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Hardyville to Bullhead City

BHC Chamber • October 22, 2020

The historic importance of the forlorn old cemetery at 1776 highway 95 in Bullhead City, Arizona can not be overstated. It is the last vestige of a territorial era community that played a crucial role in the development of northwestern Arizona, and a tangible link to a frontier era pioneer that made innumerable contributions to the State of Arizona. 

William Harrison Hardy was born in Allegany County, New York on April 25, 1823. As with many young men of the era he succumbed to the allure of the west fueled by countless tales of riches, of boundless opportunity and of adventure. It was the gold rush that served as incentive for his trip to California. Elected captain of the wagon train, Hardy made that arduous trip in 1849. 

In 1849 he traveled west to California with a wagon train in 1849 and became “Captain Hardy” when elected captain of the company. Captain Hardy, as he was known for the rest of his life, made a small fortune through various pursuits in California and then turned his attention toward the Arizona Territory. In an interview given in 1888, Hardy said, “I crossed the Colorado River near Fort Mohave on January 20th, 1864. At that time there was no real settler in Mohave County. A company of California Volunteers under Capt. Charles Atchison was stationed at Fort Mohave, as a road had been partly worked from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Los Angeles, California, via Fort Mohave, and the Indians were found to be hostile and required the presence of United States troops to keep them in check, as when permanent settlers began to settle upon land, the Indians soon broke out in general warfare. I came to Arizona seeking adventure. I brought with me some money and a stock of merchandise, including mining tools.”

In 1865 he established the town of Hardyville to capitalize on the increasing steamboat traffic on the Colorado River and the road connecting Fort Mohave with Fort Whipple at Prescott. Hardy operated the mercantile store as well as a hotel and saloon. He also established a ferry service and shortened and improved the military road as the Mohave-Prescott Toll Road, and a stage line. He also represented Mohave County in the territorial legislature from 1867 to 1873 and was a member of the first board of prison commissioners that supervised the construction of the Arizona Territorial Prison in Yuma, Arizona. Hardy died at his sister’s house in Whittier, California in June of 1909.

With completion of the railroad to the Colorado River in 1883, and the crossing established at Topock and Needles, Hardyville quickly became little more than a faded relic. The weathered adobe ruins remained a popular attraction into the first decades of the 20 th century. 

There is little information about the cemetery, or the people buried there. The University of Arizona completed a tentative study and documented eleven burials, ten with tentative identification. They provide a glimpse into Arizona territorial life. These included Adelida Amaro who was born in California 1854 and died in childbirth at age 16. Born in Mexico in 1835, Edwardo Bernol was a blacksmith shot and killed in 1870. Born in Scotland in 1845, Robert Keffin drowned in the river in 1845.  John Killian or John Gillian was from Davenport, Iowa was ambushed by Indians and was “buried in October 1866.”   William J. Tuttle, a stagecoach driver, died May 1867. According to the legend, when he arrived across the river from Hardyville, he was supposed to fire a shot to summon the ferry. Instead, a passenger fired a shot, hitting the back of his head and killing him. 

The Hardyville Cemetery is well worth a visit. It is a tangible link to the Bullhead City’s earliest history.

Written By Jim Hinckley of Jim Hinckley’s America

Apples & Oranges

By Jim Hinckley • June 3, 2021
If you are in search of a new place to call home, have you considered Bullhead City on the banks of the desert oasis that is the Colorado River? Yes, summers are warm. In fact there are a couple of months when it gets downright hot. But in Bullhead City you can beat the heat with a forty five mile drive to Hualapai Mountain Park. This pine forested oasis in a sea of desert is laced with miles of scenic hiking trails, and there is an excellent RV Park. And there is Hualapai Mountain Lodge with an event center and rustic stone cabins built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Unlike Minneapolis, Duluth, or Schenectady, New York, it seldom snows. In fact snow in measurable amounts is so rare it is deemed an historic event. Still, if you happen to miss the white stuff, again, Hualapai Mountain Park is just forty five miles away. And unlike Seattle or San Francisco there are seldom cloudy or rainy days. The United States average is 205 sunny days per year. With an average of more than 345 days of sunshine annually Bullhead City is ideally suited for a home that taps […]

A Visit To The Land Down Under

By Jim Hinckley • May 23, 2021
Visitors or residents know that when it comes to recreational fun on the Colorado River, Bullhead City is the place to be. Few, however, know that Bullhead City is centrally located to a vast and diverse array of all season outdoor recreational opportunities. But one of Bullhead City’s best kept secrets is that with a short scenic drive it is possible to beat the heat with an adventure in the land down under. Mitchell Caverns in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area is less than 85 miles to the west. Mitchell Caverns had been used by the Chemehuevi Indians used for ceremonies and food storage before the arrival of Spanish and American explorers. Bones of a Pleistocene-age ground sloth found near the entrance indicate that the caverns had provided shelter to people more than a thousand years ago. Mitchell Caverns is actually a system that consists of three caves. They are “El Pakiva,” or the Devil’s House, and “Tecopa” named for a Shoshone chief. The deep and nearly vertical “Winding Stair Cave” is deemed to dangerous for general public admission. It is off limits except for previously approved and authorized scientific explorations. In the 19th century prospectors visited the caverns in […]

In All Seasons

By Jim Hinckley • May 5, 2021
The weeks of early spring are an ideal time to explore the scenic wonders of northwestern Arizona. Mornings are cool, even in the Colorado River Valley, with a touch of rain the harsh desert is transformed by the bright colors of wildflowers. But even in the midst of summer with soaring temperatures the opportunity for outdoor adventures abound. Bullhead City is centrally located in an adventurers paradise for all seasons. As an example, the Mohave & Milltown Railroad Trail near Fort Mohave follows seven miles of an historic railbed from the foothills of the Black Mountains to the Colorado River Valley. The Bureau of Land management lists this as a motorized and non motorized trail system With the exception of washouts, hikers and mountain bikers travel along the actual railroad grade for most of the way. OHV and equestrian users follow a route which does not lie on the grade, but parallels and frequently crosses the railroad bed. The BLM notes that the best season is anytime from September through May. The railbed is a tangible link to an obscure chapter in Mohave County history. The narrow gauge was built in 1903. But the seventeen miles railroad was short lived. […]

In The Beginning

By Jim Hinckley • April 25, 2021
Before there was a Davis or Bullhead City, before Hardyville, the Colorado River Valley was the home of the Pipa Aha Macav — “The People By The River.” Today our neighbors are better known as Mojave. The Mojave are the most northern of the Yuman tribes. The traditional homeland stretched along the Colorado River from Black Canyon near the present site of Hoover Dam to the Picacho Mountains below Parker Dam. The tribe lived in three groups or clans. The northern Matha lyathum clan lived along the river from Black Canyon to near the present site of Mojave Valley. The central Hutto-pah inhabited the central Mojave Valley. The southern clan, Kavi lyathum, lived in villages between the Mojave Valley to a point below Needles Peaks. The Mojave masterfully used the the regular overflow of the Colorado River to irrigate crops planted along the banks. Foods grown were supplemented with wild seeds, roots, mesquite beans, fish taken from the river with nets and traps, and game hunted in the mountains along the river. There is increasing evidence that the Mojave, and tribes in northwestern Arizona, were prolific traders. A trade route that was later incorporated into the Mojave Road across the Mojave […]

Driving U Bananaz Escape Room

By BHC Chamber • April 1, 2021
Bullhead City, AZ –The Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce and the Laughlin Chamber of Commerce helped commemorate the grand opening of Driving U Bananaz Escape Room in Bullhead City this week. Owner Juan Lizarraga has been in the area for many years running Thunderbird Taxi and has now been able to open a second business that will bring entertainment to the tristate. Driving U Bananaz Escape Room want players to know the satisfaction of escaping that can be achieved by teamwork and participation in a safe and sanitized environment. Each Session is 45 minutes with two rooms to choose from. Among those attending and pictured are Lizarraga, City Mayor Tom Brady and Chamber Ambassadors, Board Members and staff including George Smith, Carey Fearing, Terri Sponder, John Hassett, Ellen Brown, Yvette Pursley, Tristan Johnson, Todd Levitt, Nicole Diaz, Mary Schramm and Jeanette McCartney and Laughlin Chamber staff members Jackie Mazzeo and Val Gabaldon. Also pictured are Rosa Sandoval, Maria Adams, Amalia Guerrero, Bianca Bedoya, Mathew Najera, Seth Najera, Vanessa Sandoval, Charisma Silvestre, Ximena Perez and DJ Loki. The business is located at 2160 Hwy 95 Suite 6, Bullhead City, AZ 86442 and is open 1 pm – 9 pm on Thursday […]

Day Trip

By Jim Hinckley • April 1, 2021
There is never a dull weekend for visitors or residents of Bullhead City on the Colorado River in western Arizona. Day trip, and even half day trip, options abound. Each is unique and fascinating. Each has a special charm. Each is a memory making odyssey. As an example the historic community of Needles, California is only a short drive south on highway 95. At a Colorado River crossing for a Native American trade route the survey expedition of Lieutenant Amiel Weeks Whipple of 1854 labeled the jagged peaks along the river as “The Needles.” The Atlantic & Pacific Railroad established a station and small construction camp on what is now the Arizona side of the river at this crossing in 1883. A post office under the name Needles opened there in February of that year. In conjunction with plans for construction of a division point, the railroad relocated the tent city to the California side of the river On October 11, 1883. In the early 20th century, the National Old Trails Road, and then Route 66 added a new chapter to the city’s history as a transportation hub. Both of these early highways followed Front Street parallel to the railroad tracks […]
A large building with palm trees in front of it

Pick Your Season

By Jim Hinckley • March 20, 2021
Before the COVID 19 pandemic an increase in opportunities for remote work was transforming American migration trends. Often these new migrants abandoned large metropolitan areas and relocated to progressive rural communities. And communities that could offer a diverse array of recreational opportunities became a primary focus. Bullhead City, Arizona on the Colorado River is ideally suited to capitalize on this trend. It is at the center of recreational opportunities for every season and interest. And it is also conveniently located in proximity to major cities such as Las Vegas, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. With Bullhead City on the Colorado River as the center point, within a radius of 100 miles are a diverse array of attractions, recreational opportunities and cultural activities. As a bonus, a resident of the upper Colorado River Valley can literally pick their season with a relatively short drive. As an example, during the months of winter when the temperatures along the Colorado River are moderate or even warm, it is a drive of less than seventy miles to Hualapai Mountain Park. Snow is common on the peaks around Hualapai Mountain Resort that offers fine dining, an event center and motel. […]

Choose Our Charities RatherThan State General Fund, Chamber Urges

By admin • March 18, 2021
Bullhead City, AZ – “Giving the money to a deserving local charityrather than to State to use on anything in its general fund is the best way to invest in our quality of life,” said JoElle Hurns, Executive Director of the Bullhead Area Chamber of Commerce. “Look, if you owe the state taxes, they will get it one way or another. If you donate to the charity of your choice – a number of nonprofits from bridge to bridge – you decide to how to meet the needs of ourof residents at risk, our youth programs and our population with disabilities. You get a dollar-for-dollar deduction on your tax bill, even if you don’t itemize.” Hurns is referring to the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit, aunique and straight forward way to direct tax dollars back to local communities. Between 2011 and 2016, Arizona donated upwards of $35 million to nonprofits and foster care programs through this allowance. ​The Arizona Charitable Tax Credit is intended to spur donations to charitable organizations that provide a significant number of services for Arizona residents experiencing financial insecurity. ​For most Americans preparing federal taxes, donations made to charitable organizations offer minimal financial benefits, tax-wise. That is because of the higher standard deduction implemented through the 2018 Congressional changes to the tax code. Charitable giving is not gone from the tax code, but it has been rendered almost […]

Land of Sunshine & Opportunity

By Jim Hinckley • February 21, 2021
While much of the country is being battered with record low temperatures and a wave of snow storms, here on the shores of the Colorado River we are enjoying sunny days. During times such as these I am reminded of a story told about Ed Edgerton of Ed’s Camp on Route 66 near Oatman. When asked why he had immigrated from Michigan to Arizona, purportedly he simply said that at least I will be warm when I starve to death. I have little information about the employment situation in the area during the post WWI economic recession. However, I do know that today Bullhead City is the land of opportunity. And I also know that it is a modern, progressive community with an eye on the future. In the pre COVID world several companies had begun experimenting with the concept of employees working from home. Some employees were even working from city’s far from their office. GIG workers and independent contractors were also becoming an integral part of the work force. COVID and the resultant quarantine measures dramatically escalated the evolutionary speed of work place transformation. The United States Department of Labor estimates that last year an astounding 62 percent […]

There Is Gold In Those Hills

By Jim Hinckley • February 5, 2021
Before there was a Davis Dam, a Bullhead City or a Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce, prospectors, speculators and investors were discovering that there was gold in the hills above the Colorado River Valley. Soldiers stationed at Fort Mohave often passed off duty time by prospecting the hills along the river. They would return from their prospecting trips with tantalizing traces of gold. Organized mining operations in the area of Union Pass as well as modern day Katherine’s Landing and South Telephone Cove commenced in the 1860s. High grade ore from the Pyramid and Gold Cycle mines near South Telephone Cove, the Homestake Mine across the river in Nevada and the Sheeptrails Mine in Union Pass initially was shipped by paddle wheeler down the river on the first leg of a long trip to processing at a smelter in Swansea, Wales. A small mill for the processing of ore was built at the Sheeptrails Mine in an effort to curtail costs and make the mining of low grade ores feasible. A road built to the Sheeptrails Mine from the river landing passed by a distinctive granite knob that protruded from a flat rocky desert plain. Acting on a hunch in […]
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