Ribbon of a Ghost Town
I started working as the preparator at the Arizona History Museum a little over two years ago. One of my favorite artifacts in the museum is a ribbon worn by a miner around the year 1901. The ribbon was worn by the newly formed union members who were trying to improve working conditions at the mine. What first made me stop and take a closer look (and then do some research) was the name of the mine on the ribbon: McCabe—my last name. I found out that the town of McCabe’s fortunes declined in the 1920s, and it is now a ghost town. Arizona has over 275 ghost towns today and most of them revolve around mining. The creation of Arizona as the 48th state was due largely to the vast and varied mining operations that brought people from all over the world to make a life in this new territory. I have lived my entire life in Arizona and have visited many ghost towns as I traveled around the state, but I had not heard of this mine/ghost town that shared my last name. Because of this personal connection, I was inspired to learn more about this part of Arizona’s history. We hope all of our exhibit displays in the museum connect with visitors in similar ways.
The mine and town of McCabe, Arizona, were founded in 1883 by Frank McCabe, who traded a horse for the mining claim. It is located in central Arizona four miles from the town of Humboldt in the Bradshaw Mountains. Frank found gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc in the mine, and by 1900 there were 400-600 people living in the town. Frank later sold his rights to the mine for $40,000 ($1.5 million in today’s money) and retired as a rich man. The mine went down over 1,000 feet with tunnels stretching out every 100 feet. The town had a school, small hospital, assay office and several saloons. They even had electricity and phone lines to Prescott. The Western Federation of Miners was a very strong union and successfully fought for an 8-hour work day at the same rate of pay as the 10-hour day they had been working. The town was not without problems and experienced several fires, and a smallpox epidemic. The mine was closed by 1913. It is estimated that nearly 900,000 ounces of gold and 5 million ounces of silver was produced from the mine.
One of the only things we have to remind us of the town is a ribbon used by a miner who joined a union to help make their lives better. The town only lasted twenty years, but it played an important role in the creation of this great state. To me that red ribbon with my name on it just made me feel like I was in the right job where I can help tell some of the many stories that stretch all the way back to the first explorers from Spain in 1540. In my opinion nowhere is the story of the American West more dramatically experienced than in the history of Arizona.
Jack McCabe
Exhibit Preparator AHS
