1 - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

:1
echoed from the mines, bullwhips cracked
and mules brayed to the tune of
freighter's curses.
McMillen, in spite of its look of permanence,
was a man's town. On Christmas
night, 1880, a pine tree was laden
with gifts for men only, chiefly dynamite,
fuse caps, whiskey and tobacco.
McMillen had its share of excitement.
There was quite a stir after Munson
stopped to rest on the McMillen-Richmond
Basin Trail and carelessly struck
his pick into a boulder which turned out
to be silver. The Munson Chunk yielded
$3500.
Even late as 1893, a 31-pound nugget
was found by Leroy Ikenberry, and some
Indians molded bullets of silver to battle
the white man. As one old-timer put it,
'Poetic justice. The silver's on Indian
land. We wanted it, so they're givin' it to
us."
In early 1881, McMillen was buzzing
again, but this time with the anticipation
of being the county seat of Gila County,
newly-formed from a slice of Maricopa
and Pinal counties. However, George
Hunt lived in Globe and he had political
aspirations. There were speeches, stories
of advantages —pressures. Globe became
the county seat, and Hunt later became
the first governor of Arizona.
Ironically, the first years of Gila County
saw McMillen's decline. The post office
closed its door October 12, 1882. By
Irene Hastings examines
a remnant of the stamp mill.
1885, after over $3,000,000 of silver was
taken from the McMillen District, the
silver was exhausted. Only seven of Mc-
Millen's claims were registered and in
operation by 1887. Businessmen pulled
up stakes and went to Globe. Frame
buildings and homes were moved to
Globe where two still stand. Globe's Old
Dominion Mine, too, lies idle, filled with
water, but the town of over 24,000 has
ample motels and trailer courts for
travelers.
McMillen, by 1890, had only a handful
of families waiting for a revival. The men
worked little claims making a day's
wages.
In 1908, when teen-age John Mercer
went along with Pat Shanley and his sons
to get horses from the big Shanley
spread north of McMillen, there were
only half a dozen places occupied.
Weather was taking its toll. Sage and
mesquite were covering the ore dumps.
The lonely cry of coyotes replaced the
jangling piano and laughter from the
saloons.
In 1912, a new spark ignited hope. A
favorable report was made on the Mc-
Millen Mine property by R. B. Wayne.
Then, in 1914, the property was bonded
to G. N. Hayes and explored by diamond
drilling. However, due to the broken
nature of the terrain, this proved unsatisfactory.
The mines lie idle, the vein
still waiting to be found.
Uncle Charlie Newton, last resident of
McMillen, never gave up hope. The
walls of his house were papered with
editions of The Arizona Silver Belt of the
early 1880s. Forty-six years, weather
permitting, he sat on his porch, smoked
his pipe and waited for McMillen to
come back. In January, 1929, he crossed
that last ridge to find his bonanza in The
Beyond.
McMillen is drifting rapidly now into
the arms of Mother Earth. This is its
Centennial —its last stand. You might
find a square-cut nail from someone's
house, or a piece of green syenite with a
trace of silver, a reminder of that long
ago. There will be no rumble of freight
wagons, only the wind sighing in the
junipers while the birds and cicadas sing
the requiem. •
DESERT
EXPEDITIONS, INC.
DESERT
EXPEDITIONS, INC.
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Natural History Tours,
using comfortable
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