An Historic Coffee Walk that Started Something

We decided to take a sort of historic coffee walk this morning.  We walked up US Hwy 93 for a half mile to the location of an historical marker to see what it could tell us about the Wikieup area.

When we got to the marker -- it was missing!

This was disappointing; but it gave us a research project when we got back to the RV. Kathy employed her mad internet research skills and found, on the HMDB (Historical Marker Database) a description of the missing marker.  We can believe the description is accurate, because it also reported that the marker is now missing. 

In a nutshell, it told us that, from that spot, we were gazing out across the Big Sandy Valley, formed by Big Sandy River (which we can tell you from personal experience is mostly a dry wash).  The area has seen recorded European occupation since 1582, when it was first encountered by Spanish explorer Espejo in 1582.  During its early days since then, according to the marker, this area was important for agriculture, mining, milling and smelting, which we could have guessed from the large number of historic mines scattered all over the BLM lands around Wickieup.

The marker did not record what archaeological research might have shown about occupation of the valley by Native Americans prior to the arrival of the Spanish.  However, a little more internet research found an article on AZCentral.com, a part of the USA Today network, which reports that the area was settled by Hualapai Indians who raised corn.  Apparently the occupants during that time witnessed regular warfare with other tribes of Tonto Apaches and Mohaves.

This research, led, in turn, to a discovery of the origin of the town's name.  "Wickiup" is a Mohave word for a shelter or home made of branches and grass -- and  according to AZCentral.com, the early European settlers discovered a wickiup near a site they planned for a post office. Evidently, the name, "Wikieup" prevailed over other suggested names such as, "Owens" (for the last name of one of the founders of the first mine in the area -- see below), "Neal" (the name of another early manganese mine in the area), and "Sandy" (for the name of the river in the valley).

According to the marker, the first mine, established in the area in 1874, was the McCracken Mine, owned by Jackson McCracken and H.A. "Chloride Jack" Owen, about 18 miles south of Wikieup.  It produced barium, copper, gold, lead, silver and zinc.  The marker also mentions the Signal Mine, 12 miles south of town, which we've already encountered in our Jeep drives.

Interestingly, the missing marker also disclosed that Cofer Hot Springs, a natural hot springs, lay 3 miles east of here.  This really tweaked our curiosity.  A little more research by Kathy revealed Kaiser Hot Spring (also called Warm Spring) to be nearby.  She dug out some information on how to find it.  We love hot springs, so we sense another blog entry developing!