Arizona - Iron / Mescal Springs

[davef]

Hi:

This is not really a ghost town question but I am running out of people to ask.

Wyatt Earp was supposed to have had a gun fight at Iron/Mescal Springs in southern Arizona. Does anyone have driving directions ?
Thanks for the indulgance!

D

[Johnnie]

Hi:

This is not really a ghost town question but I am running out of people to ask.

Wyatt Earp was supposed to have had a gun fight at Iron/Mescal Springs in southern Arizona. Does anyone have driving directions ?
Thanks for the indulgance!

D

We will ask our friend Lee Silva, who just wrote a 900 page book on Wyatt Earp, and i'am sure Lee, can answer your question.

Will post soon what we find out. But there is so many fellow ghosttowners that may come up with the answer before we have the time to post our findings.

Flatiron, Laura, and O J . Do you guys have any information available to help our fellow ghosttowner ?

Good luck
Johnnie & Sheila

[old judge]

Dave: With Johnnie's encouragement, here's my thought. Assuming we're talkin' about the same Mescal Spring, in Cochise County, it appears on the 1895 U. S. Atlas on the then main road though the area. I would have expected Hwy. 82 to have followed that trail. But the Spring appears to be about three miles North of 82, 1-1.5 miles east of the western Cochise County line. Put another way, the Spring is about 1.6 miles NE of the NE corner of Santa Cruz County on a bearing of about 060 degrees True aka 31-44-40N, 110-25-40W. I'm guessing that's the correct Mescal Spring because of its proximity to Tombstone. I see you asked for driving directions. I'd guess Hwy 82 West from Tombstone about 23 or 24 miles 'til you cross Hwy. 90. Proceed about 1 - 1.2 miles past 90 to the Sands Ranch Road, whence you turn North. It's three or four miles 'til you reach Mescal Creek. About now I'd stop and ask directions at the Ranch. Thence it's on up the creek to the Spring. Good luck. Let us know what you find. You might want to look for Curly's grave while you're in the area. Should be about 12 - 15 miles SE of the Spring on the Babocomari River, 5 or so miles SW of Fairbank. 'Course, that's assumin' Wyatt really kilt 'im. OJ

[Johnnie]

Dave: With Johnnie's encouragement, here's my thought. Assuming we're talkin' about the same Mescal Spring, in Cochise County, it appears on the 1895 U. S. Atlas on the then main road though the area. I would have expected Hwy. 82 to have followed that trail. But the Spring appears to be about three miles North of 82, 1-1.5 miles east of the western Cochise County line. Put another way, the Spring is about 1.6 miles NE of the NE corner of Santa Cruz County on a bearing of about 060 degrees True aka 31-44-40N, 110-25-40W. I'm guessing that's the correct Mescal Spring because of its proximity to Tombstone. I see you asked for driving directions. I'd guess Hwy 82 West from Tombstone about 23 or 24 miles 'til you cross Hwy. 90. Proceed about 1 - 1.2 miles past 90 to the Sands Ranch Road, whence you turn North. It's three or four miles 'til you reach Mescal Creek. About now I'd stop and ask directions at the Ranch. Thence it's on up the creek to the Spring. Good luck. Let us know what you find. You might want to look for Curly's grave while you're in the area. Should be about 12 - 15 miles SE of the Spring on the Babocomari River, 5 or so miles SW of Fairbank. 'Course, that's assumin' Wyatt really kilt 'im. OJ

WOW! O J Thanks from all of us for the great write up. Very informative.

haven't heard from you for awhile we all thought you might be busy doing what you do best in the mid-west.

Thanks again O J for taking the time to share that old west knowledge.

Johnnie & Sheila

[old judge]

Johnnie: On closer examination, I find the old 1895 town of Mescal was on the long abandoned railroad about 6 miles West of Benson, maybe 17 or 18 miles north of the Spring. The site is about one mile East of the County line. I don't believe this to be the shoot out site. It ain't the spring. OJ

[Johnnie]

Johnnie: On closer examination, I find the old 1895 town of Mescal was on the long abandoned railroad about 6 miles West of Benson, maybe 17 or 18 miles north of the Spring. The site is about one mile East of the County line. I don't believe this to be the shoot out site. It ain't the spring. OJ

When we did a closer look at our old maps we have to agree O J your research seems to be right on the mark

I haven't. talk with Lee, as yet to get his opinion, but I am sure everyone will agree with your research.

Hey! what happen to our fellow ghosttoner who pose the question ???

Johnnie & Sheila

[davef]

Thank you ALL for your research and time to help me find this site. I do have gps so the lat/long is good to have.
Again, Jonnie(sp), Old Judge - "teusentak!"[ 1,000 thanks! ]

[DesertSneaker]

I'm brand new to this site. I was just wondering if anyone has determined an exact location fo the site for the shootout.

Thanks

[Joel]

Not that I have heard of, but Mescal Road is an exit these days on I-10. Might be an adventure awaiting. The old railroad ran fairly close to I-10. A little research from the AHS (Arizona Historical Society) and you might just have it.

[Froggy]

NEAR: N 31 44.654' W 110 25.688'
March 24, 1882, Wyatt Earp kills "Curly Bill" Brocius in Mescal Springs, in the Whetstone Mountains, also known as Iron Springs, Arizona.

About thirty-five miles west of Tombstone is locate the fabled Iron Springs. The story goes that in 1882, during his Vendetta Ride, Wyatt Earp and his posse were ambushed by Curly Bill Brocious and other Cow Boys. During the gunfight Wyatt claimed to have shotgun-blasted Curly Bill near in two before making his escape. Despite his claims, Curly Bill sightings cropped up for some time. This hike was hilly and rugged. The trail lends up between tall hills amid mesquite and sage. 120 years ago, the ground cover would have been more grasses.

"Iron Springs - on later maps the designation is Mescal Springs - was a fine water hole in the Whetstone Mountains about thirty-five miles west of Tombstone across the san Pedro Valley," ... "The fork to Iron Springs climbed a narrow, rocky canyon into the Whetstones, a veritable inferno beneath the desert sun," ... "About one hundred yards from the water hole, the trail rounded a rocky shoulder and cut across a half shelf of deep sand. Ahead Iron Springs was hidden by an eroded bank, possibly fifteen feet high. Beyond the hollow, where the mountain slope resumed, was a grove of cottonwoods." From: “Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshall,” by Stuart Lake.