May 13, 2013 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved
Peter G. Carney owned some copper
claims near what is known today as Carney Springs. A mine promoter and
prospector, Carney was caught up in the turn of the century Arizona copper
rush. After the prominent gold deposits played out around 1900, the Arizona
prospector turned his attention toward copper. The great demand for copper wire
created by the utilization of electricity in our modern society rapidly opened
another frontier to prospectors and mine promoters. Copper was in and gold was
out. Pete Carney planned not to be left behind again.
Carney prospected for copper
outcrops along the pressure ridges to the southeast of Superstition Mountain
during the winter of 1905-06. He discovered a low-grade outcrop of copper ore and
stain near a water seep south of Willow Canyon.
A deep incision into face of
Superstition Mountain formed a deep canyon located one mile due west of Willow
Canyon (Peralta Canyon). Carney was certain this area showed the most promise
for a rich copper deposit, and in late 1905, Carney filed his first mining
claims on the ore deposit with the Pinal County Recorder’s Office.
Carney soon found a very wealthy
New York woolen goods manufacturer who was a willing investor and partner. His
name was Ogden H. Bowers. Carney named his mining camp in honor of Bowers and
the mine after himself. Bowers became financially active in the Carney Mine in
early February of 1907. In July of 1907, three crews of ten men were mining
twenty-four hours a day. They sunk a drift some 800 feet into the side of
Superstition Mountain searching for a rich copper vein or deposit.
Camp Bowers in 1907 was a very
active mining camp with seven or eight houses used for living quarters and a
boarding house to feed the miners. The Carney Mine activity began to ebb by
1909 when Bowers withdrew his financial support for the operation.
Carney immediately changed the
name of Camp Bowers to Camp Carney. This is the source of the place name Carney
Springs and Carney Canyon. In the heyday of Camp Bowers a stage ran bi-weekly
from Mesa. From 1909-1914 Pete Carney constantly promoted citizens of Mesa for
financial support. He was convinced he would soon strike a rich copper vein.
According to William A. Barkley,
a noted rancher of the area, there was never more then a dozen men living at
Camp Carney. Barkley once told me about a feud that occurred at the Carney Mine
when a mine foreman was shot to death near the property. There were those who
believed a feud existed between claim jumpers and Carney. Most of the
periodical accounts indicate it was a feud between the men who worked at the
Carney Mine and had nothing to do with claim jumping.
There were two things that
allowed the Carney Mine to become reality and neither had anything to do with a
rich ore body. One was water and the other was a nearby road to the old Bark
Ranch.
Carney certainly took advantage
of the resources available to him and, to no avail, tried his luck at locating
a rich copper deposit in the Superstition Mountains.
Peter G. Carney passed away in
the 1930’s. His dream to be part of the Arizona’s copper rush did not
materialize, but it did create a legacy for him.
Carney Springs still remains on
topographic maps and other maps of the Superstition Wilderness Area today.