Bisbee Mines & Saguaro, AZ.

For our exploring day we headed south, drove through Tombstone, and then up the mountain to Bisbee, Arizona. We stopped in at Copper Queen Mine and Bisbee visitor center where we picked up some area information and then drove the 1/4 mile to the downtown area. The town looks like the old shops and lots of tourists shops plus normal things. This isn’t a ghost town; still a thriving community of 5,000 people. 

Copper was found here and copper, unlike silver and gold, is a longer process and has more professional people so the town lasts longer. Copper camps made a community more stable with more scientific management and skilled work force. Not here and gone, like other types of mines. 

We visited Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum; this is an affiliate with the Smithsonian Institute and it was excellent. The exhibit covers the first 40 years, from 1877 to 1917. In 1877, three men were looking for Apaches in the Mule Mountains and discovered mineral deposits. Their claim didn’t amount to much and they didn’t get much from it. But it did start others prospecting. 

Strenuous Trip Across Mule Mtns – 1885, Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum, Bisbee, AZ 03/25

Ore is the rock with the mineral inside. It was taken to Benson, Arizona, by freight wagon and there put on the Southern Pacific Railroad. It took 20 mules to pull the wagons filled with ore across the Mule Mountains. Going back to Bisbee the freight wagons would carry supplies, firewood, timber, coal and coke for the smelter. In 1881 the trip was shortened by 25 miles when the New Mexico and Santa Fe Railroad connected up with the Southern Pacific Railroad at Fairbanks, Arizona. In 1889, The Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company built their own railroad from Bisbee to Fairbanks. It was 36 miles. It lowered the rate for freight from $6.00 to $1.00 per ton! It also made travel for people more comfortable. 

In 1915, Bisbee had more than 50 grocery stores! I had to read that three times to make sure I was reading it right. Wow! In the mines, the men worked 8 hour shifts. A lot of times 16 year old boys would lie about their age in order to work there. Women weren’t allowed to work in the saloons. 

The Bisbee High School diplomas were made out of copper from 1932-1954. 

Lavender Pit Mine, Closed in 1970s, Bisbee, AZ 03/25

The Sacramento Pit was the first open pit mining here in the area and started in 1917. There were several more, including Lavender Pit. It wasn’t named for purple color; it was the guy’s last name! HA The mining in Bisbee stopped in the 1970s. However, it gets over 50,000 visitors each year. We drove just down the road a bit to stop at the overlook for Lavender Pit copper mine. This was mined from 1917-1974. It is 4000 ft wide, 5000 ft long and 850 ft deep at its maximum. 

Next we drove Erie Street. This is the remains of the town just outside of Bisbee called Lowell. It is a famous street where people have left the business fronts as they were plus they added old vehicles along the road. We didn’t stop but drove through both directions.

The next day we went about 45 minutes from the campground to Saguaro National Park – the east side. It is interesting that the park has Tucson, AZ, in the middle of it! The east side is mountains and the top has pine trees and ponderosas. The west side is more flat and dry. Such a contrast. We thought about going to the west side later in the day but it is an hour away and we decided to wait. We pulled up to the visitor center and the very small parking lot (maybe 15 spots) was full. We got in line to go into the park. It was funny – there was a teenager standing in between us and the truck in front of us. At his turn he talked with the ranger at the gate, got out his wallet and then left. Behind us we saw a couple in-between us and the vehicle behind. Not sure why people are walking up to the ranger.

Oh, the saguaro, fish-hook barrel, prickly pear, chain-fruit cholla, staghorn cholla and teddy bear cholla were just neat to see! I didn’t know the names…I got them from a sign. HAHA We learned there are 25 different cactus species that grow here. The road is a one-way, 8 mile trip with lots of twists and turns. It was made by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and has a good number of pull outs. We took our time, pulled over a lot and walked around a bit. The cactus with the mountains behind are beautiful. Mt Lemmon has snow on top. While in our truck driving we got passed by a guy on an e-bike and it made us laugh. It is amazing how old those saguaros can be – over 150 years. Oh, the changes of history they have “observed!”

Us With A Saguaro, Saguaro – East NP, Tucson, AZ 03/25

When we came back to the visitor center, thankfully there were a few parking spots open. We went inside and watched the captioned film. The displays were good and hands on. We ate our picnic lunch outside under some shade. We bought some prickly pear hard candy, prickly pear jelly beans, an ornament, and some postcards. This was a very enjoyable visit because it is so unique.