Category: Ralston City
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Chapter 30 – Hamilton C. McComas
Introduction Here we furnish only a brief outline of Hamilton Calhoun McComas’ life prior to his arrival in New Mexico Territory, mainly in order to provide context for some of the places, people and events referred to in the body of this Chapter. Some of this information…
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General John Boyle
Born in 1839, John was part of an extensive and extremely distinguished family. As mentioned above we have no direct evidence to show that he and William G. were related, but in his genealogy John Boyle does refer to his ancestors as having come from Londonderry. His family however had…
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CHAPTER 29 – William G. and John Boyle
William George Boyle We were unable to find any definitive description of the familial link between William G. and John Boyle; in his family genealogy John Boyle makes no mention of a William G. Boyle.²² William George Boyle was born in Londonderry, Ireland, around 1828, and had arrived in California…
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Chapter 28 – The Companies
The machinations of the various companies operating in the Virginia Mining District between 1879 and 1882, and with which James B. Price and William and John Boyle were associated, are almost impossible to describe in complete detail; some transactions were not entered into Grant County records, whether this was simply…
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Chapter 27 – The Return Of William.D.Brown
Although it is generally reported that the Virginia Mining District’s revival began in 1879 with the arrival of the Boyles at the settlement, it had really begun a full year earlier in the early spring of 1878, with the reappearance of William D. Brown. Why Brown chose to return…
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Part V – Shakespeare
Part V has over 200 references, a number of which include detailed and fairly lengthy footnotes. It is important that these notes are read, especially those relating to Hamilton C.McComas and John and William Boyle, as they contain both important corrections to existing writing on these people, and information…
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Chapter 26 – The Desertion of Ralston City
Various editions of Grant County newspapers give indications of the rapid exodus of people from Ralston City to, for the most part, Silver City. Many leading figures and businessmen had made their way to this town from Ralston when it became all too apparent that there was nothing there that…
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Chapter 25 – A Last Hurrah!
The Ralston City – Gila River Railroad As well as the many references to transporting water from the San Simon or Gila rivers to Ralston, there are also several references to the planned construction of a railroad from Ralston City to the Gila River, most notably by Arnold and…
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CHAPTER 24 – Visitors From Pinos Altos
Who, When, and Why Perhaps one of Ralston City’s more reliable claims to fame is the fact that it was directly responsible for the founding of what is today the Grant County seat – Silver City. Many will be familiar with the famous exclamation of “Well (or Hell) boys! If…
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The Great Diamond Hoax – Final Installment
A Change of Plan Roberts was initially unaware that there had been some changes made to the plan of action for the disposal of the Virginia Mining District properties. On September 26, 1870, he had written to Harpending “My idea is for you to go to NY and interest some…
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The Great Diamond Hoax contd.
More About Mr. Morgan Firstly, we recall Harpending’s description of his chance meeting with Mr. Morgan at Cheyenne. Mr. Morgan who, after requesting to accompany Harpending on his trip to the Virginia Mining District properties, became so thoroughly impressed by them that he proposed the formation of a company, and…
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Chapter 23 The Great Diamond Hoax contd.
Philip Arnold and James B. Cooper On November 19, 1870, the Weekly Arizonan reported that “Messrs. Cowper and Arnold” had arrived at Tucson the previous week from the Burro Mines. They were en route to San Francisco and carried with them not only news of the mines at Ralston, which…
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Chapter 23 -The Great Diamond Hoax
Recap and Background Numerous articles and books have been written about this particular event, and so we shall not report the whole story yet again. To do full justice to the events surrounding this particular swindle, the characters involved in it, and the fallout it generated would take the writing…
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The Dust Settles – The Aftermath Of The Pyramid Range Affair
The Fallout The Pyramid Range prospectus would be held up – at least as far as Marmaduke Sampson was concerned – as the benchmark against which all other such prospectuses were measured. Sampson it seems never missed an opportunity to remind his readers of either it or the Lincoln Gold…
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Harpending Goes to London – Part II. His version of Events
Mr. Morgan Since there is little or no information on Harpending’s movements in London, the exact sequence of his actions is impossible to describe. What we do know is that Harpending’s own account of this period, as given in his memoirs, is so full of “errors” that it should be…