A couple of prospectors who in 1875 had made a cleanup of placer gold in a desert wash punched their burros into Prescott and, forgetting their good resolutions, proceeded to paint the town red until they had exhausted both themselves and their gold supply. Then, to recoup their strength and maybe find a good mine for another stake, they loaded their burros with grub and tools, secured on the “face” and set out for the Castle Creek Hot Springs to “boil out.”

Not too familiar with that section of the country, Bill Corning and Jack Moore planned to follow the Black Canyon-Phoenix road to the Agua Fria River, thence down it to the mouth of Castle Creek and then up Castle to the hot springs.

However, when they arrived at the old Jack Swilling ranch on Agua Fria they learned there was an Indian trail through the foothills that was short cut to the hot springs.

Jack and Bill were all-around prospectors and as they made their way along the old trail they watched for float closely and examined a number of ledges. They found nothing of interest until they topped a ridge and started down into Cottonwood Creek. Here the formations bore many interesting veins.

At an outcropping beside the trail they knocked off a few samples which they knew were rich in silver. They camped that night on Cottonwood and the next morning returned to the ledge where further prospecting proved to them they had struck it rich. “She’s a tip-top silver mine,” declared Jack.

“You said it, Jack,” responded Bill, “and that’s what we’ll call her – the Tip Top.”

And thus the famous silver mine that produced $3 million or more was discovered and a rich silver district opened up that was worked for many years.

Jack Moore and Bill Corning camped on the Cottonwood while they prospected further and located several adjoining claims.

When the claims were posted and the location work was done they were about out of grub so Bill took the burros and headed for Prescott to file on the claims, have assays made and replenish the larder. Jack stayed with the claims to hold them down.

It took Bill about a week to make the long trip to Prescott and return, but when he showed up he had a grin on his face like a quarter moon. “Hell’s bells Jack,” he exclaimed, “we’re rich! That damn surface rock ran like a house afire. Three of them samples ran around a thousand ounces, and not one of ‘em less than five hundred.”

Jack was elated, “Did you bring anything to celebrate on?” he asked.

“Yer darn tootin’” replied Bill. “I got a bottle of Old Crow and half a dozen bottles of beer. And,” he continued virtuously, “I never touched ‘em on the way out.”

“Dig out the Old Crow right now, and pull the cork,” cried Jack, dancing around excitedly, “We’ll wet our whistles to the Old Tip Top.”

Jack and Bill had their celebration and then went to work opening the mine and pilling up the rich ore. The deeper they went the better it looked.

Source: State of Arizona Department of Mines & Mineral Resources

TIP TOP MINE

October 26-29, 1917

Author Unknown

DISTRICT: Tip Top,

PROPERTIES: Tip Top Heath, Tip Top Consolidated. Carlisle & Ensign.

LOCATION: 34 miles south of Turkey Creek R.R. (Cleator). Siding by wagon road of which several miles have been destroyed by cloud bursts. Now accessible by 12 mile trail, mostly rough, from Canon. Elevation of camp 2,600. Domestic water from wells & creek.

OWNERS & OPERATORS: Tip Top Heath Mining & Milling Co. own 3 claims; Tip Top Consolidated Co. 7 claims; Ensign & Carlisle, 2 claims and 2 fractions. Carlisle hold mortgage on Tip Top Heath property for about $20,000.00 All interests are consolidated in an option to W. V. DeCamp. Idle exception for two men doing assessment work on the Tip claim.

NOTES: Country rock is pegmatite, sometimes gneissic in structure, which has intruded per-Combrian mioa schist. Blocks and bands of schist are included in the pegmatite, and some have been more or less completely absorbed. The pegmatite in contact with the schist is generally of finer texture than the main mass, no doubt as a result of cooling more rapidly. Local miners speak of “porphyry” in the ore bodies, but this appears to be the finer grained pegmatite and not a separate intrusion. A fractured zone with a general strike NE – SW and dipping NW has followed lines of least resistance between pegmatite and schist and the narrow fissures have been filled with silver and tungsten bearing quartz, the schist appearing on either wall, so that local miners consider schist favorable for ore. Tow parallel narrow quartz filled fissures, about 20’ apart on the surface are called the hanging and foot wall veins, prospectively. They are said to come together in depth on the 400’ level. The vein quartz is distinguished from the quartz in the main mass of the pegmatite by its banded structure and cavities sometimes filled with quartz crystals. In the bands and seams of the vein quartz antimonial silver, stephanite and pyrargyrite (brittle & ruby silver), occur in association with tungsten minerals, chiefly wolframite. Bunches of zinc blend show up as crystals in quartz occasionally. Native and horn silver are said to have been found on the surface. While there are no authentic records available, there is some evidence that the mine produced nearly two million dollars worth of silver between 1875 and 1883.

The Original workings were on the South Top claim, but the pay ore appears to have extended only a few feet from the portals of the adits on this, the S W side, of the gulch and to have also ceased in depth in an un-timbered shaft, said to by 80’ deep, at the mouth of the lowest adit. On the N E side of the gulch, the mine workings are reached by an adit called the 200’ level, 1,275’ long, and connected with the main shaft, which is located about 400’ from the North end of the Tip Top claim and is said to be 800’ deep. Water stands in the stands a little below the 200’ level and the main shaft. From a point 200’ from the portal of the 200’ level, more or less stopping has been done and some ground left for a length of 600’ This six hundred feet is all called a pay shoot, but my impression is that the ore occurred in high grade bunches, and that the vein did not average over a foot in width, although I say one place where the vein was three feet wide.

At various time “Chloriders” have worked over the stopes from the 300’ level up, as well as the surface dumps and it may be presumed that most of the obviously high grade accessible ore has been removed. A sample across 16” of quartz in the breast of the 200’ level assayed (H 351) silver 0.38 oz; Tungstic Acid, trace. A sample across 26” in the stope, 10’ S W of No 4 chute (one of two chutes now open) assayed (H 352) Silver 4.50 oz; Zinc 0.7%; Tungstic Acid, Trace. The manway here leads to the 100’ level, above which the ore has been mostly stoped. At the mouth, a sample across the whole 5 feet belt of intercalated quartz pegmatite and schist assayed (H 350) Solver 3.70 oz: Zinc 1.1%; Tungstic Acid, nil. It is hardly possible to estimate the amount of unbroken ground or stope filling as even the ground above water in only partly accessible.

It is said that no ore was found in the main shaft above the 200’ level. The dump from this shaft must also contain considerable waste from development work.

TIP TOP

DISTRICT: Tip Top Mining District, Yavapai County