Santa Rita 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 ...
in
Grant County Grant County may refer to:
Places
;Australia
* County of Grant, Victoria
;United States
* Grant County, Arkansas
* Grant County, Indiana
* Grant County, Kansas
*Grant County, Kentucky
Grant County is a county located in the northern pa ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. The site of
Chino copper mine, Santa Rita was located east of
Silver City.
History
Copper mining in the area began late in the Spanish colonial period, but it was not until 1803 that Franscisco Manuel Elguea, a Chihuahua banker and businessman, founded the town of Santa Rita. He named it ''Santa Rita del Cobre'' (Saint Rita of the Copper), after
Saint Rita of Cascia and the existing mine. During the early 19th century the mine produced over 6 million pounds (2.7 million kg) of copper annually.
[New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs (1995) "Santa Rite" ''Enchanted Lifeways: The History, Museums, Arts & Festivals of New Mexico'' New Mexico Magazine, Santa Fe, N.M., p. 186, ] The crudely smeltered ore was shipped to Chihuahua for further smelting and then sent to Mexico City on mule back.
Americans Sylvester Pattie, James Kirker, and Robert McKnight managed the mine in the 1820s and 1830s. Partners Robert McKnight and Stephen Courcier took possession of "El Cobre", (Santa Rita del Cobre mine) in 1828 and worked the property until 1834. McKnight and Courcier profited greatly from the rich copper mining operation and amassed a large fortune from it.
The area was relatively peaceful, despite an occasional attack from the Warm Springs (Mimbres) band of the
Chiricahua
Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans.
Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua historically shared a common area, language, customs, and intertwined family relations with their fellow Apaches. ...
Apache
The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...
, who lived nearby at the headwaters of the
Gila and
Mimbres rivers.
In 1837, however, an American trader named John Johnson lured the Apaches to a gathering and then massacred them to sell their scalps for the bounty offered by the Mexican government. Johnson's massacre inflamed the Apache rather than intimidated them. The rich
Santa Rita copper mine in New Mexico was a principal target of
Mangas Coloradas
Mangas Coloradas or Mangus-Colorado (La-choy Ko-kun-noste, alias "Red Sleeves"), or Dasoda-hae (c. 1793 – January 18, 1863) was an Apache tribal chief and a member of the Mimbreño (Tchihende) division of the Central Apaches, whose homela ...
and his followers. In 1838, 22 fur trappers were killed nearby and the Apache severed the mine's supply line. The 300 to 400 inhabitants of Santa Rita fled south toward the Janos presidio, away, but the Apache killed nearly all of them en route. Afterwards, the Santa Rita mine was only occasionally in operation until 1873, when Apache chief
Cochise signed a peace agreement with the U.S. and the mine was reopened.
Martin B. Hayes reopened the mine.
[Cooper, James E. (1975) "Santa Rita" ''Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of New Mexico'' University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, pp. 188-191, ] However, the town continued to be subject to Apache attacks from
Geronimo
Gerónimo (, ; June 16, 1829 – February 17, 1909) was a military leader and medicine man from the Bedonkohe band of the Ndendahe Apache people. From 1850 to 1886, Geronimo joined with members of three other Central Apache bands the Tchihen ...
,
Victorio
Victorio (Bidu-ya, Beduiat; ca. 1825–October 14, 1880) was a warrior and chief of the Warm Springs band of the Tchihendeh (or Chihenne, often called Mimbreño) division of the central Apaches in what is now the American states of Texas ...
and other Apache warleaders until 1886, when Geronimo surrendered for the last time. A post office opened in 1881 and the coming of the railroad five years later spurred further development of the mine.
After the Santa Rita mine was converted to an open pit in 1901, the town was forced to move several times as the pit grew. Shortly after the town relocated in 1957, heavy rains washed boulders and mud into the new townsite. The town was abandoned once and for all in 1967, and the school system for the area was discontinued in 1972.
The population of Santa Rita was about 500 in 1884. By 1915 it was 2,500, and by 1920 had reached 6,000.
It remained at 6,000, until significant layoffs at the mine started in the 1950s.
Notable people
*
Jimmy Bowen (b. 1937), singer and record producer
*
Ralph Kiner (1922–2014),
National Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United St ...
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
player and broadcaster. Kiner's number 4 is retired by the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...
, and the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
honored Kiner's broadcasting career by depicting a microphone, along with his name and displayed them on the left-field wall.
*
William Harrell Nellis (1916–1944), was a United States fighter pilot who flew 70
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
combat missions.
Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base ("Nellis" colloquialism, colloq.) is a United States Air Force military installation, installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts Aerial warfare, air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exerc ...
was named after him
*
Harrison Schmitt
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born July 3, 1935) is an American geologist, former NASA astronaut, university professor, former U.S. senator from New Mexico. He is the most recent living person—and only person without a background in military a ...
(b. 1935), geologist,
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, ...
astronaut and moonwalker, U.S. Senator 1977-1983
"Astronaut Bio: Harrison Schmitt" NASA
/ref>
See also
* List of ghost towns in New Mexico
References
Further reading
* Julyan, Robert Hixson (1998) "Santa Rita" ''The place names of New Mexico'' (2nd ed.) University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 326,
* Pearce, T. M. (1965) "Santa Rita" ''New Mexico place names; a geographical dictionary'' University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, p. 149
OCLC 420847
External links
* ttp://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/santarita.html "Santarita" Ghost Towns and History of the American West
{{authority control
Ghost towns in New Mexico
History of Grant County, New Mexico
Geography of Grant County, New Mexico