Harshaw, Arizona

The earliest known residents of what is now Santa Cruz County were the Apache, Yaqui and Hohokam Indians who settled on the banks of local waterways, including Harshaw Creek, in order to facilitate farming.[9] Spanish explorers and missionaries visited the area beginning in the 16th century, with the Spanish Friar Marcos de Niza, the first European to visit the area. In the late 17th century, Eusebio Kino came to the region to establish Jesuit missions and to map the land for Spain. It was not until 1752, in response to hostilities by the Pima Indians, that Spain established its first formal settlement and military presence in Arizona at Tubac on the Santa Cruz River northwest of the site of Harshaw.[9][10]

The accounts of Spanish missionaries who traveled through the area shortly after the founding of Tubac state that the site that was to become Harshaw was originally a Spanish settlement and ranch.[11] The settlement was known as Durazno, meaning "peach" or "peach orchard," supposedly due to the peach trees which had been planted there at some time in the past.[12][13][14] According to a missionary account from 1764, the settlement of Durazno was attacked and destroyed by Apache Indians on February 19, 1743, with significant loss of life. Along with the nearby Salazar ranch, which was also attacked on that day, the lives of 44 residents were lost.[11]

When the United States acquired all of present-day Arizona as part of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, the numerous Mexican mining and ranching settlements still in existence became part of the United States, and American settlers moved into the area.[9][15]

Harshaw in the 1880s, facing north.

David Harshaw was stationed in Tucson in the 1860s as a sergeant in the First Regiment of Infantry of the California Column. When he left the army, he returned to his previous occupation of ranching.[10][16][17] He had been ordered off of Apache land by Indian agent Tom Jeffords in early 1873 for illegal grazing, and he settled later that year in the area that was to become Harshaw, still known locally as Durazno, in order to find new pastures for his cattle.[2][3][8]

After a few years of prospecting in the region, Harshaw staked claims to several deposits of silver ore, one of which he sold to the Hermosa Mining Company around 1879.[2][3][18] In addition to digging and working what was to become the Hermosa mine, the company also began construction on a nearby twenty-stamp mill designed to process or "stamp" the silver ore into fine powder in preparation for smelting. The combined need for miners and mill workers caused the town to grow rapidly. The post office opened on April 29, 1880 under the name Harshaw in order to honor its founder. The Hermosa Mill commenced operations on August 5, 1880,[4][19] and the company soon employed approximately 150 people in the mine in addition to those working the mill.[2][3][8] At the town's peak, the mining and milling of silver was performed cheaper in Harshaw than in any other mining settlement in the Arizona Territory, and the mines were considered to be potential rivals of the productive Tombstone mines.[4]

Harshaw was soon home to some 200 buildings, 30 of them commercial, including eight or ten general stores, hotels, blacksmiths, stables, breweries, dance halls, and numerous saloons arrayed along its 3/4-mile (1.2 km) main road.[2][3][6] In addition to the mining industry, the town's merchants did a good trade with Sonora in Mexico as well as smaller regional mining camps.[20] Harshaw received mail service on the Southern Pacific Railroad via Tombstone three times a week,[20] and had its own newspaper, the Arizona Bullion, run by Charles D. Reppy and Company. The Bullion was launched on April 28, 1880, and had reached a circulation of 400 as of 1881.[2][21][22]

Harshaw was dealt a devastating blow when the Hermosa mine and mill both closed down in late 1881 due to a drop in the quality of silver ore extracted from the property.[2] Coupled with the Hermosa closures, severe thunderstorms which caused a large, damaging fire that same year almost put an end to the settlement.[3][8] Shortly thereafter, in 1882, The Tombstone Epitaph noted Harshaw's decline, and wrote that over 80% of the town's 200 buildings stood empty "with broken windows and open doors."[3][8]

In 1887, Harshaw was reinvigorated when Tucson resident James Finley purchased the Hermosa mine for $600.[2][3][8] In addition to the rebirth of the mining industry, 1887 also saw the end of Apache raids in the area. The last recorded raid took place that year when 20 Indians raided Harshaw, resulting in the death of one man in an area mine.[6][16]

As of 1891, Harshaw was connected to the Arizona and New Mexico Railway lines, and had mail service three days a week. It still housed seven businesses, as well as a school and a hotel. In addition, David Harshaw's initial reason for coming to the area was still very much a factor in its use, as the land was noted for its exceptional grazing, and stock raising was second only to mining in area industries.[23] The Hardshell Mine that David Harshaw discovered in 1879 and sold to R. R. Richardson began to produce silver in 1896, further spurring the town's growth.[24] This smaller incarnation of the town continued until just around the start of the 20th century when the market price of silver declined, and mine owner James Finley died in 1903, closing the Hermosa mine again.[2][3] Most residents left the town and the post office closed on March 4, 1903.[2]

The ruin of an adobe house and pool hall.

Despite a dwindling population, Harshaw gained some notice in 1906 when it was reported by the national press that Ben Daniels, one of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, was arrested for fraud associated with selling a Harshaw district mine to a business associate for $800, even though Daniels had no ownership of the property.[25]

In May 1929 when a forest fire swept through the Patagonia Mountains, Harshaw was reportedly down to 50 residents, all of whom were forced to evacuate, along with residents of other nearby mining camps. On May 13, 1929, after four days, and the burning of 15,000 acres (61 km²; 23 sq mi), the fire was contained, and the blaze was extinguished just in time to spare Harshaw from destruction as it had been directly in the path of the fire.[26][27]

The town again saw activity between 1937 and 1956 when the Arizona Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) worked the Flux and Trench mines located nearby,[3] and tapped into the region's non-silver ore.[28] After 1956, when ASARCO left, Harshaw returned to its status as a ghost town.[2][3]

In 1963, Harshaw ran afoul of the U.S. Forest Service. By this time, the town housed about 70 inhabitants, and consisted mostly of collapsed buildings, abandoned cars, and run down shacks. The only well-maintained structures in town were the Roman Catholic Church, and a small school.[6][16] The borders of the Coronado National Forest, established on July 1, 1953,[5] included the town of Harshaw, and because most of the residents never actually gained titles to their land, which could have been done starting in the 1880s, the government's property included the town.[29] Because no titles existed, and the land was then owned by the federal government, the residents were labeled as squatters. Further, once the National Forest was formed, obtaining titles to the land was no longer an option. Harshaw's rundown landscape proved to be an irritant to the Forest Service who, in 1963, tried to work with the residents to facilitate a plan to relocate the remaining families and clean up the town site.[6][16] The relocation efforts were not successful, however, as a few residents remained in Harshaw at least into the 1970s.[2]

Construction of the Hermosa Mill in Harshaw, c. 1879.

The Hermosa Mine was the largest ore producer in the area during the last decades of the 19th century, processing 75 short tons (68 t) of ore per day,[36] and peaking at about $365,455 in ore production over a four-month period in 1880.[3] Mine works at the Hermosa are extensive, with a total tunnel length of 7,000 feet (2,100 m) by 1915, including five levels of tunnels descending 500 feet (150 m). As of a 1972 survey, the existing works were actively caving in, rendering them not viable for further mining use.[18]

Local ore was plentiful, and other mines sprung up in the area around the town throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Some of the mines closest to Harshaw included the Bender, Alta, Salvador, Black Eagle and American mines.[37] Today, the Hardshell property, which includes many of the original mines from the 19th century, encompasses an area of approximately 3,154 acres (12.76 km²; 4.928 sq mi), including eight patented claims. From 1896 through 1964, mine production across all Hardshell property mines amounted to approximately 280,000 troy ounces (310,000 oz; 8,700,000 g) of silver.[37]

Including the Hardshell property, the area in and around Harshaw, known today as the Harshaw District, is home to approximately 50 mine sites, some dating back to the 1850s, and others mined during the early- to mid-1900s. In addition to silver, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including zinc, copper, manganese, rhyolite, quartz, lead, and many others. Through the mid-1960s, total production from the Harshaw District mines included 86,000 short tons (78,000 t) of zinc, 72,000 short tons (65,000 t) of lead, 9,200,000 troy ounces (10,100,000 oz; 290,000,000 g) of silver, 3,100 short tons (2,800 t) of copper and 4,300 troy ounces (4,700 oz; 130,000 g) of gold.[33]

As of 2006, interest in mining the area resurfaced when the Canadian Wildcat Silver Corporation acquired an 80% share in the Hardshell property and began feasibility assessments.[38][39] Initial reports, published in 2007, were positive, and tentative plans called for the annual production of 2,750,000 troy ounces (3,020,000 oz; 86,000,000 g) of silver, 12,600,000 pounds (5,700,000 kg) of zinc, 670,000 pounds (300,000 kg) of copper, and 84,400,000 pounds (38,300,000 kg) of manganese over an expected productive life for the mine of 13.5 years.[40] A 2009 assessment also included lead among the expected products of the mine.[41] Wildcat is currently assessing a plan to construct an on site mill capable of processing 1,500 short tons (1,400 t) tons of ore per day.[40]

Similar assessments are underway in other nearby parts of Santa Cruz County, which historically accounted for one percent of the state's mining production by weight, and ten percent of the state's total lead and zinc production. Some residents are opposed to restarting mining operations as they are concerned about the impacts on the environment, on property values, on the tourist trade, and on traffic. Assessments are ongoing.[42]

The climate in the Harshaw Creek basin includes sub-zero temperatures and freezing precipitation in the winter, with snow accumulations at higher elevations sometimes lasting for several weeks, while summer frequently brings severe thunderstorms. Due to Harshaw's status as a ghost town, there is no local weather station, and the nearest stations at Canelo Pass and the San Rafael Ranch, and Nogales are not representative of the weather in Harshaw due to significant differences in environmental factors, such as differing elevations and their various locations relative to mountains.[34]