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Apache Junction as we know it today didn’t exist
when the first prospectors searched for gold near
the base of Superstition Mountain in the late
1860’s. The United States Army called the
Superstition Mountains the Sierra de
Supersticiones and was still pursuing hostile
Apaches in the mountain’s interior.
Peace came to the Apacheria in 1886, when the
infamous Apache war Chief Geronimo surrendered to
the United States Army at Skeleton Canyon near the
Mexican-U.S. border. Shortly after Geronimo’s
surrender prospectors and cattlemen poured into the
mountains and deserts of central Arizona Territory
in great numbers. The cattlemen were looking for
grazing lands and the prospectors were searching for
gold and silver.
Gold from the Superstition Mountain area was first
mentioned in 1864, however no samples were produced
until 1879 when two Mexican prospectors were attack
by Apaches. One of the prospectors survived and
returned to Phoenix and reported finding gold west
of Superstition Mountain. The attack on these two
Mexican prospectors may have been the source of the
legendary Peralta Massacre in the Superstition
Mountains. These brothers were named Peralta.
Prospectors worked
small gold outcrops, as early as the 1880s in and
around Goldfield Wash. The Lucky Boy claim was
staked in 1881. William A. Kimball staked out the
Boulder-Buckhorn in 1886. Then a rich deposit of
gold ore was discovered at the Black Queen claim in
November of 1892, but the richest discovery of all
wasn’t made until April 14, 1893. This gold deposit
was located after a massive flood occurred after a
sudden down pour along Goldfield Wash. This
discovery became known as the Mammoth Mine. The
Mammoth Mine produced more than three million
dollars worth of gold bullion from 1893-1897. This
was equal to about 12,000 pounds of gold bullion.
 Goldfield
boomed and died within a five-year period like many
other mining boomtowns of the era. This mining
camp, located beneath the towering facade of
Superstition Mountain, introduced the first church,
school, hotel, saloon, livery stable, stage line,
mercantile store, butcher shop, restaurant and
barber shop to the area. The pounding of a twenty
stamp gold mill created a towering cloud of dust
visible for miles. The dust and sounds of the stamp
mill soon ebbed when the gold vein disappeared and
the desert once again became silent.
The area near the base of Superstition Mountain had
returned to desert again by 1900. However, that
wouldn’t last for long. It was the Newland Arid
Lands Act of 1903 that brought life back to the
area. The construction of the Tonto Wagon Road and
a telephone line from Mesa to the Tonto Dam site
changed the region forever. The Tonto Wagon road
opened a very remote area to development. These
construction projects produced hundreds of jobs
shortly after the turn of the century. Workers from
all over the nation came to work on the Tonto Wagon
Road and the great Tonto Dam, later known as the
Apache Trail and Theodore Roosevelt Dam. This was a
fabulous economic boom that is still felt today.
The Mesa-Roosevelt Road (Tonto Wagon Road) provided
the shortest means of travel for a wagon or an
automobile loaded with goods from the copper capitol
of the world (Globe-Miami) to Phoenix, the capitol
of Arizona. The road was renamed the Apache Trail
by E. E. Watson. He was a public relations man for
the Southern Pacific Railroad’s concession on the
Apache Trail.
Governor George P. Hunt, Arizona’s first governor
after statehood, envisioned a shorter highway route
between the Globe-Miami area to Phoenix via
Superior. Hunt had arrived in Globe in 1879, and
was the community’s most adamant spokesperson. Hunt
wanted to develop a shorter transportation link
between these two important economic centers rather
than over the rugged and undependable Apache Trail.
Hunt’s vision came true on May 13, 1921, when the
first cars made a run over the
Globe-Superior-Phoenix Highway, know today as U.S.
Highway 60. The highway didn’t open to two-way
traffic until April 29, 1922.
Soon after Hunt’s vision came true, another
visionary arrived at the foot of Superstition
Mountain where the new highway and the Apache Trail
intersected. This man was George Cleveland Curtis.
Curtis was a traveling salesman from Logan, Utah who
had a dream and little money. It wasn’t easy for
Curtis, his wife Aurora and their three young
daughters to
 make
a living on undeveloped desert land west of
Superstition Mountain. Curtis and his family
settled down to living in a tent at first, selling
water and making sandwiches for travelers who came
through the junction area.
The junction of the Apache Trail and the
Globe-Phoenix Highway was still being called
Youngsberg Junction after Phoenix’s ex-mayor George
U. Young. Young owned and operated the Mammoth Mine
at Youngsberg, four miles northeast of the
Youngsberg Junction.
George Curtis started his business on August 21,
1922. The realignment of the Mesa-Goldfield section
of the Apache Trail was completed on May 17, 1922.
This finally and officially formed the junction we
know today. Curtis was offended by the fact, Young
had his mine and the old junction named after
himself. Curtis started an immediate campaign to
change the name of Youngsberg Junction to Apache
Junction. Curtis was adamant about the change
because he did not think Youngsberg Junction had any
character, color or charm. Curtis was enthralled
with the stories about the infamous Apache warriors
that supposedly lived in the Superstition Mountains.
George and Aurora Curtis believed so strongly in
their convictions about their business in the desert
twenty miles east of Mesa, Arizona they filed a
homestead on the following parcel of land, NE ¼,Sec.
20, T1N, R8E, on February 23, 1923.
George Curtis made a deal with the Don’s of Arizona,
once known as the Phoenix Don’s Club, to build a
monument dedicated to Jacob Waltz and legend of the
Lost Dutchman Mine. This monument was completed on
February 25, 1938. The monument was rededicated in
1988 with more than five hundred dignitaries
attending from around Arizona. This monument served
as the icon of this community for more than fifty
years. Apache Junction is one of those communities
that grew up around a monument. Today the old
monument takes a secondary position as the focal
point of the community after serving in this setting
for more then fifty years. Visitors who remember
Apache Junction’s early days always inquire about
the old monument.
Another significant historical monument in Apache
Junction is the old T-33 jet trainer erected by the
American Legion Post 27 dedicated to the men and
women of American Armed Forces who have served
country in the time of peace and war. The monument
was erected in 1965 by members of Post 27 with the
support of many Apache Junction community
organizations. The monument now stands on Meridian
Road just north of Southern Avenue.
The community struggled with incorporation for three
decades, before becoming incorporated in November of
1978. Since incorporation many changes have
occurred, most for the betterment of the community.
This small rural community setting in the shadows of
Superstition Mountain has become a rapidly growing
urban city. Open space continues to be an important
asset of this community and sometimes a
controversial topic.
Recently it has been suggested the name of Apache
Junction be changed to Superstition City by Vinton
Peck, Queen Creek resident. He still believes Apache
Junction has an image problem. A name change will
never solve Apache Junction’s image problem. Yes,
there are those who associate the less fortunate or
poor of our community who live in mobile homes with
a negative stereotype. A lot of our Heroes of the
“Greatest Generation” live in our mobile homes
parks. They fought at far away places such as
Normandy, Casserine Pass, The Bulge, Tarawa,
Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and other battles.
What about those who served in Korea, Viet Nam and
other far off places? Some of the finest people I
have ever known live in mobile homes. We must always
remember it is not what somebody has, but what is in
their heart that counts. The less fortunate today
have dreams of something better for tomorrow. Lets
not change their dreams or the name of Apache
Junction, lets build a better tomorrow around our
community’s name and its citizens.
All of us who love Apache Junction, its beauty, its
charm, its uniqueness, its special place in our
hearts and its heritage owe a debt of gratitude to
George and Aruroa Curtis, the founders of this
community’s name sake and location. After all, this
could be Youngsberg Junction on the Youngsberg
Highway or Trail.
I am proud to call Apache Junction my home and I
know hundreds of other people who believe the same
way. For almost eighty years this community has been
known as Apache Junction. Most of us hope want it to
remain Apache Junction forever. |
