Last month, I went with a couple of friends and my husband to do some exploring in Southern New Mexico. One of the places we visited is called "The Catwalk.” This place may be a popular tourist attraction now, but 120 years ago, it was all business, and that business was mining.
The Catwalk National Recreation Trail is
located within the Gila National Forest. It is situated near the small town of
Glenwood, approximately 65 miles northwest of Silver City. To get there, turn
east off U.S. Highway 180 onto NM-174, which is also called Catwalk Road, and
drive roughly 5 miles to the trailhead parking lot. Catwalk road crosses the
stream, and while the water was very low when we went, it may be flooded and
impassable during heavy rain or spring runoff.
The Catwalk goes into Whitewater Canyon,
which contained a large number of very productive mines, including the
Confidence. Because of the cost of moving the heavy ore, it was preferable to
process gold and silver ores as close to the mines as possible. However,
Whitewater Canyon was too narrow to permit processing.
In 1893, John T. Graham established an ore-processing facility at the entrance to Whitewater Canyon to help serve those mines. A small town grew up around the mill. Sometimes it is known as Graham after its founder, and sometimes it is called Whitewater after its location. The town quickly grew to have 200 residents, one of which, William Antrim, the town blacksmith, was Billy the Kid’s stepfather. Whitewater Canyon was a favorite hideout of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, and of Apaches, including Geronimo.
However, the mill’s steam generators needed a good, steady supply of water. A water pipe, four inches in diameter, was constructed between Graham and the high mountain waters to make sure the generators and the town would be supplied. The pipe was encased in a wooden sheathe that was packed in sawdust to prevent freezing. By 1897, the town and mill’s needs had increased so much that an eighteen-inch pipe was constructed parallel to the original, four-inch line. In what was considered quite an engineering feat for the time, holes were drilled into the canyon walls to help brace the pipes, which ran some twenty feet above the canyon floor, and because the whole line needed monitoring and repair, a catwalk—a narrow walkway—ran the whole length of the pipe.
Beleaguered by profitability, water issues, and flooding, the mill never made the huge profits that Graham had hoped for. By 1904, the population had dropped low enough that the post office closed. The mill itself closed in 1913, and the town faded away
soon after that. All that remains of the mill now are some foundations and a few walls that blend into the canyon just above the parking lot. Rusted old pipes and a few wires and braces from the original waterline appear along the trail.
The town may have died, but the Catwalk
itself has stayed vital. In the mid-1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps, the
work program developed by F.D. Roosevelt to combat the rampant unemployment of
the Great Depression rebuilt the Catwalk as a tourist attraction. In 2012, the Whitewater-Baldy Fire destroyed
much of the vegetation upstream, leading to massive flooding that washed away
the work that the CCC had done. The bridge system was rebuilt and is now open
for approximately .5 miles from the parking lot. This is a very accessible area
and easily hiked by all ages and abilities, including wheelchairs. After the
bridge system, the trail has been cleared for another .5 - .75 miles. Beyond
that, backpackers can follow a much more rugged trail.
Today
the area is managed by the Gila National Forest
as a day-use area. It has picnic tables and restrooms.
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