b'THE OLD STORYTELLERThe Doctor and the Gold MineBy Hank Sheffer,The Old StorytellerS o often when researchinghouse just west of Phoenix. By September he left a particular person inPhoenix moving to Prescott. Within three months he our history we findtraveled up to Camp Verde where he lived for a year. ourselves guided by a major accomplishment or mark leftThere is much ado at this time about the Newlands on the land during that personsReclamation Act of 1902.It was then that Palmer time. Many times we get so caught up in that oneapplied for a position with the Bureau of Reclamation achievement that we miss a second or even a third markover at Roosevelt. He was appointed the posts physician of equal importance. For example, most people are awareand surgeon at the clinic there. Almost immediately of who William Breakenridge was. After a stint in theupon his arrival at Roosevelt, he became involved in his Army, he moved to Phoenix for about a year, after whichfirst encounter with the Superstition Mountains. And as he ventured south to bustling Tombstone town. Here heis normally the case, his introduction to the area was a served as a deputy sheriff under Cochise County Sheriffhumdinger. Heres what happenedorshould I say this Behan. This was the era when the infamous Gunfight atis how the story goes.the O.K. Corral took place.It is said that Billy was not particularly eager to use his guns; however, it was Turns out a group of Pima Indians refused to work on equally known that he was handy in their use. the road gang because their old chief, Ash Nash Ni, was With his not to be messed withafraid one of his wives was going reputation and skill as a lethalto die. Seems that the two women pistoleer, he became known as ahad been in a vicious fight overPalmer Mine Mapformidable lawman. something or other and one had a severe hatchet wound to her skull.assayed at 882 ounces of gold per ton. Several other But then in 1888, BreakenridgeLoyalty notwithstanding, the roadassays came in at 400 ounces or so per ton. This was a changed hats completely. Hegang would not go back to workgood sign until happenstance raised its ugly head. The took a job as a surveyor foruntil the wives were either allUnited States was forced into participating in that nasty Maricopa County. He was taskedbetter or, well, dead. To the rescue,WWI deal by 1917. That caused the mine to eventually with surveying the Salt River forDoc Palmer saves both of theshut down operations in August 1918 and remain closed potential dam sites. He examinedwives. With that Palmer and thefor the duration.several sites and ultimatelyold chief became hard fast friends. convinced the committee that Chief Ash Nash Ni explained thatDuring the war, a $5000 note had accrued and was owed a box canyon near the confluencehe was the guardian of the secretsagainst the corporation except for the annual assessment of Tonto Creek and the Saltof Ain-We-Gophon and furtherwork. (For those of you who dont know what assessment River would be the best locationthat his wives would soon givework means it refers to exploration activities that must for a dam. We now know thatbirth to a son and that these sonsbe done on a mining claim every year to maintain the Breakenridges call was the would become the protectors ofright to explore for minerals and keep a claim in good right oneRoosevelt Dam the secrets of the mountain andstanding.) Now is when we see Dr. Ralph Fleetwood proudly stands right where forever keep peace with the PimaPalmer come to the forefront. He buys the property Billy said it should. Earth Gods. at auction in 1926. Finally, he has a gold mine all to himself, or so it seemed.Its interesting to me how often weThis was Dr. Palmers first contact hear about one side of the man butRalph Fleetwood Palmer with the mysterious SuperstitionPalmer believed there was gold just below the 225-foot not the other. Mountains. Now the goodlevel. Whether or not it was there remained to be seen doctor probably wasnt all that sure about what he justbecause it was going to take money to get there! We see Such is the case of Ralph Fleetwood Palmer, the topicheard, but it was enough to bolster his intrigue with thethat our good doctor Robb Palmer is a patient man for this go-round. If ever there was an example of manSuperstition Mountains for the rest of his life. Now weto be sure. This instance proved that to be so one more being a product of his environment . . . Robb, as he wascan get on with our story about the Palmer Mine! time. He was forced to undertake the task of finding called, was it. (NoI couldnt find out how they gotfinancing to reach the elusive 225-foot mark. It took him Robb out of Ralph Fleetwood Palmer, either.) Palmers gold mine story begins with the discovery of a10 long years. deposit of copper back in 1886 by William A. Kimball. Dr. Ralph Fleetwood Palmer was born in 1875 inHe sank a shaft to the 75-foot level and managed to shipFinally, in 1937 Palmer and his 19 other investors Marquette, Michigan. He attended school, finallya considerable amount of the high-grade ore beforeformed a company called the Superstition Sage Mining winding up at the University of Michigan, where he1900.After 20 years of operation, the mine showed aCompany. During the next ten years, the investors sank graduated in 1898. From there he attended the Collegeglimmer of producing enough profit to do more thanthousands of their own money to reach the gold. They of Physicians and Surgeons at the University of Illinoisjust survive. Unfortunately, Kimball became ill anddug deeper and deeper and dug more drifts hunting for early in 1900. By December that same year, he was madepassed away in January of 1906. The mine was forced tothe elusive yellow metal. The drifts continued to prove a member of the house staff at Cook County Hospitalcloseit then just sat there for the next eleven years. there was gold to be had but not enough to write home in Chicago. This seems to be an internship as withinabout. But then in December of 1947, the operation two years he received his diploma. He wasted no timeAs 1917 rolled around a group of businessmen decidedcame to an abrupt halt. While setting charges at the moving to Arizona Territory. It must be stated that whileto acquire the old mine. Turns out Dr. Palmer wasbottom of that hole, happenstance once again raised its he had always aspired to the medical fields, one of thea member of that group who called themselves theugly head! Enestro Jacoeo, the fellow setting the charges, other aspirations young Palmer dreamed about wasBuckhorn-Boulder Mining Company.After muchwas killed in a freak explosion deep in the mine. Within being in the West and having his own gold mine! investigation, they decided to sink the shaft antwo years the mine was completely abandoned and additional 95 feet to the 120-foot level. In early 1918began to fill up with water. Eventually, from 1950-1962 1902 proved to be a busy year for Palmer. When hea 35-foot drift was dug south of the shaft. That onethe shaft was used to supply water for Barkley Cattle arrived in the Arizona Territory he stayed in a halfwayparticular drift showed a single pocket of ore thatCompany livestock.8 October 2020'