Oracle: Where Did It Come From, Where Is It Now and Where Is It Going?

Randy Halliday and Team

  Nothing in Oracle, Arizona has ever come easy.  In the late 1800’s when the indigenous people populating the area were driven out by force of arms and Oracle was “founded” (conquered) a post office naming the place after a ship was established.  Just getting here was a major accomplishment.  The stage coach out of Tucson was a body hammering ride on wooden planks and crude springs that softened the rocky jolts very little.  Native American raiders were mostly gone but few visitors made the journey and fewer still wanted to repeat the experience.

  Only the tough endured.  Ranching was a brutal test of human and beast against drought and distance to markets.  Hard scrabble gold mining was replete with minimal returns and outright failed ventures.   The mine with the iron door became a cinematic favorite despite, or maybe because of, disappearing.  Buffalo Bill Cody had some capital to invest but no success digging for gold.

  The local economy picked up only as the bodies piled up.  A cottage industry serving tuberculosis refugees seeking a healthier clime sprang up to welcome the living, many of whom were soon to be dead.  (To be continued)