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Crown King clings to life in the Bradshaw wilderness

CROWN KING — Tombstone is officially known as “the town too tough too die.” That dubious distinction, however, may be more appropriately applied to Crown King.

Springing up in the 1880s around a cluster of gold mines high in the Bradshaw Mountains, Crown King has survived a catastrophic flood, a blood feud between its founding claim holders, a population that has at times approached zero, discontinued service from the U.S. Postal Service and at least five fires.

The most recent, the Lane 2 fire, consumed almost 10,000 acres in early July. Although the burn line came within yards of the town, the efforts of several hundred fire fighters, and some fortuitously timed monsoon humidity, succeeded in saving Crown King yet again.

There are several ways to reach Crown King from Phoenix. The most commonly used route heads north on Interstate 17, exits at Bumble Bee (Exit 248), and heads west on Crown King Road (NF-259). The unpaved road meanders through the nearly uninhabited towns of Bumble Bee and Cleator for several miles before beginning its ascent into the mountains.

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INTERACTIVES

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Bumble Bee was established in the 1870s as a stage stop between Phoenix and Prescott. Cleator was built about the same time around series of gold claims along nearby Turkey Creek. In 1904, it became a railroad stop between Mayer and Crown King. Today, Cleator is home to six permanent residents and one world-class bar (in this writer’s humble opinion).

The Cleator Bar, open most weekends is a ramshackle affair – dim and heaped with the detritus of a hundred years on the frontier’s edge. Rusty license plates, beat-up mining equipment, yellowed Polaroids of bygone deer hunts, a life-sized cutout of John Wayne, and several pegged rattlesnake hides cover every surface. Weekend warriors from the suburbs sit alongside old cowboys, and Dave and Darlene keep a healthy supply of cold beer and fresh peanuts on the bar. [After a day spent bouncing around the dusty backcountry, three bucks for an icy Budweiser and the company of an antlered gator head seem like quite a bargain.]

Beyond Cleator, the road turns southwest and gains elevation. Long, scraggly pines appear on either side of the rocky switchbacks. The extent of the recent fire is revealed when the upper slopes come into view above. Charred pine trunks cover the mountainsides like porcupine quills, and the soil is scorched black.

But just beyond the bridge leading into town, glimpses of green appear. Crown King – its cabins and general store protected by a canopy of ponderosa pines and applied in sunlight – lies within this forest.

The saloon is the heart of the town. Established in 1904 in Oro Belle (a gold-mining town that once sat five miles away), the saloon building was taken down and reassembled “board by board” in Crown King around 1910. Stepping inside feels a little like traversing some kind of cosmic wormhole into the past: A battered pool table commands the center of the room, stuffed mule deer heads adorn the walls, sawdust covers the floor, and sepia-toned photos of Crown King’s glory days line the walls. Bottles clink as the jukebox belts out Roy Acuff and Patsy Cline.

The saloon always has live entertainment on the weekends and rooms for rent upstairs, but there are several other rustic places to stay. The town also boasts a chapel, general store, nearby campground and an outstanding restaurant called The Mill, which was built around the actual stamp mill from the old Gladiator Mine.

The route from I-17 to Crown King is about 26 miles. The road up the mountainside is often steep with extreme drop-offs and amazing views a few feet from your tires. It can be a little intimidating, but apart from the occasional stretch of “washboard” conditions, it’s never too rough or technically difficult. Although you’ll be more comfortable in a truck or SUV, regular passenger cars make the trip all the time (especially in the summer when the temperature on top is usually fifteen degrees cooler than it is in Phoenix.)

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>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com .