Arizona republican., 1918-09-01

prospectors and the savages are still being found in the bluffs and canyons of the district.
 Only a short time ago, a goat herder discovered the remains of an old Mexi- can saddle, a bayonet and a few bones of a man, under the shelter of an over hanging cliff where the poor fellow had,
 with his back to the bluff, probably
 made his last stand and fought his enemies hand to hand with the bayonet
 In 1882. w. B. McBride, who had but
 recently left the government service as army scout. and a party of friends;
 passed over the top of Turnbull moun-
 tain on their way to old Fort Bowie, and was attracted by the, fine showings i of copper which he saw on this trip | and it is from him that the writer has 1 obtained a great deal of the early | history of this district.
 In 1893 he returned to this section
 and discovered what was afterward the | Spannazuma mines at BlackroclS. which | is one of the foot hills of the south side
 of the mountain and in plain sight of 1 the present development work.
 The Spannazuma mine was a gold proposition, and for a couple of years
 caused all kinds of excitement in the | Turnbull section, only to eventually
 play out. owing it is said. to the mis-
 management of the company and not
 to any fault of the mine, which is now
 held by local parties.
 Among the early pioneers who mined
 and packed ore from the Turnbull dis
 trict, was Doc Evans, who was finally
 chased out of the country by the In | dians, but who packed out many burro 1 loads of the rich sulphides before he
 was forced to quit
 Jimmie Hinton was another early
 prospector as well as cattle man, who
 worked the rich ore of Turnbull noun
 tain, and unlike Doc Evans, he married
 an Apache woman and was therefore
 not molested by the Indians and many
 tales are told of the discoveries of rich
 ores, both gold and copper, which this
 old pioneer is said to have made. but
 which, unfortunately. are nearly all
 on what is now the San Carlos Apache | reservation
 During the excitement caused by the
 Spannazuma mines, many prospectors
 haunted the sides of rocky old Turn
 bull, whose available mining lands had
 been lately cut in two by the govern
 ment and the north half set apart for
 the Indians, as part of the San Carlos
 reservation; among the most notable
 being man by the name of Allbritton
 who filed on what is now called the
 Copper Point group of claims Allbrit-
 ton built wagon road from Geronimo
 to his claims and drove a tunnel about
 Z50 feet into the mountain, and higher
 up he sunk an incline shaft that con-
 nected with the tunnel, taking out quite lot of fine ore, which he shipped
 out
 In 1897 he bonded the claims fol
 Sl0,OO0 to company, who placed John owens in charge of operations, but owing to the slump in copper, a little
 later, the mine was abandoned and the works fell into decay
 While Allbritton was working the Copper Point, two Mexicans were de- Veloplng the ore bodies still farther west
 ana many of the numerous tunnel!
 Whlch show the vast extent of the ore
 or this section, are silent testimonials or thelr energy and perseverance,, but with the slump of copper, these two also folded their tents and departed dlsdmn1ng for the future any ore that cid not show a suitable amount of the metal which sets the standard for the money of the world
 For many years after this the soun( Of the pick was lacking in the regior
 overlooked by the massive peaks O ! old Turnbull, and the cowboy and goa herder were the only ones left to view the vast expenditure of labor and tn, relics of wasted energy
 About 14 years ago, D. W. Mitchell
 an old prospector and mining man, be.
 came impressed with the country or
 the extreme west end of the mountain
 and began a systematic search for tht hldden veins. With tireless energ7
 ana patient perseverance, he has stayed With his idea that some day the bes mine In the state would be developed
 on Turnbull mountain, and indeed, tn,
 samples of ore that he has displayed would seem to lead to that opinion. Iline and again has he located claims dug into the rock, followed the lead ana abandoned those that in his judg ment promised small returns for hi labor, only in the end to select a buncl or claims, which his experience as miner and his actual labor has showl him to be the continuation of the many veins and leads that cover his end O the mountain, and which he is certain contain the mother lode of the valuable ore.
 Of these claims, eight are bein, worked for their copper contents ant and eight contain Barium suIphat are well located for both wood and wa ter
 On his copper claims, MT. Mitchel mas TOO foot tunnel and a 125 foo shaft, besides a number of open cut and other workings. His assays shoy rom one to 26 per cent copper. On the Barium claims, he has on 100 foot tunnel and other working which show Barium assaying from 9 E to 95 per cent. The mineral is used i making paints, refining sugar and oth CT chemical purposes.
 With the downfall of the Spannazu ma mines, Mcbride with the rest of tn prospcctors. left for other parts and fo d many years resided in old Mexico. bu with the return of prosperity to tn 3 copper industry, came a renewed in terest in the leads of Turnbull noun
 tain, and in 1912 he returned to tn district and in connection with Be Windham, relocated the old Allbritto workings on Copper Point and hs since then located and sold variol other claims in the district, the Ia.
 having been the transfer of the Cor
 per Point and other holdings of he an Windham to the Mount Turnbull Cor \ per company, new company which ha I recently formed to exploit these an \ other claims in this section.
 Among the latter arrivals on tf mountain was F. A. Brockman, an age miner, who came here some two year ago from Oklahoma and Colorado an on account of his age and the roug \ lace Of the mountain, contented hin \ self with the showings of the lower hil \ on the east side of the high peak While not carrying the rich ores of tt higher claims, his holdings show ever indication of being valuable as 8 To grade prOpOSitiOn Tn facf eypariopo oe