Historic mining area near Globe

Richmond Basin 3.0

The Richmond Basin is a large area with a long history of mining for Zinc, Silver, Lead and Gold.. This Jeep trail will take you on a loop through the heart of the area.

The mines on the south end of this loop (Silver Nugget) and the ones on the north end (Richmond Basin) be reached on 2.0 roads if you want to do in-and-out trips. The road into Richmond Basin from Highway 88 has a spur to the north with nice views of Four Peaks and Roosevelt Lake.

The loop on this site takes you from one to the other, south to north, without returning to the highway. The connection is remote, somewhat scratchy and is not for the faint of heart. The eroded climb up to Richmond Basin is rated 3.0, and Nugget Wash can be quite difficult depending on recent erosion. A GREAT trail for the right vehicles.

There is a GPS - gpx track file at the bottom of the page.

Silver King foundations and ruins

I got the following from a friend in Queen Valley. They did the trail mid December, 2019.

Richmond Basin changed some. We ran it South to the North, through the wash of rocks and the climb out of the wash. Two of the seven had to be winched up. When we got to the North end where the concrete foundation are, the trail has really washed out. Ruts deep enough that I was up to my windows in the rut. Had to put rocks in one location to bridge a rut. All said we all made it, and had a lot of fun. Lockers were needed and I would say that from South to the North trail is now a 3.5. We did not see any sign of tracks after the rains.

We divide this area into 3 sections and describe the loop in a counterclockwise direction. It is probably easier if done clockwise as the eroded hill is done in a down direction (what fun is that?).

Silver Nugget

The opening photo shows an overview of the Silver Nugget area, with stamp mill foundations above the road and ruins on the other side. These ruins would APPEAR to be structures from the Silver Nugget era built on top of Salado ruins from antiquity. We will leave it to you to figure out which is which.

Silver Nugget ruins

Silver Nugget worked rock and pottery shards

EMAILS

We received two very interesting emails about the Silver Nugget area.

EMAIL ONE

Thanks for your article about the Richmond Basin. You might like to know that your story of how the Chilson Brothers got the Silver Nugget mine is only sort of partly true. My great grandfather D. G. "Gip" Chilson actually discovered the mine. Here is an excerpt from an article for the May 1926 Arizona Mining Journal, written by my grandfather's cousin Carl Wallace Chilson, (we called him "Uncle Carl"). His father was Richard Wallace Chilson, the "Chloride Dick" in the story, so Uncle Carl learned the story directly from one of the brothers.

Gip, recognizing the country, namely, the Apache Peaks, which were described by Col. Wolsey as being the country in which the colonel and his men had found the silver bullets which were shot by the Indians, as before mentioned, immediately set out to find the mine from which the silver came. While at Globe, which was beginning to look like a camp, he met a Dutchman, by name of Henry Wagner, who knew little, if anything, about prospecting or mining. Although Wagner did not have any money or outfit, Gip, had taken a liking to Wagner, explained to him what he had in mind, asking Wagner to join him on his hunt for the silver mine.

They started for the Apache Peaks, about twelve miles distance from Globe. It will be remembered that the town of Globe had not been laid out or a district organized. The mine had been discovered and named “Globe” on of account of the immense size of the property, andk as the locators said, “She’s as big as the globe”. By nightfall, Chilson and Wagner made camp in a small basin close to the Apache Peaks, and finding a fine spring of water, the outlook was favorable. The next morning Gip found native and horn silver nuggets from the size of small flakes up to ten and twelve pounds. He located a claim which he named the “Silver Nugget”, in which he located Wagner for a one-half interest. During the day they saw a great deal of fresh Indian signs and at early evening saw several head of Indian ponies in the distance. Shortly after dusk, they saw a small camp fire spring up in a canyon about one-half mile away. Gip, knowing the customs, habits and methods of the Indians, felt sure that a small band of Indian scouts were working the country and had made camp for the night. However, to make sure as to whether they were prospectors or Indians he decided to investigate more closely. He carefully made his way up the ridges to a point opposite the fire and he saw, as they passed back and forth and around the fire, that they were Indians. Returning to inform Wagner they broke camp and went to the “Globe” mine that night. The following day or two Gip proposed to Wagner that they return to their rich discovery. Wagner was frightened to a frenzy, stating that he would not go back in there for all the mines in the country. Gip tried to convince him that they had a bonanza and that the Indians were probably scouts and were on the move. Wagner could not be convinced and said he would sell his interest for anything. Gip told him he had very little money. Wagner said, “I will take your pack, mule and what money you have.” Gip gave Wagner his mule, pack and $30 in cash, which was all the money he had.
The location notice for the “Silver Nugget” having not been recorded, as the nearest recorder’s office was at Florence, it was therefore not necessary to draw up any agreement of transfer. A new location notice was posted which gave Gip the full ownership of the mine. He also located two additional claims, which he named “The Rifleman” and “The Hoodoo”. He then returned to Florence.

When Gip arrived at Florence, in search of pack animal and provisions, he wrote to his brothers, Eme and Bill, who were in California, to come to him at once, which they did. Several weeks were required to make the trip, as the Indians were on a rampage throughout the country.
In the meantime, Gip had returned to the “Silver Nugget” and was gathering up all the nuggets he could find on the surface and burying them under his campfire until his brothers arrived. During the time, Gip ran pretty low on provisions. One evening about sundown Bob Dicky rode up to find Gip scratching around among some ironwood chips. Gip asked Dickey to stop over with him, stating that they would have something to eat as soon as he could find some old bacon rinds he had thrown among the chips, as he needed them to season the beans. Dickey told about the incident later, stating that little did he realize that Gip had over $10,000 in silver nuggets buried under the old black bean pot on that campfire.

I remember the story of the silver nuggets under my great grandfather's campfire, Uncle Carl was a wealth of family history.

Sincerely, Sarah Yarter

EMAIL TWO

Greetings Steve & Jayne. A note about The Nugget site. Myself and Cindy have lived in the old Copper Hill area for a long time. The Nugget site has always been a favorite area for me to explore for about 2 years. What ghosttowns.com explains is only about a 3rd reliant. So here are my findings. The Salado indian ruins are actually on the south side of the mill ruins just on the other side of a barbed wire cattle fence. Not much left but rock outlines but still neat to walk through. The only evidence of Nugget camp itself is about a mile or so along the road which crosses the wash past the nugget spring. When you come to a fork in the wash there is a vertical culvert that reads dead end, and the trail leads to the right, the site is on the left side at this point among dense trees and brush. I have investigated up and down the wash and there are no foundations or tent house flats up and down the wash as ghosttown.com claims. But at this point which I have found, You can find retaining walls of rock, scant evidence of roofing tin, tin cans, old wood, and a small cabin structure of wood. The structure is hard to find due to the trees, but appears to been apart of Nuggets time. it has collapsed over the decades. After many ghost town investigations and research I have found that a saloon or general store could have been nothing more than a ranch tent structure. Nugget may have been a smaller mining camp than most books claim. On the other hand, the mill site was quite an operation in itself and came shortly after the mine and camp was established. Happy and safe trails to both of you and always fun to share adventure with folks. sincerely Mike & Cindy

Nugget Wash

This section describes the trail between Silver Nugget and the climb up to Richmond Basin.

The trail stays in the bottom of Nugget wash for about 1.5 miles, then climbs up to higher ground. The section in the wash can vary dramatically from year to year depending on rainfall. Beginning this run on the south gives you the opportunity to turn around if the difficulty is too great.

One rocky portion of Nugget Wash

An easy portion of Nugget Wash

The original road was above the wash for a short section but has washed out just behind the Jeep in this photo. Drivers from the north have left the wash onto the old road farther upstream only to find the washout at this point. They then dove down into the wash and continued downstream. It is best to stay in the wash no matter which direction you are going.

Someone liked this sandy area as a campsite.

Connection to original road

Probably not an official campsite

The trail is on a ledge road above the wash in one spot. There is a vertical mine on the edge of the road that is hard to see.

After the track climbs up out of Nugget wash and heads for higher ground you will come to a colorful mine that appears to be very deep.

Vertical mine on edge of road

Colorful mine

Richmond Basin

Historic records lump the entire area from Silver Nugget to here under "Richmond Basin". We have divided it into 3 areas for clarity, and because the USGS map label for Richmond Basin is in this northern area.

The eroded hill climbing up into the basin is usually the most difficult part of the trip, and can change depending on erosion and the amount of traffic since the last significant erosion.

Fairly recent erosion

Older erosion

The mill for Rifleman Mine is located just below the road on the eroded hill climb. The area is steep and brushy but fun to explore. There are 2 arrastras.

Take the short dead end spur to the south and find a mine with black sand nearby. We are not even close to being geologists, but have heard this could be an indication of gold.

Rifleman Mine mill remains

Black sand

Mines have been closed off for safety by use of bat friendly covers. Slats allow bats easy access.

Nice views from the basin.

Bat friendly mine closure

View from Richmond Basin

Page updated 2019.

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