The "Hydraulic Giant" - a century-old mining device long missing from historic Kentucky Camp - has been recovered and will go on display Saturday at the site southeast of Tucson.
The Giant, a huge nozzle used as a water cannon to retrieve gold from rocks, will be unveiled at a free public event.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Activities include a walking tour, gold panning and adobe-brick making.
"We got the nozzle back just this past May," said Mark Doumas, president of the Friends of Kentucky Camp. The nonprofit group is sponsoring Saturday's event with the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the site.
"We got a phone call from an anonymous donor," Doumas said. "He said he had some mining material (including the nozzle) he had taken from the site more than 30 years ago, long before it was a historic site. He wanted to return it to Kentucky Camp."
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Doumas said the nozzle, about 8 feet long, was used during Kentucky Camp's very brief mining heyday in 1904.
"The gold-mining operation involved an 8-mile-long water line to get water from the other side of the Santa Rita Mountains" to the mine site, he said. A stream of water from the nozzle "would literally blast away the gold-bearing rocks and dirt."
Insufficient water for hydraulic mining and other problems led to an end of the mining effort after only a matter of months. The property became a cattle ranch for the next 50 years before being sold to a mining conglomerate. It was acquired by the Coronado National Forest in 1989.
Doumas and other members of the Friends group have worked to maintain five old adobe buildings at the site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
People attending Saturday's event are encouraged to bring a lunch or snacks, Doumas said.
if you go
• What: A free event at the Kentucky Camp historic mining site southeast of Tucson. The event will feature a walking tour, other activities and a display of a water cannon device used in hydraulic mining.
• When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Kentucky Camp is about 45 miles southeast of Tucson. Drive east on Interstate 10 from Tucson and take Exit 281 for Arizona 83. Follow Arizona 83 south for more than 20 miles, turn west onto Gardner Canyon Road and follow the signs to Kentucky Camp. The road is unpaved but suitable for passenger cars.
• Information: kentuckycamp.org
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192. On Twitter: @DouglasKreutz
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