeler came |
his brother, Major Wheeler, and a
party of prospectOrs, who had been |
outftted in San Francisco by a COM
pany of capitalists composed of F. L.
A. Phoebe, Isaac Friedlander, A. J. |
Bowie, F. r. Simonton. Frank Soule. |
and others. A house was built under |
the Pines and the men scattered out |
in search of the rich mineral veins in |
the surrounding hills. The first act of |
the party was to establish a mining |
district and adopt rules and regula-
tions covering the locations and hold |
ing of mining claims. The name
adopted for the district was Maynard.
Francis Klett was elected the first re-
corder of the district. Among the
party and who are known to many of
the old timers of the county were E.