Charles Debrille Poston (1825 - 1902)

Charles Debrille Poston (1825 - 1902) 
A delegate from the Territory of Arizona
4/20/1825
Born near Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky
Attended the public schools
Clerk in the County Clerk’s Office
Clerk of the Supreme Court at Nashville, Tennessee
1850
Moved to California & settled in San Francisco
1850-1853
Clerk in the Customhouse at San Francisco
1854
Moved to Arizona & became interested in silver mining
1863
Appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Superintendent of Indian Affairs & civilian aide to General Heintzelman
12/5/1864-3/3/1865
Elected as a Republican to the 38th Congress for the Arizona Territory
1864
Unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the 39th Congress
Studied law
1867
Admitted to the bar
Started his practice of his profession in Washington, D.C.
1878
Appointed by President Hayes register of the U.S. land office at Florence, Arizona
1890
Consular Agent at El Paso, Texas
6/24/1925
Died in Phoenix, Arizona & interment in Arizona Cemetery
4/26/1925
Re-interment under a rock cairn erected by the State of Arizona at the summit of Poston Butte, overlooking the town of Florence, Arizona 

Sources:Bibliography . Goff, John S. Charles D. Poston. Cave Creek, AZ: Black Mountain Press, 1995.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000458
***********************************************************
     In 1854 Charles Poston, came to Arizona to explore. Charles was appointed the agent in charge of Indian Affairs by Abraham Lincoln and later became known as the “Father of Arizona”.  Poston then aligned with Major General Samuel Heintzelman. In 1856,
     Heintzelman rediscovered the now famous, “Cerro Colorado Mine”, known by many as “The richest Silver Mine in the world”. Then, to expand his holdings, he started the Sonora Exploration & Mining Company and set up a Board of Directors that included Mr. Samuel Colt, of the revolver fame, who put up $10,000. The mine produced silver ore with the high grade assaying upwards of 9,000 ounces of silver per ton. The very richest ore assayed 12,000 ozs, per ton and was 50% pure silver.
     With Apaches on the warpath, the Cerro Colorado was intermittingly mined from the 1860’s-1880’s. By 1908, veins 30 ft wide of high grade silver ore were discovered and mined to a depth of 350 ft. During this period other mines were opened that included the Clark, Colorado & Liberty mines. With the outbreak of WWI mining at the mining in the Cerro District came to a halt and during the war the mining and milling equipment was stolen and taken into Mexico.
     After the WWI attempts were made to reopen and produce from the mines. These attempts were partially successful as silver ores with grades of 600-1500 ounces per ton were produced and shipped to various smelters.

Source: http://www.unitedmines.com/History.html