GHOST TOWNS OF FAIRBANK & PEARCE, ARIZONA…..DEAD OR ALIVE!!

REMEMBER TO CLICK THE PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM & HOVER YOUR MOUSE OVER EACH ONE TO READ THE CAPTION

The old tumbling down Adobe walls along the San Pedro river in the heavy Mesquite underbrush of Charleston Arizona marks the spot of a long dead ghost town.  A few miles up the road is the bustling main street of a town very much alive.....Tombstone.  And in the same general area are two other little western towns in various states of.....dead or alive.

FAIRBANK, Arizona was once a bee hive of activity along the banks of the San Pedro river complete with a busy 3 line railway stop, post office, saloon, general store, a school, & all the other buildings & business's that once made for a rootin tootin lively little western town.  The people are long gone now, the school has been restored, the remains of the old saloon, post office & store are fenced off for safety purposes & an old sign hangs on a sun drenched withered wooden building telling you to.....beware of rattlesnakes!!  We walked around the remains of Fairbank & it's old forgotten cemetery half a mile away on a craggy rock strewn hill back in March of 08 & you can read our blog of that day HERE & see our photos, HERE.

 

PEARCE, Arizona was another typical tough little  western mining town back in it's day & a few of it's buildings are still somewhat alive.  You can drive right into the town.  Gold was discovered nearby in the 1800's which resulted in a stampede of people from Tombstone.  Pearce's old mining remains are still very visible high atop a rocky outcrop southeast of town.  The lady in Pearce's OLD PEARCE POTTERY STORE on the southeast side of the intersection is very knowledgeable about the town's history.  My blog for our visit to Pearce is HERE & my photos of the town & cemetery are HERE. 

We will be returning to this ghost town area of Cochise county late next month when we head back to, 'The Ranch.'  We will once again be ranch sitting for RV friends Jeanie & Ray while they head off on a 3 week cruise with friends Rosanna & her Mother, Carol from the Paws & Hooves Ranch which we visited last March.  I will blog about & post some photos about our 7 week ranch sitting job & the Paws & Hooves gang earlier this year in a later blog.  And I will get Sergeant John & his Hudson Hornets in there too:))

 Picasa 3 has just released it's 3.5 version & I downloaded it last night.  Biggest advance is in the 'face recognition department.'  For you folks who take a lot of people photos this is probably a good thing.  You can read about & download it here.  PICASA 3.5 

Last night's video is only the 3rd video I've ever put in the blog in the past 2 years so just want to assure our 'air card' readers that it is not something I make a habit of.  We use an air card while traveling as well so know the frustration involved in watching those precious Gigabytes been chewed.  A Verizon store manager in Casa Grande, Arizona last winter told us he figured because of the evolving technology that Verizon would be taking the cap off the 5 Gigglebyte limit sometime this winter but I'm a little skeptical of that!!

Loaded up Max & Checkers this morning & we took the big wheels for drive up to Wal-Mart in Goderich & back.  I was lucky enough to get myself smartened up this time & stay with the rig while the engine was running.  Three weeks ago I started it up in the driveway, forgot about it & left it running for nearly 5 hours.  In my world, some days just aren't quite as forgetful as others....sometimes:((

GROANER’S CORNER:))  To-day I have an original groaner written by myself.  But, not to worry.  I won’t make this a habit. SANDRA over at the Nightly News had mentioned seeing spider webs a few days ago on her walk & that reminded me of something.   I wrote this following piece back in 1969 & it is called:

                INCIDENT IN A FOREST

The spider spun his silken vines

Back and forth in magical lines.

First he went up then he went down

Then he came back and went all around.

Soon it was done and paused in the breeze

Enchantingly silent among the still trees.

The night passed on and gave way to the sun

But the spiders work wasn't quite done

For a passing fly in all innocence flew

Straight into the web & mornings still dew.

The spider advanced with caution and stealth

To claim his victim of bountiful wealth.

The fly in desperation struggled but knew

That for him this was his final adieu.

A struggle ensued in the morning light

A struggle that lasted on into the night.

First they went up then they went down,

Then they came back and went all around

Finally it was done and they paused in the breeze

Locked in death among the still trees.

Al Bossence 1969

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So there ya go……..told ya it was a GROANER!!

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS  http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

IN SEARCH OF THE THE OLD GHOST TOWN OF CHARLESTON, ARIZONA

CROSSING THE SAN PEDRO RIVER IN SEARCH OF CHARLESTON

We have always found the history of America's old west fascinating & it is one of the many things that draws us back to the southwest each winter's season. One of those interests we enjoy is searching out old ghost towns. Real old ghost towns & not the commercialized fabricated ones. Ghost towns can be disappointing if your expecting to find the Hollywood version. Sometimes it's only a pile of stones from an old wall like in Millville, other times complete buildings like an old crumbling saloon in Gleeson. Fairbank has some buidlings restored but the forgotten cemetery high on a ridge is the same as it was back in the mid 1800's. Some ghost towns are easily accessible & others can almost be almost impossible to find & hard to get to. Pearce, Gleeson, & Fairbank were all easy finds on paved roads but Millville & Charleston were much harder......especially Charleston!! ONLY CRUMBLING ADOBE WALLS LEFT OF THE TWENTY OR SO BUILDINGS

While boondocked just west of Tombstone, Arizona earlier this year we set out in search of the elusive old mining town of Charleston long hidden in the scrub & bush along the banks of the San Pedro river. We first hiked north along the San Pedro one morning from the Charleston Road but couldn't find anything. Found out later we were only about a quarter mile from finding the town. A few days later we decided on a different approach which actually began with another ghost town on the east side of the river called Millville. Click on our blog that day here..... FINDING CHARLESTON. Web album photos for that day are HERE & even more photos for the ghost town of Charleston are HERE Another thing that was very special about these ghost towns is the fact we never encountered any tourists. Tombstone is a good example of what happens to an old town when it is commercialized, but then again a lot of people like that razzle dazzle sort of Hollywood spin. We don't!! Walking through the site of an old lost ghost town & it's overgrown cemetery with only the ghosts of past residents to accompany you is quality time to us. Just the folks, your thoughts, & the desert wind. SOME OF CHARLESTON'S WILD WEST HISTORY

We later found the ghost towns & cemeteries of Gleeson, Pearce, & Fairbank in the same area. I will include those towns over the next few days. Also found the hard to find ruins of old Fort Rucker up in the Chiricahua Mountains as well & I'll include that blog & photos shortly. Our drive & hike into historic Fort Bowie through Apache Pass was another good day for us which I will also post shortly. THE CRUMBLING SALOON IN GLEESON WHERE JOHNNY RINGO WAS LAST SEEN AT THE BAR

Just so much to see & do in the American southwest & with every mile comes a new vista. No excuse for getting bored in this kind of country & the west has a real habit of growing on people & anyone we've come across traveling there.....love's it there. We met a fulltiming RV couple last winter in Yuma who are now beginning a trek across country to Florida for a wedding. They have just spent the last few months in Oregon & Colorado. This is an excerpt from DOUG & JOANNE'S blog about how they feel about having to leave the west for awhile. They were both originally Floridians.
(Quote)"Tomorrow we head out across the plains heading for Lee’s Summit Mo.(on their way to Florida) Neither of us want to leave the west and in particular Colorado. We know we are westerners at heart and love the wide open spaces and sheer beauty out here. To head back to the land of wall to wall condominiums, convenience stores at every intersection and big bill board advertising will be quite a let down for us but it will be nice to see friends and family." (Unquote)

SOMETIMES ONLY PART OF CRUMBLING STONE FOUNDATIONS ARE ALL THAT'S LEFT LIKE HERE IN MILLVILLE, AZ.

A few weeks ago or so I posted a blog about our solar system for boondocking. I had a few inquiries about that but didn't have the exact details in front of me. I came across that paperwork this afternoon so if anyone out there is interested in what you need to get set up for solar just email me & I will send you all the detailed nuts & bolts info including cost of everything. We had our solar installation done by THE SUN WORKS in Slab City, California in December 07. Solar Mike is the fellow you want to talk to.

Stayed tuned for more ghost towns in the days ahead.

FAIRBANK'S OLD FORGOTTEN CEMETERY

GROANER'S CORNER:(( What do prisoners use to call each other while in jail........Cell phones.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.