La Casa del High Jinks
La Casa del High Jinks | |
.JPG) | |
| Location | High Jinks Rd., 8 mi. SE of Oracle and 2.5 mi. W of Mt. Lemmon Rd., Oracle, Arizona |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°34′17″N 110°44′18″W / 32.57139°N 110.73833°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | c. 1928 |
| Built by | Lewis Claude Way |
| Architectural style | Pueblo |
| NRHP reference No. | 96001056[1] |
| Added to NRHP | October 16, 1996 |
La Casa del High Jinks is a historic house located on High Jinks Ranch in Pinal County, Arizona, southeast of the community of Oracle. The ranch was founded in 1912 by Buffalo Bill Cody, who ran a gold mine at the site. After Cody's death, the ranch was seized for unpaid taxes and subsequently sold to Lewis Claude Way. Way built the Pueblo style ranch house on the property, which he completed around 1928. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
The Ranch's area was called Campo Bonito and mostly populated by mine (gold, silver, other ores) diggers.
In 1912, Buffalo Bill Cody and his foster son Johnny Baker established High Jinks as a gold mine and ranch; it is unknown which of the two came up with the name. Cody visited a cabin at the ranch until his death in 1917; however, the mine produced little gold, and Cody never saw a return on his investment. The High Jinks Gold Mining Company failed to pay property taxes on the mine for several years, resulting in its seizure by Pinal County in 1921; the county then sold the property to the State of Arizona.[2]
Lewis Claude Way purchased the property from the state in March 1922. Way was a Spanish–American War veteran and a U.S. forest ranger who served as superintendent of both Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Canyon National Park; he was also a friend of Cody and Baker. With the help of his wife Marie Burgess Way and Mexican laborers, Way built the two-story ranch house over the next few years, completing it circa 1928. The Ways moved into their new house upon its completion; Baker and his wife Olive lived with them until Baker's death in 1931, after which Olive only lived at the house part-time. Lewis died in 1944, and Marie sold the property the following year, after which it passed through several different owners.[2]
According to Harold Bell Wright in his book The Mine with the Iron Door (1923), Johnny Baker used stulls found in surrounding mines to build the Ranch's juniper wood carvings.[3]
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1996.[1]
For three decades and until 2007, the estate was owned by E. Dean Prichard who preserved it and contributed to the launch of the Arizona Trail.[4] E. Dean Prichard built the archway leading to the Ranch during the 1980's.[3]
The house was abandoned up until 2010 when Dan Blanco purchased it and followed on its renovation until his death in 2016.[4]
Architecture
La Casa del High Jinks is an example of the Pueblo Revival style, a reinterpretation of traditional Pueblo architecture which was popular among white settlers in the Southwest in the early 20th century. The Pueblo Revival style, along with Mexican-inspired styles such as Spanish Colonial Revival, came to define regional architecture of the era. The two-story cube-shaped home was built with granite and wood, both of which were collected from the ranch site. The house features massive stone exterior walls with projecting wooden vigas, a characteristic element of the Pueblo style; other Pueblo elements of the house include its flat roof and wooden lintels. Later owners built several modern structures on the home site, including a carport, stables, and rental properties.[2]
In the popular culture
La Casa del High Jinks was the stage for the 1924 motion picture The Mine with the Iron Door.[4]
References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ a b c Dishongh, Pam (February 14, 1996). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: La Casa del High Jinks". National Park Service. Retrieved April 1, 2018. Accompanied by photos.
- ^ a b Robert E. Zucker, Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains: Unraveling the Legends and the History, BZB Publishing, 2014 (ISBN 9781939050052)
- ^ a b c Historic High Jinks Gold Mine Ranch, Emol.org
External links
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