McMillenville, Arizona: Difference between revisions

McMillenville is a ghost town in Gila County, Arizona. Like several other mining towns, the weathy minerals in the area were found on accident in 1876 by Theodore H. Harris and Charles McMillen.

History

On March 26, 1876 Harris and McMillen were heading 28 miles northeast of Globe on a prospecting trip. While traveling through the White Mountains McMillen got off his horse as he was too hungover to proceede further. He went to sleep so Harris stopped, dismounted and sat down on a nearby ledge. Bordom led Harris to drive his pick into the rock and discovered silver. The pair founded the Stonewall Jackson mine which eventually turned into McMillenville, named after the drunken McMillen. The town grew fast and a year later on November 12, 1877 a post office was opened. At it's peak 1,000 settlers lived there. The town soon was bolstered several adobe saloons, dance halls, boarding houses, casinos, as well as homes for hundreds of people, public buildings and the mining structures. The town's first bloodshed came in 1880 over a mining claim dispute. Jack Brown the founder of the claim established a camp which another prospector intended to exploit. After Jack Brown and his killer had a long argument, the two met on the main street and fought a duel. Both men fired their revolvers true and they both died from a gunshot wound seconds later. McMillenville's peak was in 1880, the origional five-stamp mill was replaced with by twenty-stamps. A new hoisting mechanism was erected for lifting ore out of the shaft. Silver ingots here taken about 100 miles to Casa Grande. The town was booming until 1882 when Geronimo's warriors attacked.

Battle of McMillenville

Battle of McMillenville
Part of the Apache Wars
Date July 7, 1882 Location Big Bug, New Mexico Territory Modern Day: Big Bug, Arizona Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Apache
Commanders and leaders
unknown	Geronimo
Strength
unknown cavalry militia	unknown warriors
Casualties and losses
1 wounded	unknown

References

• Sherman, James E (1969). Ghost Towns of Arizona. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-0843-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)