Los Angeles County
Biographies
FRANK DAVIS
DAVIS, FRANK, Mining Engineer, Los Angeles, Cal., was born in Red Oak, Iowa, December 24, 1862, the son of John Miles Davis and Vironicy (Hunt) Davis. He married Laura E. Lewis at Alameda, Cal, January 15, 1888, and to them there was born a daughter, Elizabeth Davis. Mr. Davis is descended from one of the Colonial families of Maryland who emigrated in 1836, from Little Gunwater, a village near Baltimore, to Fort Recovery, Ohio. Mr. Davis’ father was then six years old, and was reared in Ohio, but following his marriage, moved to Iowa. There the son was born and when he was two years old the family again moved, going across the continent with horse and ox teams. After a tedious journey, during which they were compelled to battle with Indians, the family settled in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The elder Davis is one of the few persons living who pioneered from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific; he celebrated his sixtieth wedding anniversary September 10, 1912.
Frank Davis spent his boyhood in the vicinity of Salem and Portland, Oregon, and received his early education in the country schools. He attended the High School of East Portland and, returning to Salem, studied chemistry, metallurgy and mine engineering under private instructors.
In 1882, Mr. Davis left Salem and went to New Mexico, where he became an assayer in the Organ Mining camp. The Apache Indians were on the warpath during the time he was in New Mexico and Mr. Davis figured in several engagements with them.
During the early part of 1884, Mr. Davis went to the Coeur d’Alene mining region, but remained there only a short while, and next began prospecting for gold in the southern part of Oregon. At the beginning of 1885, he drifted down to the gold placer mines of the New River district in Trinity County, California; thence to Shasta County, California, prospecting at various places on the way. In Shasta County he met with his first notable success, discovering the Clipper Mine, a gold quartz property, which he developed and sold in 1886.
For the next two years he was engaged in the examination and investigation of mining properties, and early in 1888 went to British Columbia, visiting various prospective mining sections, including the Tompson River and Upper Frazier River regions. He was among the first to recognize the possibilities of the Lake Tesia coal fields near Kamloops.
In the fall of 1888, Mr. Davis was employed by the Melrose Smelting & Refining Works, located at East Oakland, Cal. He held several important positions, but resigned in 1890 to resume mining, going to Lower California. There he developed the Calmalli gold mines, afterwards the property of the Ybarra Gold Mining Co., and for six years was engaged in the metallurgical operations of the company’s works. He resigned in 1896 and became affiliated with the famous Rawhide-App Consolidated mines on the Mother Lode near Jamestown, Cal. For the next three years he was engaged as general metallurgist for the company achieving notable success in the economic chloridization process. He left this in 1900 to make a special exploration tour in Mexico which was to result in his becoming one of the active mining men in that country.
Mr. Davis began his Mexican operations by making extensive investigations in the interior of the State of Sonora, and in 1902 was appointed General Manager of the Yaqui Smelting & Refining Co. He installed the company’s plants on the Yaqui River and also was engaged in general mine engineering, his work taking him into many parts of Mexico. He acted as Consulting Engineer to a number of companies simultaneously and in this way was an important factor in the development of some notable mining properties. Among the more important of them is the Los Animas Mine, belonging to the Wyman Mining Company, situated at San Xavier, Sonora. A. V. Baumann, of Fremont, Ohio, and others control this property.
For the first six years after going to Mexico, his operations never brought him nearer than ninety miles to a railroad and as a result he and his men were compelled, because of the numerous bands of murderous Yaqui Indians at large in the country, to become scouts and marksmen. Oftentimes Mr. Davis carried large sums of money with him and had to ride long distances through Indian-infested regions. He had many experiences with the Yaquis, but in each instance, by a display of courage and knowledge of the Indian methods of warfare, escaped safely. On one occasion he and two companions, mounted on horses, were caught in a canyon between two forces of Yaquis. Knowing the Indian trait of not attacking a party without first ascertaining its strength, Mr. Davis instructed his men to spread out in single file and in this formation the three rode safety through the Yaquis, who fifty strong, were hidden in the brush.
In 1911, Mr. Davis who had spent the greater part of twelve years in the wilds of Mexico, was called East by a syndicate of capitalists who desired his advice on some mining ventures and he has been engaged since that time in engineering work for these interests. Among other duties he serves as Consulting Engineer for several groups of property in which he holds interest, among them the Fuerte River Copper Company and the Reiniger Mining & Smelting Company.
Transcribed 7-6-10
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 482, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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