Clifton - Greenlee County

 

County: Greenlee County

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Dates:  1865 - Present

 

Noted Aspects of Town:

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Clifton “Cliff” Jail - was built in 1878 by Margartio Verala and can be visited today in a cliff along old Chase Street.  The story goes with Margartio celebrating the completion of the jail went out on the town and during the celebration shot up the dance hall and ultimately became the first occupant of the new jail.

 

Chase Creek – The name Chase Creek was given by Jim and Bob Metcalf in honor of the captain who instructed them to recover horses that were stolen by Apache worriers.  While tracking the trail of the horses along the Gila River and up the San Francisco River they came to a narrow canyon where they discovered the copper outcroppings.  Chase Creek runs along this canyon.

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History:  Clifton and Morenci are old towns that continue today due to copper mining.  The coper mining here is second only to a copper mine in Chile and is the largest producer in the United States.  Many aspects of these two towns revolve around the activities of the mine.

 

More to come as there is a lot of information about Clifton and Morenci.  I continue to research this area and will update as I get more information to share.  My grandfather lived in the area and worked at the mine here.  I have chosen this location to start with under the Ghost Town tab as I have personnal history at this mine and the surrounding area.  Thank you for your patience with the upcoming updates.

 

Early History

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The original copper discovery in the Chase Creek area was made by Robert Metcal while scouting for Captian Chase in the area.  This was a time of unrest with conflicts between the settlers and indians to the area.  The initial discovery was in 1870 with the claim being filed two years later in 1872.  A town grew in the area and was named Metcalf which is now covered over by mine tailings.  More details on the early days and the town of Metcalf are documented on the Metcalf page of the web site.  Metcalf 

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Phelps Dodge & Company:  

 

In 1881, Phelps Dodge & Company (PD as my grandparents called it) invested $50,000 in the property.  This was the New York mecantile's first venture into the mining industry.  By 1921, PD had consolidated all mining operations in the district.  The original mining work in the region was underground and eventually converted to open-pit mining by 1937.  

 

During World War II the operation nearly doubled its capacity at the urging of the U.S. government to meet wartime needs.

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In 1987, Morenci started its first SX/EW processing plant.  Previously, the facility housed two smelters with the last smelter ceasing production in 1984.  Both smelters have been demolished and reclaimed.  As a child my family would drive by the mine going to see my grandparents in Morenci and I remember being fascinated by all the activity and buildings on the facility at that time.

 

Phelps Dodge Copper Strike 1983 - 1986:  

 

There is much information about the PD Copper Strike that lasted for 3 years and changed unionism in its wake.  I will provide some cliff notes from my research as this is a topic in itself but had a great impact on the towns and people.

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Freeport-McMoRan:

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In March of 2007 Freeport Mc-Mo-Ran merged with Phelps Dodge who is not the primary owner/operator of the Morenci Mine.

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Today:

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Clifton and Morenci are old towns that continue today due to copper mining.  The copper mining here is second only to a copper mine in Chile and is the largest producer in the United States.  Many aspects of these two towns revolve around the activities of the mine.

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People:  Robert B. Metcalf, Jim Metcalf,  Army Officer Captain Chase, 

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Mines Supporting Town:

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What you will see today:  TBD

 

Acknowledgement: TBD, Kevin Baker

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My Experiences:  In this section I have decided to add some of my personal experiences in Clifton/Morenci and the surrounding areas.  As a young person I visited my grandparents many times growing up and spent some time with them.  Not all of the following information is related to mining directly but due to my grandfather working at Phelps Dodge they are part of my life experiences.  Please share your experince if the following reminds you of a time gone past in Arizona history on the contacts page.

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Childhood Memories:

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Shopping - As a young child I remember visiting my grandparents in their Morenci home and getting to go to the five and dime store at the shopping center owned by Phelps Dodge.  I was excited to visit the store and would go to an area along the wall that had all kinds of small toys for kids that were 5 cents and 10 cents.  Of course my sister and I could always find something we wanted.  The loot consisted of rubber bouncing balls, yo-yo's, and army men with parachutes.  We would beg our grandparents for a toy each time they took us to the store.  We also had to endure the grocery store but it was worth it to us kids because we got to visit the five and dime.

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Mining - During a weekend visit to my grandparents Morenci house when I was very young, I remember it had a very small back yard that backed up to a cliff.  Being the young boy I was exploring my grandparents house, I came across a pick in my grandfathers shed and wanted to try out my luck in mining.  I took the pick and started digging in the shale cliff at the back of my grandparents yard with grand ideas of digging a tunnel.  I worked for a while chipping away at the cliff and it seemed to be easy work as the shale wall broke away fairly easily with each swing of the pick.  I continued chipping away at the wall with this oversize pick, making a nice collection of rock at my feet.  All the while I pictured a tunnel in my grandparents back yard that I had made and would continue on my next visit.  The adults were inside probably playing "Shoot the Moon" with the dominos as I remember growing up.

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I continued chipping away making progress on my tunnel hoping I would not be called in for dinner anytime soon.  As I chipped away and was beginning to feel like I was accomplishing my goal I was hit on the head from above.  Before I realized what was happening there was rocks falling all around me and I was covering my head with the pick falling to the ground.  Fortunatley, I had only made progressed about 8 inches into the cliff and the falling shale consisted of small chunkes of rock.  That day, I learend a valuable lesson about underground mining and respect for the men that worked in the mines.

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I returned the pick to its location and went into the house to see if dinner was ready.  I never tried tunneling in my grandparents back yard again.

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More to come......