The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1906-03-01

Longfellow, which will require some
heavy work to be done. There will
be one tunnel 500 feet in length, and
considerable amount of other
heavy rock work.
The Detroit Copper company have
recently had two surveys run from
their pump house on the Frisco to
the Shannon smelter, which would in
dictate that they will soon have trains
operating over the proposed line,
which will convey their ores from
Metcalf to Morenci without trans
fering at Guthrie and Clifton as is now
being done. This would also save them
the local freight rate from Clifton to
Guthrie. The D. G. company are now
mining extensively in the Metcalf
country, and will soon be shipping
extensively from their new mines in
that section. They also receive the
Standard ores at the Standard bins
on Chase creek, which adds materi-
ally to their tonnage and also to the
cost of transferring at Guthrie. They
are also running lines from the near
est point of the Morenci Southern
railroads to Chase creek, which
doubtless means that they contem-
plate extending their line to their
mines at Metcalf.
Work is progressing steadily on the
grade for the Pinch road from the
New England mines to Clifton, and
will soon be completed. This road
will bring down the ores from the
district along the Frisco river to the
Clifton smelters, and will greatly en-
courage mining in that section, which
has been comparatively quiet for the
past two years.
''The new gold fields" which is the
term usually applied to the holdings
of the Gold Belt Development COM
pany is misnomer, and is also very
misleading. AS matter of fact
gold was first discovered in that sec
ton so long ago that the exact date
cannot now be positively ascertained.
They should be designated as the "Old
Goldields," rather than the "New."
Hundreds of men found employment
there in washing gold from alluvial
deposits and also in quartz mining
long before copper mining was &C
lively commenced. Even today can
be found the remains of many arras-
tras along Gold and Bonanza gulCnes,
which were the scenes of great
activity during the olden, golden
days of the camp. This also applies
to the gold belt of the Greenlee dis
trict, including Chase creek and the
| San Francisco river, where much
gold was produced in those early
days: The question naturally pre-
sents itself: If gold mining paid
at that time why was it abandoned
for so many years? This question is
we'll put and is worthy of serious con-
sideration, but after all it is of no
great Importance, for the same con-
ditions existed in hundreds of other
camps which are heavy producers at
the present time. At that time,
before the advent of railroads, it
was expensive mining in this coun-
try, and besides, the methods of re-
ducing ore were of the most prima-
tive order. Mines that would not
pay then might be bonanzas now.
The average gold miner is like the
wandering Jew, ever shifting and
changing. An intimation of new
Eldorado in some remote section has
depopulated many camps. And then
the copper excitement had much to
do with the downfall of gold mining.
Copper claims would sell, while gold
claims would not. The prospectors
soon got "the copper eye" and could
see nothing else. However, the
whirligig of time has brought many
changes to the camp, and gold is
again in public favor. A number of
gold mines are now being developed
and many gold strikes made, and
from present indications gold boom
is now on, and those who get in early
will reap the harvest.