Badboulder's early history

The purchase of Badboulder was finalized July 21, 1994; Hilltop Realty, owned and operated by Larry and Sandy Oldman, who conducted our process. The information that we received about our property was sparse. We did learn that it had been sold off of Senator John Hayes ranch many years ago to a prospector from Texas. He, in turn sold it to a couple from CA who were planning to build a retirement home. Before they made any changes to the land, the husband died and we bought the land from his widow.In the spring of 2009, Mr. Crosswaite from the state of Nevada stopped at our gate while I was giving an early morning shot of water to our lupines and iris plants. He introduced himself as an eighty year old who wanted to see, just one more time, the home he helped his mother build of local stone when he was a mere six-year old. That house neighbors Badboulder to the south and is still standing.Mr. Croswaite was a wealth of information about Badboulder's early homeowner's history. The prospector owner from Texas was referred to as Price, a last name, by Mr. Crosswaite so I will take that liberty. Price "had money" compared to his neighbors. He built a small home of wood and dug the best well in the neighborhood. Price was fond of drink, so much so that he once mistook a large prickly- pear cactus for a man trespassing on his land and proceeded to punch him in the eye. The neighbors assisted him in removal of the spines the following day. The large amount of whiskey bottles we've found in between boulders would lend support to this story. Mr. Crosswaite also related that his mother and he panned for gold in our dry wash most every Sunday afternoon along with "the Chinese". At that time, Chinese workmen were completing the railroad lines from Hillside to Wickenberg and living in the Congress area. He reported finding many nuggets in our wash. Mr. Crosswaite said that he had no fear of mountain lions because there was a bounty on them and the government took care of them. He was astonished to learn that we are visited by javalinas, sometimes large herds of javalinas, on a daily basis.