Category: Shakespeare Ghost Town
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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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Coming Next – Visitors From Pinos Altos.
Perhaps one of Ralston City’s more reliable claims to fame is the fact that it was directly responsible for the founding of Silver City after a visit to that settlement by a group of men from Pinos Altos. In the next installment we will look at exactly who it was…
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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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A Peculiar Resemblance
The Lincoln Gold Company In the January 30th report on the issuing of the Pyramid Range prospectus, Marmaduke Sampson, author of the piece and Financial Editor of the London Times, revealed – and invited explanation of – a number of similarities found between that prospectus and one which had been…
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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…
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Letters From George D. Roberts – Part II
George D. Roberts to “Mr. A. Harpending”, San Francisco, Nov. 7th, 1870 This item is not a letter per se; rather it is a formal note whereby Roberts gives official authorization to Harpending to proceed with the sale of the stock of the New Mexico Mining Company: Mr. A. Harpending.…
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Letters From George D. Roberts – Part I
Group III Letters Here we have grouped together those letters written by George D. Roberts himself. These are important because they show us why the reports from Ralston continued to be favorable, despite Power’s “sell out as fast as possible” letter of September 7, 1870. We also refer briefly…
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As An Aside…
It’s so sad that the “Mexican Springs” falsehood is still being perpetuated. It’s especially sad when you see the first organization listed as a sponsor.A minimal amount of research would show that there was no such place, the name is a fabrication, and only came into existence in the 1960s.…
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The Curtis/McGoodwin Party
Most of the men in this group were relatively wealthy; Gillette for example states on the census that he owned real estate to the value of $10,000, and that he had personal wealth of the same amount. Johns gives figurewer’ss of $10,000 and $12,000 respectively. All were Southerners, hailing…