El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-08-07
MINING NEWS
Ell Paso Men Interested in
District that Once Was
Famous as Producer.
(By L. H. Davts.)

present high price Of copper has re-
vived another dormant mining camp
near Fl PaSo is graphically illustrated
IN the case of the famous told copper
camp called Johnson, which is in the
central portion of the wonderful min
eral county of COchise, Arizona, 23O
miles west of Ell PasO, over the South
ern Pacific railroad, and eight miles
west of the railroad station Of Cochise.
This camp covers an area Of three
miles long from northwest to south
east, by q mile wide east and west, on
the eastern slope of the little Dragon
mountains
Up to three or four years ago, John
son was a flOurishing copper camp
with large mining population, in
augurated several years ago during the
high price of copper, and was q con-
slant shipper of high grade copper
ores. According TO the records, the
camp had up to that time produced
over two million dollars worth OF the
red metal. The following mining
companies were operating up to three
and four years ago in the camp:
Bonanza Belt Copper company, owner
of the Peabody mine. the bonanza OF
the camp, H. c. Clifford, manager;
Black Prince company, Robert n. Bell
of Denver, manager, and Newton
Baggs, superintendent; Peacock Copper
company, Ben " Williams, manager;
the Arizona Copper Shipping company,
J. D. Elliott, manager and c. +. Elliott
of Ell PaSo, secretary; Arizona and
Michigan company, A G. Pigeon, Ben
son, manager; the United Mines COM
pany, Alfred 5. Miller of Philadelphia,
manager and ". Robinson of Johnson,
superintendent; Keystone Copper COM
pany, Thomas Larkin, johnson, man
ager; st. George mining company, Nath
an Leopold, Chicago, manager; COchlSe
Development company, Kirk Hart,
Tucson, manager; Magazine company,
H. G.. Clifford Of FL Paso, owner and
manager; Johnson Copper Development
company, +. H Mitchell, Johnson,
manager; the Sims Mountain Copper
company, Edward Ball, Johnson, man
ager; Centurion company, n. A. Rich
ardson, Johnson, manager; and the
Empire Copper company, Seth Merrill,
of Johnson, manager.
SmeIter Erected In 1909.
A 125 ton shelter was erected in
1903 by the United Mines company at
Johnson and there was great expecta-
lions over the bright outlook OF the
little copper camp in the Dragons.
Every one there claimed it would rival
Bisbee. But the boom suddenly col
lapsed and soon it went to sleep. The
price Of copper was the chief cause OF
the sudden cessation The camp mas
remained comparatively quiet until
this year.
New Boom starts.
Old Johnson is great copper camp
with real merits and so nOtwithstand-
ing the frowns of pessimists and
knockers only awaited its time, and
now like several other southwestern
mining camps that have been idle for
several years, it has suddenly revived
and is beginning q permanent career
as a producing camp.
The real leader in the new boom
of Johnson camp is the Peabody mine,
Of the Bonanza Belt Copper company,
owned by New Workers. The real in
aUgurators of this boom are judge Leo
Charles Dessar, the New York Jurist
and author, and Tom 3. johnson, the
FL Paso assayer. 1t came about as
follows:
Last winter Judge Dessar came to
FL Paso to attend to some business,
resulting in his selling his lands near
Fort Bliss known as the Federal Cop
per Smelling ground, for the sum OF
500 000. He had little by little bought
out the other interests OF his associates
in the stock in the Bonanza Belt cop
per company and determined 10 co
something with the old Peabody mines.
He was a lawyer, not a miner, but
like many other lawyers concluded he
could operate a mine If there was any
thing in it. and so determined to try
it. He said Copper is high again
and all the old copper mines in Ari-
iona are paying, and now, if ever, IS
my time TO work my mine" He had
got the opinion of a few experts on
the property some time before TINS
and none OF them gave him much en-
cOuEdSGDGul In6y Salu, your A4N4A
ore bodies have ali been mined and
the ore is gone and you will have 10
spend several thousand dollars in sink
ing down to see If there are any other
commercial bodies Of copper ore below
the zone of OxidizatiOn and leaching.
That they said would probably be at
the ground water level, several nun
dred feet deep, and that the ores would
change to suiphides if any were to be
found. Some of them estimated it
M cTfnF
this.
Had Heard of johnson.
Now Dessar had heard about Tom
Johnson's connection with the early
history of the Peabody mine, who
had been employed by JackOck and
George Fitzgerald to go there and sam
pie il while a deal for its purchase
was pending some Is years ago, when
J. W. Vein was its lessee. Johnson
then and there advised them to buy the
mine and predicted that if properly de-
yeloped it would produce at least
hundred thousand dollars. Dessar re-
allied that Johnson's prediction was
not only proved true, but that sub
seQuert tc the purchase, while the mine
was operated by the new purchaser,
the Dragon mining company, under
the management of superintendent II.
G. Clifford Of r. PasO, it had produced
i great deal mere
The records show that from August
%, 1899 up to July 20 1901, there was
shipped from the Peabody mine to the
SHELTERS at Douglas and FL Paso 29,-
SIS tons of ore of the value Of SASS, $40;
and during the remainder of 1901,
there were 4442 tons more shipped,
netting S35.674. In 1902 when copper
had fallen to II cents pound, the
mine. was worked only four months,
but there were shipped 1874 tons, net
ting S21, 1872. Then the mine was closed
Down till 1906 and then operated only
14g days. yielding 1857 tons that net
ted S29,14O. II 1906 it was sold to the
present owners. the Bonanza Belt Cop
per company which operated it three
m.-Iiths, stdI IiBe 1e2l toiIs X hich net
ted $4,000 after which it has been
closed dcwn till nov.
Goes After johnson.
It will be seen that Tom JohnsOn's
judgment was verified and that since
the time he last saw it, Is years ago,
it has produced 1852 tons Of ore
that has netted according to smelter
returns a total of 1865, 800. So Dessar
concluded to look up Johnson and get
him to go and look at the mine and
get his opinion on its future again.
Meeting him in the lobby of the Shell
don hotel, Dessar told him what the
other experts had said and employed
him to go to the mine. Johnson went
there, accompanied by his Mexicna
foreman from Ahumada.
They looked it carefully over. They
saw that the old workings had passed
down through the surface ore zones