Big Bug is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Yavapai County Yavapai County ( ) is a county near the center of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 236,209, making it the fourth-most populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Prescott. Yavapai County comprises the Pr ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, United States. The former settlement is located twelve miles southeast of Prescott and was established in 1862.

History

Big Bug has a long history of

frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

life. The town was founded by Theodore Boggs during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Boggs' father was the former governor of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Lilburn Boggs Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796March 14, 1860) was the sixth Governor of Missouri, from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions with Joseph Smith and Porter Rockwell, and Missouri Executive Order 44, kno ...

, who helped drive the

Mormons Mormons are a Religious denomination, religious and ethnocultural group, cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's d ...

out during the Missouri Mormon War. When he was ten years old, he traveled west to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, accompanied partway by the famous

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

. His mother was a granddaughter of the

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...

. In 1862, Boggs left California for Arizona and settled along Big Bug Creek and began working a mining claim. A mine was built with a few other buildings of necessity. A town sprang up with an average population of 100. The actual claim where the minerals were mined was a few minutes walk outside of town. In the early years only four men mined the claim, Theodore Boggs and three others. Big Bug's population was 115 in 1890. The town had only been established a month before natives discovered the place; they attacked soon after. A post office was established in 1879 and remained in service until 1910. For a while the post office was actually Theodore Boggs' house. The assistant postmistress, Miss Dawson, delivered the mail herself on horseback throughout the town and surroundings. Gradually the town died when the mines shut down. In the 1930s, small placer miners returned to Big Bug Creek. The many large boulders in the creek had prevented the use of heavy machinery in the earlier mining, so considerable gold remained. In 1932, some 60 amateur miners were working there, some recovering as much as $300 a week, including some nuggets. The Big Bug placers produced a recorded 17,000 troy ounces (528.8 kg) of gold; the total production was around 50,000 ounces (1,417.5 kg), mostly from dredging in the 1930s and 1940s.Prescott Area Geological Field Guide, 1999, prepared for Earth Science Week. Copy available at Yavapai College library. Big Bug Creek still has some indication of early mining activities, but little if anything remains of the town as of 2010.

Battle of Big Bug

The Battle of Big Bug was a skirmish during the

Apache Wars The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States Army and various Apache tribal confederations fought in the Southwestern United States, southwest between 1849 and 1886, though minor hostilities continued until as l ...

involving Theodore Boggs and three other miners. It occurred when Apaches attacked the mine one night. Boggs and the three others were sleeping when one awoke to the sound of their crying dog. The miner peered out and witnessed the dog, pierced with an arrow in his side. The Apaches then attempted to crush the dugout with all four of the white men inside. Big boulders were rolled down onto the structure from the mountain above. Two of the miners held a bed frame over their heads to keep the roof from caving in. The Apaches came close and Boggs with the remaining miner manned their muskets. When the Apaches came close enough, the two stuck their rifles outside a few little portholes just dug and then they fired. Two of the Apaches were killed immediately and dropped to the ground. Caught off guard, the Apaches hastily picked up their shot fellow warriors and retreated up the mountain side. Once at the top, the Apaches cremated their dead in full view of Boggs and the others. They then continued a withdrawal from the area. Later the four went back to the town unharmed and told the alarmed residents what had happened.

References

External links

Ghosttowns.com
entry for Big Bug

entry for Big Bug
Sharlot Hall Museum
entry for Theodore Boggs {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Bug, Arizona Pre-statehood history of Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona Battles involving the Apache Former populated places in Yavapai County, Arizona Populated places established in 1862 Apache Wars Mining communities in Arizona 1862 establishments in New Mexico Territory

History

Battle of Big Bug

See also

References

External links