Ed Schieffelin - Hunt For Gold and Silver

Hunt For Gold and Silver

At age 17 he set out on his own as a prospector and miner. Schieffelin began looking for gold and silver in about 1865. From Oregon, he went east to Coeur d'Alene, then searched across Nevada into Death Valley, back into Colorado and then New Mexico.

In 1876, David P. Lansing of Phoenix, Arizona described Schieffelin as "about the strangest specimen of human flesh I ever saw. He was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and had black hair that hung several inches below his shoulder and a beard that had not been trimmed or combed for so long a time that it was a mass of unkempt knots and mats. He wore clothing pieced and patched from deerskins, corduroy and flannel, and his hat was originally a slouch hat that had been pieced with rabbit skin until very little of the original felt remained."

In 1877 at 30 years old Schieffelin moved to California, looking for gold. He surveyed the Grand Canyon area as well. Unsuccessful, he heard that a group of Hualapai Indians had enlisted as scouts for the U.S. Army, which was establishing a camp to counter the Chiricahua threat and to secure the near-by border with Mexico. The Army established Camp Huachuca at the foot of the Huachuca Mountains in Pima County, Arizona Territory on March 3, 1877. Silver had already been discovered in some northern areas of Arizona Territory, but the southern portion had been under continued Apache attack.

Schieffelin accompanied the scouts on a few trips into the back country while prospecting part time. He finally decided to stay put and explore the hills east full-time. The hills east of the San Pedro River where he prospected could be dangerous. They were only about 12 miles (19 km) from the hostile Chiricahua Apache Indians lead by Cochise, Geronimo and Victorio.