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We drove through the desert in search of something interesting, not knowing we would find a great piece of American history! There was dry tumbleweeds on our left, inside a caged building.

Pearce is a historic town, found in 1894 by a cornishman named James Pearce who was a miner, a cattleman. He was the man who discovered gold near Pearce. Traveling to Pearce, you will only see a lot of dirt and rocks out there. What’s left of the town is the jail, mercantile / blacksmith shop, the post office and the cemetary. What is fascinating, is the people buried out in Pearce cemetary! Let’s go to the Post office

Here are more photos of The buildings in Pearce, then we will check out cemetary.

Pearce was bought by a mining company, Commonwealth mine gold, silver project and was acquired in May 2015. Marlin gold mining LTD, a publicly traded mining company has mining projects in Mexico andCochise county, and currently Pierce Hill contains a measure of 984,900 in Gold. The project itself is costing 55 million to complete.

His name was George H. Platt

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Off SR-77, near Hayden, Az & 8 miles North of Winkelman and 22 miles South of Globe.

It was back in the 1880’s, a man named Dennis O’Brien and William Tweed located the mine and sold their claims to Phelps Dodge afterward.The land belonged to the San Carlos Indian reservation back in 1902, so it could not be exploited.

Then the claim was staked by Christmas Day, that year by G.B. Chittenden and N.H.Mellor, who gave the mine its name “Christmas.” This mine had up to 1,000 by 1932, the post office lasted from 1905-1935 and it was sought after due to it’s name after people would send letters and postcards there over the holidays! Here is an old newspaper article discussing the tone of the mine camp.

The Christmas mine received its electricity from the San Carlos Irrigation project via 66,000 volt trapped mission line nearby the main shaft.

The mine is known to have a high lime fluxing ore sold by the same mining lease inc. ThAt leased the property back in 1939. It’s main customer was the Hayden Smelter that used it to treat the Copper concentrate that was received by the nearby Ray mine.

Prior to the “panic of 1907” this was a financial crisis that took place here in the U.S during a three week period, when the New York stock exchange dropped 50% from the previous year, if it weren’t for J.P. Morgan putting his own money and telling other bankers to do so as well, this situation may have been much worse!Anyways, prior to this, the mine was operated by Saddle Mt. mining Co. Two years after the panic, it reopened by the Gila Copper Sulphide Co. Unfortanately the mine closed back in 1921.

Today, the property is owned by Freeport Mac Moran.

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For those who want a great scenic and very educational short trail, you must check out this place!!! Not only will you love the peace and tranquillity, but you will find species of cacti and plants, you have never seen before!while walking through the trail, you will come into a building that explains the man behind this place. A man with a great vision named Thompson Boyce!

Here is a statement from Mr. Boyce. “I have in mind far more than a botanical propagation.I hope to benefit the state & SW. A plant collection will be assembled will be of interest not only to the nature lover and the plant student but which will stress the practical side as well to see if we cannot make the mesas, hillsides and canyons for more productive and of more benefit to mankind. We will bring together and study the plants of the desert countries, find out their uses, and make them available to the people. It is a big job, but we will build here the most beautiful and at the same time, the most beautiful and at the same time, the most useful garden of its kind in the world!”

This Arboretum is the best and one of the oldest botanical garden west of Mississippi and founded in 1924, standing on 392 acres along Queen creek, under the tall Picketpost Mt. off highway 60, 3 miles west of Superior.

As you go down the main trail, you will be astounded in the cactus garden and see some awesome and refreshing sites.

The trail leads you to Thompson Boyce house.

I highly recommend you coming here, it is absolutely amazing! There are over 5,000 members and it not only breathtakingly beautiful, but a great educational place!!! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to become a subscriber, to get great articles! Share, comment and write reviews! Thanks @ Desertexplorations.com

If your looking to take a nice trip to Camp Verde, try checking out Ft. Verde this December, we did and had a nice time there! Visitor center is open 9-5p.m, has a gift shop, displays and videos, parking is available for bus’s and R.V.’s, handicap accessible. Open Christmas Eve 8-2 P.M. Closed on Christmas!Adults are $7 bucks, kids under 14 are free!

The purpose of Ft.Verde was used as A base for General Crook’s U.S Army Scouts And soldiers in the 1870’s-1880’s. From 1865-1891, Camp Lincoln, Camp Verde and Ft.Verde was home to Doctors, family, enlisted men, and scouts. This park originally had a total of 22 buildings, but now has only 4.

Thanks for reading about this great historic place! Share and Happy holidays! Please write reviews, comment and share!