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Compiled by John Hernandez
The town of Oracle was founded in 1880. In 1912 the economic development of Oracle and the surrounding areas relied mainly on ranching, health-seekers, tourists and mining. William Fredrick “Buffalo Bill” Cody was one of the more famous prospectors who were seeking their fortune in the hills surrounding Oracle. His mine was the Campo Bonito camp. News of Buffalo Bill and his mine were reported in the Arizona newspapers of the time as well as events in and around Oracle. The following news about Oracle appeared in Arizona newspapers in 1912:
February 21, 1912 Bisbee Daily Review
For a visit to the Camp Bonito mine, near Oracle, Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Cody arrived in Tucson last week, accompanied by I.W. Getchell, consulting engineer, and Mike Russel, who is connected with “Buffalo Bill” in the management of his Wyoming enterprises. Lieutenant General Nelson A. Miles, who was to have accompanied the Cody’s to Tucson, was prevented from doing so by sudden indisposition, but hopes to join them within a few days and visit the Campo Bonito mine. The party left for Oracle yesterday.
May 5, 1912 Bisbee Daily Review
The Campo Bonito mine at Oracle the property of “Buffalo Bill Cody and D. B. Dyer of Kansas City, has been closed down temporarily. It is stated that Col. Cody has spent $100,000 on the property since he took hold of it.
August 28, 1912 Weekly Journal-Miner
As a result of a duel fought about a week ago with guns near Campo Bonito not far from Oracle, Jose Ramirez has been given a hearing before the Justice of the Peace at Oracle and held to the grand jury of Pinal County while Thomas Torres, who was shot three times and clubbed with a gun, is missing but is believed to be on the road to recovery, possibly in Tucson.
May 21, 1912 Bisbee Daily Review
It is planned in Tucson to expend the sum of $1,000 in improving the highway from that city to Oracle. Oracle which has an elevation 2,000 feet more than Tucson, is rapidly becoming the summer home of Tucsonans who own automobiles, and good roads are an important factor to it.
June 23, 1912
Between 40 and 50 families have left Tucson within the last month for the cool heights of the Catalinas, according to H. King of Hayhurst and King. The season at Oracle has begun and 20 families are there enjoying the cool breezes that sweep down from the majestic peaks of the Catalina range.
June 2, 1912 Tombstone Epitaph
The record price for one year old steers was secured at Tucson by J.M. Ronstadt for a herd of 700 Arcade cattle which were sold to W. O’Brien of Hereford, Texas, at $22 per head. These cattle were from the ranches of Col. Sturgis and J.M. Ronstadt, both of them located in Oracle.
March 3, 1912 Tombstone Epitaph
With fear of the gallows attributed as the cause, Charles Weeks, the black who killed Ruperto Torres at Oracle, died in a cell in the Pinal County Jail, his terror tormenting him until relieved by death.
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