October 15, 20221
One of our first explorations in Kingman was the White Cliffs Wagon Trail. The trail began as a road built sometime around 1870-1880 to carry wagons of ore and tufa stone to the railroad from nearby mines. Traffic decreased after a new road was built between 1910 and 1912 and the road was abandoned after a flood in 1925.
The landscape is rugged and beautiful.
Ore wagons were 16 feet long and 14 feet tall. Their rear wheels were seven feet tall. Wagons weighed 6,400 pounds and could carry nine tons of cargo. They were drawn by 10-20 horses.
The following poem was on information signs at the trailhead.
Ghosts of White Cliffs
by Ray Atherton
There’s a trail just out of Kingman
That was made long, long ago
By the miners and the settlers
In the heat and in the snow
And one night I camped out yonder
When the moon was awfully clear
And I sat in silence very shortly did I hear
The creak and groan of wagons
And the rattling of the gear
And the sound of human voices
As the caravan drew near
And as it passed on by me
Where the wagon ruts are deep
Where the mountains meet the desert
And the trail is mighty steep
And it sank down in the valley
As a woman waved her hand
Why even their ghosts are covered
By the shifting, whispering sand.
0 Comments