Bisbee

Bisbee was built on copper in 1881.  Over a 93 year period miners dug more than 2000 miles of tunnels, 143 miles for the Queen Copper Mine.  They hauled out three million tons of gold, seven million tons of silver and eight million tons of copper.  They started with three to four hundred miners per shift and had 1200-1300 when they closed in 1974.

We donned hard hats, protective coats, belts and lanterns and pinned our number to our clothes.  Miners carried their lunch, helmet, four candles and tools.  The number they wore was returned at the end of the shift so that all members of that shift were accounted for.  Miners made 34 cents an hour plus more for extra tonnage.

We rode deep into the Queen Copper Mine.  Our guide Jose is the grandson and son of copper miners and he led an excellent tour. 

 The mine has seven levels and is 700 feet deep.  The temperature ranges from 47-50 degrees, cool for us but steaming for the miners.  We passed an ore shaft and its adjacent man shaft.  If the ore was muddy and got stuck in the hole, miners could either crawl into the shaft to dislodge it, force air into the shaft or, as a final resort, dynamite it.

Then muckers racked the ore to the chutes.  The miners pushed the ore carts to the chutes to pour it down to where it would be separated.  Later mules were used to haul the carts, they drew four carts each with one ton of ore.

Here the stoker drills 25 holes for the dynamite, placing 5 sticks per hole with the last hole having ten.  The wires, lit with magnesium, differed in length to control the blast. 

The cage carried men, equipment and mules.  Different bell rings signaled where the elevator was going.

 This vital piece of equipment is a two-holer or honey bucket, located in the hottest and wettest part of the tunnels.  New miners were told to turn the wheel thinking that would move the cart.  Instead it dumped the contents all over the floor and they had to clean it up.  The learning curve for that was very short.

The biggest danger in the mine after explosions was the silicon dust that caused lung disease.  The average lifetime for a miner was 35 years.

We all made it back and turned in our numbers and supplies.  Then we examined the exhibits in their small museum.  In addition to mining implements, there is an excellent diorama of the areas of the mine.

Mike, one of our caravaners, is a former copper miner and he confirmed what Jose said but said there was a lot more he could tell.  Hopefully, we can hear his stories later.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Copper Queen Hotel which dates back to 1902.  The current owner of the hotel related the history of the town. 

Judge Bisbee of San Francisco financed the first mine though he never came to the town that bears his name.  In its day, the town had the most millionaires in the US.  Pay was good, working conditions were safe by the standards of that time and copper mining is relatively clean.

The hotel originally had 72 rooms with each floor having a bathroom. 

 While most rooms were for wealthy guests, others had night/day-shift miners.  Still others were for “personal business” purposes. The mines closed in 1975 and the hotel went up for sale for $1.  Now restored, guests have included John Wayne, Harry Houdini, Bela Lagosi, and Johnny Depp. 

This is the John Wayne room complete with an oversize bed, small refrigerator and microwave oven.

The Julia Lowell room may be haunted.  On the wall is a license for prostitution signed by Virgil Earp.

Now the town is known for artists and tourism.

Our history lesson continued at The Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum.  It is a Smithsonian Affiliate which means its exhibits are of very good quality.  The building originally was the offices for the Phelps-Dodge Mining Company.  The old town consisted of miners and their families.  There was a lot of money in the town so buildings were well constructed and hotels, restaurants and stores were of good quality. 

The town is built on hills too steep for roads so many houses to this day have only stair access.

Among the exhibits were samples of items containing copper, newspapers showing the diversity of the population

samples of the rocks and ores pulled from the mine and a recreation of the caverns before building tunnels caused the destruction of stalactite and stalagmite formations.

These are views of Bisbee and the copper pits.

Before heading out on our Trolley Ghost Tour we enjoyed another “Members Dinner”, this time lasagna, again delicious.   

Ghost Trolley Tour

Our ghost tour driver explained that spirits come in four stages: orb (light), plasma (streaks of light), vortex (smokey mist) and apparition (body).  We were encouraged to take lots of pictures in the hope of catching one.  The photographer was not successful in these efforts. 

Early Tombstone was a town filled with 140 saloons and “employing” 3400 ladies of the evening, so murders fit right in.  One miners’ cabin had more than 70 murders, opium tunnels ran through the Chinese Hoptown, hangings were held at the Courthouse and sometimes along the streets.  Revenge, unrequited love, jealousy, theft, or just being pissed off could be a cause for shooting someone.

The three most haunted buildings are the Birdcage Theater with shadows in the basement, aromas, sounds and gambling cards rearranged; Boothill with 2000 graves and a shadow man appearing from one of them; and Beauford House where a rejected suitor killed himself after he thought he killed the one he loved.  She lived, he died.