Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message Charles Spencer collection, 1910-1920MS-023
Biographical NoteCharles Spencer grew up in along the San Juan River in Utah Territory and near Mancos, Colorado. He received just three months of formal education in Durango, Colorado. Instead, Spencer opted to pursue mining and engineering. He served as Managing Director at the Lee’s Ferry, Arizona field office at the American Placer Company. Independently, he selected several sites for the harvest of resources such as gold or water, and solicited investors to fund the ventures. In 1911, Spencer and his investors commissioned the construction of a steamship in San Francisco. It was shipped in pieces to Salt Lake City, Utah, and reconstructed to be used to transport newly mined coal up the Colorado River. In 1912, a clogged amalgamator rendered the steamboat unusable, and it was docked near Lee’s Ferry. The boat was submerged in a 1921 flood, and was later placed on the National Register of Historic Places and can still be viewed along the Colorado River. In 1913, Spencer visited Flagstaff and began work on a project to acquire water rights from the San Francisco Peaks for distribution to towns and cattle ranches in the vicinity. He formally incorporated the Coconino Water Development and Stock Company in 1915, with attorneys C.B. Wilson and Gerard T. Wall of Flagstaff as his incorporators. This Company held water rights to a good portion of the resources in the region. In 1917, he incorporated the Great Western Cattle and Sheep Company in California and the Arizona Cattle and Sheep Company in Arizona. Jointly, these companies held stock in the Coconino Water Development and Stock Company, which enabled Spencer to avoid the need to create a public utility company. When the companies were unable to generate the promised resources and revenue by 1920, investors withdrew from the project, and Spencer was forced to end his projects relating to the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. He continued to be involved in mining ventures in the area until the 1960s in the area, though he was never overly successful. Scope and ContentRecords consist of large amounts of correspondences sent and received by Charles Spencer in the course of his activities as founder of the Coconino Water Development and Stock Company, the Arizona Cattle and Sheep Company, and the Great Western Cattle and Sheep Company. It contains several agreements, permits, notices, reports, legal papers, blueprints, and notes related to plans for water development in the San Francisco Mountains. Among the hand-drawn plans are two sets of drawings for the Linger-Longer Rest Camp, a lodge planned for the Great Western Cattle and Sheep Company for which there is no evidence of ever being constructed. Additionally, the collection contains plans for the Charles H. Spencer Steamship, which was used for his coal mining operations previous to his water development projects in Flagstaff. ArrangementThis collection is arranged in the following series and sub-series:Series 1: Water Development, 1910-1920
Sub-series 1: Charles Spencer Research Materials, 1910-1916 Series 2: Charles H. Spencer Steamship Blueprint RestrictionsConditions Governing Use
Published and unpublished materials are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder. Related MaterialThe following sources provide additional information related to the activities of Charles H. Spencer and/or his activities associated with the Coconino Water Development Project: Museum of Northern Arizona Harold S. Colton Memorial Library, #MS-209, P.T. Reilly collection. (Blueprints and measurements of the Charles H. Spencer submerged steamship, 1962-1964).
Northern Arizona University Cline Library: Babbitt Brothers Trading Company, NAU.MS.83, NAU.PH.421: Box-folder numbers 5-124
University of California at Los Angeles Young Research Library: Cory Family Papers, Series 1 (Reports), Box 3, Item 269
Controlled Access TermsSubject(s) Charles H. Spencer (Steamboat) Coconino County (Ariz.) – History Flagstaff (Ariz.) – History – 20th century Flagstaff (Ariz.) – Maps, Topographic San Francisco Peaks (Ariz.) Water rights – Arizona Administrative InformationAcquisition Information
This accession was received from C.B. Wilson in 1956. It was assigned accession #MS-23 by the MNA Library. Processing Information
Processed in February of 2009. Accruals
No further accruals are expected. Other Finding Aid
An earlier index of this material was created by Harold S. Colton in 1956. A more detailed inventory listing is available upon request. Bibliography
Materials in this collection were used for the following publications, which are found in the MNA Library: Avery, Valeen Tippetts. Free Running: Charlie Spencer and His Most Remarkable Water Project. Flagstaff: Flagstaff Corral of Westerners International, 1981.
Billingsley, George H., Earle E. Spamer, and Dove Menkes. Quest for the Pillar of Gold: The Mines & Miners of the Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon, AZ: Grand Canyon Association, 1997.
Colton, Harold S. “Early Failure to Solve the Water Shortage.” Plateau 29:1 (Oct. 1956): 36-40.
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