List of historic properties in Pearce, Arizona

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List of historic properties
in Pearce, Arizona
CDP
Pearce-A-Welcome sign.jpg
Historic Pearce Townsite
Coordinates: 31°54′18″N109°49′14″W / 31.90500°N 109.82056°W / 31.90500; -109.82056
The mill at Fittsburg, c.1900. Fittsburg AZ.jpg
The mill at Fittsburg, c.1900.

This is a list of historic properties in Pearce, Arizona a former mining town which is now a census-designated area located between the Cochise Stronghold [1] and the Chiricahua National Monument,. [2] Pearce was once a thriving mining town which depended on the nearby Commonwealth Mine, a gold and silver mine and later became a ghost town after the mines were depleted. Included is a photographic gallery of some of the remaining historic structures, two of which are individually identified as historic by the National Register of Historic Places. .

Contents

Brief history

According to Archaeological findings Pearce and the surrounding area of what is now Cochise County was inhabited by the Clovis Man, the name given to the members of the prehistoric Paleoamerican culture the Clovis culture, until the end of the last Ice Age. Other tribes such as the Anasazi people, the Hohokam and the Agrarians later resided in the area up until 1400 AD. Spanish explorers led by Don Francisco Vazquez de Coronado entered Cochise County in search of the “Seven Cities of Cibola” where according to Spanish legend, the streets were paved with gold. [3] By then the area was inhabited by the members of the Solado tribe. By 1700 the Solado's were eventually driven out of the area by the Apaches. The Apaches did not like the colonization of their lands by the Spaniards and didn't want to be converted to a new religion (Christianity). By 1775, the Apaches had driven the Spaniards out. [3]

James Pearce and his wife lived in the town of Tombstone where he worked the mines while his wife managed a boarding house. The Pearce family, which included two sons and a daughter, decided to move to Sulphur Springs Valley, where they established a ranch with the money that they had saved. James Pearce and his sons were busy with their ranching activities when the elder Pearce decided to take a rest. While resting he picked up a rock and threw it against a rock edge. When the rock broke he realized that the rock contained gold. He took it to an assay in Tombstone and was told that the rock in question had a high ore content of both gold and silver. The specimen was assayed at $22,000 per ton in silver and $5,000 per ton in gold. [4] Immediately the Pearce family filed mining claims and began to work on the claims. He named his mine the "Commonwealth Mine". His sons soon told their father that they did not wish to continue working the mine and would rather return to ranching. [5] [6]

John Brockman, a businessman from Silver City, New Mexico, heard about the gold mine and became interested in purchasing the mine. After meeting with Pearce, he convinced him to sell the mine. Pearce reached an agreement where he would sell the mine for $250,000 with an added stipulation. The stipulation required that Brockman had 90 days to work the mine and it guaranteed that Mrs. Pearce would be the person to run a boardinghouse beside the mine. The deal between Brockman and the Pearce family was finalized and thus Brockman became the new owner of the Commonwealth Mine. [5] [6] It wasn't long before a small settlement called Fittsburg was established close to the mine and about one mile east of the town of Pearce. [7]

The town of Pearce

Burt Alvord Burt Alvord Arizona.jpg
Burt Alvord
Bill Downing Bill Downing.jpg
Bill Downing

In 1896, a post office was established and the town was named Pearce. Dozens of businesses from Tombstone moved to Pearce and a growth in the new towns population followed. The population of Pearce in 1919 was 1,500. Brockman built a 200-stamp mill, however criminal activities by miners and outlaws followed the path of the town's progress. [5] [6]

Burt Alvord was hired and named deputy by George Bravin. It wasn't long before Alvard became an outlaw who formed a gang known as the Alvord-Stiles Gang. The gang was dedicated to robbing trains throughout the Arizona Territory.They often used the town of Pearce as their headquarters. Another infamous outlaw who lived in Pearce was Bill Downing. Downing worked as a cowhand at the nearby ranches. He was hired to work in the Esperanza Ranch, a ranch which was known for hiring rustlers, outlaws and renegade Apaches. Downing became a member of the Alvord-Stiles Gang and together with the gang robbed the Cochise Train Station and attempted to rob the Fairbank train. Downing was eventually captured, tried and sentenced to a prison term in the Yuma Territorial Prison. [8] [9] [10] [11]

In 1882, close to the town of Pearce on East Turkey Creek Road, the infamous outlaw Johnny Ringo was found dead. He was found propped against a tree and shot through the head. There are many unproven theories and speculations as to if he committed suicide or was murdered. Ringo was a member of the Clanton Cowboy Gang of Tombstone when the gang was at war with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and Morgan and Virgil Earp. [12] [13] Ringo is buried where he fell. [14]

By 1896, the Commonwealth Mine had reached its peak in producing gold and silver. That same year the Soto Bros. and Renaud Store was built. The two-story building, which as of 2020 still stands, was built with cedar and redwood beams. Later a cast metal facade was added to the front of the building. The building, which now is known as the Pearce General Store, was one of the largest adobe structures in Cochise County. [15] The Commonwealth Mine continued to operate until 1930 when it was depleted. The closing of the mine and the worldwide depression of the 1930s hit the once prosperous town hard and soon the residents began to move out. These two major events were the main reasons that the town became the ghost town it is today. [5] [6]

There are two properties in Pearce which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, they are: Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, listed on July 21, 2004; reference #04000718 [16] and located on 4th St., between Cedar and Spruce Streets. and the other is the Pearce General Store; listed November 16, 1978, reference #78000541 [17] and located on Ghost Town and Pearce Road.

Historic structures in Pearce which are pictured

Johnny Ringo c. 1880 Johnny Ringo.jpeg
Johnny Ringo c. 1880

The historic properties in Pearce which are pictured are the following:

Plus:

Images

Further reading

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tombstone, Arizona</span> City in Arizona, United States

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew significantly into the mid-1880s as the local mines produced $40 to $85 million in silver bullion, the largest productive silver district in Arizona. Its population grew from 100 to around 14,000 in less than seven years. It is best known as the site of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and presently draws most of its revenue from tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Ringo</span> US criminal and gunfighter (1850–1882)

John Peters Ringo was an American Old West outlaw loosely associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier boomtown Tombstone, Arizona Territory. He took part in the Mason County War in Texas during which he committed his first murder. He was arrested and charged with murder. He was affiliated with Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan, Ike Clanton, and Frank Stilwell during 1881–1882. He got into a confrontation in Tombstone with Doc Holliday and was suspected by Wyatt Earp of having taken part in the attempted murder of Virgil Earp and the ambush and death of Morgan Earp. Ringo was found dead with a bullet wound to his temple which was ruled a suicide. Modern writers have advanced various theories attributing his death to Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Frank Leslie or Michael O'Rourke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairbank, Arizona</span> Ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona

Fairbank is a ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, next to the San Pedro River. First settled in 1881, Fairbank was the closest rail stop to nearby Tombstone, which made it an important location in the development of southeastern Arizona. The town was named for Chicago investor Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank who partially financed the railroad, and was the founder of the Grand Central Mining Company, which had an interest in the silver mines in Tombstone. Today Fairbank is located within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burt Alvord</span> Lawman and later outlaw of the American Old West

Albert "Burt" Alvord was an American lawman and later outlaw of the Old West. Alvord began his career in law enforcement in 1886 as a deputy under Sheriff John Slaughter in Cochise County, Arizona, but turned to train robbery by the beginning of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Brocius</span> American gunman, rustler, and outlaw (1845–1882)

William Brocius, better known as Curly Bill Brocius, was an American gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of the Arizona Territory during the late 1870s and early 1880s. His name is likely an alias or nickname, and some evidence links him to another outlaw named William "Curly Bill" Bresnaham, who was convicted of an 1878 attempted robbery and murder in El Paso, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ike Clanton</span> Rancher and member of the Cochise County Cowboys, Arizona Territory (1847–1887)

Joseph Isaac Clanton was a member of a loose association of outlaws known as The Cowboys who clashed with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan Earp as well as Doc Holliday. On October 26, 1881, Clanton was present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory but was unarmed and ran from the gunfight, in which his 19-year-old brother Billy was killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newman Haynes Clanton</span> American outlaw (c. 1816–1881)

Newman Haynes Clanton, also known as "Old Man" Clanton, was a cattle rancher and father of four sons, one of whom was killed during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Two of his sons were involved in multiple conflicts in Cochise County, Arizona Territory including stagecoach robbery and cattle rustling. His son Ike Clanton was identified by one witness as a participant in the murder of Morgan Earp. Billy Clanton and Ike were both present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in which Billy was killed. "Old Man" Clanton was reportedly involved with stealing cattle from Mexican ranchers and re-selling them in the United States. Records indicate he participated in the Skeleton Canyon Massacre of Mexican smugglers. In retaliation, Mexican Rurales are reported to have ambushed and killed him and a crew of Cowboys in the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleston, Arizona</span> Ghost town in Arizona, United States

Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the late-1870s through the late-1880s, and was located in what was then known as the Arizona Territory. Located on the west bank of the San Pedro River, Charleston's economy was based on milling silver ore mined from nearby Tombstone in the community of Millville, located directly across the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contention City, Arizona</span> Ghost town in Arizona, United States

Contention City or Contention is a ghost mining town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the early 1880s through the late 1880s in what was then known as the Arizona Territory. Only a few foundations now remain of this boomtown which was settled and abandoned with the rise and fall of silver mining in and around the area of Tombstone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Clanton</span> Outlaw of the old American West (1862–1881)

William Harrison Clanton was an outlaw Cowboy in Cochise County, Arizona Territory. He, along with his father Newman Clanton and brother Ike Clanton, worked a ranch near the boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory and stole livestock from Mexico and later U.S. ranchers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pearce, Arizona</span> Ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona

Pearce, Arizona, and Sunsites, Arizona, are adjacent unincorporated communities in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Cochise County, Arizona, United States. The two communities are often referred to as Pearce–Sunsites, Pearce/Sunsites, or Pearce Sunsites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochise County Cowboys</span> Informal confederation of rustlers and robbers in Old West Arizona

The Cochise County Cowboys is the modern name for a loosely associated group of outlaws living in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona in the late 19th century. The term "cowboy", as opposed to "cowhand," had only begun to come into wider usage during the 1870s. In that place and time, "cowboy" was synonymous with "cattle rustler". Such thieves frequently rode across the border into Mexico and stole cattle from Mexican ranches that they then drove back across the border to sell in the United States. Some modern writers consider them to be an early form of organized crime in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochise County in the Old West</span> Aspect of Arizona history

Cochise County in southeastern Arizona was the scene of a number of violent conflicts in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West, including between white settlers and Apache Indians, between opposing political and economic factions, and between outlaw gangs and local law enforcement. Cochise County was carved off in 1881 from the easternmost portion of Pima County during a formative period in the American Southwest. The era was characterized by rapidly growing boomtowns, the emergence of large-scale farming and ranching interests, lucrative mining operations, and the development of new technologies in railroading and telecommunications. Complicating the situation was staunch resistance to white settlement from local Native American groups, most notably during the Apache Wars, as well as Cochise County's location on the border with Mexico, which not only threatened international conflict but also presented opportunities for criminal smugglers and cattle rustlers.

Phineas Fay Clanton was the son of Newman Haynes Clanton and the brother of Billy and Ike Clanton. He was witness to and possibly played a part in a number of illegal activities during his life. He moved frequently in his early life from Missouri to California and to Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairbank train robbery</span> 1900 crime in Arizona

The Fairbank train robbery occurred on the night of February 15, 1900, when some bandits attempted to hold up a Wells Fargo express car at the town of Fairbank, Arizona. Although it was thwarted by Jeff Milton, who managed to kill "Three Fingered Jack" Dunlop in an exchange of gunfire, the train robbery was unique for being one of the few to have occurred in a public place and was also one of the last during the Old West period.

Brunckow's Cabin is a historic cabin southwest of Tombstone in Cochise County, Arizona. It is purported to be the "bloodiest cabin in Arizona history;" between 1860 and 1890, at least twenty-one people were killed there, many of whom are buried on site. Presently, little of the cabin remains except for some foundations and small portions of the walls. A few unmarked graves have been identified, but because of theft, vandalism, and erosion, the site has been heavily damaged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Downing</span> American Wild West outlaw

Bill Downing a.k.a. William F. Downing was a notorious outlaw during the Wild West era in Arizona. Downing had fled from the Texas Rangers posse who was after him when he came to Arizona. In Arizona, he was involved in the killing of William S. “Slim” Traynor and in various train robberies including the robbery of the Train Depot in the town of Cochise. Downing was so unpopular that even members of his gang couldn't stand him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Percent Ring</span> Political graft group in Tombstone, Arizona

The Ten-Percent Ring was a title given by the newspaper editors of The Tombstone Epitaph in 1881 to Johnny Behan and his friends for stealing about ten percent of the local Tombstone, Arizona, taxes in the 1880s. Milt Joyce (1847–1889), owner of the Oriental Saloon and chairman of Cochise County, Arizona, supervisors, was also seen as a leader of the Ten Percent Ring. The Tombstone Epitaph was started by John Clum in 1880.

References

  1. ↑ "Cochise Stronghold – Coronado National Forest" . Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Chiricahua National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Pearce ;Cochise County, Arizona
  4. ↑ centennial edition celebrating the cochise school library building 1911–2011 the early history of the town of cochise, arizona
  5. 1 2 3 4 The Ghost Town Trail – Gleeson, Courtland & Pearce
  6. 1 2 3 4 Welcome to the Sonoran Desert and Cochise County
  7. ↑ Arizona Ghost Town Trails
  8. ↑ "The Lowdown on 'Quarrelsome' Bill Downing". historynet.com. January 30, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Old West Outlaw List – D". Legends of America. p. 2. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Downing tops Willcox bad man list". bensonnews-sun.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ "One Man with Courage Makes a Majority". True West Magazine. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Wyatt Earp's Vendetta Posse". HistoryNet.com. January 29, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Earp Vendetta Ride". Legends of America. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  14. ↑ Johnny Ringo gravesite
  15. ↑ Mining History
  16. ↑ NRHP Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church
  17. ↑ Pearce General Store
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