Maricopa Wells: horse thieves and robberies

Pinal, located about three miles southwest of Superior, was called Picket Post in 1878 because of its vicinity to Picket Post Butte. The following year, this small settlement took on the name of Pinal and became a busy mill town for the Silver King Mine that eventually had more than 123 buildings and businesses.

In the 1880s, high-graded silver was a premium, and the Silver King had plenty of it. However, as with most thriving businesses, there are those who seek shortcuts to acquire their wealth, and the teamsters, who took the silver to the mill, devised a way to take advantage of their opportunities. As they carried their load to the mill, they encouraged the mules to move along by yelling and throwing chunks of silver at them. A fellow conspirator, who happened to be walking nearby, casually inspected the rocks before bagging them. However, all of that ended when the mine ran dry and the busy town of a couple thousand dwindled to only ten residents in 1890. 

Cris Giesler shares his experiences at Pinal and Maricopa Wells, the center for horse thieves and robberies, in this letter: 

“(After leaving Pinal) we stopped at a ranch until we could cross the Gila River which was the next day. Arriving at Florence, we gave them the first news of the disaster of the stricken town of Pinal. The Sheriff lost no time to send out relief and provisions. As the only store of Pinal, (it) was mostly washed away. Also, (there) were tons of flour stored over (at) Pinal (we had collected the day before for all that flour).

“We then continued on our journey to Globe-Tucson and other mining towns, to Casa Grande, and Maricopa, our last stop: Maricopa the stage station of the Butterfield Stage Line, run by Mr. and Mrs. Moore and her two daughters…eating house and General Store.

“Maricopa, at that time, was the center for horse thieves, stage robberies and all kinds of riff raff. Stage robberies were a weekly occasion in spite of shotguns on every stage. Nearly every stage carried bullion.

“Mr. Scott decided that we make camp in half mile or so before reaching Maricopa Wells about 6 P.M. We left the main road into the dense mesquite brush and made a day camp. We had nearly four thousand dollars in currency and mostly silver, which were in sack of barley about three-fourths full. We also had a canvas sack with a few hundred dollars silver… a few paper dollars in case of hold up. 

“Along toward morning, clutter of horse hooves awoke us and we could see the outline of the running horses forced on by the driver. Hearing their cursing, our impression was then that they were horse thieves. Luckily, our horses did not whistle. 

“Soon after daylight, we started (and) when we got to the main road there was the empty stagecoach-no horses-not a living soul-mail sacks lay in the boot of the coach.

“Where are the horses, drivers and harnesses? Us, we were guessing, (and) noticed two men and four harnessed horses coming from Maricopa…the driver and the deputy sheriff.  Scott, knowing both, we soon learned that it was a hold up! And the robbers made driver unhitch and leave their load and the fine bars of bullion, on the horses. The robbers all had horses. The robbers with their loot, went south through the mesquite brush and nearly running over us. Luckily, for us that they did not learn of our camp and cash!  We soon got to Maricopa where there was great excitement, everyone eyeing us.

“We were both well-known in Maricopa. While I remained on the buckboard with the dough, Scott got his breakfast, and after he got back, I got mine. Business finished, we started for Hayden’s Ferry and arrived safe that evening, a 35-mile drive.

“One month after the robbery, one bar of the bullion was recovered in Tucson in the Tenderloin. Nearly a year…two more were recovered. One was traced to Mexico. Years after it was learned through one of the robbers, who, on his deathbed, told of a bar being buried in El Plomo, Mexico near a Palo Verde tree. The news spread.  In 1910, I was then in company of Mr. Shaw formerly Sheriff of Pima County. Mexicans were digging around every Palo Verde tree in El Plomo. Whether anyone ever found the bar of bullion is not known.”

Submitted photo

Editor’s note:  Maricopa factoids are a regular feature on InMaricopa.com. They are provided by the Maricopa Historical Society, a branch of the Friends of the Maricopa Public Library. Most of the photos and information come from “Reflections of a Desert Town” by author and historical society chairperson Patricia Brock.