Thirty miles away from civilisation, Swansea, Arizona, lies crippled in the piercing desert heat.
All that remains of the town which once produced 27 million pounds of copper ore is a graveyard of crumbling buildings. Even the once impressive smelting complex has given up and collapsed in on itself.
The only signs of life are the desert creatures darting around the ruins in a frenzied search for nourishment and the odd conservationist trying to halt the decay. Swansea, in La Paz, only survived as a community for 29 years. It was brought to its knees by the very Welshman who gave it life and named it after his home town. Mining in the area began in 1862 when copper-rich ore was found 10 miles north east of the future town of Swansea. Its discoverer, Richard Ryland, shipped the ore to smelters at Swansea, Wales, via San Francisco.
Other deposits were found but, after the initial frenzy, work slowed to next to nothing when copper values fell. Neighbouring Yavapai Native Americans raided the area killing several prospectors and only a handful of diehard miners remained.
In 1907, when copper had risen again, two mine owners, Newton Evans and Thomas Carrigan, approached entrepreneur George Mitchell as a potential investor.
George and his brother Robert had grown up in Swansea, Wales, the smelting capital of Britain. An uncle, who was a manager for successful refiner Vivian and Sons, had ensured the pair had had a good grounding in metallurgy and refining techniques.
The brothers arrived in the US in the 1880s and worked their way west.
In 1898, keen to become a speculator and developer, George joined promoter William Cornell Greene who was developing a mine and other claims in Mexico. George stayed with him until 1902, by which time the Welshman had his own mining ventures in Mexico, and had bought promising prospects in Alaska.
However, the business tactics had already caused eyebrows to raise. Using other people's money he and his brother financed various Mexican mining schemes which usually left him richer and the others poorer. In 1907 he walked away from the Mitchell Mining Company of Mexico with more than $200,000 of stockholders' funds.
After surveying the mines at what was to become Swansea, George agreed to invest, boasting to reporters that the planned townsite would soon be "one of the greatest copper camps in the territory".
In 1908 he bought more than 100 claims and consolidated them under the name the Clara Consolidated Gold and Copper Mining Company. It was capitalised at $3 million and shares were sold to investors. George brought his own furnace to reduce the ore and sent for his brother Robert from Mexico to set up the 350-ton capacity plant.
By the end of 1908 hoists for five shafts and a 3.5 mile pipeline to carry river water to the townsite were under construction and George decided to works needed a 700-ton capacity smelter with converters.
Home to 500, Swansea flourished to include an electric plant, water works, restaurants, barbers, saloons, movie houses, an insurance salesman, an unofficial mayor and its own newspaper called The Swansea Times. Originally called Signal, the town was renamed Swansea in 1909 when a post office was set up.
Mitchell diverted $300,000 of company funds into the Arizona and Swansea Railroad, and in 1910 the first train took George and his family into Swansea. It was a typical move by the man who had earned himself a reputation for being ostentatious. Earlier, during a fund-raising jaunt to Paris, he treated himself to a bulletproof and bombproof car.
With the completion of the railroad the last of the smelter machinery arrived, and in May 1910 the furnaces began producing their first copper.
The Los Angeles Mining Review, which dedicated five pages to the Welshman and his achievement, said the plant at Swansea was the fifth production centre in the territory.
However, too much had been spent on building the reduction plant and not enough on working the mines. The smelter was operating at only half its capacity or lying idle.
Despite winning medals at the Brussels Exposition for a model of the smelter and ore displays, lack of production and machinery breakdowns meant the company was in trouble. By 1911 the treasury had been bled dry and miners demanded that the company be declared bankrupt.
During bankruptcy proceedings it was discovered that the company was $712,000 in debt. French investors had sunk nearly $2 million into it. The company came to a halt.
Two years later Harvey Weed wrote in his Mines Handbook that George's Swansea enterprise had been "an example of enthusiasm run wild, coupled with reckless stock selling and the foolish construction before the development of ore to keep them busy".
A rise in copper prices caused a short revival of the mines in 1912 and the population rose to 1,000. The town was worked again by new owners from 1914 to 1929. The American Smelting and Refining Company rebuilt much of the town but the depression forced its closure in 1937. Claims were still held in the 1940s and 20 years later the area saw some explorative drilling, the last of any mining activity.
As for George Mitchell, he retained control of the Arizona and Swansea railroad and started legal action against Clara Consolidated for money he claimed was owed to him. The suit was never resolved and George lost interest.
In 1916 he was hired as a general manager of the speculative Jerome Superior Copper Company. Four years later it was bankrupt and claims of mismanagement were raised. Ruined, the flamboyant businessman spent his last days in Los Angeles.
Sources include Swansea, Arizona, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of a Copper Camp, by Rober L Spude, which appears in the Journal in the Arizona History published by the Arizona Historical Society.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
All that remains of the town which once produced 27 million pounds of copper ore is a graveyard of crumbling buildings. Even the once impressive smelting complex has given up and collapsed in on itself.
The only signs of life are the desert creatures darting around the ruins in a frenzied search for nourishment and the odd conservationist trying to halt the decay. Swansea, in La Paz, only survived as a community for 29 years. It was brought to its knees by the very Welshman who gave it life and named it after his home town. Mining in the area began in 1862 when copper-rich ore was found 10 miles north east of the future town of Swansea. Its discoverer, Richard Ryland, shipped the ore to smelters at Swansea, Wales, via San Francisco.
Other deposits were found but, after the initial frenzy, work slowed to next to nothing when copper values fell. Neighbouring Yavapai Native Americans raided the area killing several prospectors and only a handful of diehard miners remained.
In 1907, when copper had risen again, two mine owners, Newton Evans and Thomas Carrigan, approached entrepreneur George Mitchell as a potential investor.
George and his brother Robert had grown up in Swansea, Wales, the smelting capital of Britain. An uncle, who was a manager for successful refiner Vivian and Sons, had ensured the pair had had a good grounding in metallurgy and refining techniques.
The brothers arrived in the US in the 1880s and worked their way west.
In 1898, keen to become a speculator and developer, George joined promoter William Cornell Greene who was developing a mine and other claims in Mexico. George stayed with him until 1902, by which time the Welshman had his own mining ventures in Mexico, and had bought promising prospects in Alaska.
However, the business tactics had already caused eyebrows to raise. Using other people's money he and his brother financed various Mexican mining schemes which usually left him richer and the others poorer. In 1907 he walked away from the Mitchell Mining Company of Mexico with more than $200,000 of stockholders' funds.
After surveying the mines at what was to become Swansea, George agreed to invest, boasting to reporters that the planned townsite would soon be "one of the greatest copper camps in the territory".
In 1908 he bought more than 100 claims and consolidated them under the name the Clara Consolidated Gold and Copper Mining Company. It was capitalised at $3 million and shares were sold to investors. George brought his own furnace to reduce the ore and sent for his brother Robert from Mexico to set up the 350-ton capacity plant.
By the end of 1908 hoists for five shafts and a 3.5 mile pipeline to carry river water to the townsite were under construction and George decided to works needed a 700-ton capacity smelter with converters.
Home to 500, Swansea flourished to include an electric plant, water works, restaurants, barbers, saloons, movie houses, an insurance salesman, an unofficial mayor and its own newspaper called The Swansea Times. Originally called Signal, the town was renamed Swansea in 1909 when a post office was set up.
Mitchell diverted $300,000 of company funds into the Arizona and Swansea Railroad, and in 1910 the first train took George and his family into Swansea. It was a typical move by the man who had earned himself a reputation for being ostentatious. Earlier, during a fund-raising jaunt to Paris, he treated himself to a bulletproof and bombproof car.
With the completion of the railroad the last of the smelter machinery arrived, and in May 1910 the furnaces began producing their first copper.
The Los Angeles Mining Review, which dedicated five pages to the Welshman and his achievement, said the plant at Swansea was the fifth production centre in the territory.
However, too much had been spent on building the reduction plant and not enough on working the mines. The smelter was operating at only half its capacity or lying idle.
Despite winning medals at the Brussels Exposition for a model of the smelter and ore displays, lack of production and machinery breakdowns meant the company was in trouble. By 1911 the treasury had been bled dry and miners demanded that the company be declared bankrupt.
During bankruptcy proceedings it was discovered that the company was $712,000 in debt. French investors had sunk nearly $2 million into it. The company came to a halt.
Two years later Harvey Weed wrote in his Mines Handbook that George's Swansea enterprise had been "an example of enthusiasm run wild, coupled with reckless stock selling and the foolish construction before the development of ore to keep them busy".
A rise in copper prices caused a short revival of the mines in 1912 and the population rose to 1,000. The town was worked again by new owners from 1914 to 1929. The American Smelting and Refining Company rebuilt much of the town but the depression forced its closure in 1937. Claims were still held in the 1940s and 20 years later the area saw some explorative drilling, the last of any mining activity.
As for George Mitchell, he retained control of the Arizona and Swansea railroad and started legal action against Clara Consolidated for money he claimed was owed to him. The suit was never resolved and George lost interest.
In 1916 he was hired as a general manager of the speculative Jerome Superior Copper Company. Four years later it was bankrupt and claims of mismanagement were raised. Ruined, the flamboyant businessman spent his last days in Los Angeles.
Sources include Swansea, Arizona, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of a Copper Camp, by Rober L Spude, which appears in the Journal in the Arizona History published by the Arizona Historical Society.
This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.
The deserted buildings in Swansea.
Ghost town.
George Mitchell outside his house in Swansea, Arizona.
