Vekol was a premier silver mine in the southwestern corner of Pinal County on the western side of the Vekol Mountains.
Surrounded by the Papago Indian Reservation, it is located 30 miles southwest of Casa Grande in the Casa Grande Mining District. The ore was concentrated along a north-south trending fault in shaly limestone dipping 10 to 30 degrees to the southwest.
The mine itself was discovered by the Papago Indians and christened Vekol after the tribe’s term for “grandmother”.
Judge John D. Walker was the original mine owner having been informed about the mine’s whereabouts by Juan José Gradello, a Papago Indian in 1879.
Originally from Illinois, Walker settled in Arizona Territory in the 1860s becoming both a rancher and a miner. He fought against the Apache Indians in 1864, having led several contingents of Papago Indians.
Among the Papago he was respected.
Walker in turn learned the Papago language and took concern for their well being.
Ore samples from the mine were sent to John Walker’s ranch on the Gila River. The samples were assayed showing a high value of silver.
Walker formed a partnership with his brother Lucien and P.R. Brady in 1880. In 1884, Brady would relinquish his one-third interest of the mine to the Walker Brothers for $65,000 over a disagreement of the mine’s operation.
By 1881, development of the mine hastened with the main shaft sunk to a depth of 118 feet. It was a profitable venture with 10 tons of ore shipped monthly to the Selby smelter in San Francisco, and smelters in El Paso and Denver averaging a value of $300 per ton.
Enterprising individuals, the brothers stockpiled 150 tons of second grade ore valued up to $90 per ton.
The mining camp of Vekol, at an elevation of around 1700 feet, lasted 12 years. It consisted of over 200 inhabitants, including 100 miners.
The camp was unique in that it lacked both churches and saloons. It did have a boardinghouse, post office active from 1888 to 1909, school, and public library.
The camp was also a destination along the Casa Grande & Quijotoa Stage Line, which left Casa Grande daily to the Quijotoa mining camp. It stopped along the way at the mining operations at Copperosity, Christmas Gift, Reward and Vekol.
Walker openly refused to allow alcohol into the camp. He also refused multiple offers for his mine from interested parties totaling $100,000.
Walker was revered among the town for his leadership, justice and sobriety.
A 10-stamp mill was built at the camp to process the mine’s low grade ores. It turned out a bar of silver bullion a day averaging 100 pounds in weight, according to press reports.
Water for the mill and for the 400 local Indians and cattle came from a drilled well at the mine 350 feet deep.
The mill ran between 1885 through 1889 averaging a rate of 470 tons of ore (valued at $16,000) per month, closing due to a decline profits in low grade ore.
Pan amalgamation was also used to acquire silver from crushed ore using a mixture of mercury, sodium chloride and copper sulfate in large vats.
The brothers followed a strike covering a distance of 1400 feet from the discovery point. Challenges occurred as they uncovered ore-bodies containing lead and zinc as they had an inadequate milling operation to treat the sulfide ores.
A dispute among the Walker brothers led to Lucien’s multiple attempts to have his brother John committed to an insane asylum. Fierce litigation between the brothers eventually led to the death of John Walker in 1891.
The litigation would continue between John Walker’s widow and brothers as to who would own the mine. They were finally resolved when the mine was bonded to a New Orleans and Texas Company who operated it in 1908.
During the Walker brother’s operation it is reported that between $1 million and $3 million dollars worth of silver ore was mined.
The Vekol Mine would continue to hold an interest to mining companies through much of the twentieth century.
