Total Wreck Mine &
Total Wreck Ghost Town
Ed Vail, Frank and Tom McLaury, Tombstone
and the Total Wreck Ghost Town and Mine
Author John D. Rose, through his website, WyattEarpExplorers.com, was the first on the internet to publish portions of Ed Vail's archive about Total Wreck, a remarkable research breakthrough.
Frank McLaury Helps Prevent the Theft of Empire Ranch Cattle.
Curly Bill Brocius and a rude awakening at the Clanton Ranch.
By John D. Rose
Curly Bill Brocius and a rude awakening at the Clanton Ranch.
By John D. Rose
Ruins of stone cabin Total Wreck
"We knew the McLowerys well [Frank and Tom McLaury], they had a ranch near junchon [junction] of [the] Babacomari & San Pedro [Rivers] below Charleston." With many of his contemporaries long dead, Ed Vail, who was a cowboy on the Empire Ranch and an assayer at Tombstone and Total Wreck, was recalling his youthful adventures in the Arizona Territory later in life, in December of 1930.
Frank and Tom McLaury had perished
at the hands of the Earps and Doc Holliday nearly 50 years prior, Ed Vail was simply one of the few people alive in 1930 who could speak about Frank and Tom McLaury with the authority of having known them, and at this point, Wyatt Earp and the gunfight near the O.K Corral had become known a new generation of Americans through the writings of Walter Noble Burns and Billy Breakenridge. “Once Frank [McLaury] wrote to us (or at least sent word) that we had better come over and get our cattle. We got over [to the area of the McLaury Ranch] late at night…we camped out because [we did] not know just where [their] house was. Next morning they said ‘Say where [did you] come from…well remember next time we always have something to eat for you and hay for [your] horses.’
That Frank and Tom McLaury had advised Ed Vail that he better come over and get his cattle was out of concern on their part that the Vail’s cattle grazing in the area near the Babacomari and San Pedro Rivers could be soon stolen. “Frank and Tom both went out to help us find our strayed stock. Guess they thought some of [the] companeros [referring in Spanish to one someone of an equal status, such as a coworker or classmate] were not particular [as to] what stock they took,” Ed surmised.
The cattle that Frank and Tom McLaury helped the Vail’s secure from rustlers in the area, as well as later herds, may have been destined for the Tombstone meat markets. “We delivered over 1000 head of cattle at Tombstone 1881 or 82 and met McL [Frank and Tom McLaury] often.” Given that both Frank and Tom McLaury died on October 26th, 1881, at the gunfight near the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ed Vail, and no one else for that matter, saw them in 1882.
Frank and Tom McLaury had perished
at the hands of the Earps and Doc Holliday nearly 50 years prior, Ed Vail was simply one of the few people alive in 1930 who could speak about Frank and Tom McLaury with the authority of having known them, and at this point, Wyatt Earp and the gunfight near the O.K Corral had become known a new generation of Americans through the writings of Walter Noble Burns and Billy Breakenridge. “Once Frank [McLaury] wrote to us (or at least sent word) that we had better come over and get our cattle. We got over [to the area of the McLaury Ranch] late at night…we camped out because [we did] not know just where [their] house was. Next morning they said ‘Say where [did you] come from…well remember next time we always have something to eat for you and hay for [your] horses.’
That Frank and Tom McLaury had advised Ed Vail that he better come over and get his cattle was out of concern on their part that the Vail’s cattle grazing in the area near the Babacomari and San Pedro Rivers could be soon stolen. “Frank and Tom both went out to help us find our strayed stock. Guess they thought some of [the] companeros [referring in Spanish to one someone of an equal status, such as a coworker or classmate] were not particular [as to] what stock they took,” Ed surmised.
The cattle that Frank and Tom McLaury helped the Vail’s secure from rustlers in the area, as well as later herds, may have been destined for the Tombstone meat markets. “We delivered over 1000 head of cattle at Tombstone 1881 or 82 and met McL [Frank and Tom McLaury] often.” Given that both Frank and Tom McLaury died on October 26th, 1881, at the gunfight near the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Ed Vail, and no one else for that matter, saw them in 1882.
Awakened by Curly Bill Brocius at the Clanton Ranch
A journey to Tombstone was made memorable by a late night visit to the Clanton Ranch, by of all people, nighttime reveler, Curly Bill Brocius. “One time our foreman at Happy Valley, Young Eberhardy, whose father was buying our cattle came over one trip… We corralled at Clanton[s] for [the] night on our way over to Tombstone. Curly Bill and [an]other came home from Charl[e]ston drunk during [the] night and was shooting up [the Clanton] ranch…[the] next morning [we] went outside & saw [a] half dozen or more quail all with heads shot off.” Frank Proctor Vail’s foreman asked who was doing the shooting outside. The casual reply, (from either one of the Clanton’s or a frequent visitor) showed that this may have been common practice for an overly imbibed Curly Bill Brocius when returning from an evening of recreation in Charleston. ‘Oh [that’s] just Curly seeing what he can do.’ Another member of Vail’s party, Young Eberhardy, later asked “did you hear my cot shaking in the night while [the] shooting was going on …”
A journey to Tombstone was made memorable by a late night visit to the Clanton Ranch, by of all people, nighttime reveler, Curly Bill Brocius. “One time our foreman at Happy Valley, Young Eberhardy, whose father was buying our cattle came over one trip… We corralled at Clanton[s] for [the] night on our way over to Tombstone. Curly Bill and [an]other came home from Charl[e]ston drunk during [the] night and was shooting up [the Clanton] ranch…[the] next morning [we] went outside & saw [a] half dozen or more quail all with heads shot off.” Frank Proctor Vail’s foreman asked who was doing the shooting outside. The casual reply, (from either one of the Clanton’s or a frequent visitor) showed that this may have been common practice for an overly imbibed Curly Bill Brocius when returning from an evening of recreation in Charleston. ‘Oh [that’s] just Curly seeing what he can do.’ Another member of Vail’s party, Young Eberhardy, later asked “did you hear my cot shaking in the night while [the] shooting was going on …”
How Total Wreck was Named
Landscape at Total Wreck
John Harvey asked his friend, Jerry Dillon, “…what are you going to call your last claim?” Dillon was at a loss for words. “I don’t know, but it’s a big ledge, and the whole d- hill is a Total Wreck with big quartz boulders of ore scattered all over the hill side.”
That was good enough for Harvey, who said “That’s a good name—we will call it the Total Wreck."
Ed Vail noted the influence of the colorful naming of mines in Tombstone that had already become famous. “The Sheflins [Scheiffelins] had set the fashion for odd names at the time by naming their mines at Tombstone, the ‘Tough Nut,’ the ‘Lucky Cuss,’ etc.”
It was Ed’s uncle, N.R. Vail, who would invest in the Total Wreck and then tell Ed “I want you to learn assaying.” “We wanted someone we can trust in the assay office” Ed recalled adding “That suited me all right.” This was a smart move on the elder Vail’s part…a less than trustworthy assay could steal away higher grade samples for himself, thus the common term “high grading” became known as mine employees stealing from the mine.
That was good enough for Harvey, who said “That’s a good name—we will call it the Total Wreck."
Ed Vail noted the influence of the colorful naming of mines in Tombstone that had already become famous. “The Sheflins [Scheiffelins] had set the fashion for odd names at the time by naming their mines at Tombstone, the ‘Tough Nut,’ the ‘Lucky Cuss,’ etc.”
It was Ed’s uncle, N.R. Vail, who would invest in the Total Wreck and then tell Ed “I want you to learn assaying.” “We wanted someone we can trust in the assay office” Ed recalled adding “That suited me all right.” This was a smart move on the elder Vail’s part…a less than trustworthy assay could steal away higher grade samples for himself, thus the common term “high grading” became known as mine employees stealing from the mine.
Ed Vail Visits Fort Huachuca on the Way to Tombstone.
“A little later we got a team at the Empire Ranch, and my uncle and cousin, Jack Vail, and I started for Tombstone, visiting Ft. Huachuca on the way. We knew all the officers there, as they came to the ranch frequently on their way to Tucson. Major Whitside [Sam Marmaduke Whitside was the locator of Camp Huachuca, later Fort Huachuca] was in command then and Lieut. Winchester. We were the guests of the officers, but my cousin, Jack, and I mixed with the soldiers and had more fun that way.
“Major Whitside gave a dress review in our honor. Jack and I overheard some remarks. One of the soldiers said ‘Who are these fellows?’ and his friend replied, ‘Only some cattle men, and the old man makes us shine up our boots and give a dress parade for them.’
“The next day we drove over to Tombstone. Mr. White [Josiah Howe White purchased the Contention from Dick Gird and the Scheiffelins on May 17th, 1878 for only $10,000.00] was very nice to us. He was living in a house built of Ocatillas, [Ocotillos] like the Papagos build.”
Early Tombstone, even for a major player in the Contention mine, was still a primitive place. Josiah White’s sense of humor was clearly on display. Ed Vail added “He said ‘I am going to leave Mr. Vail the bridal chamber.’ This was divided from the rest of the cabin by a curtain made of gunny sacks. Mr. White said ‘All our lumber has to be hauled from Casa Grande (which was then as far as the Southern Pacific Railroad had reached) and the mine needs it all-we will build our house later.'” (Although it is true that lumber did come to Tombstone via the RR, wood cutting operations were quick to spring up all around the booming mining camp, with lumber being hauled in from the Huachuca, Dragoon, and Chiricahua Mountains among others.)
It was through his uncle's connection with Mr. White that Ed began learning to be an assayer, as well is what it was like to be a resident of Tombstone. It may be that Ed’s uncle traded his lessons for his labor, as he would not be getting paid by the Tombstone mine for which he was working. “When I arrived in Tombstone to commence my lessons in assaying, Mr. White took me to the assay laboratory and introduced me to Mr. Wade, who was the chief assayer. There were two or three young men working there. I got a job right off, but the only thing they failed to do was put my name on the pay-roll.”
“A little later we got a team at the Empire Ranch, and my uncle and cousin, Jack Vail, and I started for Tombstone, visiting Ft. Huachuca on the way. We knew all the officers there, as they came to the ranch frequently on their way to Tucson. Major Whitside [Sam Marmaduke Whitside was the locator of Camp Huachuca, later Fort Huachuca] was in command then and Lieut. Winchester. We were the guests of the officers, but my cousin, Jack, and I mixed with the soldiers and had more fun that way.
“Major Whitside gave a dress review in our honor. Jack and I overheard some remarks. One of the soldiers said ‘Who are these fellows?’ and his friend replied, ‘Only some cattle men, and the old man makes us shine up our boots and give a dress parade for them.’
“The next day we drove over to Tombstone. Mr. White [Josiah Howe White purchased the Contention from Dick Gird and the Scheiffelins on May 17th, 1878 for only $10,000.00] was very nice to us. He was living in a house built of Ocatillas, [Ocotillos] like the Papagos build.”
Early Tombstone, even for a major player in the Contention mine, was still a primitive place. Josiah White’s sense of humor was clearly on display. Ed Vail added “He said ‘I am going to leave Mr. Vail the bridal chamber.’ This was divided from the rest of the cabin by a curtain made of gunny sacks. Mr. White said ‘All our lumber has to be hauled from Casa Grande (which was then as far as the Southern Pacific Railroad had reached) and the mine needs it all-we will build our house later.'” (Although it is true that lumber did come to Tombstone via the RR, wood cutting operations were quick to spring up all around the booming mining camp, with lumber being hauled in from the Huachuca, Dragoon, and Chiricahua Mountains among others.)
It was through his uncle's connection with Mr. White that Ed began learning to be an assayer, as well is what it was like to be a resident of Tombstone. It may be that Ed’s uncle traded his lessons for his labor, as he would not be getting paid by the Tombstone mine for which he was working. “When I arrived in Tombstone to commence my lessons in assaying, Mr. White took me to the assay laboratory and introduced me to Mr. Wade, who was the chief assayer. There were two or three young men working there. I got a job right off, but the only thing they failed to do was put my name on the pay-roll.”
This check is made out to and signed by Samuel Marmaduke Whitside, who
chose the Fort Huachuca location, and was friends with Ed Vail. From the collections of John D. Rose.
Ed’s Unpaid Days Working as an Assayer at the Contention Mine
“There was what was called a grab sample taken every day from each bucket of ore as it came out of the shaft. A handful or ore was thrown into the box. This amounted to about a half gunny sack full every day. My business was to pulverize this rock with a big piece of drill steel made into a pestle and then mix it well and quarter it down, each time reducing it by three quarters, etc, the same as all samples are treated today by assayers; but now most of this is done by machinery, run by electric power.”
Vail added “I think the company was only taking ore from the Contention and Head Center Mines at that time-they may have owned other claims. I think the Contention was the best mine in Tombstone.” It’s likely that E.B. Gage of the Grand Central would have offered a differing view, but the Contention was second only to the Grand Central.
“While I was at the Contention Mine, which joined the Grand Central on the south, it made a big strike. The two companies were on very friendly terms so they invited us to come over and see the new discovery they had made. They had been running a cross-cut some time in a westerly direction, looking for ore. When I saw it they were drifting on it (following the ore). Three men were working abreast. The ore was soft and good and the best part was that it lasted long enough to make them all rich men.” Given that the Contention was named due to the Contentious argument over the original Grand Central claim, it is indeed ironic that by the time Ed had arrived, relations between new management of these two key Tombstone mines had greatly improved from their days of first discovery.
Life in Tombstone
Of day to day life in Tombstone, Ed said the following: “When I was in Tombstone I thought it was a good town if one minded his own business. There were many fine, well-educated people there. While I was at the mine a great many of the miners came out of the mine to eat their lunch at noon and they got in the habit of feeding a lot of stray dogs that came up from Tombstone. After a while so many dogs came up to the mine that they got to be a nuisance, so the miners tied tin cans to the dogs’ tails and started them on the road towards town, and the dogs would run through Allen Street and scare the cowboys’ horses tied to hitching posts along the street. Tombstone soon passed an ordinance to stop that kind of sport.”
Vail also described some of Tombstone’s well remembered night life: “There were lots of saloons there and they kept open all night. The games were also running night and day, but it was no worse than any other active mining camp. If a man came there broke and had no friends the restaurants would feed him until he got a job.”
After six months of working in Tombstone and staying in relative luxury at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Ed was summoned to his new role as chief assayer at the Total Wreck mine, where he became a full-time resident of Total Wreck townsite.
Of day to day life in Tombstone, Ed said the following: “When I was in Tombstone I thought it was a good town if one minded his own business. There were many fine, well-educated people there. While I was at the mine a great many of the miners came out of the mine to eat their lunch at noon and they got in the habit of feeding a lot of stray dogs that came up from Tombstone. After a while so many dogs came up to the mine that they got to be a nuisance, so the miners tied tin cans to the dogs’ tails and started them on the road towards town, and the dogs would run through Allen Street and scare the cowboys’ horses tied to hitching posts along the street. Tombstone soon passed an ordinance to stop that kind of sport.”
Vail also described some of Tombstone’s well remembered night life: “There were lots of saloons there and they kept open all night. The games were also running night and day, but it was no worse than any other active mining camp. If a man came there broke and had no friends the restaurants would feed him until he got a job.”
After six months of working in Tombstone and staying in relative luxury at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, Ed was summoned to his new role as chief assayer at the Total Wreck mine, where he became a full-time resident of Total Wreck townsite.
Life at Total Wreck
Digital overlay of historic Total Wreck Townsite.
“When I returned from Tombstone, I found that considerable progress had been made in the Total Wreck Mine. Mr. White had recommended Mr. Shaw, who was assistant foremen of the Contention Mine in Tombstone, as a good foreman for the Total Wreck. Shaw was a man of few words and I think quite loyal to the Company he was working for. He was a miner and got along with his men and kept them at work.”
But the early diggings at the Total Wreck were not of the highest grade. “For the first twenty or thirty feet the ore was not very rich, but carried a large amount of red oxide of iron, and John Harvey said he thought it would make a good paint mine,” as Ed recalled, but soon after things quickly changed. “A little deeper we found richer ore with considerable horn silver and yellow carbonate.” Now Total Wreck had become a viable mine, in need of its own mill, and a town would soon follow.
But the early diggings at the Total Wreck were not of the highest grade. “For the first twenty or thirty feet the ore was not very rich, but carried a large amount of red oxide of iron, and John Harvey said he thought it would make a good paint mine,” as Ed recalled, but soon after things quickly changed. “A little deeper we found richer ore with considerable horn silver and yellow carbonate.” Now Total Wreck had become a viable mine, in need of its own mill, and a town would soon follow.
Vail Speaks Of The Total Wreck Stamp Mill.
“A steam hoist with a locomotive type of boiler was placed above the incline shaft, and one ton ore cars were used. Levels were run every fifty feet on the ledge from each side of the shaft. As soon as the location of the mill was decided on a tunnel was run from the 200 foot level of the shaft to the surface on the side of the hill, and the ore dumped into a large ore bin. A five ton car hauled by a large mule on a track around to the mill where it was dumped into the bins above the mill.”
Stamp milling requires water, and given that the Total Wreck site had no known spring water, innovation was necessary, as Ed explained: “The nearest water in sufficient quantity was in the Cuniga [today marked on I-10 as Cienega Creek] which rises on the Empire Ranch, but that was too far from the mine. About a mile east of our camp were some claims being developed by a Company from Oil City, Pennsylvania, and they had bought an acre of land from Don Sanford and built small store there. My uncle, Mr. N.R. Vail, sent me to Oil City, Pa., to see if I could buy that acre of land to locate a pump on. I had just arrived at Oil City when I received a telegram from Mr. Vail telling me that he had bought Sanford’s ranch and cattle and to come back to Arizona.”
Now that the land with access to this all important water supply had been acquired, building the water system was the next task. “There is a Canyon that runs directly down from Total Wreck Camp to the Cuniga [sic] Creek about two miles east. A powerfully geared pump was installed there, and a six inch iron pipe laid to the top of a small hill just east of the camp. Two 50,000 gallon redwood tanks were built there, and a four-inch pipe line ran through the little town to the mill and furnished plenty of water,” Ed added.
With water secure, the mill was built with a nearby house for its manager, in case of any shutdowns. It boasted twenty 950 pound stamps, which was larger than Dick Gird's mill at Millville, in the Tombstone district.
Stamp milling requires water, and given that the Total Wreck site had no known spring water, innovation was necessary, as Ed explained: “The nearest water in sufficient quantity was in the Cuniga [today marked on I-10 as Cienega Creek] which rises on the Empire Ranch, but that was too far from the mine. About a mile east of our camp were some claims being developed by a Company from Oil City, Pennsylvania, and they had bought an acre of land from Don Sanford and built small store there. My uncle, Mr. N.R. Vail, sent me to Oil City, Pa., to see if I could buy that acre of land to locate a pump on. I had just arrived at Oil City when I received a telegram from Mr. Vail telling me that he had bought Sanford’s ranch and cattle and to come back to Arizona.”
Now that the land with access to this all important water supply had been acquired, building the water system was the next task. “There is a Canyon that runs directly down from Total Wreck Camp to the Cuniga [sic] Creek about two miles east. A powerfully geared pump was installed there, and a six inch iron pipe laid to the top of a small hill just east of the camp. Two 50,000 gallon redwood tanks were built there, and a four-inch pipe line ran through the little town to the mill and furnished plenty of water,” Ed added.
With water secure, the mill was built with a nearby house for its manager, in case of any shutdowns. It boasted twenty 950 pound stamps, which was larger than Dick Gird's mill at Millville, in the Tombstone district.
This photo comparison shows the Total Wreck Mill in 1909, and the same
hill today.
Ed Recalls the Boom Town of Total Wreck
“The Total Wreck was a good little camp, notwithstanding its name, and a very healthy one. The elevation is about 4500 feet. The weather is never very hot in the summer, nor extremely cold in the winter. For two or three years the Camp was quite prosperous, as from sixty to a hundred men were working in the mine and the mill; also wood choppers and freight haulers, etc. There were also quite a number of prospectors in the Empire District, who had located mining claims and did their trading and drinking and gambling there. All towns were wide open at that time, but is was quite an orderly camp, and to my own knowledge no-one was ever killed in a gunfight there, although there were several narrow escapes from such tragedies.”
A Near Shootout by Dog Owners at Total Wreck
Vail recalled how a dog nearly proved the catalyst for what could have been The Gunfight at Total Wreck. Vail had taken in a dog, which he named Billy and was yellow in color, that would travel with him by running in between his mules under the wagon tongue. One day while driving his team with Billy traveling under the wagon a much larger dog that belonged to a Total Wreck Miner attacked Billy, and so Vail started trying to get the larger dog off of Billy by hitting him with a stick, that is until its owner showed up with a gun. Soon more guns were drawn. “In a minute several men with six shooters drawn were facing each other and I was in the middle. Although I was scared, I felt most anxious to prevent a fight. I think I said ‘You men are all friends of mine; don’t kill each others over a yellow dog,’ “One of them laughed and said ‘Come with me,’ and we all went into George’s saloon and I paid for the drinks and that ended the trouble.”
Vail recalled how a dog nearly proved the catalyst for what could have been The Gunfight at Total Wreck. Vail had taken in a dog, which he named Billy and was yellow in color, that would travel with him by running in between his mules under the wagon tongue. One day while driving his team with Billy traveling under the wagon a much larger dog that belonged to a Total Wreck Miner attacked Billy, and so Vail started trying to get the larger dog off of Billy by hitting him with a stick, that is until its owner showed up with a gun. Soon more guns were drawn. “In a minute several men with six shooters drawn were facing each other and I was in the middle. Although I was scared, I felt most anxious to prevent a fight. I think I said ‘You men are all friends of mine; don’t kill each others over a yellow dog,’ “One of them laughed and said ‘Come with me,’ and we all went into George’s saloon and I paid for the drinks and that ended the trouble.”
All You Need is Love
Total Wreck did have a shooting take place, but it did not take a life in the process. “One day, Mr. E.B. Salsig of San Francisco, who with his partner, Mr. Safford, had just sold their store to Mr. Douglas Snyder, got into trouble with some fellow. The gunman would have killed Salsig, but the latter was moving that day and had a large package of love-letters in his left inside pocket, from his girl in California, and the bullet was found in the letters. He afterwards married the lady and got to be quite a big lumber man as Manager of the White Lumber Company of San Francisco, and owned a pleasant home in Berkeley where he entertained me [Ed Vail] several times.”
Total Wreck did have a shooting take place, but it did not take a life in the process. “One day, Mr. E.B. Salsig of San Francisco, who with his partner, Mr. Safford, had just sold their store to Mr. Douglas Snyder, got into trouble with some fellow. The gunman would have killed Salsig, but the latter was moving that day and had a large package of love-letters in his left inside pocket, from his girl in California, and the bullet was found in the letters. He afterwards married the lady and got to be quite a big lumber man as Manager of the White Lumber Company of San Francisco, and owned a pleasant home in Berkeley where he entertained me [Ed Vail] several times.”
Inspiring Uninspired Mules at Total Wreck
Given Ed Vail's detailed description, I was able to identify the former owner of this rock ruins as the Scotchman named 'McCool,' whom Vail said would save his money wisely until it met up with the gambling halls of Tucson.- John Rose
Philip Moore, an old friend of Ed’s from New Jersey, moved to Total Wreck in the early days, and was hauling water via a tank-wagon from a spring to Total Wreck before the pipeline had been installed. He had problems getting his mules on rocky inclines and hills, and a local named Landers had a thoughtful suggestion for him. “Phil started up the road to the hoist; the hill was steep and rocky and he could not get his mules to pull. Landers was watching him, and he said, ‘Phil, let me show you how to make those mules pull’-Landers took his ‘black snake’ and walked around those mules and gave each of them a few whacks on the ribs [with the snake] and then got up on the seat and spoke to them. You should have seen those lazy mules pull; they made the sparks fly out of the rocks with their shoes.”
One of Tombstone’s well known business people, Nellie Cashman, was also well-remembered for her time at Total Wreck. “Nellie Cashman was always good to miners that were broke, and fed them until they got work…[she] always followed the discovery of any new and promising mine, [and] opened a restaurant [at] Total Wreck sometime in 1883.” Vail also added that Ms. Cashman always paid her bills on time.
Vail also remember a scotchman named McCool who liked to gamble. “He was a close Scotchman, but he would work hard and save his money for some time and then go to Tucson and lose it all in the gambling houses, and come back to camp broke. One time he came to me with about $1000.00 and asked me to keep it for him; so I put it in my safe, but after a few weeks he wanted his money and I gave it to him.” Although he felt Total Wreck was a stable mining camp, Vail still understood the dangers of large amounts of cash lying around a wide open camp, even in his safe and thought better of the arrangement, and “decided not to accept any more money that way again, as some fellow might blow up my little safe and steal the money.”
Total Wreck was a contemporary of Tombstone, and like Tombstone its best days were in the 1880’s, and though some operations would continue even after the turn of the century, the glory had gone.
And we have to give Ed and the Vail family their due, as they made their mark on Arizona Territory when this was a risky endeavor to undertake. They built the Empire Ranch, at its peak over 100,000 acres, its name was no exaggeration. They developed and ran a successful mining operation, Total Wreck, and Ed effortlessly traveled from the world of ranching, into the role of a successful mining executive and town organizer, and back again, and managed to do so without immersing himself in major controversies and jail time. They even survived being sued, by of all people, Tom Fitch, Wyatt Earp’s “Silver-Tongued” attorney.
Given today’s popular culture, that Ed Vail knew Frank and Tom McLaury, both who died at the gunfight near the O.K. Corral, makes him a notable footnote to this famous event. But the fact that he was a part of one of the great ranches of the West, rode on posses chasing raiding Apaches, and was a key part of a successful mining operation and accompanying townsite…those are examples of a life well lived during the settling of the American West, and the Arizona Territory. It has been nearly twenty years since I first read the Vail accounts, and they remain one of the most interesting that I’ve ever found. - John Rose
One of Tombstone’s well known business people, Nellie Cashman, was also well-remembered for her time at Total Wreck. “Nellie Cashman was always good to miners that were broke, and fed them until they got work…[she] always followed the discovery of any new and promising mine, [and] opened a restaurant [at] Total Wreck sometime in 1883.” Vail also added that Ms. Cashman always paid her bills on time.
Vail also remember a scotchman named McCool who liked to gamble. “He was a close Scotchman, but he would work hard and save his money for some time and then go to Tucson and lose it all in the gambling houses, and come back to camp broke. One time he came to me with about $1000.00 and asked me to keep it for him; so I put it in my safe, but after a few weeks he wanted his money and I gave it to him.” Although he felt Total Wreck was a stable mining camp, Vail still understood the dangers of large amounts of cash lying around a wide open camp, even in his safe and thought better of the arrangement, and “decided not to accept any more money that way again, as some fellow might blow up my little safe and steal the money.”
Total Wreck was a contemporary of Tombstone, and like Tombstone its best days were in the 1880’s, and though some operations would continue even after the turn of the century, the glory had gone.
And we have to give Ed and the Vail family their due, as they made their mark on Arizona Territory when this was a risky endeavor to undertake. They built the Empire Ranch, at its peak over 100,000 acres, its name was no exaggeration. They developed and ran a successful mining operation, Total Wreck, and Ed effortlessly traveled from the world of ranching, into the role of a successful mining executive and town organizer, and back again, and managed to do so without immersing himself in major controversies and jail time. They even survived being sued, by of all people, Tom Fitch, Wyatt Earp’s “Silver-Tongued” attorney.
Given today’s popular culture, that Ed Vail knew Frank and Tom McLaury, both who died at the gunfight near the O.K. Corral, makes him a notable footnote to this famous event. But the fact that he was a part of one of the great ranches of the West, rode on posses chasing raiding Apaches, and was a key part of a successful mining operation and accompanying townsite…those are examples of a life well lived during the settling of the American West, and the Arizona Territory. It has been nearly twenty years since I first read the Vail accounts, and they remain one of the most interesting that I’ve ever found. - John Rose
The letterhead of the Empire Ranch, a key Vail family operation. Note Ed Vail's uncle, N.R., who appears on this list of transactions. From the collections of John D. Rose.
A bill to E.L. Vail, aka Ed Vail for shipping a package of paper via
stage coach, from Ingram and Co Stage Line. It was Ingram who ran a
brief stage line to Tombstone (a few weeks) against J.D. Kinnear to
force him to stop competing with him on his Tucson to Patagonia Stage
Route. From the collections of John D. Rose.
A check from Ed's personal account, made out to himself, with his
signature. From the Collections of John D. Rose
Ed's uncle, N.R. Vail, places an ad in the Tombstone Nugget for five thousand chords of wood, which was useful for stamp mill and water pump boilers, as well as home heating. From the Tombstone Daily Nugget December 20th, 1881. From the Collections of John D. Rose.
Total Wreck appears in a business directory in 1886. That no businesses are listed is not an indicator that its boom was in full swing, but rather that its best days were behind it. From the collections of John D. Rose.
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The Total Wreck location can be accessed by four wheel drive only, and the GPS coordinates are N 31 53.870 W 110 35.504 (Mill Wall). Follow the road back to I 10 on your maps for a good starting point that will keep you out of the Cienega.
Topo map of Total Wreck area
All that remains of the Total Wreck townsite are stone foundations and a few walls, and even those are fading from view as the brush takes over. Artifacts should not be removed from site.
Coordinates for locations at Total Wreck Mine/Town Site Google Earth above
#1 stone cabin south N 31 53.555 W 110 35.506
#2 Total Wreck Mine N 31 53.791 W 110 35.576
#3 Mill wall N 31 53.870 W 110 35.504
#4 Foundation N 31 53.627 W 110 35.453
#5 Foundation N 31 53.678 W 110 35.462
#6 Foundation N 31 53.684 W 110 35.461
#7 Mc Cool stone cabin N 31 53.640 W 110 35.406
#1 stone cabin south N 31 53.555 W 110 35.506
#2 Total Wreck Mine N 31 53.791 W 110 35.576
#3 Mill wall N 31 53.870 W 110 35.504
#4 Foundation N 31 53.627 W 110 35.453
#5 Foundation N 31 53.678 W 110 35.462
#6 Foundation N 31 53.684 W 110 35.461
#7 Mc Cool stone cabin N 31 53.640 W 110 35.406
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Copyright 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. John D. Rose all rights reserved.
