Pearce Arizona Territory Ghost Town Part 01: Pottery Shop, Rust Garden and Commonwealth Mine.
We drive into Pearce Arizona, past the old Commonwealth mine. This mine was the big mine in operation during the boom and it continues in operation (on and off) today. We visit the Old Pearce Pottery shop and walk around the "Rust Garden", looking at all sorts of cool things. We meet a very friendly donkey along the way.
If your vehicle is leaking fuel anywhere, pull over and call for assistance. It's not a good idea to try to get to the next exit.
#shorts
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ddVaGgR3uc
In this video:
Replaced some of the dead desert broom with ones I picked a week or so earlier. Did a progress report on the plants that are outside.
Description:
A good portion of my yard is dirt, which blows around in the wind and erodes in the rain. Also, due to the housing boom, that part of my yard, which used to be quiet and semi private, has now become a highway.
I want to try to solve three problems: dirt, erosion and privacy.
I am going to take multiple approaches, from growing plants from seed, cuttings, in pots, directly in the dirt etc.
At the end of this season, based on the results, I will decide if I can solve the problems with plants or if some other solution is required.
I am not an expert, I am sure much of what I am doing here people will say "that's not going to work" etc. I am doing this for fun, learning through trial and error and doing some research along the way. Any constructive criticism, tips, ideas etc are much appreciated.
00:00 Root Comparison
00:58 A Look At The Destruction
02:02 Update On Transplanted Willows
02:25 Going over my failures.
04:13 Trying A different Approach
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QY42VSYR6M
We like fresh pumpkin, this is how we do it.
Music:
https://tunetank.com
https://www.youtube.com/@tunetankmusic
tunetank.com_5831_turn-up-the-volume_by_alexey-anisimov.mp3
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=653B_amtDnM
There was a story about an old English grave in the Mustang Mountains. America Unearthed did a TV show into the authenticity of it. Below is a link to that story if you are interested in the history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNjPepGvvPU
I was told this was a Viking or Nordic grave. Being as "runes" are associated with Nordic or Germanic people, I went with the Viking theme.
I guess it doesn't really matter because it's all fake anyway.
I didn't find much information about the location of the cave. I'm sure if I spent more time, looking I could have found better directions. Instead I just pieced together the location based on landmarks I saw in the videos.
If you want to hike to the cave, here are the directions:
From the junction of junction SR90 & SR82 ("Mustang Corners"), travel 8 miles west toward Sonoita. You will see a gate on the south side of the higway, that follows the power lines south. That is the first of four gates you will go through. Follow the power line until you go through the fourth gate (approx. 3.5 miles). At that gate, go right (west) toward the mountains. The road will end at an open area, this is where you park. From there, head up the mountain, staying to your left. Once at the saddle, you will follow around the rock face to your right to the rune cave (approx. .25 miles).
It's about 3 miles =/- round trip.
Gate off SR 82: 31°43'16.93"N 110°28'48.94"W
Forth Gate: 31°40'47.29"N 110°27'11.48"W
Parking: 31°40'41.56"N 110°27'29.79"W
Midway Up the Trail: 31°40'21.46"N 110°27'45.32"W
The Rune Cave: 31°40'10.99"N 110°28'0.23"W
It is located on State Land, so you are technically required to have a State Land Usage Pass:
https://land.az.gov/applications-permits
Happy Hunting!
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Battle for the future by AHOAMI
https://tunetank.com/track/755-battle-for-the-future/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a52E5Lvm64
Usually we see a few turkeys here and there, rarely anything this big. This is the second large flock in as many weeks.
#shorts
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8R4amOZkbQ
Volume 04:
Here we visit another old building that was likely a business. I have a hunch this was the water company, but I can't prove it. The Sanborn maps from the time that I have access to don't extend that far into the town.
We found what's left of the old road that ran east and there are some very old tires from Model T's that used to drive there and other artifacts.
We find another foundation, could be to a business or house that was on the old road.
We see what's left of a relatively current mining operation.
Courtland was another mining town from the old west. Like many of these towns, it had many amenities and was quite big and successful. It is located just on the other side of the mountains from Gleeson Arizona; just a few miles.
Like most of these towns, it had quite a rich history. I thought I knew quite a bit about the place, but as you will see in the videos, I knew quite a bit less than I thought.
A 1927 Sanborn map of the town can be found here:
http://www.gleesonarizona.com/maps/Courtland_1927.pdf
Maps, photos, news articles from Courtland can be found at the Library of Congress:
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/about-this-collection/
Special thanks to Ernie for giving me some good information, check out his website:
http://azbackcountryadventures.com/
Joe Bono, the owner of the Gleeson jail has a very informative website about all the towns in the area. There are pictures of areas on private property that we didn't visit, like the power plant.
Joe grew up in Gleeson and opens the jail/museum every first Saturday of the month, definitely check it out if you are in the area.
http://www.gleesonarizona.com/
Here are some links with pictures etc of areas that are on private property in Courtland as well as other information:
http://azbackcountryadventures.com/court.htm
Links about all things "the old west" from mining to railroads to Tombstone:
Tombstone Area Ghost Towns:
https://www.wyattearpexplorers.com/
Western Mining History:
https://westernmininghistory.com/
Abandoned Rails:
http://www.abandonedrails.com/
Forgotten Railways, Roads & Places:
https://www.frrandp.com/p/the-map.html
Friends of the san pedro river:
http://sanpedroriver.org/wpfspr/
***Music
Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Slow Flamenco by PineAppleMusic
https://tunetank.com/track/6355-slow-flamenco/
***Like/Subscribe
Like and Subscribe animation: Michael Yakimelin @ pexels.com
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myhh9XM2B90
This cemetery has a member of Abraham Lincoln's bodyguard group buried here as well as General Sherman's adjudent and soldiers from virtually every war the US was involved in from the Civil war to present day.
Out of respect, we do our best not to name or do close ups of the stone of recent burials, except for veterans. We believe that veterans deserve to be recognized and acknowledged for their service and sacrifice.
I was always told that you don't die once, but twice, once when you physically die and the second time when the last person says your name. As a veteran I want my fellow veterans to be remembered for as long as possible, so I will continue to say their names.
https://www.facebook.com/pearcecemeteryassociation/
http://gleesonarizona.com/LoopTour/TourStop_Pearce/index.html
Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.com
Track: Old West by EdRecords
https://tunetank.com/track/6571-old-west/
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1WxQreDuH0
On one of our Sunday Drives, we were heading into New Mexico and we stopped at this monument and picnic area. The monument is for the surrender of Geronimo and the end of the Indian wars.
#shorts
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSTkIDKfbWM
Contention City is a place I have wanted to "find" ever since I first heard about it in the movie "Tombstone". I did some superficial research over the years, but it wasn't until I pulled into the parking lot of Fairbank Arizona several years back, that I "found" it. There in the parking lot was a map of the area, and there it was: Contention City.
We have explored many of the ghost towns in the Tombstone area over the years; but we have never made a point of doing much more than taking a few pictures. Now, we are going to some towns for the first time and going back to others and doing more indepth videos and pictures.
This is the first of two or more trips to Contention City. The camera angle was off, so the video is looking down a bit too much for me. We had a lot of rain this year and the weeds and scrub were very thick, making finding any ruins very difficult. The Contention mill was pretty easy to find, but we have no idea where the Sunset mill is, even without all the weeds and scrub. There is also the possibility that there is a third mill in there somewhere, so going back when the weeds are all gone, might make finding those things easier. No matter, this is a very fun, quiet, easy and enjoyable hike, so going back is a no brainer.
Most of Contention City has been destroyed. There are many "theories" about this, but the one that makes sense is that it was destroyed by the Borquillas Ranch employees at the direction of the owner to rid the place of squatters. The entire story is recounted here:
https://www.wyattearpexplorers.com/contention-city-and-its-mills.html.
Enjoy the video.
00:00 Entering From Trailhead.
01:50 First Railroad Heading To Contention.
03:54 Second Railroad Crossing.
06:00 Forest Service Equipment and monitoring.
09:34 River Crossing.
13:20 Old Mine.
15:33 Contention Mill.
23:00 Hiking To The "Massive Cottonwood".
Links:
Here are some useful links, loaded with details, pictures and information. Please visit these sites, or do your own research, as I can't add much to what they already put together:
This is a really good site for all things Tombstone, this guy has put the work in:
Tombstone Area Ghost Towns: https://www.wyattearpexplorers.com/
This is a great site about mining in general:
Western Mining History: https://westernmininghistory.com/
These sites are all about abandoned railroads, really interesting:
Abandoned Rails: http://www.abandonedrails.com/
Forgotten Railways, Roads & Places: https://www.frrandp.com/p/the-map.html
These guys do tours, hikes etc to ghost towns on the San Pedro river area:
Friends of the san pedro river:
http://sanpedroriver.org/wpfspr/
Music:
TuneTank YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsuRIamctZmb-QnhSa-MqwQ
https://tunetank.com/
tunetank.com_4091_dark-force_by_alexey-anisimov.mp3
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSlQkpNQhg8