b'SILVER BOOM IN THE BRADSHAWSBy Bill Roberts Reprinted from The TravelerT HE MOUNTAINS NOW CALLED THE BRADSHAWS to theJoseph and the Walker Partysoutheast of Prescott gained attention when the famed nevada-outback-gems.com / Inset: Mathew BradyWalker Party discovered gold in the headwaters of the Hassayampa in 1862-63, months before Arizona Territory was established. Old mountain man Joseph Reddeford Walkerhad guided his party of fifty-two men into the wildernessof the Yavapai near what was to become Prescott.The party had come from Colorado by way of Santa Fe, thendiscovered a very rich galena deposit. Whenwives did not frequent in those days. May Bean south to the Gila and west to what would become ArizonaDan pulled into Prescott with a wagon load ofsomehow managed to get the totally smashed Cole Territory. Camping on Lynx Creek, the Agua Fria River,galena ore from his Tiger Mine, it reportedlyto sign over his interest in the Peck Mine to her. and Big Bug Creek, the party discovered gold in small butassayed at more than $1,600 per ton, withWhen he sobered up, Cole wanted his shares in workable amounts. some reaching $11,000 per ton. the mine back. May refused. Cole sued and won before Judge French. Bean appealed and the first of many GOLD! GOLD! It was near the Tiger that Bradshaw City was built, a loglegal battles were on.Word spread rapidly of the Walker partys discoveriescabin and tent mining camp that became one of the largest into the depleted gold camps of California and Colorado.towns in the territory in the early 1870s. It is said to have hadMeantime, the town of Alexandra sprang up near the mine. Pioneer Bill Kirkland heard of it in Agua Caliente on the5,000 residents at its peak, but by 1880 the Tigers fortunesNamed after T.M. Alexander, the town was mostly his trail from the Old Pueblo at Tucson to Yuma. Charles B.had waned and Bradshaw City became a ghost town. doing. It soon claimed 500 residents. Yavapai County spent Genung heard of it in Los Angeles. Numerous miners$35,000 to build a road between Prescott and Alexandra, working claims at La Paz on the Colorado River gotIn 1875, Ed Peck was a veteran of Arizona Territory. Hedhoping to increase production at the booming mine and the word. Among these were Abraham Peeples and oldbeen around since 1863 when he followed the tracks of theraise more revenue for the county.mountain man and guide Pauline Weaver. Peeples organizedWalker party into the wilderness. Fortune had eluded Peck a party with Weaver as their guide and followed the Walkerin the 1860s and early 70s. He had worked as a scout for aEd Peck was tired of the legal battles between Cole and Bean. partys tracks toward the Hassayampa. while at Fort Whipple when it was still under construction,Peck decided to incorporate the mine in California so he then took what work he could find to survive. Having hit acould sell shares in San Francisco. In 1878, Cole died, without The Peeples party discovered gold on Antelope Peak nearnew low in his fortunes since entering the territory, he setleaving heirs. Because of Judge Frenchs ruling, Cole still held todays Yarnell and at Rich Hill three miles away. The Richout with C.C. Bean, William Cole, and T.M. Alexander onhis shares despite Beans appeal, which was yet to be heard. Hill deposits were the richest placer strike ever madea prospecting trip into the Bradshaws. The four prospectorsNow, with his death, Coles shares were up for grabs.in Arizona. Within months, hundreds of miners werewere seeking a strike similar to those of the Del Pasco and invading the land of the Yavapai, setting up camp along thethe Tiger. LAWYERS MINE RICHESHassayampa and numerous other Bradshaw streams runningMore legal wrangling ensued made more complicated as far south as Rich Hill and the Vulture near Wickenburg. ED PECK & ALEXANDRA by Pecks incorporation both in California and Arizona Peck and his group camped at the head of War Eagle Creek,Territory. Bean sold his interest in the mine to California None of these place names were in existence then. Goldnortheast of the Tiger. Pike hiked over a nearby ridge andinvestors in 1878. They then assumed the direction of the was the lure into the rugged Bradshaws and the mountainsdown into a deep canyon to bag a deer for the camp. Instead,mine. Peck sued, but he lost both his suit and any say in the to the south. It lured a steady flow of miners into the landshe spotted a huge outcropping of horn silver tucked undermines operation. The loss sent Peck back into the mountain of the Yavapai and the Apache, among them William anda rock slab that rose 50 feet above the vein. The group brokeprospecting. He died in 1910 without finding another strike.Isaac Bradshaw. Prospecting in the mountains that nowcamp on War Eagle Creek and moved into the canyon, now bear their name, the Bradshaw brothers found the placeknown as Peck Canyon. They worked the find vigorouslyThe California investors continued to pile up debts on the already crowded with miners. They also found the Indians,for two weeks, then loaded select ore onto pack animals andmine as the shaft went to 450 feet and the silver flowed from particularly the Apache, were very resentful of the intrusiontook it into Prescott. There, A.T. Rosenthall assayed the ore atthe smelter. Some $2,000,000 in profits from the discovery of the miners into their lands. $6,000 to $7,000 per ton. The Peck discovery was richer thanmade by Peck in 1875 had been mostly squandered on the Tiger find four years earlier. It was the biggest silver strikelawyers and endless court battles in Arizona Territory and The Bradshaw brothers did strike gold. But they determinedever in the new territory.California. Pecks silver bonanza had turned into a legal the danger from Indians and the difficulty in getting any orebonanza, with some 33 lawsuits eating up the wealth the mined out of the mountains were too great an obstacle toBy August of 1875, C.C. Bean had packed in 17 loads ofPeck party should have realized from the discovery.overcome. The brothers abandoned their claim and left theore on one pack train to Prescott. Rosenthall bought it all area. Others, including a few members of the Walker party,paying a reported $13,000 per ton. Bean knew the ore wasBOOM TOWN IN A CANYONwere determined to stay. The experience of the Bradshawworth more than that, but the partners needed money toAlexandra did better. It reached a peak of nearly 100 brothers had caused interest in the mountains now bearingreinvest in equipment to up production at the mine. Abuildings, two hotels, a butcher shop, a brewery, a whiskey their name to wane among many miners. cross-cut was made, showing the galena vein to be rich anddistillery, and several restaurants. A young mining engineer extensive. By winter the Peck mine shaft was 105 feet intowho visited Alexandra in its peak of 1877 was startled to see SILVER! SILVER! the mountain and the vein was still running extremely rich.everyone carrying a big revolver and are ready to shoot on In 1869, that interest was quickly revived when Jacksonthe slightest provocation. He only remained in Alexandra McCrackin discovered a galena (silver) deposit in a canyonA stamp mill was leased from Robert Groom in 1876 ona few days. During that time he saw one murder and almost deep in the Bradshaw Mountains. McCrackin named theGroom Creek to crush the ore before freighting it out of thewitnessed a second.mine Del Pasco. It became the first producing silver mine inmountains. In 1877, a mill and smelter were built in Peck the Bradshaws. McCrackin and his party decided that ratherCanyon, ending the need to ship the ore to San FranciscoStanding in Peck Canyon today, it is hard to realize the than pack the raw ore out of the mountains, they wouldfor smelting. The partners had indeed hit it rich, but thebooming town of Alexandra that flourished there for pack in a stamp mill and crush the ore at the mine site.riches were bringing stress to the group. a few years on the $2,000,000 galena vein Ed Peck had While it was big news, the Del Pasco was a small producer. discovered. The Peck Mining District, which was formed HANKY-PANKY by Peck shortly after the discovery, had by the time of his It was two years later, in 1871, that the real richness ofIn the spring of 1876, Cole felt he had sufficient riches todeath produced $5 million in ore from major and minor galena deposits in the Bradshaws became apparent. Notgo to Whiskey Row and celebrate. He did and mysteriouslydiscoveries of high and low-grade ore in the vicinity of the far to the southwest of the Del Pasco, Dan Moreland hadran into the wife of C.C. Bean on the row, a place wherePeck Mine.30 July 2022'