Kearny originally declared ‘hostile, uninhabitable’

by Vicki Clark | Copper Area

KearnyKearny’s roots began in the 1800s as legendary Arizona explorer Father Kino sought to convert the Apache Indian communities in the area to Christianity. In the late 1800s, General Stephen W. Kearny set up camp near the Gila River at the base of the Pinal Mountains. Gen. Kearny called the area hostile and uninhabitable, but more than 50 years later, that “uninhabitable area” became something quite the opposite.

Many years after the expedition of Gen. Kearny, he was celebrated in the naming of what is actually the most recent settlement in the Copper Basin area.

The Town of Kearny was founded by the Kennecott Copper Company. The mine’s operation had expanded so far it was about to envelop the communities of Sonora, Ray and Barcelona. Many of the residents of these small towns that were located in what is now the Ray Open Pit were miners with the company.

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