I am Jack Dunn and the year is 1877. I have had many great adventures as a civilian scout for the United States military, but I do have to say today’s was one of the very best. I have been scouting for Lt. John A. Rucker ever since we were dispatched from Fort Bowie. It is May and already the temperatures are rising and getting mighty, mighty warm as we head toward the summer months in the southwest desert. Well, anyhow, Lt. John A. Rucker and I are watering livestock at the spring in the Mule Mountains, a common watering hole for us weary travelers. We are standing in the rugged, desolate canyon, surrounded by limestone formations when I can’t believe what I see. Green color in the limestone! Signs of mineralization! Could be copper, lead, silver and maybe even gold. What a great day!

I am George Warren. My good buddy Jack Dunn has asked me to be his mining partner and do some excavating and mining in the Mule Mountains. Jack is a good tracker and scout. I’m right proud he asked me to partake in his adventure. He has registered our claim, the first one noted for this area, registered August 1877. I’m thinking I need some financing to get this operation off the ground. I need to attract some wealthy, enthusiastic entrepreneurs to this mountainous area between the valleys of San Pedro and Sulphur Springs, the entrance to Tombstone Canyon. I already have quite a few interested to the point we have a mining camp!

I am Judge DeWitt Bisbee of San Francisco. The year is 1880, August 1880. I have offered financial help to develop a mining operation in the southwest desert in the Mule Mountains of Arizona, only a few miles north of Old Mexico. I hope my investment pays heftily in the end, as so many have assured me it will. Due to the development of electricity throughout the nation, copper is in great demand. The mining operation I have funded is called the Copper Queen Mine and already has an estimated worth of $2.5 million. Who knows, maybe someday they will name something after me, maybe the post office or something. (Indeed, on January 9, 1902, the City of Bisbee was incorporated, securing the name and legacy of Judge DeWitt Bisbee.)

I am The Carpenter. My name is no matter, but you can call me The Carpenter. Everyone else does. The year is 1898 and I try to find work wherever I can. I tried mining but have found myself dirt poor, no pun intended. I started a job carpentering in a boom town in the Warren District in Mule Gulch. Phelps Dodge Corporation has taken over the Copper Queen Mine and is paying good money to build a lavish hotel to lodge distinguished visitors in the area. Guess what the hotel’s name is! The Copper Queen Hotel. Building is going fast, and some claim it will be finished by 1902. Who knows? Maybe someday it will be the longest operating hotel in these parts. 

I am Frederick C. Hurst, an architect and a very proud one. I started working on the Copper Queen Library last year in 1906, and I am proud to say, the new Renaissance Revival Building, otherwise known as the Copper Queen Library, officially opened in March 1907. Really, the idea for education and culture had its defining moment back in 1880, when members of the Copper Queen Mining industry were subjected to a man hanging from a pole, apparently dead for many hours. Shortly thereafter, in 1882, a concerted effort to bring culture and civility to the region begat the first library, established in the Copper Queen Mercantile. After the fire in 1888 demolished the first library, a smaller brick building was built; this is the one we demolished so as to replace it with my grand building. There are so many people to thank for this wonderful achievement and so many good people involved in its history, such as Reverend J. G. Pritchard, who was the first paid librarian in 1887. Yes, this new library – the splendid architecture, the gaming room, the décor – is one of my best achievements.

I am a Copper King! I love baseball, always have and always will. In 1899, we developed the Copper Kings baseball team after Copper King Mining made us a generous donation. Here we are: June 27, 1909, ready to play our very first official baseball game in Warren Ballpark on Higgins Hill. Who knows? Maybe someday Warren Ballpark will be thought of as the oldest ballpark in America! (For more information, visit friendsofwarrenballpark.com.)

I am Madame. My true name shall remain undisclosed. You may call me Madame. I have a very lucrative business, a brothel in the booming town of Bisbee, Arizona, where, in the early 1900s, prostitution is legal. Bisbee, boasting a population of about 20,000, is known to be the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco. These are the days for enterprising opportunities such as my business of the night. 

Time traveling back into the history of Bisbee is indeed a journey of ups and downs. In 1917, after being labeled members of Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), many striking miners were deported to New Mexico to prevent unionization. Yet, in 1929, Bisbee had flourished so richly, the Cochise County seat was moved from Tombstone to Bisbee. As the mining industry plummeted in the 1950s, so did the population of Bisbee. By 1975, Phelps Dodge Corporation ceased its operations in Bisbee, bringing even more economic hardship. 

I am Sherry Engler and I am an adventurer. The year is 2021. As I ride the railroad car 1500 feet down into the Copper Queen Mine on the Copper Queen Tour, I marvel at the techniques of industry in the early 1900s. Wearing a hard hat, equipped with a yellow vest and flashlight, I hear and sense the dangers which plagued the miners daily as they gathered the precious minerals from deep within the earth, the grueling hard work and the awareness of the hazards of the profession.

As I walk into the Copper Queen Hotel, I feel the presence of yesteryear, an era rich and lavish, a past era restored in glory and fame. The Copper Queen Hotel is truly a gem of Bisbee, its history and spirit. Many believe ghosts from the turn of the 20th century wander there yet today. According to thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/copper-queen-hotel, the ghost of a worker’s son, Billy, who at the young age of eight or nine drowned in the San Pedro River, often visits the hotel. Room 412 is named after him. Also, the ghost of Julia Lowell, an enterprising lady of the night, entertains guests yet today. She committed suicide in room 315 after being rejected by the man she loved and is believed to be spiritually present in the Copper Queen Hotel. 

And when viewing the Copper Queen Library, I think of the many dedicated people who thought education and culture needed to be present in Bisbee, those people who triumphed after many defeating circumstances, truly resilient to obstacles.

The Bisbee of today continues to be a gem in the southwest desert of Arizona. If you take the opportunity to visit, may you enjoy a time travel odyssey as you view the remnants of the legacies of many hardworking and innovative souls. From our house to yours, safe travels, safe exploring, safe adventures, and safe encounters with any lingering ghosts. Blessings!