tomato can that had been opened with a butcher knife and the points pushed together again. It was filled with coins and a sticky mass, indicating that it had been in the ground through many storms. With a warm iron and blotting paper, Mrs. Bell was able to distinguish green backs. She sent the mass to Washington and received more than two thousand dollars in new bills. Mr. Bell had made no record but he was able to recall the circumstances. The day he collected the money no one was home, he could find no other can, so he buried it hurriedly, thinking he would find a better container, then had been called away. The incident made him think that perhaps he had failed to record other deposits so Mrs. Bell superintended the digging up of the entire place. Two more cans were found but of the baking powder variety. That started everyone digging for buried treasure and some was found.

George H. Utter, before he engaged in mining, sold Singer Sewing Machines. He drove about the county in a buckboard with a machine for demonstrations tied behind the seat. He came to a Mexican ranch on Whiskey Creek just east of Rocky Point the day after the rancher had found a can of gold. He had invited several of his friends to help him celebrate and they were making merry when Mr. Utter drove up. The women “Ohed and Ahed” over the latest model. The man showed the gold to Utter and ordered a new machine for every woman present.

Edward Dehaney was a very likeable young man but described as “not worth $1.25 from the neck down.” His worth was from the neck up as he proved later in his career. While he was in Pinos Altos he was practically penniless but full of schemes. The Bells took him into their home and boarded him for several months with the understanding that he pay when he could. Mrs. Bell knew he was receiving money but he never paid a cent and left town without doing so. Mrs. Bell collected years later. When she visited him in his pretentious offices in California and presented her bill he said, “But, Mrs. Bell, this is outlawed—and you, being a lady, would not presume to collect an outlawed bill.” Mrs. Bell replied, “I know the bill is outlawed, but you, being a gentleman, will surely honor it.” His check went to a home for old miners.

When the first son was born to the Bells he was given the family name of “Golden” and his father had a bell made of local gold which Golden wore on a chain around his neck until he reached school age. A gold brick from a run of the mill was kept on a counter in the store. The early miners used gold as a medium of exchange as long as they lived. It was usually carried in a small Bromo Seltzer bottle in a pocket and a man could estimate accurately the amount for his daily needs. As he grew older, if he needed 60 cents for coffee and tobacco he washed out that amount, if he needed $4.50 for overalls, blouse, flour, sugar and meat, he panned that amount, then sat in the sun. Goods were no longer paid for by the “finger” for the gold was carefully weighed. Should the amount of gold be a little more than the bill, candy would be taken home for the children. If it fell short a tab was made and dropped into the till. Rarely was it necessary, and always when the man came back to make another purchase, he would have extra gold so the tab against him could be destroyed. In those days there were no pennies and very few dollar bills in circulation. All costs were figured in multiples of five and reduction in price was given if items were bought in quantity. Men who worked for wages settled accounts on pay day and went home with a generous sack of candy. Store hours were from seven to seven. Usually there was a dull period in the afternoons which the clerks used to put up beans, rice, and sugar, etc., in 25c and 50c amounts, folding and tying the sacks for the evening rush. Saturday was clean-up night when the delivery boys, clerks, and handy men would take off their shoes and socks, roll up their pantaloons, and with brooms, mops and buckets of hot soapy water, scrub counters and floors. The Bell and Stephens store was the largest but it was a company store. Smaller companies and independent operators wanted other stores. Neffe had a store at the corner of Main Street and Gold Avenue—later the F. J. Davidson store. Men who worked at the Mountain Key and at the Golden Giant traded there, and later the Mammoth people. The building which housed George Norton’s store is still standing, south of the Buckhorn Bar. Both buildings are relics of the ’70’s.

Many men like Jim Hill and his brother had taken up homesteads on the Upper Gila and along the Sapello. They traded in Pinos Altos and drove their cattle through town to the stock yards below Silver City. Merchants waited six months or a year for those accounts to be settled but they always were. One rancher, in for supplies, would take out coffee, tobacco and mail to all along his way. Newspapers, no matter how old, and magazines were always welcomed in the remote areas. Each merchant had a collection box for them. The corrals at the stores were open to the ranchers and often they were filled with pack animals. Trappers and government hunters also camped in the corrals. Ben Lilly and Nat Straw were regular visitors and once in a great while “Bear” Moore would come to town. Moore had lived in a cabin at the mouth of Big Cherry before he moved to the West Fork. He had been badly mauled and disfigured as a result of an encounter with a bear and had withdrawn from contacts with his fellow men as much as possible. As he told his story, he had killed a half-grown cub in a rocky canyon when the mother appeared around a bend. Moore’s gum jammed and the bear was upon him. He fought with sticks, stones and his bare hands, unable to escape. When he regained consciousness the dead bear was lying beside him and Moore was torn to pieces, a jaw bone and part of his breast were gone. Looking down at the gaping hole he said that he could see his heart beating. That he was able to crawl to camp and receive help was miraculous. His last years were spent prospecting in the headwaters of the Gila country and it was rumored that he made a rich find. When his last camp was found Moore had been dead for some time. A handful of beans, the remains of a shank of venison, a canvas bag containing worthless rock was all that was found. The old hermit had died of starvation and exposure.

The Hearst Company renovated the store with paper and paint, arranging the stock into departments, as drug, dry-goods, hardware, etc. A large sheet iron warehouse was added for rails and other mining equipment. Also erected was an office building, a mess for office and store employees, and new homes for their foremen. The Bell and Stephens duplex was remodeled for the Thayer and Risque families. Altogether the old town had a new look. Stephens, before he would sign the sale papers, had insisted that “his people” be given consideration and cared for, and the Hearst Company carried out this policy. “Chan” Derbyshire was promoted to be store manager and promising local boys were changed from common laborers to store clerks—Tom Hall and Fernando Chavez were two of them. Will Rivers and George Turner came from Silver City to take positions. Among the men who were brought in were Harry Thorne, assayer and Mike Riney, master mechanic.

When Bell and Stephens had announced the sale of their property to the Hearst Interests there was great excitement. The Hearsts represented money and money could do great things, but at the same time, they were sorry to see the Bell and Stephens families depart. The property had been turned over when Mr. Daniel B. Jillette, Jr., representing the Hearst Interests, presented Mrs. Bell a farewell gift, the last ingot from the Bell and Stephens Mill. This gold has been used only for wedding rings and from the amount remaining today it will furnish wedding rings to the Bell family for many, many