Mowry History
The Mowry Mine. a producer of silver and lead, was one of Arizona’s oldest mining operations. Originally known as the Patagonia Mine, it was worked by Mexican miners before being acquired in 1857 by a group of officers stationed at nearby Fort Buchanan. Ownership changed several times over the following years before Sylvester Mowry, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and a graduate of West Point, purchased the property in 1860.
Mowry invested approximately $200,000 — a tremendous sum for the era — in developing the mine during his first years of ownership. Nearly 300 men were employed at the workings and at the nearby adobe reduction furnaces. The scale of the operation and the large workforce likely discouraged the Apache raiders who made mining in the region so perilous during this period.
J. Ross Browne visited the mine in 1863 and later described it in his 1871 publication Adventures in the Apache Country.
Down in a beautiful little valley of several hundred acres, almost embosomed in trees, stand the reduction works, store-houses, and peon quarters of the Mowry Silver Mines. Smoke rose in curling clouds from the main chimney, which stands like an obelisk in the centre of the mill, and sulphurous vapors whirled up from the long row of smelting furnaces in the rear.
The busy hum of the steam-engine and fly-wheels fell with a lively effect upon the ear; the broad, smooth plaza in front of the works was dotted with wagons and teams, discharging their freight of wood and ore; and under the shade of the surrounding trees, amid the picturesque little huts of the peons, groups of women and children, clothed in the loose, variegated costume of the country, gave a pleasing, domestic interest to the scene.
After the end of the Civil War, Sylvester Mowry sold the mine. By the spring of 1867 the property stood idle, and local Apache raiders took advantage of the diminished workforce, attacking the mine, killing one man, and wounding several others.
The mine was worked intermittently over the following decades. In 1904 the Mowry Mines Company acquired the property and launched a new period of intensive development. A modern mill and smelter were erected, and by 1907 the operation employed about 200 men. The camp soon evolved into a proper town, complete with a post office, saloons, stores, and a school.
Visitors from surrounding communities flocked to Mowry for its Fourth of July festivities. The celebration included horse races, rodeo events, drilling contests, and a baseball game between local teams from Mowry and Nogales.
The mine enjoyed its most productive years between 1905 and 1907, but operations ceased late in 1907. Newspapers reported numerous attempts to revive the property between 1908 and 1912, though most of the activity consisted of development work, and it is unclear how much of that period saw actual production.
The Mowry post office closed in 1913. Additional efforts to reopen the mine were made in subsequent decades, but by the 1950s the property had been permanently abandoned.
Arizona Mining Photos
View over 35 historic Arizona mining scenes at A Collection of Arizona Mining Photos.
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"Where to Find Gold in Arizona" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in Arizona. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Arizona.
