Five

MINING AND LOGGING

Although Payson was predominantly a cow town from its beginning in 1882 to about 1965, both the mining and the timber industries played a significant roll in its early economy.

Soon after the subjugation of the Apaches in the Tonto Basin, soldiers returned home and told of the rich native grasses and the promising mineral outcroppings in the area. The lure of gold and silver drew prospectors and miners into the basin. These men were usually single, and most of them came with a partner for companionship and to watch their back. Many of the early miners prospered, and it was supposed that the Oxbow Hill Country south of Payson as well as the country west of Payson into the Mazatzals would become a major mining mecca. But while the country yielded considerable wealth in the form of minerals, it fell short of the glowing predictions of the early miners. Gold can easily be retrieved from a rich lens of quartz running 6 inches wide on top of the ground. Twenty feet into the ground it becomes a different matter, as the muck on both sides of the rich ore must be moved, as well as the ore. Even so, several mines in the area including the Oxbow, Zulu, Golden Wonder, and the Grand Prize provided wage-earning jobs, and many knowledgeable mining men and prospectors were able to scratch out enough gold to live independently.

The timber industry also arrived early in Payson. Joseph S. Gibson felled trees on the Burch Ranch and split them into shakes that he sold in the Salt River Valley. Money from this endeavor gave him a start in the freighting and ranching business. The first sawmill was set up in Payson by its founders William Burch and William McDonald in 1880.

Many years later, Henry Haught set up a sawmill on the Control Road near the Diamond Point turnoff. This mill provided the lumber for many Rim Country barns and homes over the years and also milled the lumber for Zane Grey’s cabin. In 1934, the Owens brothers began to mill lumber at their home then relocated the mill onto forestland in 1935. In 1951, the Owens mill was moved to Payson near the intersection of Main Street and Highway 87. The mill was sold to Kaibab Industries in 1958.

Several arrastras, first introduced to the New World by the Spanish in the 1500s, have been found in the Payson area. The word arrastra comes from the Spanish word arrastre, meaning to drag along the ground. When ore was quarried out of the hard-rock mines, the quartz had to be crushed to free the gold. The simplest form of the arrastra was a flat-bottomed drag stone placed in a circular, rock-lined pit and connected to a center post by a long arm. With a horse or mule providing power at the other end of the arm, the stone was dragged slowly around in a circle. Ore placed between the stone floor and drag stone was crushed into a coarse powder, after which water and quicksilver were added. The resulting slurry was then moved to troughs where the gold was recovered. (Courtesy NGCHS.)

Marysville, 1881, was located 3 miles west of Payson. Emer Chilson (right) started a store here to supply the miners and their families and named the place Marysville after his young daughter, Mary. About 100 people lived in Marysville in 1881, but due to an Apache scare, most of the people left. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Tony and Lennie Menges and Bert Belluzzi (right) worked the Tonto Pittsburg Mine for many years. The Tonto Pittsburg Mine, which was a copper mine, was located south of Payson on Tonto Creek, where Hardt Creek runs into it. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Wes Goswick was a lion hunter and a prospector. His lion hunting took him to the far reaches of the Tonto Basin and into country that even most prospectors might miss seeing. The big cats often climbed onto the cliffs and ledges of the mesas and high buttes to escape the hunting dogs, and it was in just such places that mineral-rich outcroppings were found. Goswick filed his first claim in 1886 and named it the Christmas Mine. He took considerable gold from this claim while he continued to prospect and support his family with his mining activities. Goswick moved to Roosevelt where he worked on the dam until the construction was finished. He later discovered and founded the Ord Mine with partners Bill Packard and Jess Henderson. He worked this mercury mine for several years until World War II, when it was no longer profitable. Goswick spent many of his remaining years living with his son-in-law, Alfred Packard, and his daughter, Belle. The two men hunted lion and continued prospecting until Goswick had a stroke in 1939. He passed away in May 1923. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Wesley Goswick, Bill Packard, and Jess Henderson located what would become the Ord Mine on the north slope of Mount Ord in 1925. This rich mercury mine is about 20 miles south of Payson. The mine was developed in 1926 by the Arizona Quicksilver Corporation, who also constructed an ore-processing mill with a rotary furnace. The company built a wagon road up Slate Creek to the site, where it constructed a small town that was known as Goswick Camp. The mining boom was short lived, and Goswick Camp was abandoned after the Ord Mine and mill shut down in 1932. In the following years, the mine reopened several times, and a new mill was constructed closer to Slate Creek. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

This is one of the old Lousy Gulch Claims about 1.5 miles southeast of Payson. This picture is representative of many of the old mines in the Oxbow Hill Country. Ben Cole, with his sons, Emer and Pink, worked some mining claims in the gulch during the 1880s. Each night, the miners would have to get rid of the lice in order to sleep; therefore, both the claims and the drainage there became known as “Lousy Gulch.” (Courtesy NGCHS.)

The Zulu Mine is located near the foot of Oxbow Hill, south of Payson. Bill Craig and Paul Vogel, who came to the Payson area in 1881, once owned this gold mine. While working the mine, they found one pocket of wire-gold ore and took out $7,000 worth of gold in a wheelbarrow. This gave them a start to found and stock the Spade Ranch, located on Webber Creek, north of Payson (now Camp Geronimo). (Peace-Pyle collection.)

This is a beautiful view of the rugged Mazatzal Mountains from the shaft at the 50-foot level of the Zulu Mine, located south of Payson on Oxbow Hill. The 40-mile-long Mazatzal Mountain Range is mineral rich and diggings from the early Spanish explorers can be found. Some were there long enough to build rock forts for protection from the marauding Apaches. The ore from the Zulu Mine was hauled to Globe to be milled until the 1940s. In the 1980s, modern equipment was brought in. The lighter-colored area in the picture above is where the topsoil was bladed to expose the gold ore. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Walter Trezise (1910–1986) worked as a miner and a cowboy. He and his father lived in western New Mexico a few years then moved to Gisela, Arizona, in 1922. They lived in Gisela and worked on different ranches. In 1943, Trezise married Bennie Cooper, and they lived at his Oxbow mining claim for 20 years then moved back to Gisela. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Walter Trezise bought his first mine in 1938 from H. J. Bratschi for $50. Located on Oxbow Hill, he called the mine the Garden. The mine was timbered with hand-hewn juniper posts. Trezise cut and hauled them in his pickup. He went down into the mine, put ore in a bucket, and then winched the ore out of the shaft with a windlass. Once the ore was extracted, Trezise hauled it to a mill near his house. A gasoline-powered mill pulverized the rocks, making it possible to extract gold, silver, and copper. Some might call this a primitive method of mining, but it supported Trezise all of his life. He also owned other mines: the Yellow Jacket, the Little Joe, and the Hornet, all in the same area. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

The discoverer of a lode had to record his claim in the recorder’s office of the county where the lode was located within three months from the date of discovery. The lode claim certificate listed the name of the lode, name of the locator, name of location, the number of feet in length claimed on each side of the center shaft of the discovery, and the general course of the lode. (Courtesy NGCHS.)

Smoke bellows out of the burner of Owens Sawmill in Payson in the 1950s. The Bush Highway coming into Payson from Phoenix was not yet paved, so this photograph was taken before 1958. The only business along this section of the highway was Flack Brothers Garage that can be seen above and to the left of the burner. The sawmill was the main industry in Payson at this time. It provided jobs for many locals, and lots of timber under the Mogollon Rim made its way to the valley in the form of lumber. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Keith Owens (left), along with his brother, Kerm, founded Owens Brothers Lumber in 1941. The brothers first had a portable mill under the Mogollon Rim. It was moved several times. In the late 1940s, after Keith had bought out his brother, the mill burned. Keith and his wife, Ella Lee, built a new mill in Payson but kept the Owens Brothers name. Keith was tragically electrocuted in January 1957, when a high-voltage line was struck with a crane on a log loader. He employed so many of the locals that the whole town mourned. Keith was highly respected. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Ella Lee Owens, the wife of Keith, worked at his side. After his death, she took over the management of Owens Brothers Lumber and proved to be very competent. The mill was sold in December 1959 to Whiting and Kutch. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Jim Deming, who later worked for Owens Brothers Sawmill, is notching a giant ponderosa pine so it will fall exactly where he chooses. Usually falling a tree of this size would be a job for two men with a crosscut saw, but for some reason, Jim is using an ax. The logging operation took place under the Mogollon Rim, and this great tree must have made a big stack of lumber at the old Haught Sawmill. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Timber! Jim Kilby is felling a big ponderosa pine tree for Owens Brothers Lumber. Most of the homes in Payson were built from lumber milled by the Haught Sawmill or Owens Brothers Lumber until about 1970. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Logging trucks like the one at left had to gear down to make it off the 1,000-foot drop to the foot of the Mogollon Rim. This load of logs is destined for the mill at Owens Brothers Lumber in Payson around 1955. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

Pete Haught and his sons, Henry, Charley, and Walter, bought a sawmill from Elam Boles in 1919 and moved it to Henry’s homestead, now Tonto Village. The mill was sold to Mr. Standage in about 1942. (Peace-Pyle collection.)

Clayton Ashby is skidding logs to the loading site where they will await transportation to the mill in Payson. During the 1950s, Owens Brothers Lumber provided jobs for many Payson residents. The huge ponderosa pines made beautiful lumber when milled, and the Owens had both logging operations in progress and the mill running for many years. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)

During most of the 1950s, Owens Brothers Lumber stood along the south side of Old Main Street, where Meadow Street intersects Old Main east to Highway 87. The mill occupied about 8 acres complete with a large mill pond, a large level area for drying stacks of lumber, and the great burner seen here at the top left of the photograph. (Courtesy Ella Lee Owens.)