Sign up to receive email notices of recent acquisitions.

Arizona Illustrated. History.—Mining.—Railroads.—Lands. Facts for Tourists. Valley Forge Consolidated Mining Company. Mining Property Located in the Big Bug Mining District, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory.

Chicago: Press of H. C. Tiffany & Co., 1880. 8vo, original blue-gray printed wrappers. 46 pp., [18] pp. ads, 1 folding map, 6.5” x 7.75”. Also includes 1 map 8" x 5.5"; 1 map 7.25” x 4.25”; 6 full page b&w illustrations or diagrams; and several inset b&w illustrations. Advertisements on inner wrappers, including an inset map of the “Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R. R.”; map on outer lower wrapper of the “Chicago & Alton Railroad Lines.”.

A scarce promotional publication advertising mining shares in Arizona during the region's last big mining boom.

A pamphlet trumpeting "One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Shares" in various mining properties belonging to the Valley Forge Consolidated Mining Company, for "Ten Dollars Each." Included are: blurbs about each lode owned by the company, including those bearing such evocative names as "The Edgar A. Poe Lode," "The Raven Lode," "The Jesuit Lode," and "The Rebel Lode"; a sketch of the Big Bug Mining District; a portion of the "Report of Hon. J. C. Fremont," the Governor of Arizona, in which he announces: "Our Indians are quiet, and Arizona seems to have at length emerged in security, and with her superior advantages, to her just position as a wealthy portion of the public domain"; expert opinions on "Fissure Veins. They are Inexhaustible"; general information on "The Territory of Arizona"; and a large assortment of extracts from letters and newspaper articles about mines, their specs, development, and prospects. One piece, called "A Curious Discovery" gives an account of miners finding what appeared to be a pure silver crown, "under a boulder about half a mile to the southeast of the celebrated Turquois mine…it must have lain there at least since 1680, as no working in these mines was done by the Spaniards after the uprising of the Indians during that year."

The folding map shows the routes of the "Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad Co."; the full page map on p. 5 shows the Arizona Mining District, bordered by the "Grand Cañon," Utah, and Nevada in the north, and California and "Old Cal." in the west, and includes a "proposed narrow gauge R. R." from "Bed Rock" to "Phenix" to Maricopa, crossing the Big Bug Creek and the Gila River on the way; and the full page map on p. 11 shows that "Part of the Big Bug Mining District" that is the "Company's Property."

Scarce. OCLC records only six copies.

REFERENCES: Eberstadt 121:015: “This is the only copy of this interesting compendium we have come upon.” Not in Howes, Graff, or Decker.

CONDITION: Very good, minor wear and soiling.

Item #4134

Sold