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Mine Superintendent’s House Ruby’s old mine superintendent’s house – home of hippie squatters in the 1970s – is still in pretty good shape. (Photo by Bob Ring, 2001) |
Column No. 45
Bob Ring, Al Ring, Tallia Pfrimmer Cahoon
Ruby is still owned by Ruby Mines, Inc., the Tucson consortium of the children
of the five 1961 purchasers. The ruins of the old mining camp spread over 300
acres on the hills that surround Ruby Lake. Southeast of the Lake is a huge,
flat area of 700 tons of snow-white mining tailings. On the south end of the old
camp are the remains of the Montana mine pad and mining buildings. Remnants of
the mine managers’ adobe and frame houses that populated “Snob Hill” can be seen
on the northwest side of the ghost town. Just west of Ruby Lake, in the center
of the mining camp, are the deteriorating hospital, and two bunkhouses. What’s
left of the old schoolhouse, the mercantile, the jail, and columnist Tallia
Pfrimmer Cahoon’s home dot the hillsides in the old Anglo “Hollywood”
neighborhood on the north side of Ruby. On the east side of the camp, hardly
anything remains of the Mexican area that used to have four or five frame houses
and over a hundred tents.
As evidence of mankind in Ruby slowly disappears, nature’s rebirth continues.
Ruby has become a birdwatchers paradise. During three visits to Ruby in the
summer of 1994 and spring of 1995, Arizona Fish and Game representatives
conducted a bird census that reported 64 different species.
The future of Ruby is anything but certain. Over the years, there has been talk
among the owners about creating a Ruby historical site by restoring the old
mining camp and turning it into a collection of museums. Alternative ideas
include a center for ecological research and interpretation; a wildlife
sanctuary; a recreational facility with a golf course, tennis courts, and a
swimming pool; and an RV park. Some owners talk about a bed and breakfast
facility.
Speaking in 1993, owner Pat Frederick said, “The Ruby owners dream of nature
trails connecting with the Altar Valley; solar energy sources; wind generators;
scientific study of riparian areas of Ruby and the surrounding Coronado National
Forest; educational processes for history, geology and wildlife; and last but
the very least … rebuilding of the Ruby mercantile which has been melting away
since the roof was removed in the 70s.”
Environmental designer Ned Daugherty, son of Louis E. Daugherty, one of the five
individuals who bought Ruby in 1961, prepared a plan in 1998 for a combined
corporate retreat and environmental interpretation center. According to
Daugherty, “The project concept is … hopefully to raise the awareness of both
individuals and corporations as to our responsibilities and showcase sustainable
environmental technologies. The point is to clearly and compellingly demonstrate
that environmental integrity and bottom line corporate profits are not mutually
exclusive, but in fact, complementary, if done intelligently.” To this date, no
action has been taken on Daugherty’s plan or on any of the other dreams for
Ruby.
In late 2003 owners Pat and Howard Frederick were interviewed about the future
of Ruby. Howard Frederick still talked about the mercantile and a partial
restoration of Ruby, “Twenty years from now I want the mercantile to be standing
but, our goal in the restoration is to maintain the buildings that are
salvageable. I think there are several that are doable in that area. The assay
office has sort of really become a hard task but the warehouse, the school, the
jail is indestructible, the three houses up the hill, supervisor’s house are
really worth [restoration] … or salvageable.”
Responding to her husband’s comments, Pat Frederick said, “That’s what I would
personally like to do but I would literally have to win the lottery in order to
do it. … We have trouble maintaining the house we live in and there’s a lot of
effort goes into maintaining three other houses. Nature’s way ahead of us down
there.”
Asked if they’ve given any thought to renewed mining, Howard Frederick answered,
“No! Never! We signed a covenant with the Game and Fish when they helped us with
the fencing materials that we wouldn’t mine or run cattle on the property for at
least ten years and I on my own thinking said, ‘That’s in perpetuity.’ It’s not
legal but probably fifty-five or sixty per cent of the other owners feel the
same.”
In summary, Howard Frederick eloquently stated his view of the value of Ruby,
“The value of Ruby it is what is historically, environmentally, [and]
aesthetically. That’s its real value and that’s a very difficult concept to get
across.”
Today little evidence remains to remind visitors of Ruby miners’ perseverance,
iron will, tremendously difficult mining efforts, and personal sacrifices and
tragedies. Illusive too, and fading quickly, are memories of many good times – a
wonderful life in Ruby. Now the old mining camp lays still, except for the
wind-whipped clatter of aged, bent, pieces of rusted galvanized iron that once
provided cover for the homes of former residents. The richness of Ruby is found
not only in its unique history of mining gold, silver, lead, and zinc, but also
in fondly remembered experiences there. In the end, both the mining history and
the stories of its people define the brilliance of Ruby, truly a gem of a ghost
town.
(Sources: The Connection; email from Ned Daugherty to co-columnist Bob Ring, May
18, 2004; interview of Pat and Howard Frederick)
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Mine Superintendent’s House Ruby’s old mine superintendent’s house – home of hippie squatters in the 1970s – is still in pretty good shape. (Photo by Bob Ring, 2001) |