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AZentertain: Arizona Gold Rush: Camp Bonito The Southern Belle - one of the richest gold mines
In 1905, an application was filed for permission for a $45,00 bond the Southern Bell (spelled without the final e) group of gold mines by James W. Fellows, a wealthy New Yorker who had an interest in mining near Oracle, Arizona. "Chief Engineer Thompson of the Twin Buttes ailroad is in the city from the grading camp which is located near the mines. The roadbed will be completed to the mines within a few days. It is expected that the rails and ties wil be laid as fast as the material arrives." 6 An article in a Bisbee newspaper in early January 1906 mentioned that the Southern Belle mining properties reportedly "produced considerable gold in the past, the ore having been run through a ten stamp mill located on the ground." 7 A week later, on January 17, 1906 it was reported that W. W. Ward has a principle interest in reopening the Southern Belle mine. The property, ot said, was worked from 1885 to 1897 by A. H. Fellows and later was in ligitation over his estate. Fellows died in 1897. There were seven patented claims in the group. To resume work, only the possibility of retimbering of the mine shaft is needed. The ikd stamp mill would be used and new machinerary added. Two and a half miles of pipe line wuld have been finished by April. Also named as an interest in the property was J. Knox Corbett and Roscoe Dale. 8 A road was built by the Southern Belle mine management and twelve men in 1906. The property was worked about ten years before, but was shut down recently. As a known gold producer, about 100 men were soon expected to work in the mines. 9 By 1908, it was reported in the Bisbee newspaper that "Also the Southern Belle gold mines, six miles from Oracle, which have produced over one million dollars in gold. None of these mines have been worked in truth, it may be said, but through the vicisitudes of accidents or mismanagement have been temporarily closed down." In 1908, the price of gold was $18.95 per ounce. It would mean that 52,770 ounces or over 3,298 pounds of gold was extracted. 10 By the end of the year in 1909, an article stated the "Southern Belle group in Pima county is to resume operations with a ten stamp mill. This property is an old gold producer." 11 A few days later, it was announced that "The Southern Belle, a rich gold property in southwestern Pinal county, has been taken over by practical mining men of California and Nevada." The property was closed 15 years ago after the former owner's death and had since been held in his estate. 12 In February 1910 an article titled "Pinal County rich in Gold and Silver" reported that the "old Southern Belle mill, situated near Oracle, this country, after ten years of idleness, began crushing ore, this week, from the old dumps of the Southern Belle gold mine, and a force of miners have been put on duty at the mine. The property produced a large amount of gold in the distant past, and will duplicate that record in the future." The paper credits Hugh J. McIssacs and assoicates of San Francisco who had gained control of the property. 13 By 1910, the Southern Belle mine became the property of the Cody-Dyer M & M operations, then was passed on to Capt. Jack Burgess. The property was made up of nine mining patents and four unpatented claims. There was a mill and a ten stamp mill on the site. 14 The new owners of the Southern Belle mine ordered a 100-ton mill in early 1912. 15
Land records show that a Mineral Patent Lode (14 Stat. 251) was awarded on July 26, 1886. James W. Fellows received a patent in 1888 and 1904 for the section. In 1931, Elizabeth L. Wood, daughter of E. O. Stratton, recorded a certificate of receipt for the Careless Mining Claim lode mining claim. The Campo Bonito Mines acquired the property in 1945 with several other neighboring sections. 17 Pinal County public records 18 and the BLM mining claim records document a long string of claims and affidavits of labor through 2010. Evidence of annual assessment work for mining claims/mining sites must be filed and recorded yearly to keep labor and mining claims current. The claims, which are on private property are not valid since claims are not needed to be filed by the property owner. There was also a Southern Belle mine near Tombstone, one in Yavapai and others throughout the country, but they are not connected with this Southern Belle in Campo Bonito. Read the original newspaper articles digitized by the Chronicaling America Newspaper Project, a National Endowment for the Humanities project of the Library of Congress. Select a link to open the newspaper page in a new window. Choose from several viewing formats from PDF to JPG. 1. History of the Lower San Pedro Valley in Arizona by Bernard W. Muffley, 1938. Page 26, 69. uair.arizona.edu/system/files/usain/.../azu_e9791_1938_41_w.pdf 2: "Mineral Appraisal of Coronado National Forest, Part 5" Mineral Land Assessment, 1994. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, Santa Catalina-Rincon District. uair.arizona.edu/system/files/usain/.../azu_e9791_1938_41_w.pdf. 3 Daily Tombstone Epitaph, January 26, 1886. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96060682/1886-01-26/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Southern+Bell 4. Daily Tombstone Epitaph, February 20, 1886. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn96060682/1886-02-20/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Belle+Southern 5. Tombstone Epitaph, August 13, 1887. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060905/1887-08-13/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Belle+Southern 6. Arizona Silver Belt, November 30, 1905, page 3. . http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021913/1905-11-30/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Southern+mines+gold+Bell 7. Arizona Silver Belt, Gliobe City, AZ January 11, 1906, page 2. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021913/1906-01-11/ed-1/seq-2/;words=Mining+Gold+gold+Bell+Southern+mine 8. Bisbee Daily Review, January 17, 1906, page 2 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1906-01-17/ed-1/seq-2/;words=Southern+Bell 9. Bisbee Daily Review, May 25, 1906, page 3 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1906-05-25/ed-1/seq-3/;words=Belle+BELLE+SOUTHERN+Southern 10. Bisbee Daily Review, February 16, 1908, image 9 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1908-02-16/ed-1/seq-9/;words=Belle+Southern+gold 11. Bisbee Daily Review, December 2, 1909, page 8 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1909-12-02/ed-1/seq-8/;words=Belle+Southern 12. Daily Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, December 5, 1909, page 12 second section http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87082863/1909-12-05/ed-1/seq-12/;words=Belle+Southern 13. Bisbee Daily Review, Bisbee, Arizona, February 2, 1910, page 6. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1910-02-02/ed-1/ 14. Bisbee Daily Review, Bisbee, Arizona, May 14, 1912, page 5 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024827/1912-05-14/ed-1/seq-5 15. Mohave County Miner, Mineral Park, A.T., January 13, 1912 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024828/1912-01-13/ed-1/seq-5/;words=Belle+Southern 16. Mindat.org mineral report on "Southern Belle Mine (Southern Belle gp; Morning Star property/claims), Apache Peak area, Campo Bonito, Oracle District (Control District; Old Hat District; Santa Catalina District), Santa Catalina Mts, Pinal Co., Arizona, USA" http://www.mindat.org/loc-63390.html 17 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/results/default.aspx?searchCriteria=type=patent|st=AZ|cty=|twp_nr=10|twp_dir=S|rng_nr=16|rng_dir=E|sec=20|m= 18. Pinal County Recorders Office http://pinalcountyaz.gov/Departments/Recorder/Pages/DocumentSearch.aspx Campo Bonito Index | Arizona Gold Rush IndexAZentertain Home
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