Desert Messenger

16 www.DesertMessenger.com February 4, 2015 Local Resident • FREE Estimates Larry - Cell 928-273-3719 DAY NIGHT SHADES REPAIRED GUARANTEED WORK! Factory Parts! Factory Chords! SEE BUCK PAGE 17 Excerpts from "In the Shadow of Saguaros" by Rosalee Oldham Wheeler "In the Shadow of Saguaros" Vol. I & II are now available exclusively at the Tyson's Well Museum and Reader's Oasis Book Store Voices from The Past in Quartzsite, AZ According to fellow prospectors in the New Water Mountains (southeast of Quartzsite) in the Plomosa Mining District of Yuma County (now La Paz), in July in 1900 William Buck had struck out for Dripping Springs, about nine miles from his camp in search of his burros. William Buck, also known as Frederick Buck, M. Frederick Buck, and "Hermit" Buck was mostly that, a hermit. A quiet, private man of 72 years spoke with an Irish accent and had a great fondness for the many burros that gathered near his gold mine claim high up in the New Waters not far from the highest peak, Black Mesa at 3,639-feet. Even in July, Mr. Buck's camp was one of the coolest in the mountains, especially when the preva- lent breezes wafted by. The need for water, always a precious commodity in the desert especially in 1900 which was in the third year of a severe drought that would ultimately last well into 1904, and his affection for his burros who themselves had gone for water at the always dependable Dripping Springs, may have been Mr. Buck's undoing. According to the Arizona Republican newspaper, "He never returned, nor was he seen again in the fl esh, and in all human probability the old man's re- mains have served as food for prowling varmints while his bones are bleaching on the desert." For twenty-fi ve years Mr. Buck's oc- cupation as a placer miner in the peace- ful New Water Mountains gave him the solitude he sought. His knowledge, hard work, along with the investment by Quartzsite stage operator Mike Welz and J. W. Brown brought considerable success from his Gold Leaf Mine allow- ing him to live in easy circumstance, if he so desired. But ease and money was not his desire, instead he quietly ex- changed his share of the gold for cash which he deposited in Phoenix and Los Angeles banks along with several gold nuggets he kept in a Yuma safe. Word went out among "Hermit" Buck's fellow prospectors to keep an eye out for him in the New Water and Plomosa wildernesses, but by mid-Au- gust the worst was suspected when a reporter for the Arizona Republican wrote, "Now, his earthly companions and helpmates are anyone's who wills, his home in the great beyond, while the bones of another prospector add one to the ghastly dots which indicate the per- ils that attend the life of those who seek the riches of the desert." On August 8, 1900, in the Probate Court of the County of Yuma, Territory of Arizona, Judge J. H. Godfrey wrote, "In the matter of the Estate of M. Fred- erick Buck, deceased…Notice upon fi l- Frederick William Buck Hermit Prospector Lost on Desert ing the petition of one L. F. Bradshaw, showing that one Frederick Buck died intestate on or about the 23rd day of July, 1900,… possessed of property con- sisting of an undivided one-sixth inter- est in the Gold Leaf mining claim,…and that L. F. Bradshaw be appointed ad- ministrator of said estate." It was fur- ther ordered that, "…on the 20th day of August, 1900, the petition will be heard, that any person interested may appear and show cause, if any there be, why said petition should not be granted." After Mr. Bradshaw was appointed administrator, one Patrick Fitzgerald arrived in Yuma and made the follow- ing statement to a representative of the Arizona Sentinel newspaper: "I have known Mr. Buck intimately for over twenty-three years, during which time I spent a part of my time nearly every year with the old man out at his camp, the last visit to him being early last spring when I tried to persuade him to abandon his lonesome life, knowing that he had ample means to live in com- fort. He demurred to this, saying that he had led a hermit life so long that he dreaded making a change. "During our acquaintance, Mr. Buck talked quite freely of his affairs. "He told me that more than twenty-fi ve years ago he was living with his family on a ranch, south of Sacramento, Cal., but that he and his wife could not live together amicably, so one day he told her that since their continual discord was unpleasant to both, he proposed to remedy the matter by leaving the coun- try, and leave her in peaceful possession of their home. "Mr. Buck acted upon this resolu- tion and drifted into the interior. He has been in this section of Arizona for over twenty-fi ve years, and has for a long time been known as 'Hermit Buck.' During all these years he and his wife had no direct communication with one another, but indirectly they kept com- GOLD, ~ SEMINARS DAILY ~ MANUFACTURER DEMONSTRATIONS ~ EQUIPMENT DEALERS ~ GOLD, JEWELRY, GEMS & MORE! SHOW FEB. 13, 14, 15, 2015 QUARTZSITE TREASURE & CRAFTS SPONSORED BY QIA NATURES NUGGESTS MINERS DEPOT ADMISSION: $5 (Kids 12 & Under FREE) FRIDAY & SATURDAY 9 to 4 SUNDAY 10 to 4 235 IRONWOOD ST. 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