In search of the Old Glory Dam

[matt@expaz 2]

We went out on Sunday in search of a missing dam. Whiledoing some research on an old mill down near Ruby, I found a reference to anold dam which serviced the mill. But this was no ordinary dam. It was built inthe 1890s and was about 125 feet long, 30 feet wide and 50 feet tall and heldabout 12 million gallons of water. HUGE by southern Arizona mining standards.

 

 

 

I found some pictures of the behemoth structure and taken inthe early 1900s and that is what started the mystery. I had been in the areajust a month before and surely I would have seen something that big. I lookedon Google Earth. Nope. Hmmmmm. Where had it gone? What had happened to it?

 

 

 

More research. After many hours spent on looking over topomaps, old photos, Google Earth and emailing the authors of the book on Ruby, Ithought I had the answer. We left on Sunday 99.99% sure of ourselves, but aswith what happens many times with this kind of stuff (and in the outdoorenvironment), we were wrong. Very wrong.

 

 

 

The answer surprised the hell out of me, but I won’t give itaway now. It was a great adventure, full of history, physical hardships, beautyand mystery and I will share it with you soon. Here’s a couple of pictures toget you started.

 

 

 

 

An unmarked cemetery. I believe the graves have been dug upby grave robbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A cool old mine

 

 

 

 

Cat-dog on the hunt for the dam

 

 

 

 

Larry looking out over a dam

 

 

 

 

View of a dam

 

 

 

 

The mill

 

 

 

 

Inside the mill

 

 

 

 

A board of nails above the door. Not sure why??

 

 

 

 

Me picking up trash with my new trash grabber. LOVE IT. Goodthing was there wasn’t much trash there.

 

 

 

 

Rock work at the mill

 

 

 

 

Part of the tram system that went from the mine to the mill

 

 

 

 

Tired Cat-dog

[LO PHAT 1]

Thank you for the awesome trip report. I enjoyed the pictures too. Would you be willing to post the pictures you had found of the dam back in the early 1900's?

[ehall 8]

I have camped at the dam many times while deer hunting down there.

[SSRx7 0]

LOL, another Dam Mystery from Matt. Now we are going to have to wait for the Dam story.

[matt@expaz 2]

Thank you for the awesome trip report. I enjoyed the pictures too. Would you be willing to post the pictures you had found of the dam back in the early 1900's?

 

I am trying to get permission to use the pictures. If not, I will find the sites I found them on and post the addresses.

[matt@expaz 2]

LOL, another Dam Mystery from Matt. Now we are going to have to wait for the Dam story.

 

Well, dam it all! I guess I'm going to have to write the dam story then .

[GRUNT 111]

LOL, another Dam Mystery from Matt. Now we are going to have to wait for the Dam story.

 

Ha! "This concludes your Dam tour. Do you have any Dam questions?" Classic movie...

 

Your reports are great! Thank you for sharing with us!

[Guardrail 1]

You need to find the dammed wash before you can find the dam. (no that's not a typo, I spelled it that way on purpose.)

[matt@expaz 2]

I haven't received permission yet to use the old photos of the dam yet (dam it!), but here's one of the articles I used in my research penned by the Ring brothers (who wrote the book on Ruby, literally). You can see the mill and the dam on pages 10 and 11, respectively. It also tells a great story of the Old Glory Mine.

 

http://www.ringbrothershistory.com/Oro%20Blanco%20PDFs/Old%20Glory%20Story%20compressed.pdf

[matt@expaz 2]

Here is the story and video regarding the search for the Old Glory Dam:

 

http://www.experience-az.com/features/oldglorydam.html