Burros, Bacon and Beans
An Old West Historical Vignette
by Ed Keenan

Burros, bacon and beans—not necessarily in that order—the very use of the words evokes the thoughts of crusty old prospectors, lost gold mines and desert folklore. The lone prospector and his trusty pack burro became a legendary symbol of the old west.

The word burro is derived from the Spanish word borrico meaning a small donkey. It is often used as a pack animal. Their contribution to taming the wild southwest is immeasurable. Where would we, and the desert southwest be today without them?

As the prospector’s lone companion, the faithful burro had much to do with civilizing the rugged southwest, including its deserts and mountains. Interestingly, the old west burro is known as a donkey everywhere else in the world. It easily handles the varying climates of the hot desert floor up to the cold alpine mountains. It is splendidly sure-footed and suited to negotiating steep rocky slopes, narrow trails, stony riverbeds, muddy passages and shifting sands. These valuable beasts of burden possess an excellent memory, and when it comes to intelligence, they rate ahead of the horse.

Historically, the desert southwest burro came on the scene of the Arizona territory about 1679, when a Jesuit priest brought them to a Spanish Mission in southern Arizona. However, it wasn’t until the discovery of gold at Gila City in 1858 that burros began being seen as free-roaming animals in the hills and mountains of the lower Colorado River Valley. With the discovery of gold, prospectors poured into the area from California and Sonora, Mexico, and brought with them their sturdy little pack burros. 

In the barren, nearly waterless hills, the burro adapted well and became indispensable to prospectors. Burros were used as pack animals and worked in the mines hauling cartloads of ore and rock out of the mine tunnels; and brought sacks of ore to the mills, and other donkeys turned the mills that ground the ore. They carried bacon and beans and other supplies, along with water, and even machinery into the desolate mining camps. A healthy burro can carry about one hundred and twenty five pounds of weight for miles and miles. Some can carry loads of two hundred pounds!

The mining boom in the lower Colorado River Valley lasted from 1858 to the early 1890’s, although some larger mining operations operated into the 1930s. When the ore played out, the mines were shut down and the mining camps were abandoned and became ghost towns. The burros either wandered off, or were turned loose and left to fend for them self in the harsh arid environment.

Apparently a descendant of the deserts of North Africa, the sturdy little pack burro flourished in the Sonoran desert of the southwest. It still roams free today, which seems an appropriate fate for such an old west legend, or any prospector or lover of burros, bacon and beans—and the desert.

Ed Keenan © 2007
COW CHIP/COWBOY POETRY: For a poem, click here.
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