Desert Messenger

10 www.DesertMessenger.com September 7, 2016 Company housing, a stone jail & whiskey ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS ™ www.RocksInMyHead.com Traveling along Hwy 191, from Saf- ford to Clifton and Morenci, the road stretches endlessly past tower- ing Rhyolite dikes, and up into the Slaughter Mountains, home of the most beautiful Fire Agate in all of Ar- izona. The road gets steep and curvy as it heads up over the pass. At the peak, a breathtaking panorama of desert, canyons, and mountains un- folds in every direction as far as the eye can see. In the distance to the north, the multi-colored, copper-lad- en terraces of Morenci peer out from a gap between two closer and more diminutive peaks in the foothills of the Gila Range. Nestled deep in the Gila Mountains, in a remote area of southeastern Ari- zona, are the sister mining towns of Morenci and Clifton. Though sepa- rated by only a few short miles, these two towns are as different as night and day. Morenci is a bustling modern mining town, precariously straddling the top of a central peak dominated on three sides by an enormous open pit copper mine owned and operated by Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold. This is a company town with cute look-alike company houses, company stores, a company hotel, a company restaurant and a few non-company or second generation owned businesses, like a Starbucks. In Morenci, if you lose your job at the mine, you also lose your home and your city. Looking more like an alien landscape than an earthly one, the Morenci Mine is North America's largest pro- ducer of copper, with over 900 mil- lion pounds of copper each year to its credit. Besides copper, Morenci is historically known for its exqui- site gem silica chrysocolla, which was quite possibly the highest qual- ity and most beautiful chrysocolla in the world. Sadly, however, since large scale modern operations began in the 1980s, no more gem silica has been recovered from the Morenci mine. By stark contrast, Clifton is a quiet little town steeped in history, old buildings, mine ruins, and interesting stories. Around 1860, Henry Clifton of Prescott was one of the first gold prospectors to arrive in the lush can- yon at the confluence of Chase Creek and the San Francisco River. Though the mountains didn't yield much gold, it was soon discovered that the true wealth of the area was copper. The earliest discovery of copper was in the late 1860's. The Longfellow Mining Company was formed in 1874, and in 1875 the original mining camp of Metcalfe was established just north of present day Morenci. That same year the smelter in Clifton was completed, and in 1879 the narrow gauge Coro- nado Railroad was built in the steep cliffs and down into the valley along the river, linking the Longfellow Mine to the Clifton smelter. Squeezed between a cliff and the riv- er, the historic business district, also called Chase Creek, boasts a narrow main street lined with high sidewalks and impressive brick and stone build- ings whose dates range from 1890 to 1910. The remains of the enormous smelter high up on the cliff over- shadow the boarding houses, banks, stores, and saloons in the street be- low. A modern Circle K now stands at the base of the smelter, where an old gas station and railcar dock used to be. The narrow winding street fol- lows the contours of the river and the railroad. Houses and old miners cab- ins are perched precariously on the cliffs along the canyon, propped up by stone retaining walls. At the con- fluence, where the canyon opens up, quaint cottages and impressive stone buildings spread out on both side of the railroad tracks. The historic train station, built in 1913, is a hub of activ- ity with modern day trains, while an old narrow gauge engine rests across the road, at the base of a cliff, mark- ing the edge of the Chase Creek his- toric district. But by far, one of the most interest- ing and unique characteristics of Clif- ton is its stone jail hewn out of a solid rock cliff. As is typical of Wild West Mining towns, Clifton had its share of drunks, disorderlies, and outlaws. Prior to the construction of the jail, Clifton's criminals were sentenced to work in the mines by day, and housed in an adobe building at night. The mines were easy to escape from and the adobe building was easy to tunnel under or through, so many of Clifton's prisoners escaped and disappeared into the mountains or the dense veg- etation along the river. To solve the problem, two of the town leaders commissioned an escape-proof jail to be built out of solid rock. The job of constructing the jail was given to a hard rock miner and stone mason named Margarito Verala. Verala built the jail by hand using a pick, a drill and blasting powder. Evenutally, the two room jail had one large room that measured 8 feet wide by 20 feet long, and a smaller room that measured about 8 by 8. Two win- dows about 1 foot square were hewn out of the rock 10 feet above the floor and fitted with thick iron bars. The Cliff Jail, as it became known, housed criminals from the entire region, in- cluding gunfighters from Morenci. But the most famous inmate of all was Verala himself, who became the first inmate of the Cliff Jail. Town tra- dition says that upon completion of the jail, Verala took his pay and head- ed to Hovey's Dance Hall on Main Street, where he celebrated with his favorite drink, Snakehead Whiskey. After a little bit of celebrating, Verala loudly proposed a toast to himself and his accomplishment. When none of the other patrons were impressed, Verala pulled his sidearm and fired shots up into the ceiling to make his point. Unfortunately, the proprietor of the Dance Hall also happened to be the deputy sheriff. He also was not impressed and he promptly arrested Verala and threw him into the jail he had just completed. As you plan your route back to Quartzsite for the season, consider visiting here. Both Clifton and Moren- ci can be visited in the same day. You will spend the majority of your time exploring Clifton, but a short drive to Morenci will offer spectacular views of the mine and the mountains of tailings. There is an overlook avail- able which affords good views of the mine workings below. There is no access to the mine, but a drive up to the top of the mountain to one of the company housing residential sections will provide good vantage points into other parts of the mine, as well as an experience of the neighborhood. To head back to Safford, one can take the same route back, or for a more remote experience, the Black Hills Backcoun- try Byway, which follows the original stagecoach route through the moun- tains. Allow at least two extra hours travel time if you choose that route. Better yet, save that trip for another day, and plan to spend some time col- lecting Fire Agate and exploring the Gila Box Riparian National Conserva- tion Area. RocksInMyHead will be open in Quartzsite in November. Lots of changes are taking place, so be sure to follow us on Facebook. You can also view our Photo Journal of Clif- ton and Morenci on our FB page. And, as always, you can order on- line at RocksInMyHead.com, by phone at 605-376-8754, or by email at Jenn@RocksInMyHead.com. We have some amazing Fire Agate from this area available for sale.. Happy Travels and see ya in the fall!

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