Jose "Joker" Mendoza

Back in Them Days - when Patagonia Was a Mining Town: Stories and Recollections Jose "Joker" Mendoza

In the old days, Patagonia was a mining and ranching town. The hills were dotted with minesthe Trench, Flux, World's Fair, and many, many more. Copper and silver and gold ore came down--in trucks and on burros--from mining towns such as Harshaw to the railroad in downtown Patagonia. In those days also, cowboysdrove their herds into town to the pens along the railroad to wait for the cattle cars. And at night, in the local bars, miners swapped stories about ore cars thatleft the tracks, veins of gold ore that had not been mined yet, and miners who were maimed or who died in accidents. Joker Mendoza was there. He walked from his home across from the cattle pens eight miles uphill to the Flux, and he walked home at night with his miner'slamp lighting up the path. Today, Joker still sits in the Wagon Wheel bar from time to time, and, if you ask, willretell the stories of those days, now long gone. Pull up a stool and listen. Let Joker take you back to the mines. See if you can smell the gas and taste the dust!