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| Library of Congress photo |
Most
people know William Frederick Cody as a Pony Express rider, Indian fighter,
buffalo hunter and internationally as a showman. He was also a gold miner in
southern Arizona.
Born in
Iowa in 1846, he moved with his family Canada and then to Kansas where his
father operated a trading post at an Indian agency. Young Cody went to work to
support his family after his father died in 1857. He became enamored of gold at
age 14 and was on his way to California when, he became a Pony Express rider,
outsmarting outlaws and Indians as he rode his 45-mile route.
He scouted
for the Union Army against the Indians during the Civil War and continued doing
so after the war. He was given the Medal of Honor for his actions during the
Plains War with the Indians. Cody received the nickname of “Buffalo Bill,”
after killing more than 4,200 buffalo in 18 months to supply meat for the
Kansas Pacific Railroad.
He turned
to acting when he was 26 years old. Reportedly he wasn’t very good at it, but
the crowds loved him anyway. He founded his Wild West show in 1883, eventually
touring throughout the United States and Europe.
But the
quest for precious metals that inspired a young Cody to head for California never really
left him. In 1903 he invested in mining ventures, primarily at Camp Bonita, in
the foothills of the Catalina Mountains near Oracle, Arizona. Reportedly, he
never visited the mine until 1910. Besides gold, the Camp Bonito mines also
contained silver and tungsten. The light bulb invented by Thomas Edison used
tungsten from Cody’s mines.
Cody often
camped at the mine or stayed in nearby Oracle if his wife was with him. He eventually owned property in the foothills,
with a home, La Casa del High Jinks, built there in 1933. This house today is
on the National Register of Historic Places.
The High
Jinks ranch is located up a winding dirt road. Itt offers respite for hikers on the Arizona Trail. Remains of some mining
operations can be seen at the entrance to the compound.
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