SUPERSTITION WILDERNESS AREA PLACE NAMES & LANDMARKS

[LDMGOLD]

THOM:

My place name research goes back to 1853, which includes the Ives Survey of the Southwest area and of course naming Weaver's Needle in 1853 after Powell (Paulino) Weaver. It also includes many pages of military records from the Apache-Yavapai campaigns in the area from 1864-1868, and 1871-1886. There are a lot of place names lost in the pages of history or misplaced. I am always looking for new contribution to my collection of place names and landmarks. I am keeping a database that now has more than 1800 names and alternates in it. Some people, particularly Dutch Hunters, are very secretive about their place names and landmark names. The research I was doing for the book kind of slowed down when so many did not care about sharing their information, therefore I thought why should I bother. I am going to share some information, but not all of it. Primarily because I don't have the time to post the information and secondly I have many other things going on in life, including travel, road trips, desert trips, and etc.

I hope this is an adequate answer to your inquiry.

Tom K.

[LDMGOLD]

Paul:

You also ask about Monument Canyon. Most of the documentation I have associated with Monument Canyon comes from family journals in the area. One was the Booths, the other was George Gregory. The stone statue of the German soldier was first mention by Barney Barnard. I am sure he heard it from old William M. King or maybe Pearl Bates. Both lived a long time on out here before 1935. Another man who talked about the statue in Monument Canyon was Hallberg. If you look southeast along the edge of Superstition Mountain from 88 near Weeks Wash you can see the pinnacle of rock that looks like a statue on the far edge of Monument Canyon. The source of the name predates Barney Barnard and many of the old timers. The name might even go back as far as George U. Young who liked to give colorful names to various landmarks around Superstition Mountains.
I hope this helps a little. Again there is a lot of speculation as to the original source of these names.

Tom K.

[rede2rock]

Tom

That was a beautiful response. It showed that you are a very deep researcher and meticulous. Can not ask for anything more than those qualities. You are obviously driven to find answers to the questions you seek and that is admirable. To ask you to post all you have would be foolish. When you only went back to the early 1900's I was not sure of the depth of your inquiries with regard to time. I suspected it was deeper, but this confirms that. Thank You for all you do.

Thom

[LDMGOLD]

THOM:

Thanks for the kind remarks. I did promise Paul I would answer some of his question about landmarks. I think only one remains now. Yes, I do love to research the stories about this mountain and its landmarks and place name. Even many of the mining claims have unique, colorful and interesting names. Names such as Hidden Mark, The Thing, Park One, Ace of Spades and so forth. I have put together a list of all the claims in Pinal County. I have access to a data base for the Maricopa County mining claims. When I taught my class on the Superstition Mountains for the college I spent one three hour class on Place Names and Landmarks.

Tom K.

[cubfan64]

Paul:

You also ask about Monument Canyon. Most of the documentation I have associated with Monument Canyon comes from family journals in the area. One was the Booths, the other was George Gregory. The stone statue of the German soldier was first mention by Barney Barnard. I am sure he heard it from old William M. King or maybe Pearl Bates. Both lived a long time on out here before 1935. Another man who talked about the statue in Monument Canyon was Hallberg. If you look southeast along the edge of Superstition Mountain from 88 near Weeks Wash you can see the pinnacle of rock that looks like a statue on the far edge of Monument Canyon. The source of the name predates Barney Barnard and many of the old timers. The name might even go back as far as George U. Young who liked to give colorful names to various landmarks around Superstition Mountains.
I hope this helps a little. Again there is a lot of speculation as to the original source of these names.

Tom K.

Hi Tom - so the "German Soldier" monument is/was really just a rock formation and not an actual "statue" that was carved? Thanks for all the information you've been providing - it's definitely interesting!

[rede2rock]

Tom

My first thought after reading that you have a list of all the pinal mining claims was: have you ever taken a map and just put different colored map pins in for each type of mineral to see if a sort of geologic pattern is evident? Probably you would not see anything but it seems people just as in fishing tend to congregate around the guy pulling in the fish. Just a thought about trying to define a good fishing hole as it were. Usually it is not the first guy on the fish but the guy who is the most observant who catches the most and biggest. I tend to think outside the box alot and usually it yields some pretty interesting solutions.

Thom

[LDMGOLD]

PAUL: I don't have a lot of information about Black Cross Butte. The best that I can determine the name originated with the naming of landmarks by the Southern Pacific Railroad when they had a state concession on the Apache Trail for tours from 1915 thru 1927 or (29). It is one of the few names that have survived that era. Inspiration Point, the Bronze Wall, Paso de Tesoro, and others have gone the way of the Dodo bird. One old cowboy told me it was a brand used by Cleman's Cattle Company, but I doubt that very much. However, it could have been a cattle brand. I checked the Arizona brand book up to 1953 and did not find it used as a brand. There are other possible sources such as Salt River Project itself.

Thom: Few of the claim notice have what type of minerals are being sought. Serpentine, marble, copper, bismuth, mica, silver and gold has all been sought in the Superstition Mountain area. Of course that doesn't mean they have been found.

Tom K.

[LDMGOLD]

Thom:

I might add, the type of mineral or metal is usually part of the claim's name. I don't believe there is any area on the claim to list the mineral being sought. Your idea is interesting, however a geological map of the area would give you a good idea. There are several excellent geological maps of the area produced by the USGS and even private sources.

Tom K.

[LDMGOLD]

Thom:

I might add, the type of mineral or metal is usually part of the claim's name. I don't believe there is any area on the claim to list the mineral being sought. Your idea is interesting, however a geological map of the area would give you a good idea. There are several excellent geological maps of the area produced by the USGS and even private sources.

Tom K.

[rede2rock]

Tom

Do you have any name changes for " Hells Hole Spring" it was attached to a photo jim submitted in a thread. Am curious about it and also its location.

Thom