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Johnny
Ringo's Rackensack Gold Mine a rocker
By RaeAnne Marsh
Ten gallons shadowing their faces, boots scuffing the packed
dirt of our meeting site, holsters tied down for business
low on the leg This was a Western outfit, all right, even
though a Jeep supplied the horsepower.
Johnny Ringo's Carefree Adventures was fixin' to take us in
one of his customized Jeep Scrambler touring cars for one
of his exclusive tours into the local backcountry. Always
scouting new and fresh adventures to share with his clients,
Johnny Ringo changes his menu of tours as he discovers new
destinations and sites-and he's been known to make "finds"
new to even the Forest Service. (Turn about being fair play,
the Forest Service shares finds with Johnny Ringo, too, and
the cooperation includes Carefree Adventures working as stewards
for specific sites.)
This new
adventure was to the Rackensack Gold Mine. On the short drive
out through Carefree and into the Tonto National Forest, Ringo
regaled us with the historical anecdotes while Cactus and
Reb were recounting for their riders: how eponymously named
Edward G. Cave came to Cave Creek after deserting the Confederacy;
how Teddy Roosevelt established National Forests to preserve
the natural wilderness for future generations-and how Ol'
Rackensack patented his mines so Teddy couldn't buy the land
out from him for National Forest.
So the
mines are still there-and there's still gold in them. Getting
to the mines took us through areas scarred from the Cave Creek
Complex Fires of last year, scenery appreciated anew through
Ringo's eyes: trees that have become works of art with their
exposed sheens of tan contrasted against carbonized black
starkly profiled against mountainside backdrops, and tufts
of colorful wildflowers patched over the ground as wilderness
revivifies. |
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We
crossed a dry riverbed while Ringo showed us signs of where the
waterline had been during the after fire floods that washed out
sections of the road, then switchbacked our way up the newly cut,
narrow dirt road to a viewpoint on a small mesa. Pointing out Weaver's
Needle on the skyline of the Superstition Mountains, he explained
its modern use as a surveyor's navigation point while resurrecting
the romance of the Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine with his reminder that
its shadow marks the mine's location. And there was Four Peaks,
to which only Ringo has a permit to take tours-reckon a full day
for the "Four Peaks Adventure."
Across a small saddle, we made it to where the property's current
owners were eager to greet us, feed us, and show us around their
remote outpost. A short hike took us to the mine, but not before
we toured the buildings that had withstood the fire-they were built
of rammed dirt, Ginger and Charles Underwood explained, with walls
12 inches thick. Semi retired from the leather goods business they'd
developed in Dallas, they, and Charles' brother Cliff, keep their
hands in the trade by working at their mountaintop studio, and relish
their solitude that's broken almost solely by Johnny Ringo's tour
visits.
With walking sticks provided, we trekked to the mine, donned our
hard hats and grasped our flashlights, and entered single file,
the taller folk ducking to pass through parts of the uneven passage.
At a "T," we turned down another passage and came to bridge
that led us to a deep shaft which disappeared into the mountain
below. Another mine opening exists lower on the hill, but cave ins
now block it.
The Underwoods had known about the mines when they bought the property,
but the site yielded even more treasures, some of which were displayed
on racks for us to examine: a hand blown whisky bottle from around
the time of the Civil War, a Chlorox bottle from a couple of decades
later, a turn of the century spur, a spent bullet Some of the items
came from another of their unexpected discoveries: a miner's shack
that had been covered by 94 years of vegetation and brought to view
when the fire burned it clear.
And, of course, we picked up some knowledge of mining and natural
history of the area, as a Johnny Ringo tour is always more than
a day outing; it's the added value of a local's knowledge that comes
with every Carefree Adventure.
Returning to Cave Creek five fun hours after we all met, heartfelt
farewells were exchanged and in parting Ringo threw in a bevy of
coupons to enjoy other establishments in town.
Johnny Ringo's Carefree Adventures
Reservations & Information
40222 N. Spur Cross Road
Cave Creek, AZ 85331
Phone: 480 488 2466
Fax: 480 595 6944
Email: YoRingoman@aol.com
www.CarefreeAdventures.com
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