THE STORY OF FRANK ARMSTRONG

Recorded by Helen M. Smith, Field Reporter

I was born in Kansas in the year 1859, and came to Arizona in April of 1888 from that state. From Benson I rode into Tombstone in the old stagecoach, and from there to Bisbee I took still another stage. I got work at once in a restaurant, and after a few months I left it to wipe engines for the new railroad just built into Bisbee. I soon became a fireman, then a “hoghead”, which same I have continued to be until last year, when I retired.

I have the oldest seniority of any man in the service in this state, with a record of forty-eight years continuous service.

My first train had two engines—an engine could pull few cars in those days. The train consisted of freight cars, which hauled coke, coal, and lumber for the mines, and one combination coach consisting of a smoker in one end with a few seats, the baggage space in the center, and the passenger seats in the other end. There was no length to the work day. I was once on the engine forty-eight hours without stopping. We simply went out on our run, got there when we got there, and came back the same way.

Between Fairbank and Bisbee the railroad track was at first constructed too close to the San Pedro River in places, with the result that much of the track was frequently washed out. I have seen large sections of the track swept down into the river after a rain. When we started on our run during the rainy season, we never knew when we should return. I remember that it often took a week to make the run to Fairbank and return.

When I arrived at Bisbee there were only about four hundred people living there, their lumber or adobe shacks scattered about over the hills with most of the population centered about the main street. We had the first lot laid out in Lowell, and ours was the third house built there. There was at first no delivery service from the store, and I have often carried a fifty pound sack of flour home on my back. One could purchase about almost any kind of canned goods, but anything fresh was very scarce. When we had been in Bisbee a short time, Chinamen from Fairbank began to haul in fresh vegetables in small quantities. My wife complained that the vegetables were always gone before the peddlers reached our location. I have heard that some of the women fortunate enough to live closer down town used to fight over the contents of the Chinaman’s wagon. Chinamen were not allowed to remain overnight in the town, and there were no Chinese cooks, launderers, and such, as were common in some of the early camps. These peddlers made good money on their vegetables during the day they were allowed to remain, however. Outlaws from Tombstone and vicinity used to lie in wait over the divide and hold up these Chinamen on their way back to Fairbank, knowing well that they were required to be out of Bisbee by sundown.

People used timber from the hills around Bisbee for firewood, with the result that now there is no timber on those hills. There were no churches when we came, but union services were held in the library building, which is still in use as a library. Miners worked ten hours underground and twelve hours on top.

After we had lived in Lowell for a few months I bought a gasoline stove for my wife. This stove had a self-generator, and one had only to turn it on and light it. This was a great luxury in those days, in fact it worked the same as our modern gas stoves, and was scarcely more trouble.

Water was a serious problem in Bisbee for some years. It was obtainable almost anywhere—there were wells in Brewery Gulch only a few feet deep. This water was quite clear and of very good taste, but many troubles developed from it. Waste was thrown into the canyons above the wells and with the advent of the rainy season typhoid broke out virulently. To the best of my remembrance there were many deaths from this cause. We bought water from carriers who brought the water from Tombstone on burros. I have heard it said that this water was carried in goatskin bags, but I am sure that all we bought was brought either in five gallon coal oil cans or in canvas water bags. I put the purchased water in a barrel on a platform just outside the kitchen door, and then piped it in the house from this barrel. This was an almost unthought of convenience, and many of the neighboring women were loud in envy of my wife.

A little later some man in Tombstone canyon put in a small water system. His water supply was not large and we got only a small stream, made smaller by the fact that he suspected everyone of using too much and consequently did not turn on the full force. We had a few trees set out which we watered with dish water and water from bathing, and this man was always very suspicious because they stayed green. He was quite convinced that they somehow received water to which they were not entitled. My wife used to get a few buckets of water occasionally from the train as it passed our place. But altogether it has been only for the past two or three years that she has lost her fear of not having enough water, and she cannot bear to see the least bit wasted. Finally a good water system was put in at Naco, and then there was always water.

There was practically no amusement except dancing, unless one cared for drinking and gambling in the saloons. My wife and I used to attend all the dances, which she enjoyed very much. The women did not worry about what to wear in those days. Each knew that the other would wear the one outfit they had. Most of the women wore duck skirts and shirt waists, and it seems to me that many of the skirts had a polka dot pattern of some sort. The dance hall where these dances were held was an old frame shack with plenty of cracks, which I believe were responsible for the many cases of pneumonia which used to break out with the advent of winter. There was also roller skating for a short time at the old Brewery Gulch opera house.

Bisbee was a typical mining camp, wide open to gambling and that sort of thing. There was plenty of law during my time, but many things were considered lawful in those days which would not be permitted now. There was a policeman there of whom it was said that he had not made an arrest in five years. I heard much talk about the Bisbee massacre, as the Heath affair was called, but that was before my time. There was a fellow named Daley who occasioned a great deal of excitement after I came. He had some mining claims over which the Copper Queen Mining Company attempted to secure a right of way. Superintendent Ben Williams tried to buy it from him, and it seems that in some way the company got a right by law, but Daley would not allow it under any circumstances. A constable named Simon went to serve a warrant on Daley, they got into a gunfight, and the constable wounded Daley. He was sent to Yuma for a year or so for the wounding, and after that Daley thought he owned the town. He became quite overbearing and was involved in several quarrels. At last he fought with a Mexican who afterward swore out a warrant for Daley’s arrest.

This warrant was given to an officer named Lowther to serve on Daley, with the warning that Daley was a dangerous man, and to move carefully. In spite of the warning the officer was shot by Daley, and died of the wounds. Daley went up to the roadbed of the railroad and crawled into a little drain box until night, when he fled the country. No one seems to know where he went, but a Tombstone saloonkeeper afterward claimed that Daley sold him his mining property. This saloonkeeper’s property was afterward attached for debt, and these claims went to the firm which had done the attaching. A Mexican woman with whom Daley had lived claimed the property as his wife. She sold it to Martin Costello of Tombstone. Another woman from the East came and claimed the property, saying she was Daley’s lawful wife.

This case was in court for over ten years, and involved some very rich mining property. How it turned out I never knew exactly, but Costello became quite rich, so it must have gone somewhat in his favor.

Almost everyone thought the property outside the little zone of discovery worthless as mining claims, but the Calumet and Arizona acquired much outside this zone, and uncovered some very rich ore. In 1902 this company started a smelter near the then beginning town of Douglas, and in 1904 the Copper Queen likewise built a smelter there. Bisbee has prospered steadily since then, and has always been a good town in which to live.

I have prospered in a very moderate way as much as the town. Investments I made all turned out well, and now that I have retired at a good age, I have a very comfortable home and an income sufficient to maintain me and my wife in quite comfortable circumstances. I have had a good life and I am satisfied with my record.

Copied from microfilm by Wilola Follett, transcribed by Vynette Sage, made available and maintained on the internet via Jean Walker.

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