Quartzsite Arizona

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Quartzsite has to be near the top of any true rockhound's bucket list. I have never been, and at my age, probably never will go, BUT I have friends that do and have gone, so with help from Google Earth, here goes.

Quartzsite was founded in 1867.

A hundred years later the first official rock and gem show was held in February 1967.

On March 23,1965, the Quartzsite Improvement Association met for the first time. Members of the Association are accredited with planning for the first official rock and gem show held in February 1967.

Quartzsite: Elevation: 879 ft, Latitude: 33.664653, Longitude: -114.228862, is at the intersection of East-West I-10 and North-South US 95 (Which is part of West Main St. and also runs east and west to Blythe California!)

Where Quartzsite vendors come from:

Quartzsite exists in two different worlds - that of Global Warming, and Global Cooling.
This is a DRY desert community with temperatures ranging between 15^oF and 122^oF,
and 3 inches of rain a year scattered over an average of 21 days.

But when it pours . . . Lordy Lordy!




Global Warming, May 2014. Notice Tyson Wash and how empty the town appears. It is HOT folks!

And Global Cooling. January and February = SHOW TIME !

Let's visit Quartzsite in May of 2014 using Google Earth's Time Machine.

Entering from the west freeway, drive north one block (That's a Carl's Jr on your left if you are hungry.)



and turn right on old US 95.


As you drive about a half block east you will pass the famous Camel welcome sign on your right.


Drive another 0.3 miles and turn left onto Hi Jolly Lane just before reaching the Quartzsite Yacht Club.
This leads to another historical attraction - Hi Jolly's (Hadji Ali) cemetery and tomb.











Hi Jolly's last camp.

In 1835, ^(*1935?) the Governor of Arizona dedicated the pyramid marking the grave of this Arab camel driver. Ali came to Arizona from his native land of Syria as a hired chief camel driver with a number of camels intended to be used by the US Army as a desert beasts of burden experiment. Unfortunately, the camels were not compatible with the Army’s mules and the plan was relinquished in 1864. (* At the beginning of the U.S. Civil War)

Continuing east on West Main street (old US 95) you reach Quartzsite City Center.
NOTICE the "DRY" Wash running through town!


Northeast of town is Celia's Garden


And finally Quartzsite east end Freeway entrance and exit.


Earlier that year of 2014, RTH's @bluesky78987 (Susan) was in Quartzsite and gave this magnificent report:
andy321.proboards.com/thread/63636/quartzsite-2014-trip-report-millions

Look at the above link. If you have never been there you will be astounded!



"The Australians always bring a bunch of eye candy:"
Read more: andy321.proboards.com/thread/63636/quartzsite-2014-trip-report-millions#ixzz4hcHchNBL

- just right for your trim saw.



An Early Arrival
www.gemsociety.org/article/view-quartzsite-gem-shows/

Editor’s Note: The world-renowned Quartzsite gem shows are held annually in the desert town of Quartzsite, Arizona. Several years ago, International Gem Society founder Donald Clark wrote about his first trip there and offered some advice for first-time visitors. Currently, four Quartzsite shows focus primarily on gems, rocks, and minerals. They run during January and/or February. Please check the websites for the Quartzsite gem shows listed at the end of Mr. Clark’s article for exact locations, dates, and times.


My wife Sharan and I pulled into Quartzsite on December 24th. We didn’t know what to expect. This desert community supports just a few thousand permanent residents. However, it would soon be home to over 100,000 RVs, trailers, and vendors galore. Quartzsite is famous for hosting a huge flea market as well as gem and mineral shows. We discovered that the big influx wouldn’t occur until January. At Christmas, it was still relatively quiet.

There were a few hundred RVs around, but the campsites were sparsely populated. In fact, the RVs that were there seemed to be set in place. This community has few permanent structures. The business area consists predominantly of tents and a scattering of trailers and motor homes, which serve as both stores and dwellings. (Even the dining room of a main street restaurant is a tent).

Driving through town, we could see large empty areas with signs announcing the upcoming Quartzsite gem shows. A few of the mineral dealers were already setting up. Huge displays were visible from the road. From a moving vehicle, I could see quartz crystals a hundred feet away. That was quite an impressive display! Though I was anxious to see the stones up close, the next day was Christmas. We found a place to stay and spent the holiday resting.

I really liked this piece. In the back you can see people unloading a truck.

Shopping Discipline At The Quartzsite Gem Shows

We went shopping on December 26th. What an adventure this was! I was like a kid in a candy store. There were so many delightful things to peruse, handle, and possibly purchase. However, it soon became evident that I had to curtail my enthusiasm. Sharan had foreseen this and agreed to sit patiently near by. When it comes to purchasing stones, she has much greater discipline than me. Her presence added some much needed balance.
This crystal is three feet long. It would take a forklift to move it!
This crystal was three feet long. It would’ve taken a forklift to move it!
If You Can’t Pick it up, You Can’t Take it Home

Since we planned to move soon, I set the first rule: don’t buy anything for myself. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t shop for friends! The next rule soon became obvious: if you can’t pick it up, you can’t get it home. Space is limited in an RV. As impressive as some of the three-foot long crystals were, we simply had no room for them. Even some of the mid-sized crystals were too heavy to lift. A quick bit of math and I realized what a fifty to eighty pound crystal cluster would do to our budget. Again, more discipline was in order.
Tourmalated quartz crystals. Note the big cluster of tourmaline near the termination. The big one in front was about 2½ feet high. I tried to lift the next larger piece. It weighed about sixty pounds!
Tourmalinated quartz crystals. Note the big cluster of tourmaline near the termination. The big one in front was about 2½ feet high. I tried to lift the next largest piece. It weighed about sixty pounds!

Stay Within Your Budget

There were some outstanding basalt carvings with embedded emerald crystals. As much as I would have liked one, they were too big and too expensive for our budget. (“Yes, we have room on our card for it,” Sharan said. “But we really don’t need it at this time”).
A basalt carving. Over this fellow's shoulder you can see a huge emerald crystal. There were several others in the cluster.
A basalt carving. Over this fellow’s shoulder you can see a huge emerald crystal. There were several others in the cluster.

Pick the Best Quality Specimens

I finally decided to concentrate on just the best quality specimens. Although the displays were spectacular, finding an undamaged crystal proved difficult. Almost all of them had chips on their termination. Many were heavily included.

Now I had my criteria in place: not too big, not too costly, in excellent condition, and a superb example of its species. Furthermore, I wouldn’t let myself be overwhelmed. I went over the tables again with a disciplined eye. I found a few pieces in good condition, but the undamaged pieces were rare, maybe 5% of the total. Although some were in good condition, they weren’t particularly special. My search had now slowed to a snail’s pace. I started to wonder if I would find anything of value to me at all.

Some Amazing Finds

I went back over the tourmalinated quartz specimens. I found most were damaged or too cloudy to be top quality. Then, a piece I’d missed earlier caught my eye. It was resting between some large crystals. When I picked it up, I had to catch my breath.

An Incredible Tourmalated Quartz

“This is it!” I said to myself. It was one of the most spectacular tourmalinated quartz specimens I’d ever seen. It had all the elements – eye quality, balance, color, and interest – to be a world-class specimen. I have friends from Afghanistan who specialize in high-grade specimens. They would have asked $400 to $600 for a piece like this. However, the vendor here priced everything by the pound. This piece cost no more than the other tourmalinated quartz crystals, regardless of their condition or eye appeal.

"This
Large Rose Quartz Crystals

Thoroughly happy, I moved on. The last table I inspected held some large, rose quartz clusters. You rarely find rose quartz in crystal form, so I inspected them carefully. The second largest crystal I found was in almost perfect condition, with just the tiniest chip on its surface. The color was superb, as rich and pure as you’ll find. Attached was an assortment of smaller crystals. I would’ve been proud to own each one. Additionally, a matrix of feldspar crystals in perfect condition surrounded the bottom. This rose quartz crystal was six inches long. I’d never seen a specimen this large, much less in such excellent condition. I had found a very rare prize. Again, I was delighted.

Rose quartz crystal.
Rose quartz crystal.
Cinderella’s Castle

For a while, I carried a third specimen around with me. It was a smoky quartz cluster that resembled Cinderella’s castle. When we came to pay for the pieces, my wife asked about a cash discount. We did get a discount but didn’t have enough money on hand for all three. So, I set down the smoky quartz and kept the tourmalinated quartz and rose quartz.

As we walked away, I thought I did well. I’d found the discipline to buy just two pieces. However, as reasonable as my purchase seemed, finding a place for them in the RV where they wouldn’t be damaged was a challenge. The only safe place we could find was under the mattress. Of course, we didn’t want to sleep on rocks, so every night we had to take them out. Every morning we replaced them. It was worth it!

Advice For First-Time Visitors to The Quartzsite Gem Shows

I learned several lessons from this excursion. We found the residents to be quite friendly. They were eager to start a conversation and quick to help. The dry air was not so friendly, though. My Canadian-born wife soon began to show signs of dehydration. The desert water was little help. It was so hard it would sting our eyes when showering. Although I filtered the water twice, it was still difficult to drink. I love the desert and understand why people would put up with its extremes. However, it’s a harsh transition if you’re visiting from a milder climate.

If you’re going to Quartzsite, bring lots of water!

If you’re purchasing merchandise for your store, wait for everything at the Quartzsite gem shows to be unpacked. If you wait until the end of the show, you can probably get better prices. However, if your priority is to find high-grade specimens, go early before the shows open. Hardly anyone got to see the two prizes I walked away with.

Websites for The Quartzsite Gem Shows

Desert Gardens Gem Show

The POWWOW Show

Prospector’s Panorama

Tyson Wells Rock and Gem Show

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Under Construction

History of Quartzsite:

Quartzsite Topo

Water spells life or death in the desert - for people or towns.
Quartzsite is near the northern limit of the Sonoran Desert, with the Mohave Desert to the northwest.

Drainage from the eastern side of the Dome Rock Mountains flows north through Tyson Wash, then curves west and southwest into the Colorado river in the middle of Blythe California.

The groundwater system in the vicinity of Quartzsite consists of a shallow and a deep aquifer. The shallow aquifer exists from approximately 45 to 70 feet below ground surface and flows towards the north/northwest along Tyson Wash. The groundwater in the deep aquifer is under a very thick clay layer 400-500 feet below ground surface.

A lot was happening out west in 1848!

1. The Mexican–American War was coming to an end.
2. The California Gold Rush was commencing, and prospectors began roaming the west.
3. A search for a southern passage through New Mexico Territory (Arizona became a state on 14 Feb 1912) to California.
4. Charles Tyson discovered sweet water a day's travel east of the Colorado River.
5. The Camel experiment began.
6. Stage Coaches began searching routes to transport people to and from western towns to California

7. 1850 California became a state.
8. By 1858 the Butterfield Overland Mail reached from St. Louis to California.
9. 1869 the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed.

---

1848

1. The Mexican–American War (April 25, 1846 – February 3, 1848) ended when the U.S. army, under the command of Major General Winfield Scott, captured the capital, Mexico City. Mexico ceded its northern zone to the United States and residents of that region became U.S. citizens.

2. The great California gold rush began on January 24, 1848, when James W. Marshall discovered a gold nugget in the American River while constructing a sawmill for John Sutter.

3. The Oregon Trail was laid by fur traders and traders from about 1811 to 1840, and was only passable on foot or by horseback. By 1836, when the first migrant wagon train was organized in Independence, Missouri, a wagon trail had been cleared to Fort Hall, Idaho. Wagon trails were cleared increasingly farther west, and eventually reached all the way to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, at which point what came to be called the Oregon Trail was complete, even as almost annual improvements were made in the form of bridges, cutoffs, ferries, and roads, which made the trip faster and safer.
From the early to mid-1830s (and particularly through the epoch years, 1846–69) the Oregon Trail and its many offshoots were used by about 400,000 settlers, farmers, miners, ranchers, and business owners and their families. The eastern half of the trail was also used by travelers on the California Trail (from 1843), Mormon Trail (from 1847), and Bozeman Trail (from 1863), before turning off to their separate destinations.

The Spanish presence in Arizona involved exploration, missionary work, and settlement. Between 1539 and 1605, four expeditions crossed the land, penetrating both the upland plateau and the lower desert in ill-fated attempts to find great riches. In their footsteps came Franciscans from the Rio Grande to work among the Hopi; and Jesuits from the south, led by Eusebio Kino in 1692, to proselytize among the Pima. Within a few years, Kino had established a major mission station at San Xavier del Bac, near present-day Tucson. In 1736, a rich silver discovery near the Pima village of Arizona, about 20 mi (32 km) southwest of present-day Nogales, drew Spanish prospectors and settlers northward. To control the restless Pima, Spain in 1752 placed a military outpost, or presidio, at Tubac on the Santa Cruz River north of Nogales. This was the first major European settlement in Arizona. The garrison was moved north to the new fort at Tucson, also on the Santa Cruz, in 1776. During these years, the Spaniards gave little attention to the Santa Cruz settlements, administered as part of the Mexican province of Sonora, regarding them merely as way stations for colonizing expeditions traveling overland to the highly desirable lands of California. The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th were periods of relative peace on the frontier; mines were developed and ranches begun. Spaniards removed hostile Apache bands onto reservations and made an effort to open a road to Santa Fe.

When Mexico revolted against Spain in 1810, the Arizona settlements were little affected. Mexican authorities did not take control at Arizpe, the Sonoran capital, until 1823. Troubled times followed, characterized by economic stagnation, political chaos, and renewed war with the Apache. Sonora was divided into partidos (counties), and the towns on the Santa Cruz were designated as a separate partido, with the county seat at Tubac. The area north of the Gila River, inhabited only by Indians, was vaguely claimed by New Mexico. With the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, two US armies marched across the region: Col. Stephen W. Kearny followed the Gila across Arizona from New Mexico to California, and Lt. Col. Philip Cooke led a Mormon battalion westward through Tucson to California. The California gold rush of 1849 saw thousands of Americans pass along the Gila toward the new El Dorado. In 1850, most of present-day Arizona became part of the new US Territory of New Mexico; the southern strip was added by the Gadsden Purchase in 1853.

Three years later, the Sonora Exploring and Mining Co. organized a large party, led by Charles D. Poston, to open silver mines around Tubac. A boom followed, with Tubac becoming the largest settlement in the valley; the first newspaper, the Weekly Arizonian, was launched there in 1859. The great desire of California for transportation links with the rest of the Union prompted the federal government to chart roads and railroad routes across Arizona, erect forts there to protect Anglo travelers from the Indians, and open overland mail service. Dissatisfied with their representation at Santa Fe, the territorial capital, Arizona settlers joined those in southern New Mexico in 1860 in an abortive effort to create a new territorial entity. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 saw the declaration of Arizona as Confederate territory and abandonment of the region by the Union troops. A small Confederate force entered Arizona in 1862 but was driven out by a volunteer Union army from California. On 24 February 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a measure creating the new Territory of Arizona. Prescott became the capital in 1864, Tucson in 1867, Prescott again in 1877, and finally Phoenix in 1889.

1895-Eherenberg to Phoenix

4. We don't know where he came from, and we don't know where he went, but Charles Tyson apparently knew the area well and figured future travel in the area would have to pass from Ehrenberg through Weaver pass and by the spot he picked about a day's travel from the Colorado River to reach points east,and there he dug a well that gave access to sweet water. It and the adobe cabin he built became known as Tyson wells.
Ehrenberg was a steamboat landing on the Colorado River that supplied material to surrounding areas via mule trains and freight wagons where possible.

In 1856 he built a non-military fort at the location to protect himself, travelers, and the water supply from Mohave-Apache (Yavapai) raids. That was the year of the first rush to the gold placers in Yuma County.
Arizona Territory was not separated from New Mexico until 1863.
The Quartzsite Historical Society believes Tyson built the adobe stage station in 1866. That was the year the California & Arizona Stage Company began running passengers, mail and Wells Fargo express from the end of the Southern Pacific track in California to Ehrenberg and Wickenburg. The river towns of Ehrenberg, Olive City and La Paz served miners during the 1860s Colorado River gold rush. Gold had also been recently discovered around Wickenburg and in the mountains south of Prescott. The stage road forked at Wickenburg, with stages going north to the territorial capital at Prescott and south to Phoenix and Florence.
When the stage lines stopped running, the area was abandoned. In 1897, there was a mining boom here and the town was revitalized and renamed Quartzsite.

Much time has passed since Tyson’s Well Stage Stop served travelers. History notes that the Stage Stop was converted to a hotel – the Oasis Hotel - as an adaption to the introduction of railroad transportation. In time, the Oasis Hotel fell into disrepair. Then in 1972, the property owners donated the stage station/hotel for yet another transformation into a museum. The Quartzsite Historical Society took responsibility for the restoration and opened the Tyson’s Well Stage Stop Museum in February, 1980.

Fort Tyson, a privately owned fort built in 1856 by Charles Tyson for protection against Indians. Because of the water which existed at this place, Tyson's Wells soon became a stage station on the road from Ehrenburg to Prescott. In 1875 Martha Summerhayes described this place as being the most melancholy and uninviting that she had ever seen, saying that it "reeks of everything unclean, morally and physically..."

Tyson’s Well Stage Station met the needs of travelers beginning back in 1866. While today, travelers get premium bottled spring water and unleaded gas or diesel, back then, the adobe stage station did much the same. It became the town center with a grocery store, lodging, food and nearby saloons. It offered water and grass for the horses. Both the modern Travel Centers and the historic Stage Station can be called way stations on the route of California through Arizona.

1857

The Butterfield Overland Mail Trail [1] was a stagecoach service in the United States, operating from 1857 to 1861. It carried passengers and U.S. Mail from two eastern termini, Memphis, Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California. The routes from each eastern terminus met at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and then continued through Indian Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Baja California, and California ending in San Francisco.[2] On March 3, 1857, Congress under James Buchanan authorized the U.S. postmaster general, Aaron Brown, to contract for delivery of the U.S. mail from Saint Louis to San Francisco.

On the afternoon of September 28,1858, the conductor of the first westbound Butterfield Overland Mail Coach sounded his bugle to announce the coach's arrival at the Pinery. The station was named for nearby stands of pine. With abundant water from Pine Spring and good grazing, it was one of the most favorably situated stations on the original 2,800-mile Butterfield route. Located at 5,534-foot Guadalupe Pass, the Pinery was also the highest.

After a meal of venison and baked beans and a change of horses, the weary travelers jolted slowly down the pass on their rough-riding stage. Shortly after sunset, near the base of Guadalupe Pass, the westbound coach from St. Louis pulled alongside the eastbound from San Francisco. The excited passengers and drivers exchanged comments about their history-making encounter. For the brief space of a conversation, the ends of the continent were connected. But there was mail to deliver; the stages rolled on as contracted, traveling an average of five miles an hour around the clock, and averaging 120 miles a day. The Butterfield contract called for semi-weekly runs, covering 2,800 miles in a maximum of 25 days. In its two and a half years of operation the Butterfield never broke its contract.
Prior to this, U.S. Mail bound for the Far West had been transported by ship across the Gulf of Mexico to Panama, where it was freighted across the isthmus to the Pacific, then taken by ship for points in California.[3]

1857

In the center of Quartzsite stands a monument to one of the most unusual experiments in the history of the westward movement…and to the man who was part of it. In 1857, a proposed railroad route was charted along the 35th parallel, and camels were to be used as beasts of burden. The government brought in Arabs to handle the animals, the most famous Arab driver being a Syrian named Hadji Ali, soon known simply as “Hi Jolly”. After the expedition was over, Hi Jolly stayed in Arizona with a few of the camels and used them as pack animals, carrying goods between mining camps and the Colorado River. His business failed, however, and he released his last camel into the desert around Gila Bend. Years later, he moved back to Quartzsite and prospected until his death in 1902.

1862 - www.desertusa.com/thingstodo/ttdtrails/du_ttd_bradshaw.html

The Bradshaw Trail, also known as the Gold Road to La Paz, is located in California's southeastern Riverside County. The trail was created in 1862 by William Bradshaw, and was the first trail that crossed the Riverside County desert all the way to the Colorado River. In 1863 it became a well-traveled overland stage route. Originating in San Bernardino, the trail was used to haul miners and other passengers to the gold fields at La Paz, Arizona (now Ehrenberg).

Read more: www.desertusa.com/thingstodo/ttdtrails/du_ttd_bradshaw.html#ixzz4hg9CR7JG

The trail is named for trailblazer William David Bradshaw,[3] who first crossed the area in 1862. A former forty-niner, Bradshaw knew that the northern gold mines were rapidly becoming exhausted and that the flood of refugees from the area would need a more direct trail from the south across the desert to the new strike at La Paz. Without a direct trail, it would be necessary to travel a great distance southeast to Yuma, then north up the river to La Paz. Bradshaw was also aware of the financial possibilities that could be found in a gold boomtown. In May 1862, Bradshaw and eight other men set out to find a direct route to La Paz.

Originally 180 miles (290 km) long, the western trailhead began east of San Bernardino in the San Gorgonio Pass. Bradshaw and his party traveled southeast through Agua Caliente, now Palm Springs, and then South to the village of where the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation is now located. There Bradshaw was befriended by Cabazon, a chief of the Cahuilla Indians of the Salton Sink, and a Maricopa from Arizona who was visiting the Cahuilla villages. They provided Bradshaw with the knowledge of the route of their ancient trade route through the Colorado Desert, including the location of springs and water holes.

Armed with this information, Bradshaw traveled eastward near present day Mecca at the northern tip of the Salton Sink, to Bitter Spring at the foothills of the Orocopia Mountains and on 5 miles to an existing stage stop called "Dos Palmas Spring." Leaving Dos Palmas, the men continued through the pass eastward between the Orocopia and Chocolate mountain ranges, briefly skirting the southern end of the Chuckwalla range, crossed through a gap in the Mule Mountains and reaching the Palo Verde Valley two miles southwest of the modern community of Ripley. Despite the fact that the trail crossed mostly barren desert, water was reasonably plentiful with water holes found at roughly 30-mile (48 km) intervals at Canyon Springs, Tabaseca Tanks, Chuckwalla Springs and Mule Spring.

Crossing the Palo Verde Valley to the northwest they crossed a slough of the Colorado River called Laguna, and Willow Springs Station, to Bradshaw's Ferry, the crossing point of the Colorado River to Mineral City east of what is now Blythe. Once they crossed the Colorado River, the party rode upstream for approximately five miles to the gold fields of La Paz.

Between 1862 and 1877, the Bradshaw Trail was the main stagecoach and wagon route between Southern California and the gold fields of La Paz and other places in western Arizona. The La Paz - Wikenburg Road connected the Bradshaw Trail to the interior of Arizona Territory and the mining districts there. Olive City was the first Bradshaw ferry crossing for the trail from 1862 to 1864. With the founding of Mineral City, that became the new Bradshaw ferry crossing, and Mineral City became part of Ehrenberg when it was established in 1866. From 1870 the trail ended and connected with the toll road to Wickenburg at Ehrenberg as La Paz, became a ghost town when its mines played out.

1863

In 1863, German mining engineer Herman Ehrenberg was hired to survey a new townsite along the Colorado River, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) from La Paz, Arizona. The town, named Mineral City, began to grow in 1866, after a new landing was established there, supported by the steamboat captains of the George A. Johnson Company. Mineral City now attracted miners and many businessmen away from La Paz and by September 20, 1869 had grown large enough to win a post office.[3] The same year it was renamed Ehrenberg.[

In 1897, the development of mining in the area resulted in a small boom. It was reported that Tyson's Wells had three stores, two saloons, and a short-lived post office. Apparently when it became necessary to re-open the post office because of renewed mining activity, a new name had to be found since the post office did not permit offices to re-open the post office under formerly used names. Therefore, George Ingersoll suggested the name Quartzsite, since quartzsite is actually found in the vicinity, but quartz is not. However, the post office in error apparently added an "s" to the name. The resulting "Quartzsite" erroneously implies that quartz is found locally. Actually Quartzsite is approximately nine miles east of the old Tyson's Wells which lay nineteen miles from Ehrenberg. Therefore, a different name was doubly suited.


Quartzsite started out as a watering stop in the desert. A fort was built by a new settler, Charles Tyson, in 1856 as a protection against Indian raids. Soon it became a stage stop because of the good water. The area was called Ft. Tyson or Tyson's Wells, its well-used name. When the stage lines stopped running, the area was abandoned. In 1897, there was a mining boom here and the town was revitalized. A brass plaque now stands across the street from the tyson Well's Stage Station Museum on W. Main Street.
Housed in Charles Tyson’s restored former stage stop, this museum displays mining equipment and houses the old assay office from the Mariquita Mine. The museum also exhibits photographs and personal possessions of some of Quartzsite’s most colorful residents. It is located next to Silly Al’s Pizza on Main Street.


Beginning in the mid-1850s, Quartzsite was used as a watering hole by travelers passing through. A few wells in Quartzsite provided for the Tyson’s Well Stage Station. Named for Charles Tyson, the Station was a simple adobe building which served desert travelers well into the late 1880s. The original compound was composed of several buildings and was commonly called Ft. Tyson. Although it never served as an actual fort; it did however serve
as a US Army stop and may have provided settlers with protection from Indian conflicts.

A post office was established at the Fort in 1893, although it only survived for two years. The Fort then became Oasis Motel. In 1896, a second post office was established on Moon Mountain Road, managed by postmaster George Ingersoll. Shortly after the establishment of the second post office, Quartzsite became a small community with a hotel, butcher shop, general store, and a few saloons.

The name Quartzsite was suggested due to the abundance of that particular rock found in the area. According to one report, the Post Office Department was responsible for misspelling the name Quartzite by adding an “s” to the official name.

Quartzsite enjoyed somewhat of a mild boom when the western states were caught up in the mining excitement. Although there was some mining activity around Quartzsite, most mining in and around Quartzsite has ended. When the boom ended in the early 1900s, Quartzsite’s population dropped to well under 100 residents. Fifty-seven people are reported to have voted in the 1904 election, in which Wyatt Earp was listed as a candidate for constable.

Upon the arrival of the Great Depression, Quartzsite saw an increase in its number of residents. Many men
returned with the hopes of reviving the local mining industry.
By the early 1960s, the Town population was back down to fifty residents during the summer months. It was during this same time that the winter population in Quartzsite began to quadruple.

Planning for future winter growth became an important issue in Quartzsite and on March 23, 1965, the Quartzsite Improvement Association met for the first time. Members of the Association are accredited with planning for the first official rock and gem show held in February 1967.

By the show’s eighth year, lot spaces were leased out to over 450 exhibitors sixty days before the show opened and some 200,000 people came to visit the gem show.

Since then, Tyson’s Well Stage Station has been restored by the Central Yuma Preservation Society and now functions as a museum.


While Quartzsite has a rich history, the community and its residents look forward to building a strong future. The contents of this General Plan will prove that the Town of Quartzsite continues to make great efforts in the preservation of its history and current small town, friendly atmosphere.

minerdiggins.com/qzh.html

Quartzsite Mining History

The famous placers that surround the town of Quartzsite are known to have been successfully worked by individual prospectors since the 1860's and it continues to this day. Gold placers are found in the Dome Rock Mtns west of Quartzsite, in the Plomosa Mtns east of Quartzsite and scattered on the La Posa Plain which lies in between the two ranges. Both mountain ranges are highly mineralized and contain numerous lode mines bearing many different types of valuable ore.

Placer information:
This information is taken directly from US Geological Survey Bulletin 1355, Placer Gold Deposits of Arizona, by Maureen G. Johnson, 1972



La Cholla, Middle Camp & Oro Fino Placers

Location: East side of the Dome Rock Mountains, Tps 3N and 4N, R20W

Access: From Quartzsite it is about 5 miles west on US Highway 60-70 ( I-10) to Dome Rock Mountain. Dirt roads lead from the highway to adjacent placers

Extent: Placers are found on the east side of the Dome Rock Mountains in three localities. La Cholla placers, located south of US Highway 60-70 (I-10) in an area 4 to 5 miles long from east to west. (NE1/4 T3N, R20W); at the southern base of the Middle Camp Mountain (approximately SW 1/4 T4N R 20W); Oro Fino placers, located north of US Highway 60-70 (I-10) and southeast of the Middle Camp placers (SE 1/4 T 4N R 20W).

History: The placers on the east side of the Dome Rock Mountains have been worked intermittently since the 1860's. The placer camps are usually considered to be part of the Plomosa mining district and production records are usually grouped with the Plomosa placers, 12 miles east. The deposits at La Cholla and the Middle Camp have been worked on a small scale throughout this century. From the 1930's until 1941, the La Cholla placers were the most active in the area; large-scale operations by the La Posa Development Co. at the Arizona Drift mine during the period 1939-41 accounted for most of the placer production. This company worked a channel on bedrock that was 6 feet thick and 50-150 feet wide at a depth of 140 feet. No estimates of the average value of the gravels worked by this operation have been found, but the gravels worked in an earlier operation contained in places as much as 1 ounce of gold per cubic yard, and the tailings were valued at 85 cents per cubic yard.

Source: Gold-quartz veins in the mountains immediately adjoining the placer deposits are the source of the placer gold.

Plomosa District

Location: West side of the Plomosa Mountains, Tps 3N & 4N R 18W, T2N R17W

Access: From Quartzsite it is about 5 miles southeast on dirt roads to placer area.

Extent: The plomosa placers are found at the western edge of the Plomosa Mountains in and near Plomosa Wash south of Scaddan Mountain. (Tps 3N & 4N, R18W) The extent of the placers in the Plomosa district is not known, but some reports indicate that gold-bearing gravels are found for about 3-4 miles along the western edge of the mountains. Most large-scale placer activity was apparently concentrated in secs. 3 and 4, T3N R18W, near the old town of Plomosa. Small placers were apparently worked in Cave Creek in the southern part of the range (T2N R17W)

History: The Plomosa placers were worked in the early 1860's about the same time as the La Paz placers. Early production is unknown, but the extensive diggings remaining from the early workers indicate that production was large. The Plomosa placers were actively sampled and mined during the 1910's by companies using large-scale drywashing machines; these operations attracted much attention from mining men at the time, and the resulting literature described the gravels and mining techniques in great detail. Production records indicate that these operations were not a commercial success. Various reports of the average value of the gravels claim values as high as $20 per yard in placer gold, but more reasonable estimates range between 71 cents to $1.77 per yard. The placers worked by the Yuma Consolidated Co. and the Plomosa Placer Co. during the period 1915-16 were cemented gravels as thick as 140 feet; the gold was concentrated at various horizons in the gravels. The placers were steadily mined by individual drywashers until the 1950's.

Source: Gold -bearing veins occur in the metamorphic rocks in the immediate vicinity of the placers and are considered to be the source of the gold in the gravels.

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Good to know there is absolutely NO politics. ?

What would you do about the Quartzsite Police Department?

Fire Chief Gilbert and promote a new chief from with the dept.

Fire Chief Gilbert and advertise for a competent police chief

Run it without a chief and pay Ponce extra for continuing to do Jeff's work

Put Chief Gilbert on unpaid leave untill allegations are properly investigated

Let Q-Town Defender run the dept.

Shut it down and let the State and County earn the money they get from us

Do nothing. I love corruption!