HOME | BOOSTER | CEMETERIES | EDUCATION | GHOST TOWNS | HEADSTONE
MINOTTO | PICTURES | ROADS | JACK SWILLING | TEN DAY TRAMPS
American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 062709
Support APCRP, become a Booster: Click Here
Harqua Hala, AZ and Historic Pioneer Cemetery
Adobe structure and mine building at Harqua
Hala. Photo by: Neal Du Shane
Harqua Hala (often
spelled this way in early days) was the town that served the miners and their
families for the Harquahala Mine located just south of the community.
In the Mojave tongue,
Harquahala means “running water high up”.
Spanish explorers in
the Harquahala Mountains discovered gold in the
1760’s. Attempts to recover the gold deemed unsuccessful at that time, then
once again failure in 1814. Pima Indians were hostile and drive off the
prospectors during that era.
Herman Ehrenburg in
1863 discussed with Henry Wickenburg that he had found a promising location in
the Little Harquahala Mountains. After Wickenburg explored the area he agreed
it had potential for riches. Wickenburg upon his return trip from Little Harquahalas,
discovered an even richer vain “The Vulture Mine” and Henry Wickenburg forgot
all about Little Harquahala potential.
In the early days the
Harquahala area mines produced very rich gold
ore and continued for a number of years to produce ore in vast
quantities. This abundance of gold was certain to make the poorly
paid miners greedy. Highgrading, the practice
of miners stealing highgrade ore from the mine
owners, could be easily done in a working arrastra
that was used for crushing highgrade ore, by
scraping out the gold that had been liberated from the ore or by
pocketing the ore that contained visible gold.
Typically most of
these mines only produced highgrade ore for a few
years and as the values fell they were forced to cyanide the ore to keep the
mine in operation.
All good things must
come to an end and mining ceased operations at the Harquahala
Mine in 1907.
A partial view of the graves at the Historic
Harqua Hala Pioneer
Cemetery
Photo by: Neal Du Shane
Research was
completed at the cemetery by the Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research
Project and it is believed there are over 50 graves in
this cemetery. This could represent a population in Harqua Hala from 450 to 500
residents during the peak years of production.
There are 40 adult male (believed to be miners), 5 male children ranging in age from 2 to 5 years of age. Two female children age 4 and 10 years old.
Someone or a group
has placed wooden markers at most of the graves but there are a few they missed
or the cross had decayed.
One grave of
significance is a large cement horizontal enclosure indicating someone of
importance to the mine or community. There is no identification on the grave to
indicate who this person is.
Photo
by: Neal Du Shane
The hardest part of
this beautiful trip is finding Harquahala Road in Salome. Once the road is
found it is approximately 8 ˝ miles of good desert road to the Harqua Hala
Cemetery. When I did it Grandmas, Sunday-go-to-church-mobile, could make the
trip with no problem. Be aware each rain or storm can decay the condition of
these roads substantially. Inquire locally before heading out.
Historical Facts About
Harquahala And The Mines
By Kathy Block
(1)
The Bonanza and
Golden Eagle gold veins brought miners AND merchants. The town of Harqua Hala began with a stage line that ran to Sentinel.(At least 20 miles SE, site off I-8, exit 87.) The first store started in a tent with a 5
gallon jug of whiskey. A newspaper called the Harqua
Hala Miner chronicled early events in the town's
development.
(2)
After Hubbard and
Bowers got the mine, they built a 20 stamp amalgamation mill. An engineer came up with idea of casting the
gold in 400 pound bars too large to be readily carried off by thieves. This
worked for a while until an incident in 1890 when the flimsy wooden bottom fell
out of a stage carrying a load to Sentinel. The ingot fell out and the loss
wasn't discovered for several miles. It was recovered from a deep gully with
considerable difficulty.
(3)
Several sources
mention the story that when the miners were high-grading, children would be
signaled to sing loudly, drowning out the sound of their fathers scraping the arrastra beds for gold. Some of the culprits were not
charged, even though they confessed to the crime. (Some mines hanged
high-graders, like at Vulture Mine!)
(4)
One of the graves at Harqua Hala may be that of a
Mexican miner named Jesus Eredias. Apparently his
skull had been crushed with a rock and his body was thrown into a deserted
shaft where it was soon found. His
brother (who had been hunting lions and other big game in Mexico) came to
Phoenix in 1905 to seek vengeance for his brother's killing, but the murderer
had already been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in the
territorial prison. The killing was over a woman.
(5)
A web site about
mines in the Harquahalas suggests that the Rio Del
Monte mine, north of the cemetery is currently for sale. (2008)
Map
by: Neal Du Shane
Along the road from
Salome, you will pass the Rio Del Monte Mine. Which brings up an interesting
quandary? Are there graves at the Rio Del Monte Mine? The mine is posted so
please do not trespass. We will try to research this question and see if we can
come up with an answer. Very likely there is a cemetery or at least graves, at
the Rio Del Monte Mine waiting to be discovered also.
Please help preserve these Museums of our heritage.
PROTECT – RESTORE - MAINTAIN
Adopt This Pioneer Cemetery
American Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project
Internet Presentation
Version 062709
Editorial input by: L. Dee, Geologist
WebMaster: Neal Du Shane
Copyright © 2008-2009
Neal Du Shane
All rights reserved. Information contained within this website
may be used
for personal family history purposes, but not for financial profit.
All contents of this website are willed to the American Pioneer &
Cemetery Research Project (APCRP).
HOME | BOOSTER | CEMETERIES | EDUCATION | GHOST TOWNS | HEADSTONE
MINOTTO | PICTURES | ROADS | JACK SWILLING | TEN DAY TRAMPS