American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet Presentation
Version
022311
By
Neal Du Shane
“Hassayampa
Jim”
JAMES FOX
JIM FOX
Portrait Courtesy: Jerry Massey, 2010
76 year old Jim Fox –
on his front porch 4/15/2010
Photo by: Neal Du
Shane
Jim is one of a few
true pioneer spirits that I have had the pleasure of knowing in my life time.
Independent, free spirited, resourceful, peaceable, tranquility and solitude,
that living the remote life can bring someone. He lives with four cats and of
course the barrage of wild life that frequents his home.
Jim indicated the
first year he lived there he killed six rattlesnakes but is down to maybe one a
year presently. The past several years drought has limited the activity of
creepy crawlies in this area. Pointing to the tree about 10 feet from the porch
“that’s where the cat’s treed one last year and I killed it”. Cats keep the
rodents, scorpions and lizards in check and are cherished by Jim for their vigilance.
May 2010 Jim will
turn 77 years young. Physically able to get around with the best of them, has
an extremely sharp mind and strong spirit. “Bright eyed and bushy tailed” is my
best description of Jim. I told him “you’re kidding, you look about 67” and he
replied “I feel like 107.” We both shared a good laugh. He went on to explain
his dad lived to be 95 and his mother was in her 80’s, he hopes he has a few
more years in him. Based on what I observed I think he will outlive his father.
Jim Fox residence
near Fools Gulch on the Hassayampa River.
As the crow flies his
residence is approximately 8 miles from Wickenburg up the Hassayampa River, according
to Jim however if you drive the roads it is closer to 20 miles to Wickenburg
from his residence.
Normally he makes the
trip to Wickenburg once a month to get his mail, prescriptions, groceries, and
supplies. Jim has a friend that he pays a flat monthly fee to provide his
shuttle service once a month with a pickup truck to Wickenburg. Normally Jim
requires gasoline and everyday supplies monthly but doesn’t need Propane but
once every three months. In summer he uses more Propane keeping his food
cold/frozen with the Propane powered refrigerator/freezer. Normally he makes a
list of needed supplies, if he overlooks something or forgets to write it down
he has to do without until his monthly trip to Wickenburg once again. No
problem, that’s just the way it is and does without until the next trip.
Jim’s profession was
making circuit boards in California and Phoenix prior to coming to live on the
Hassayampa. Has lived in this area for some 27 years.
Tried some mining at Turkey Creek but quickly determined mining wasn’t for him.
We discussed how addicting gold mining is and agreed today the majority is done
by “Pocket Mining”. Meaning promoters are only interested in cleaning the cash
in the pockets of investors and not mining the gold. But alas this has gone on
since the beginning of time. “Investor beware”.
Jim pointed out
“During the depression individuals would live on the claim and get enough gold
for bacon and beans and that’s all you needed to survive.” When he moved into
this house there were no windows or doors on the structure, he had to build all
of them out of scrap materials he could find.
Jim’s front porch -
Photo by Neal Du Shane
As we sat on his
porch I noticed a Sirius Satellite Radio setting on the table in the middle of
the area. Jim indicated he has a Propane powered Satellite Radio. To which I
replied “you have a what, how does that work?” He got up from his chair and
said “follow me”. As we rounded the corner of the house he pointed to a Propane
gas container on the roof, “Look up there, I have the Satellite receiver
antenna attached to the container and I tell everyone it is Propane powered”.
After that, I started
to marvel at his ingenuity, paying attention to some of his inventions. Told
Jim he reminds me of “Rub Goldberg” with his ability to take a piece of wire
and build a castle from it, a true talent.
|
|
|
Two LED flood lights
on two separate trees provide yard lighting.
Photo by Neal Du
Shane 04/15/2010
In two trees he has
LED (Light Emitting Diode) lights to light the area around his front porch.
Inside the porch he has one small light fixture with three bullet size green
LED lights he uses to light the porch area, these green lights keeps from
attracting the bugs at night. Has an old 12 volt automobile tail light without
the lenses, hanging on the back wall that he has a switch beside his chair to
light when he needs extra lighting but it tends to attract insects at night so
he doesn’t use it very often. Jim reached over and flipped the switch to
demonstrate how it operates and sure enough it glowed brightly even in the
daylight. All of these are powered by
batteries that he recharges from a gas powered generator.
Discussed his ability
to have most of the modern conveniences and it seems the only thing he doesn’t
have is a computer. He however would like one as he is very inquisitive and
loves to research information but doesn’t have a telephone line. Suggested he
get internet access on satellite also. “That costs money” Jim said.
Jim isn’t without
phone service totally. He does have a Cell phone but doesn’t have reception
where he is located. Pulled mine out of my pocket and checked, no I didn’t have
reception either at his house. Once he gets closer to Wickenburg he can use it.
But rarely uses it.
|
|
|
Water storage tanks
Photo by Neal Du
Shane
Has a 35’ deep well
that supplies his water in holding tanks and is powered by electricity supplied
by the gasoline generator. Has several water holding tanks so
he only runs the pump at the well when he needs to replenish his water supply.
Welcome to the home
of Jim Fox on the Hassayampa
Photo by Neal Du
Shane
Wood provides heat
for the house but cooks with Propane gas. With the refrigerator he can have
fresh vegetables and frozen meet. But tends to have plenty of canned goods and
dried meat that he doesn’t have to refrigerate. When he goes to town he only
goes to Wickenburg. Jim said, “Costs a lot more to purchase there, but I don’t
like driving or for that matter riding in Phoenix, too busy and congested”
Shops basically at Safeway as this is where he has his prescriptions filled.
As I traveled the
road from King Solomon Creek to Jim’s house, I noticed on the far side of the Hassayampa a horizontal cut in the side of the mountain. Jim indicated this is
the cut for the old flume that brought water from the Walnut Grove Dam before
is burst in 1890, flooding the downstream residents and destroying the dam at
or near Slaughter House Canyon. Jim indicated he was told the wood from the
Walnut Grove flume after the flood makes up much of the exterior walls of the
porch.
Often as mines would
close people would come to the mine sites and dismantle the buildings for the
wood and nails and take it to town and repair or build add on structures to
their homes or outbuildings, of course without permission and only if they
didn’t get caught. Most of these locations were so remote they didn’t have law
enforcement protection and no one lived close enough to protect the property so
it simply walked off.
As we speculated on
the deaths in the Walnut Grove dam disaster we agreed many prospectors were
killed and no one knew who they were or possible that they were even in the
area and would only be counted if their physical remains were ever found. It
was reported that there was as many as 70 to 100 deaths’. Arguably the number
of deaths could be double or tipple this number.
Told me he used to
live farther up the Hassayampa closer to the Williams Ranch but the area was
closed and made into a Natural Area and he had to relocate. Jim has lived here
almost 20 years as the Care Taker. He keeps the house up, keeps the stock tanks
full and generally polices the area. In addition anyone trying to rustle cattle
would have to go past his house so the ranchers appreciate his vigilance.
Storage tank
Slightly farther up
the Hassayampa is the White Mine which is now abandoned and no longer
operational. Some structures remain but Mother Nature is in the process of
reclaiming them.
Over the years three
people have owned the ranch for which he currently resides. Originally the
ranch was homesteaded by one of the Champie family and his house was part of
their homestead. JB Bar Ranch owned by Doug Miller
currently leases the land for cattle.
Photo by Neal Du
Shane 04/15/2010
Jim wanted to show me
some of the history of the house and we walked to the back door and etched in
the concrete sidewalk was “Sundance Kid 69”. Jim speculates this isn’t the
partner of the famed Butch Cassidy duo.
While coming around
the corner of the house to look at the etching I had to laugh out loud. There
attached to a tree in the back yard was a Direct Satellite Dish for his
television viewing and listening to XM music off the satellite.
Walking around the property
I noticed a one foot square opening at the peak of his roof on the main house. Asked, with it being open, if he got squirrels, raccoons, or birds
that resided there. Jim said, “Cats, that’s where the cats go to hide out
if someone visits me with dogs”.
Jim indicated he
never had much time for dogs. Seems any dog he has ever had they were never
watch dogs. “Lay right there and when someone came they would run to me
standing at the door and never bark. Then when I’d leave they would howl the
whole time I was gone.”
Growing up as a
child, Jim world do odd jobs to earn $.50 or a $1.00. Once paid he would head straight for
the nearest Picture Show and then could view 5 or 10 movies in the theater when
they cost $0.10 cents for admission each. He likes action movies best.
Modern action thrillers with special effects are his favorites.
We discussed the
original location for the Ghost Town of Constellation. He confirms it was up
Slim Jim Creek about a mile east of the present day Constellation Road. He
recommended I read “Deep Enough” by Frank Cramton, informed
him it was an excellent book, well written and I already had a copy.
As to when he is home
and can be visited, indicated he is always there on weekends. During the week
he may make a trip to Wickenburg so he can’t tell if he will always be home
during week days.
He doesn’t smoke,
chew or drink. But does drink regular Pepsi-Cola constantly,
none of that wimpy low octane diet stuff for Jim.
Map by Neal Du Shane
UPDATE - February 23, 2011
By Neal Du Shane
My second trip to
visit Jim started in Wickenburg at approximately 7 AM. Heavy
on “Burr” as it was 31 degrees with frost on almost everything when I unloaded
and started traveling. Fortunately I ride with electric gloves, jacket
and pants to say warm on the ATV – Toasty Warm. Going out Constellation Road to
Sayers Spring then turned left down King Solomon Creek for about a mile then
right out of the creek following the main four wheel drive road. Same route as
listed on the map above. Uneventful ride and a beautiful early morning ride
giving me time to explore Sayers Spring once again. Nothing much has changed at
Sayers Spring.
Jim Fox poses with Portrait, by Jerry Massey
Photo by Neal Du Shane
Arrived at Jim’s house
about 8:30 AM, he heard me coming and he hollered out “Give me a few minutes”.
No problem as it takes me a few minutes to get out of my riding gear and get my
helmet off. Jerry Massey had created a beautiful portrait of Jim that really
impressed me, in that Jerry captured Jim exactly. I had taken this portrait and
had it framed to present to Jim.
Once he came out of
the house with his jacket on we sat on his porch and discussed his life from my
last visit. Indicated he had been up at dawn, walked out on the porch and it
was so cold he went back inside under the covers for another hour or two. Took
the portrait out of the packing and presented it to him, he was elated and
studied it at length. Said it is was amazing what can be done with a photo to
make it look like a painting.
At age 77 years young,
there have been drastic changes in Jim’s life. He bought a Ford F200 four wheel
drive pickup for an emergency vehicle. Primarily uses it for gathering up wood
that he uses to heat his house. If he has a medical emergency he can now drive
to town on one of two routes. It is reassuring to know Jim has a way to town
and not have to wait for someone to come along to give him a ride.
Still has his
satellite TV and subscribes to all movie channels they broadcast, which he
states costs him about $120 per month but that’s okay he enjoys the movies the
most. Listens to his XM Satellite radio in front of is favorite chair on the
porch. Primarily Jim likes fiction and subscribes to DVD for additional movies.
Used a gas generator
to generate electricity to power his electric appliances and put water to the
stock corral for the JB-Bar ranch. We walked out back and there was a
Caterpillar Front End Loader with a backhoe, parked there that a rancher owns
and used to improve the road I came in on (sort of). Jim said he can’t run it
as he doesn’t know how to operate it. In addition there are three portable
generators strewn along the way to the working unit. Jim indicated he has gone
through the other two over the years and can run them up to 12 hours a day
depending on the movies and TV he wants to watch.
His cat population
has grown from four last year to thirteen presently. Said these cats keep the
varmints and creepy crawlies to a minimum and normally hunt at night but still
gets a scorpion or two in his bed from time to time. Jim reassured me a Scorpions
sting can’t kill you but sure swells up and hurts for a while. Looses a couple of cats to Coyotes and Owls
every now and then, once in a while a rattlesnake will bite one of them. With
in-breading he expects the population to grow despite the losses. Indicated he
has a 55 gallon barrel inside full of cat food. Jim pointed to my ATV and said “look
at it” . . . sure enough there were cats lined up and sleeping on the warm
black parts that the sun was hitting. Laughed and told Jim every time he went
in the house the cats gathered with their tails high in the air, so it was
evident he hadn’t fed them this morning. As I was getting ready to depart Jim
fed them and they all were huddled around their dishes having a long awaited
serving of breakfast with no fights.
Jim continues in good
health and enjoys people stopping in to talk with him. Only sees a few people
in the winter months, when it gets hot there isn’t much traffic out this was he
says. Enjoys setting in his chair and having the sun warm him
during the winter months. Still is a regular Pepsi purest and there are
Pepsi cans evident where ever you look around the property .
American Pioneer
& Cemetery Research
Project
Internet Presentation
Version
022311
WebMaster:
Neal Du Shane
Copyright ©2021
Neal Du Shane
All rights reserved. Information contained within this
website may be used
for personal family history purposes, but not for financial profit or gain.
All contents of this website are willed to the American Pioneer & Cemetery
Research Project (APCRP).