My friend Ginger and I stopped in Globe for a night on our way to Roosevelt Lake. Ginger showed me some of the historic downtown of this old mining town. In front of the old Courthouse is a painted timeline on the sidewalk. It shows the history of Old Dominion Mine, which opened in 1882.
The city of Globe had the best idea I've seen so far...they turned it into a park with hiking trails and interpretive signs about the history of the mine.
The trails are named for original mine claims in this area.
Various pieces of mining equipment are located throughout the park. Signs explain their uses.
About the Blower:
This kiosk at the entrance has several displays about the park.
Old Dominion was the largest copper mine in the area, making Globe the 4th largest city in the new state of Arizona in 1912.
We decided to walk the Interloper Loop trail where most of the surviving buildings are located.
Our hike takes us to the top of the hill where "A Shaft" can be seen.
On the way we pass the remains of one of the residences.
Globe was proud of the mine to which it owed its existence, and Post Cards were produced even after the mine closed.
Ginger coming up the trail.
In the foreground are Dorr Tanks (used for settling flotation concentrate). In the background is where waste rock was deposited.
The ore was lifted out of the mine at the head frame (A-Shaft).
Ore was then moved by conveyor to the rock crusher.
"Good" ore went to the sampling mill (concrete cylinders on the right). The next grade went to the concentrator (on the left) for further refining.
Remains of the mine office with the vault in the middle.
View from the top.
Ginger coming down the trail.
The next morning we went a lot further back in history and visited an archeological site located in Globe, called Besh-Ba-Gowah.
Besh-Ba-Gowah is a spectacular 200 room Salado pueblo occupied between AD 1250-1450.
The original entry was by way of a long roofed corridor leading to the central plaza.
In the museum is a model of what the pueblo looked like. The stone walls were covered with smooth adobe.
Entrance to the rooms was by ladders through openings in the roofs, shown in the model as small squares.
This model shows the archeological remains that have been uncovered to date.
Outside the walls is an example of terraced gardens depicting some of the plants that sustained the Salado people. Nothing is growing here right now, but will be planted later.
Salado, a Spanish word for salt, is the name given to the people who inhabited the Upper Salt River region between 1150 and 1450.
Besh-Ba-Gowah is an Apache word meaning "place of metal," and is what the Apaches first called the mining town of Globe. The name was later given to this site.
Open areas like this were used during the day for various activities such as cooking and tool-making.
Many of the rooms are windowless storage areas.
Passageways between rooms are small.
This room has been reconstructed on the basis of archaeological evidence recovered during excavations of the site.
It depicts a typical room used by a single family.
Large slab-lined pits may have been used for roasting or storage.
The central plaza served as a communal area to socialize, conduct daily activities, and participate in religious ceremonies. It was also used as the principle burying ground.
Several of the rooms have not been excavated.
This is the only two-story building remaining.
Remember the original entry was by way of a hole in the roof.
Artifacts denoting daily activities such as basket-making, pottery and tool-making were found inside.
Through the opening to the second story you can see the construction of the roof using saguaro and other materials.
A large ceremonial room was discovered here:
Ceremonial room:
This picture shows some of the construction techniques used for the stone walls.
Inside the museum are artifacts found at this site. The sandals are woven from whole yucca leaves. The red and black pottery was typical of the Salado people in the region.
From there we headed north on AZ 188 to Roosevelt Lake where we would meet up with another ancient community of Salado people.
