Friday, December 24, 2010
Peter
Russell
Department
of
Earth
and
Environmental
Sciences,
University
of
Waterloo
A
middle-aged
couple
walking
along
the
Verde
River
in
Cottonwood,
Arizona,
stopped
to
talk
to
me
as
I
was
sketching.
They
explained
that
the
tall
phragmites
grass
along
the
river
was
used
by
the
native
peoples
as
roofing
in
their
homes
and
as
the
stem
of
arrows.
I
told
them
about
my
interest
in
mining
history.
The
man
said
he
used
to
work
at
the
University
of
Northern
Arizona
in
Flagstaff.
He
worked
in
the
library
as
a
researcher.
One
day
a
call
came
in
from
Phelps
Dodge
mining
company
asking
if
someone
could
do
a
job
for
them
retrieving
documents
that
were
taken
from
the
Jerome
Hospital
in
filing
cabinets
when
the
hospital
closed
and
thrown
down
the
shaft
of
the
Daisy
Mine.
He
was
assigned
the
job.
He
was
loaded
into
the
one-man
escape
hoist
and
dropped
to
the
bottom
of
the
mine
shaft.
The
man
could
see
equipment
on
various
levels
of
the
mine
as
he
descended.
On
reaching
the
bottom
he
found
the
filing
cabinets
split
open
and
the
documents
strewn
about
along
with
doctors’
bags
and
other
materials
from
the
hospital.
Yes,
he
could
read
the
documents!
While
he
was
below
ground
he
explored
a
mine
tunnel
which
was
offset
by
the
still
active
Verde
Fault.
Phelps
Dodge
eagerly
received
the
retrieved
documents
-
perhaps
too
eagerly.
Instead
of
appreciating
the
documents
for
their
historic
value,
they
were
immediately
burned
so
that
they
could
not
be
used
in
future
litigation
against
the
mining
company!