Part One
Town Rules
Crown King
Is an unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States, located at an elevation of 5,771 feet (1,759 m).Population of 133.The site of a former gold mining town, Crown King is 28 miles west of Interstate 17 on Senator Highway, high in the Bradshaw Mountains. The community is named after the Crowned King mine, but the name was shortened to Crown King in 1888. Horsethief Basin Lake resides 6.5 miles South-East of Crown King on Crown King Rd/Forest 259 Rd.
An estimated US$2,000,000 in gold was taken from the Crowned King Mine alone; the mines have been closed since the 1950s and for the past half-century tourism has been the only reliable source of income in the area.
Has been serving children in the same one-room schoolhouse since 1917.
Quartz Mill
The Burned Area
Lane 2 Fire
Size: 9,629
Cause: Human Caused,
Time/Date Started: Saturday, June 28, 2008
Location: Crown King, AZ
Fuels: Timber with litter and chaparral understory
Terrain: Steep, rugged, difficult access
Total Personnel: 134
Resources: 3 Crews, 5 Engines, 7 Water Tenders, 2 Dozers
100% contained on Monday, July 14, 2008
Horsethief Basin Lake
Horsethief Basin Recreation Area is nestled in the Bradshaw Mountains near Horsethief Basin Lake and the Castle Creek Wilderness in the Prescott National Forest. The area is rich in history, including early Native American inhabitants and later in the 1860s, home to horse thieves and rustled livestock. Now these peaceful mountains provide a variety of recreation activities for those wishing to enjoy both the heritage and beauty of the Bradshaw Mountains.
You will find Horsethief Basin Lake, a small lake that offers non-motorized boating and fishing. The lake is stocked with largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and channel catfish.
Bradshaw City was a mining camp in Yavapai County, Arizona, it is now a ghost town. Originally established in the 1860s, Bradshaw City was a haven for many of the early pioneers of Arizona. The town died out in the mid to late 1880s.
When gold was discovered in the Bradshaw Mountains, dozens of mining towns sprung up around and on top of the mountains over time. The City was named after William Bradshaw who first discovered gold around the area in 1863. The Bradshaw Mining District was also named after him. Bradshaw City was founded on the northwest side of Mount Wasson. At first the settlement was literally a camp but due to the vast pine forrests all over the Bradshaw Mountains, stone and lumber was quickly used to build permanent structures. Multiple saloons, stores, restaurants, a barber shop, a stage and a meat market along with two hotels accommodated the large population of around 5,000. Bradshaw City's nearest major settlement was Prescott, thirty miles away. Settlers could travel for free on the only wagon-accessible road.
A man named Simpson operated a wagon train and apparently did not mind the company for over two days, which is how long it took to travel between Prescott and Bradshaw City during the frontier era. The only other route known to have been that leads to Bradshaw City was through Minnehaha Flat and then through a five mile steep mountain trail, rendering a wagon or anything on wheel too large to make the trip. In 1871 the mine was complete at nearby Tiger and the city flourished for a few years. A post office was constructed in 1874. The town officials suspected 10,000 to 20,000 people would eventually settle there but unfortunately the 1880s were just ahead, a time when many Arizona towns became ghosts, just as Bradshaw City did. The post office was closed in 1884.
Little of the city can be found today. One of Bradshaw City's saloons can be visited in Crown King, as it was moved there, a post office was taken from the city also and can still be found.
A few mile just outside Crown King there are several switch backs. Some of the switchbacks are real narrow and don’t have any guard rails the cliffs are a few hundred feet high. The road now a days was the old Prescott & Eastern Railroad line back in the 1800‘s. The train would drive forward on one switchback pulling far enough forward that the train could back up the next switchback. The train would do this till it reached Crown King. This is why the road is narrow between the cuts in the mountains.
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are an adaptation that protects the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.
The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean exactly those plants in the tribe Cynareae (synonym: Cardueae), especially the genera Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles, and if this is done thistles would form a polyphyletic group.
Coryphantha Pycnacantha
Crown King Fire Department provides fire, emergency medical, hazardous material, and a variety of other services. Our fuels reduction crew works year-round to reduce hazardous fuel loads for wildland fires with the help of groups such as AmeriCorps NCCC. The department also provides free blood pressure checks, hosts an annual flu shot clinic, educates children on fire prevention, supports community Firewise efforts, and manages the local slash pile for brush disposal.
Two of several thousands mine in the area.
Mule Deer on the hill.
Tiger Mining District, Yavapai County, Arizona
3/4 Mile S of Senator Hwy @ Bradshaw City on road to the Tiger Mine
705' West of the Oro Belle Road
The view from the Bradshaw City cemetery.
Horned lizards (Phrynosoma) are a type of lizards that are a genus of the Phrynosomatidae family of lizards. The horned lizard is popularly called a "horned toad", "horny toad", or "horned frog", but it is neither a toad nor a frog. The popular names come from the lizard's rounded body and blunt snout, which make it resemble a toad or frog. (Phrynosoma literally means "toad-bodied".) The spines on its back and sides are made from modified scales, whereas the horns on the heads are true horns (i.e. they have a bony core). There are 14 species of horned lizards in North America, eight of which are native to the United States.
Didn't make it.
That’s me standing in front of an old train tunnel that caved in.
A old fridge
Out House
The train tunnel where I was standing that caved in.
Mule Deer.
Screwing around shooting through a glass
Tower Mountain
Night photo of Tower Mountain.
Wickenburg City Lights
No it's not rain it's Stars as the Earth rotates.
Till Next Time!!
Darren thanks very much for sharing all these photos with the public. They are fantastic and they make me want to visit Crown King very soon.
ReplyDeleteRichard....Surprise, AZ
What a beautiful place. My Grandfather was born in Crown king in 1906. I'd love to come visit it there sometime.
ReplyDeleteMelba