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La Paz - Wikenburg Road, Arizona Territory
From landings and Bradshaw's Ferry crossings of Mineral City, Olive City, and La Paz, to Wikenburg[1]: xxvii  [2] [3] [4]
Location Distance
between stations 		Distance from landings
and ferry crossings
near La Paz in Arizona
Territory.
Mineral City, Arizona Territory
Bradshaw's Ferry 1864-1866 		0.0 mi (0 km) 0.0 mi (0 km)
Ehrenberg, Arizona Territory
Bradshaw's Ferry from 1866 		0.5 mi (0.80 km) 0.5 mi (0.80 km)
Olive City, Arizona Territory
Bradshaw's Ferry 1862-1864 		0.5 mi (0.80 km) 1.0 mi (1.6 km)
La Paz, Arizona Territory
1862-1869 		4.5 mi (7.2 km) 5.5 mi (8.9 km)
Tyson's Wells, Arizona Territory (1863-1880) 20 mi (32 km) 25.5 mi (41.0 km)
Desert Station (1866-1880)
Ranegras Plain 		25 mi (40 km) 50.5 mi (81.3 km)
Granite Water (1863-1866)
Granite Wash Pass, Arizona Territory 		9.3 mi (15.0 km) 59.8 mi (96.2 km)
Flint's, Arizona Territory (1866-1880)
Centennial Wash 		9.7 mi (15.6 km) 69.5 mi (111.8 km)
McMullen's Wells, Arizona Territory (1863-1866)
McMullen's (1866-1880)[2]
Fork of road to Date Creek here.[5] 		4 mi (6.4 km) 73.5 mi (118.3 km)
Cullens Well, Arizona Territory
Fork of road to Wickenburg here. 		10 mi (16 km) 83.5 mi (134.4 km)
Kings Wells, Arizona Territory[6] 9 mi (14 km) 93.5 mi (150.5 km)
Wickenburg Massacre site, Arizona Territory 29.5 mi (47.5 km) 123.0 mi (197.9 km)
Wickenburg, Arizona Territory (1863- ) 8 mi (13 km) 131.0 mi (210.8 km)

La Paz - Wikenburg Road was a 131 mile long wagon road and stagecoach route between the Colorado River landings at La Paz, Olive City and Mineral City to the mining town of Wickenburg, Arizona. From Wickenburg roads led to other new mining camps and districts in the interior of Arizona Territory. From 1862, when the river changed its course, La Paz was isolated on the slough of the old river channel over 4 miles from the new river channel. In 1866, the road head changed to the new river landing of Ehrenburg, where the Bradshaw Trail wagon and stagecoach road from San Bernardino crossed the Colorado River at Bradshaw's Ferry.[1]



Notes[edit]

  • Ehreneburg to Quartzite P.O. 18.8 mi. [7]
  • Tyson's Well, 0.2mi east of Quartzite P.O. (20mi from Ehrenburg) [8] Found on maps in (1863)[2]-1880[4]
Described by Summerhayes, in Vanished Arizona:
"At all events, whatever Messrs. Hunt and Dudley were doing down there, their ranch Desert Station was clean and attractive, which was more than could be said of the place where we stopped the next night, a place called Tysons Wells. We slept in our tent that night, for of all places on the earth a poorly kept ranch in Arizona is the most melancholy and uninviting. It reeks of everything unclean, morally and physically.
"One more day's travel across the desert brought us to our El Dorado[Ehrenberg]."[9]
It may also be known as Mesquite Wells midway between Desert Station and Cullens Well according to Summerhayes, Vanished Arizonap.143-144. After staying the night at Cullens Well:
"Hopefully and cheerfully the next morning we entered the vast Colorado desert. This was verily the

desert, more like the desert which our imagination pictures, than the one we had crossed in September from Mojave. It seemed so white, so bare, so endless, and so still; irreclaimable, eternal, like Death itself. The stillness was appalling. We saw great numbers of lizards darting about like lightning; they were nearly as white as the sand itself, and sat up on their hind legs and looked at us with their pretty, beady black eyes. It seemed very far off from everywhere and everybody, this desert — but I knew there was a camp somewhere awaiting us, and our mules trotted patiently on. Towards noon they began to raise their heads and sniff the air; they knew that water was near. They quickened their pace, and we soon drew up before a large wooden structure. There were no trees nor grass around it. A Mexican worked the machinery with the aid of a mule, and water was bought for our twelve animals, at so much per head."

"144 THE COLORADO DESERT
"The place was called Mesquite Wells; the man dwelt alone in his desolation, with no living being except his mule for company. How could he endure it! I was not able, even faintly, to comprehend it; I had not lived long enough. He occupied a small hut, and there he staid, year in and year out, selling water to the passing traveller; and I fancy that travellers were not so frequent at Mesquite Wells a quarter of a century ago.
"The thought of that hermit and his dreary surroundings filled my mind for a long time after we drove away, and it was only when we halted and a soldier got down to kill a great rattlesnake near the ambulance, that my thoughts were diverted. The man brought the rattles to us and the new toy served to amuse my little son.
"At night we arrived at Desert Station."
Rises south side Harcuvar mountains, runs southeast, enters Gila river in Arlington valley, in T. 2 S., R. 5 W. Named from Centennial Wells station on old Ehrenburg stage line, established 1876, Centennial year. Henry Wickenburg is said to have dug the well and opened the station. [23]
  • McMullen Valley or McMullen Wash Yuma and Maricopa Cos. Smith Map, 1879; G. L. 0., 1892.

Directly south of Harcuvar range, north side Parker branch R. R. Santa Fe Mining district. Extends northeast from vicinity of Salome to near Forepaugh. "Sometimes called Grace valley. McMullen was an old prospector in this region." Letter, P. M. Salome. McMullen station shows on Ehrenburg-Prescott stage road on map. [24]

    • McMullen Wells, est. by 1864[2]
  • "Cullens Well, one of the long established watering places in McMullen Valley, having been used as a stage station many years ago. It is about 10 miles east of Wenden in Sec. 38, T. 7, R. 11 W. (see Pl. XXI.)" [25]
Culling’s Well ? see Wickenburg Massacre site.
Miller Reservoir U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Miller Reservoir Originally called Cullings Well for Charles C. Culling who dug the well and established a stage station here in the 1870's. A post office by that name was maintained 1896-1902 (AZ-T101). Located at 33°54′58″N 113°24′21″W / 33.91611°N 113.40583°W / 33.91611; -113.40583
Cullen's Well (sic) Yuma Co. G. L. O. Map, 1892, Cullen; 1921, Collins. In sec. 30, T. 7 N., R. 11 W., near Parker branch A. T. & S. F. R. R., about 38 miles west of Wickenburg. "Named for Tom Cullen, an Englishman who kept a stage station on Ehrenburg-Wickenburg line, at forks where Ehrenburg road splits. He dug 240 feet for water. Sometimes called 'Cullings.' - Farish."
"The third day brought us to Cullen's ranch, at the edge of the desert. Mrs. Cullen was a Mexican woman and had a little boy named Daniel; she cooked us a delicious supper of stewed chicken, and fried eggs, and good bread, and then she put our boy to bed in Daniel's crib. I felt so grateful to her; and with a return of physical comfort, I began to think that life, after all, might be worth the living.

Hopefully and cheerfully the next morning we entered the vast Colorado desert." [26]

"Coues in his Garces gets this mixed up with Kerlins Well which is near the base of Mount Floyd, some distance from here."

In September, 1934, the author met at Fort Verde the child Daniel to whom Mrs. Summerhayes refers so kindly, now a man of over 60 years, who said his father's name was Charles C. Culling and the well should be so designated for historical accuracy. McClintock has a delightful little story of this place well worth the telling. After Cullen, or Culling, died the station was kept by one Joe Drew. One night a man staggered into the station nearly dead from thirst. He had seen the dim light of the station through a window. After this Drew always kept a lantern burning on top of a tall pole so that anyone lost on the desert might see it if near enough. Drew called himself the "Keeper of the Desert Lighthouse." [27] ---

  • Carlos L. Hernandez, A LIGHTHOUSE IN THE DESERT, THE HISTORY OF CULLING’S WELL [28]
"Charles Culling was a visionary and he was aware that the California and Arizona Stage Company ran two stages daily, one to the east and one to the west, from Ehrenberg to Wickenburg and Prescott, and he also knew that this same route was used extensively by freight teams.
It was at a site where the road forked, the right hand branch going forty-­five miles eastward to Wickenburg, and the other more northerly via Camp Date Creek, forty-five miles, and thence to Prescott, a total of 105 miles.
In the latter part of 1865, Charles Culling decided to establish a stage­coach station at the location where these roads intersected, but before doing this he had to locate water in the immediate vicinity.

- 8 -

... Charles Culling set up a tent and with the help of a Mexican by the name of Jesus Altamarino, and other workers, they dug a well, some four miles from what was to become Culling's Well, to 200 feet, but they failed to find water. Undaunted, and with a fierce determination, Charles refused to give up and then moved to the Culling's Well site where at 240 feet his tenacity paid off when a good flow of water, sweet and soft, was struck. He continued down another 25 feet to insure a plentiful supply.
Thus was established Culling’s Well, an oasis in the middle of a lonely and dangerous road frequented often by hostile Apache Indians eager to loot, plunder and kill any unwary traveler.
Charles rounded up some men and erected a large adobe building for protect­ion against the Indians. In time he was to add additional rooms to accommodate his family and occasional weary travelers who stopped by for room and board.
The well furnished a fine and unfailing supply of water. The water was cool and was drawn up from the darksome depths of the well in a great bucket made from a wooden barrel. The revolving drum above the mouth of the well was operated by a blindfolded mule that knew - to an inch - just how many rounds were required to be made before the dripping, clanking bucket would reach the top and automatically empty itself into a trough. At other tanks and troughs - a short distance from the station - always stood cattle and horses purchased by Culling from time to time, and. which were turned loose on the range, but came there to drink of the life-giving water.
In addition to the daily stage each way (at first they had been weekly), many freight teams stopped at Culling's Well. Here animals were watered at twenty-five cents per animal, or fifty cents per barrel. Culling was shrewd enough to obtain a contract with the stagecoach line to have all their stock

- 9 -

watered at the well. His business soon became very profitable, to say the least.
Culling's Well 45 miles from Wickenburg.
Kings Wells 9 miles from Culling's Well /1880 Official Territorial Map
Blank Tank somewhere on the road between Wickenburg and Culling's Well. 1865 Map it appears like it may be Kings Wells. It appears closer to Wikenburg on the 1879 Territory of Arizona Map
  • Wickenburg Massacre 8 miles from Wickenburg, 37 miles from Culling's Well. 38 /1880 Official Territorial Map

"11. The ranch of Samuel Cullumber, which included a stage stop, was situated in the Martinez Valley on the Wickenburg Road just south of Camp Date Creek. In February, 1872 he and Tom Harris, a friend who was helping him run the station, were killed by marauding Indians. A neighboring rancher, William Gilson led a party in pursuit and reportedly killed two of the Indians. Hanchett, Catch the Stage, pp. 71-72."

Martinez Yavapai Co. U. S. G. S. Map, 1923. In T. 10 N., R. 6 E. Old mining camp on Prescott-Phoenix R. R., east side Date Creek mountains. In Martinez canyon. P. 0. established October 3, 1896, Edward Ziegler, P. M. Barnes, Arizona Place Names, 1921 - Page 266

Wickenburg Massacre Site - 33°59′21.0833″N 112°51′13.1″W / 33.989189806°N 112.853639°W / 33.989189806; -112.853639

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Richard Josiah Hinton, The Handbook to Arizona: Its Resources, History, Towns, Mines, Ruins, and Scenery, Payot, Upham & Company, San Francisco, 1878
  2. ^ a b c d e f Official Map Of The Territory Of Arizona, With All The Recent Explorations. Compiled by Richard Gird C.E. Commissioner. Approved By John N. Goodwin, Governor. In Accordance With An Act Of The Legislature, Approved Oct. 23d. 1864. We hereby certify that this is the Official Map of the Territory of Arizona, and approve the same. Prescott October 12th 1865. (with signed seal dated 1863). Published By A. Gensoul, Pacific Map Depot. No. 511 Montgomery St. San Francisco. Lith. Britton & Co. San Francisco. From davidrumsey.com, accessed on 6/21/2016
  3. ^ Sheet No. 1 & 3, Department of Arizona. Revised, 1875. Compiled under the authority of Maj. Gen. J.M. Schofield Commanding Mil. Div. of the Pacific by 1st Lieut. J.C. Mallery Corps of Engrs. Published by authority of The Hon. The Secretary of War in the Office of the Chief Of Engineers U.S. Army Washington D.C. 1876. Drawn by J.W. Ward. From davidrumsey.com, accessed on 6/15/2018
  4. ^ a b Official Map Of The Territory Of Arizona Compiled from Surveys, Reconnaissances and other Sources. By E.A. Eckhoff And P. Riecker, Civil Engineers, 1880. Drawn by Eckhoff & Riecker. The Graphic Co. Photo-Lith. 39 & 41 Park Place, N.Y. Entered ... 1879, by Emil Eckhoff and Paul Riecker ... Washington, D.C., 1880 “Official Map of the Territory of Arizona” showing La Paz - Wikenburg Road and Hardyville - Prescott Road with mileage between locations along the roads, from davidrumsey.com, accessed on 6/21/2016
  5. ^ Official Map of the Territory of Arizona, 1880. 10 miles from McMullen's to Cullings Well.
  6. ^ Official Map of the Territory of Arizona, 1880. 37 miles to Wickenburg
  7. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.302
  8. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.300
  9. ^ Summerhayes, Vanished Arizona, p.144-145.
  10. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Plomosa Pass
  11. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Plomosa Mountains
  12. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ranegras Plain
  13. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Desert Wells
  14. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.300
  15. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.300
  16. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.294
  17. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Granite Wash Pass
  18. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Granite Wash Mountains
  19. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.294
  20. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.294
  21. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.298
  22. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Centennial Wash
  23. ^ Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, 1988 - Page 86
  24. ^ Barnes, Arizona Place Names, 1921 p.280
  25. ^ Water Supply Paper, p.310
  26. ^ Summerhayes, Vanished Arizona, 1909 p.143
  27. ^ Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, 1988 - Page 119-120
  28. ^ [http://www.apcrp.org/CULLINGS_WELL/Lighthouse_In_The_Desert.htm Carlos L. Hernandez, A LIGHTHOUSE IN THE DESERT, THE HISTORY OF CULLING’S WELL, Arizona Pioneer & Cemetery Research Project Presentation, from apcrp.org, accessed December 11, 2016


Category:1863 establishments in the United States]] Category:Geography of La Paz County, Arizona]] Category:Geography of Yavapai County, Arizona]] Category:Geography of Maricopa County, Arizona]] Category:Historic trails and roads in Arizona]]

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