Mom, Dad and I went to lunch at the Mining Camp and then drove to the Superstition Mt. Museum. The museum is located a short distance from Apache Junction and has a large display of historical items to view.
Campfire meeting place.
The stage coach ticket office.
A dead Saguaro cactus. The wood is used to make furniture and other wood products.
There are two displays like this in the museum, one for wire and one for rope. I had no idea that there are this many different types of wire.
This Gallows was used in many movies at Apacheland Movie Ranch between 1960 and 2004.
Can you imagine spending time in this cell in the Arizona heat?
In the late 1890's and early 1900's, this was the machine used for drilling a water well. This particular unit is the oldest and only horse powered Rotary drilling rig in the Southwest. The operator drove the rig to the site with a team of horses. He then attached a drill auger to the steel shaft and lowered the auger to the ground. As the horse or mule was driven around the rig, the entire platform, derrick, shafts, auger and operator rotated on the turntable. This early water well drilling rig also illustrated the principle of modern oil well drilling to this day.
It took twenty-eight days and five 1,000 mile round trips to disassemble and move this 20 Stamp Mill from the ghost town of Bland, New Mexico to Apache Junction, Az. Inside the museum there is a fascinating working model of the mill.
The museum salvaged these hand cut facing stones from the Roosevelt Dam in July of 1993. Roosevelt Dam is the largest masonry dam in the world. Stone cutter were brought here from Italy between 1906 and 1911 just for this job. In 1994 the dam was raised 77 feet and resurfaced. Nothing remains visible of the original craftsmanship.
The inside of a teepee. My back hurt just looking inside, I can't imagine sleeping like this every night.
Wanted posters and leg irons.
A wood burning water heater.
