Superstition Mountain Museum

The Superstition Mountain Museum is a collection of artifacts & history from Apache Junction and surrounding area. The museum gets it's name from the backdrop of the 160,000 acres rugged Superstition Mountain Range located in Tonto National Forest. It's a beautiful day the sun is shining so we decided to walk the outside part of the museum. Susan sees a sign about rattlesnakes she does an about turn and heads back to the truck. I convince her that I will protect her from those big bad snakes so away we go. If she only knew.

No snakes yet

The museum consists of 12.5 acres of original and reproduced artifacts from 19th century living.

Windmill

Shovel used on Apache Trail

The early 20th century saw many individuals living on rural farms and ranch land making it difficult to transport large steam powered equipment. The quest for clean uncontaminated water was essential for living in these remote areas. An inventor named Seth Powers would create such a product. This improved drilling machine was livestock driven and could be transported to vast rural areas. It could bore 60 feet per day to a maximum of 150 feet. 

The Improved Powers Well Boring & Drilling Machine

The Apacheland Barn was used in several western movies including the Rifleman series.

Apacheland Barn with Superstition Mountain backdrop

As we continued our self guided walking tour around the grounds we came across a massive machine that we could actually see from the museum parking lot. It's a Twenty Stamp Mill dating back to 1914. What is it you ask. Well chunks of mined ore no larger than a fist is fed into the stamp mill along with water. The 900 pound stamp crushes the ore fine enough so as the gold or silver can be extracted.

Twenty Stamp Mill - 1914

Many of the artifacts on the premises are original some are not. This Wells Fargo Stagecoach is a perfect replica of one used back in the day (me included).

Take me to the nearest saloon partner