Solo in Remote Arizona – Skull Valley to a Company Town

[country music]
[Peter] Good morning guys.
From a remote corner of Arizona,
we have a very interesting road trip
ahead of us today.
Check this out. Going through the towns
of Skull Valley and Bagdad.
Bagdad, Arizona. Not Baghdad, Iraq.
And Bagdad is one of the remaining
company towns left in the United States.
Meaning the mine owns everything.
All the real estate.
Everyone who lives there
has something to do with the mine.
And there’s really not much
about it online other than
it’s far removed
and looks pretty much self-contained.
So, we’ll get out there today.
Stop in the little towns.
Talk to the locals.
Get a better understanding of what
this beautiful part of the country is like.
Let’s do this.
[country music]
This gets really cool here.
800 people live here in Skull Valley.
And I believe it’s mostly ranching.
See these massive cottonwoods
meaning there’s some water coming through.
So we have a cafe there, slash store.
You saw coming in here
how expansive the landscapes are.
This is true West.
Skull Valley Fire Department.
Post office here.
Let’s see what we can get into.
I think that might be it.
But I saw some back roads.
We’ll check those out.
Well, here we go. You can just see
a bunch of ranching, horses.
Train tracks.
Now I did my research last night.
And where we’re going, Bagdad.
All of the copper back of the day
came out on this train line here.
Skull Valley was important
because of this line right here
going out to “Preskit”
as the locals say it.
Prescott, if you’re from out of town,
and then off to Phoenix, I believe.
Okay, so you have some new homes here.
This is a different Arizona
that’s for sure.
It doesn’t even feel like desert down here.
I’m sure it’s generations of families
over the years
set up their life here, and it just
goes down to the kids and the grandkids.
It keeps going,
generation after generation.
And from the looks of it,
I mean, there’s some nice homes,
you can make a decent living
ranching in these parts.
Got the turkey vultures.
That’s about as far as we’re going to get.
All right, guys, let’s turn around.
That might be Skull Valley.
That might be it.
So, see if we can talk to someone
at that store there.
[woman] It’s the only place in town
that’s open.
The owner is also the owner
of Iron Springs Ranch.
-So they own 5,500 acres down the street.
-Okay.
They bought the restaurant.
They sell their meat here.
There’s nothing forever
going that direction.
-Except Bagdad, where I’m going.
-You’re going to Bagdad?
Bagdad is a mining town owned by Freeport.
I know a little bit
because my niece lives there.
But yeah,
there’s a golf course, a post office.
There’s three restaurants
at least that I’m aware of right now.
And it’s a great school where my nieces go.
-So just its own world?
-Yeah.
-And look here. This is the owner, Claire.
-This is Claire? Wow.
How are you?
-My name’s Peter.
-Nice to meet you.
I’m making a video on the area.
I just want to highlight
what you got going on.
You’re from here?
Well, yeah, we live in Skull Valley.
We have a ranch
about two miles up the road there.
Skull Valley is absolutely amazing.
It’s like your typical rural community.
Very few buildings, as you can see.
This was the old general store.
And it shut down about eight years ago.
It’s now owned by a family.
They do some manufacturing out of it
but it’s a beautiful historic building.
And then our store, The Forge,
was the old gas station.
Originally, it was actually a forge.
It was built by a blacksmith.
It’s just amazing.
The community here, if you like that
sort of old-fashioned community,
this is it.
I mean, this is it.
Our little central area.
We’ve got the train that comes through here
five or six times a day.
The old railroad actually used to run
through our ranch and go on up to Prescott.
We still find all of
the old railroad nails and stuff
on our ranch when we’re grading our roads.
Because that’s when all the copper
came out of Bagdad, right?
-Exactly.
-It went up to Prescott.
But it was also a passenger train,
and it would take the businessmen
from down in Phoenix.
And they’d come up for the weekend
and join their wives and children
at Iron Springs Camp.
So it has that history as well,
and that stopped in 1968.
That was the last time that ran.
Is there still sort of that
pioneering feel to this place?
There really is. It’s a ranching community,
a lot of very authentic cowboys.
We’re a regenerative ranch,
which a lot of people aren’t familiar with,
but it’s kind of beyond organic.
-Beyond organic?
-Beyond organic.
Very, very clean, focusing on soil health,
focusing on nutrient-dense grasses,
which then give you
much more nutrient-dense food.
The omega-3, omega-6 ratio
on the beef is different,
so it’s a lot more heart-healthy.
-You’re totally geeked out on this.
We are so geeked out on it.
It’s amazing and we do tours.
It’s going to be a silly question,
but it’s grass-fed, grass-finished?
-Yes, 100%. No grain.
-Because if it’s not grass-finished…
-…who are we kidding, right?
-Yeah, exactly.
There is a huge difference.
A lot of people like grain-finished beef.
-But from a nutrition standpoint…
-Okay.
…from an anti-inflammatory standpoint,
grass-finished is 100% better.
Can people buy your meat
anywhere in the country?
No, we just stay with local.
That’s kind of our thing.
We like to stay local,
so we’re in a couple local restaurants.
We sell our beef out of the Forge.
We sell at local farmer’s markets.
We are taking it to Phoenix,
so we’ll be in a slightly bigger area.
We still have cattle
coming through the street occasionally,
sometimes not on purpose.
My husband rides his horse
down from the ranch,
ties it up, and comes in for a meal.
You know, it’s just very
kind of quintessential old American.
-Can I show the inside?
-Absolutely. Let’s go.
Cool.
[Peter] But you’ve got
the side-by-sides coming out.
We do. Lots of side-by-sides.
Lots of bikers. Lots of cyclists.
-I didn’t expect this, to be honest.
I thought it would have been more rustic.
Yeah, we are…
I think people don’t expect too much.
So when they do come, they’re surprised.
They walk in the door, and they’re
surprised at what we’ve done in here.
-Oh, yeah. Nice.
Beautiful.
Are you behind the decor?
Yeah. Myself and my contractor
kind of put together the idea.
If you look over here,
we’ve branded a lot of the…
-Brands into the wall.
-Oh, yeah.
-Nice.
-Yeah.
So we’ve got a lot of
historic ranches branded in here.
We call this the station room,
because this was once a gas station.
So we kept the station room feel.
We’ve got George Phippen
artwork on the walls,
because he was local to Skull Valley.
His son still comes in here.
So we have his artwork.
He kindly lets us exhibit it
and sell prints.
There was a huge battle
between two Indian tribes here,
and so there were so many
bones and skulls in the fields
when the the original pioneers
were setting up
and so that’s why it’s called Skull Valley.
-What year do you know? 1880-something?
-Late 1700s, low 1800s.
-Okay.
The two tribes were
the Yavapai and Tonoatom.
-Tonoatom were here?
They’re in the South right now, right?
They weren’t here. They would
come up here and raid the Yavapai.
-And then when the settlers came in,
they saw all the skulls…
-…and called it Skull Valley.
-Stack of skulls.
Okay, so it wasn’t between
the Calvary and the Natives.
-It was Native on Native.
-Yes.
Oh, okay.
That’s why there wasn’t too many people.
They’re all fighting each other. Oh, yeah.
Yeah, the Yavapai
were kind of sophisticated.
In other words, they had
bows and arrows and stuff like that.
And Tonoatom were big people.
They just kind of beat you up.
So…
-They’re like big boned?
-Right.
They’re like the Samoans of the Natives.
Yes.
And so the Yavapai
did a very brutal raid on the Tonoatom.
So they said,
“Okay, we’re going to get them.”
And they set up a trap,
and this is where they trapped them.
That’s why…
[Peter] Interesting.
And you’re the pastor here?
There’s two of us.
The other one’s walking in.
-Okay.
-Or he’s right outside.
All right.
-So you grew up in Skull Valley.
-Mm-hmm. Born and raised.
-Your mother?
-Grandmother.
Grandmother. Well, you’re so young looking.
-I couldn’t tell.
-Yes.
Great. So how is it out here these days?
It’s getting busy.
It used to be much quieter.
-Okay.
-More people going on.
How do you feel about it?
I think it’s inevitable.
And I think it’s probably great.
-And you grew up here and never left?
I did but you come back usually.
-It brought you back in?
-It did.
So I grew up here.
I grew up with them.
My parents were in the military.
-So I lived here.
-Okay.
I did the very typical small town thing.
Grew up and hit 17, 18.
I was like, “Peace out.”
And I left to college.
And then I thought I was going to
go marry some city boy.
Ended up marrying a Chino boy,
which is just about 40 minutes from here.
-A Chino boy?
-Chino Valley.
Which is the other side of Prescott.
But it’s another kinda small town.
-So you didn’t go city slicker.
You went Chino boy.
I went here and found somebody
who loved my childhood home
as much as I do
if not more sometimes, I think.
So we both went to nursing school.
And we’re nurses down in the valley.
Did the whole city thing. ICU, all of that.
And then when we had kids,
it was like, well, it’s time to go home.
So now we’re back.
And he works at the local VA up here.
Okay. Nice.
I actually just left bedside last week.
And I’m going to be
the school nurse down here now.
We have a tiny little school.
-It’s a great little school.
-Congrats.
It’s the school I went to.
And now my daughter’s…
-How many kids at the school here?
Right now we have 38 I think.
But it varies through the year.
-When you were in school, there were 18.
-18.
Okay. So it’s growing.
-That’s cool.
-Yeah. It’s a great…
I mean, you can even go
down there and sneak in.
The gates are usually open.
-I’ll check that out.
-It’s a great little school.
-Well, thank you all. Appreciate it.
-Yes, sir. Thank you.
Oh, I’m lucky I ran into you.
Well, my husband’s not in…
-[child] Don’t go over there.
-[man] There it is.
We watch you pretty religiously.
-Oh, thank you.
So if you want to
check something out, let me know.
We’re going to walk by my house.
Our house was built in 1962.
This used to be one property.
And the lady that owned
this general store at the time
is the one who was
the original builder of our house.
Who’s this guy?
Oh, this is our neighbors, the Shafers.
Also a family that’s been here
a very long time.
-I came into town
and I was just saying to the camera,
I bet it’s just generation,
after generation, after generation here.
It can be.
And it’s an interesting dynamic down here.
-[dogs barking]
-Enough, you three.
That’s enough. Willow.
-Okay. You’re an A-rated school district.
-We are an A-rated school district.
When the lady that built this house
that we now live in,
she built the windows purposely
to be able to keep an eye on the store.
-Because that was hers.
-Oh nice. Right.
-This is one of the older houses here.
-[dogs barking]
Unlivable.
It’s made out of California redwood
that was brought over
on the train in the late 1800s.
We’re not sure the exact date it was built,
but it was somewhere in the late 1800s.
-Is anyone living there now?
-No, no, no, no.
Okay.
-No, the only things living there now
are chickens hiding to hatch baby chicks
and squirrels. [giggles]
Is this all your compound here?
This is all ours, yep.
-Oh, this is cool.
-We have just under two acres.
My grandparents moved in here in 1980.
Actually, it’s a fun story.
When you’re driving,
you might drive a road called Yarnell Hill,
and it’s that way.
My grandfather
worked for ADOT building roads,
and he built the road coming up.
It was a seven-year project.
And they lived in Prescott,
’cause my grandfather
was born and raised in Prescott.
And he would drive by this house
every single day
for seven years on his commute.
And when they put it up for sale,
he bought it the same day.
Went home and told my grandma,
“Bought the house, we’re moving.” [giggles]
And they moved down here.
But it was in August or September,
right after the monsoons.
And he went and told her
it was green as Ireland.
And that’s it right there.
That’s the action.
That’s downtown.
Don’t blink. You’ll miss it.
-And then we’re out.
I just need to be letting…
I’ll explain everything later, but…
All right, guys.
We got lucky here.
I was just driving around and
waved to one guy who didn’t wave back.
Didn’t think it would be
a camera-friendly experience,
and then
this is how it works.
Run into the right people.
They show you around.
Oh, this is beautiful.
[woman] Okay. All right. Cool.
I’ll explain everything later. [giggles]
Okay. Bye.
So this is our little museum.
Oh, this is great.
-And it actually…
It’s usually open on Sundays,
but we just had our pie social last week.
Which is the biggest fundraiser
they do for that.
That would have been the best day
for you to come get all the history.
-Oh, yeah.
So how do you like living here
after coming back from the city?
-I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I always tell people we’re kind of like a…
We’re basically a Hallmark movie
with a little bit more drama.
-Is there drama here?
-Oh, yes.
Seriously?
Well, yeah.
It’s a small town.
Word gets around fast.
It’s one of those typical things
if something happens to someone in Prescott
before they even get home
down the mountain,
the rest of the town
probably knows about it.
So…
-Oh, this is beautiful.
Look at that cottonwood.
This is the school.
-Jesse, can you stand near that?
-Yeah.
I’ll show how big this cottonwood is.
That’s…
“6 – 6 – ’48”
So that’s not when the school was built.
I’m not sure what that is.
-Jesse, that’s I think
the biggest cottonwood I’ve ever seen.
Oh, you haven’t seen it yet. I’m gonna
take you to the biggest cottonwood.
-You got a bigger one than this?
-I got a bigger one than this. Yeah.
And actually, it’s like registered
as the biggest one.
This is the original school building.
We just did a whole
redo of everything.
Oh, this is great. The old wooden floor.
Yep. They really did a great job.
So we just opened this.
This is like our new
early life learning center now.
So our preschool
and our kindergarten is in here now.
But when I was young, this was all we had.
So, this was my classroom.
-And you’re not that old.
I’m going to be 41 next month.
Okay, so this is your school.
This is my school.
This when I went here,
kindergarten through third grade.
And then that room was fourth grade
through whatever grade we had.
Kindergarten through third grade here?
In this whole room.
So the irony,
I’m a little over sentimental.
This is my daughter’s desk.
And this was where my desk was too
when I was in this classroom.
So, this is it. But we got the flooring.
We did a lot to get this redone
and ready for… the kids.
And we’ve just had enough people
come back, move back in.
You know, we’ve got the enrollment to…
-So, there’s more of that trend?
People doing what you did?
-I think so.
-Okay.
Especially, I think COVID
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Now back to the video.
[Peter] Oh, this is cool.
-So people care here.
-People care deeply here.
That is one thing you will not be short of.
Even differing opinions,
differing lifestyles.
I can’t think of
a single person in this town
that wouldn’t give their last dollar
to their neighbor if they needed it.
-So the political lines
don’t matter with that stuff?
-Not when it comes to those things.
-That’s cool.
There’s a lot of political lines
and right now everyone’s feeling that.
-Sure.
-In this climate.
But the thing in small town America is…
-…you can’t ostracize that other person.
-Exactly.
Because you have
to deal with them every day.
You’re going to see them.
Oh, look at this. That’s cool.
We had an issue a few summers ago
where we had a bad monsoon come through
and we were out of power
for three or four days.
And there were people who hadn’t spoken
because of online issues and this and that
helping each other out.
Because when it came down to that,
that’s what you do.
-Yeah, yeah.
-That’s what you do.
All that stuff seems superficial
when something real hits.
Yeah, for sure.
My grandma was talking about
she’s definitely seen some changes.
And we talk all the time about
we don’t necessarily love
a ton of people moving in,
but the town’s going to die if you don’t.
-Okay.
So you got to find that balance of
we want people to be here, to live here.
To keep the town going, otherwise…
-It dies.
-It just dies.
And so, like, the people
that opened up the coffee shop here,
they got a little flak, as was expected.
But it’s a hit.
And the same people
who were giving it a hard time,
I see them go on Saturday mornings
getting their coffee.
-But literally a few steps away and it’s
you’re walking down the yellow line and…
-Yep.
And I always joked about
how the only things I missed from the city
was my gym and my coffee shop.
And then they opened that
and I was like, well, we’re good to go.
-Okay, so I was noticing out here,
I went down one of these roads.
Really nice ranches, nice homes.
So there’s decent money in ranching, huh?
Or it can be?
That’s… we have
an interesting dynamic here where
when you’re a rancher, your money
is not necessarily in actual dollar bills.
It’s going to be in…
-Okay, your land rich, money poor.
Your land rich, money poor.
And there’s a lot of people here
that have that.
And then there’s a lot of people here
on the other scale of things
who are just fighting
to put a piece of bread on the table.
-Okay.
And then, you know,
my husband and I, we’re in the middle.
We’re not, you know,
penny to penny to penny,
but we’re certainly not
rolling in the dough by any means.
Our situation is the rarer one here.
The middle ground
of that lifestyle is less seen.
It’s more just this or this.
It’s gotten so expensive in Arizona.
The running joke is that
we’re as expensive as L.A.
When I was 17, 18,
I was able to afford
an apartment in Prescott
which is the next town over.
Go to Phoenix and get an apartment
on my own down there.
And now, if me and my husband
weren’t already settled
and just came across this place
we would not be able to afford it
on two healthcare worker salaries.
-Even out here, in literally
the middle of nowhere,
it’s hard to make it off of two,
what I’ve always looked at as…
-…very strong middle class salaries.
-Very strong middle class salaries.
Now, we have water.
So it is expensive here.
-You guys have groundwater?
-We have groundwater.
My orchard that you saw back there,
we don’t have to water it.
Because our water table is at like 30 feet.
-Are you serious?
30 feet down here, you’re hitting water.
When you go to Bagdad, you’re gonna see
a totally different
side of that.
Of wells being dug at 500 feet.
So we’re going under the train bridge
to the other side of town.
-And the train is still operating?
-Still goes. Yep.
-How many times a day?
-Well, it differs.
But my grandfather used to always say,
don’t watch the news
to see how the economy is going.
See how many trains come through in a week.
[cicadas chirping]
-This is it, Jesse?
-This is it.
[Peter] The biggest cottonwood in Arizona?
-Is that what you said?
-Yeah.
-Can I have you hold the camera?
-Yes.
I just want to put some scale
on this thing.
[chirping continues]
Yeah, that’s more like a redwood, you know?
That’s cool.
-And there’s a little plaque right there.
-Oh, yeah.
It’s dedicated to Bob Pearson.
He used to live in this property.
And I believe his mom, his parents
lived here and then he moved here.
The whole family.
-They grow fast. This was planted in 1917.
-Wow.
-Yep.
[Jesse] He was out here trimming it
one day and a limb fell on him.
And that was probably…
Some of us think that’s probably
how Bob would have wanted to go
’cause he loved these trees.
So full circle.
[country music]
So I was just in Finland
and did a drive
four and a half hours north of the capital.
And I said it in the videos,
but it was like, you know,
the speeds are always changing
and there’s speed cameras everywhere.
And it’s just not like a sit back
and enjoy the open road experience.
And that’s what the American West
is so good for.
[music continues]
All right.
You can see it’s starting to change here.
It’s getting warmer. Vegetation changing.
Now low enough for Saguaro cacti to live.
And we’re out in it guys.
It’s been a while where
it’s just been like this.
[silence]
So think of those early pioneers
going for their riches.
Out into the mountains
looking for copper or whatever else.
The summer heat, absolutely brutal.
I think right here it gets around 110,
maybe 115.
And there’s no guarantee
you’re going to find your fortune
and there’s a whole lot of risk
that it’s not going to work out.
You’re just not going to find water.
And such an inhospitable environment.
But you got to love it.
The courage to go for it.
Pioneering spirit.
We’re getting closer. We’re about
22 miles from Bagdad.
[silence]
Okay. We’re coming up on a river here.
Santa Maria River.
And there you go.
So that’s desert Arizona.
A lot of these rivers, they come alive
when the monsoon rains come.
And then most of the year,
they’re looking like that.
We’re getting closer.
It’s a one way in, one way out.
So nobody is just passing through town.
All right. So Bagdad has
roughly 2,000 people in it.
According to legend,
the name Bagdad is not a misspelling.
Supposedly, a father and son
operated a small scale
copper mining operation here.
And I guess the son said to the father,
“Do you have the bag, dad?”
So they say. So the legend says.
Or another story is
-How you doing?
-Peter Santenello.
-Don’t tell me you live here.
-We do.
Oh my God.
We just drove by and I was like,
I swear I just seen Peter Santenello.
-Hey, Peter.
-This is the son.
-Yeah, nice to meet you.
-Nice.
The full fam is out here.
-We got two other boys.
-Two more.
-Oh, right on.
-Yeah.
Okay. I was worried.
‘Cause I looked online and I’m like,
there’s not much information on this place.
Maybe it’s totally closed off.
I won’t be able to talk to people.
-No.
-It’s not like that?
No, it’s a very friendly town.
-It’s a company town.
-It is.
-It’s one of the last few.
-It is.
-Where the company owns everything, right?
-Yes.
-So you rent your home here?
-Yes.
Oh.
The only other people that are here
are the Kellis family
and they own all the ranch land.
Yeah.
But other than that,
the whole town is owned by Bagdad.
Okay.
And I got on the town website last night.
Yeah.
And I saw there was a serious waiting list
for people to live here.
-Yes.
-Yes.
So it’s really hard to get a place.
It is.
There’s just a housing shortage I think.
We’ve watched your stuff
and know it’s everywhere.
-It’s everywhere. Yeah.
-Yeah.
So Bagdad, the story, there’s two legends.
Okay.
One is the son says,
“Do you have the bag, dad?”
And the other is because
all the riches were found here
and they just called it Baghdad
because of Mesopotamia
and the history of that.
-I’ve never heard the second.
-Okay.
-It’s the first.
-That’s Internet legend. So maybe.
I will say the high school
mascot is a Sultan.
So maybe.
Which has Middle Eastern roots, right?
With Turkey and everything.
So there could be something there.
So how’s it for you growing up out here?
I was actually,
I love it, but I was raised on a ranch,
the Yolo Ranch,
like how many miles from here?
It’s 15 miles.
Yeah.
We have three boys. He’s our oldest.
He’s 21. We have a 19 year old, Cole.
This is Cole’s shirt.
-Oh, nice. Team Cole.
Cole was in a car wreck
two and a half years ago.
-Oh, I’m sorry.
Been fighting for his life ever since,
starting to do better now.
And then we have, Cole’s 19,
and then we have a 10 year old.
So, and we raised them on the Yolo Ranch.
We came to Bagdad
when I had got a job here.
-So it’s great to work because
from what I read, the rent is low.
-The pay is good.
-Yes.
And you’re not gonna spend
your money on much out here.
Yeah. You’re going to see lots of
side-by-sides,
lots of toy haulers, nice trucks.
They spend their money well.
-Okay, cool.
Hunting’s big out here.
People love archery hunting.
-If you don’t work for the mine,
you work for some auxiliary operation?
Yeah.
Store, the post office,
one of the restaurants.
Freeport-McMoRan owns the town
and they also own Morenci.
So it’s another company town.
So like you said, it’s very unique.
But they take care of the town very nicely.
They keep it up to date, beautiful.
Have lots of company events
that are free for the entire community.
Fourth of July is huge around here.
We do big fireworks.
If we can’t do them on the Fourth,
we do them for the company picnic.
And it’s like bouncy houses, water slides,
and bring Famous Dave’s in
and feed the town.
-So it’s not the day of scrip
and going to the company store.
No, it’s not.
No, they take very…
They take care of their people very well
and try and give them a nice place to live
because, you know,
it is so remote and rural.
-Yeah, right.
All right, guys.
Well, I’m going to get into it.
So check out… Just go down the street.
Go down the main street.
-You guys…
-You’re always welcome.
Thank you.
If there’s anything we can do for you,
Let us know.
-Thank you.
-Thank you for your content.
Our son, I told you he’s been struggling.
He’s been kinda chair-ridden, if you will.
And he has watched the heck
out of your videos.
-Oh, cool.
Shout out to Cole.
Yeah. Awesome. Thank you.
-Thanks, you guys. See you guys.
-Have a good day.
So cool.
I was stumbling on the Bagdad story
and they saved me pretty well.
They saved us.
So you didn’t have to hear me babble
about different theories of the name.
It sounds like it is
the son saying to the dad, “bag dad”.
All right.
We’ve just made it to the border.
Let’s get into it.
You can see we’ve dropped enough
in elevation there are palm trees here.
And very cool what they said about
the company takes care of things.
First impressions
that’s a nice park.
All right, guys.
We’re going to cruise around.
Get into some of these neighborhoods.
Talk to whomever we can find.
It’s a little silent on the streets
here in Bagdad.
They said the school is good.
I’m sure football is a big deal.
Look at those stands for a small town.
Nice looking school up there.
Here’s the one motel in town.
$75 a night.
Copper Sheet Motel.
Bagdad Fire.
Golf course.
Here’s the Bagdad housing.
And it is very cheap for renting.
I pulled this off the Bagdad website.
So for a one bedroom,
one bath, $250 a month.
Three bed, two bath town site,
$375 a month.
This is what they look like.
I don’t know what that is right there.
That looks a bit bigger I would say.
And if we scale up,
4 bed, 2.5 bath town site,
$425.
So everyone has
some sort of desert machine.
Side-by-side.
Four wheelers.
Pick up trucks.
So all these homes look to be
pretty much the same looking.
But they’re cheap. Nobody owns here.
Everything is rented.
You have a job. You got a place up here.
So in the old days,
people were paid in scrip
and they could only shop
at the company store.
So that money was useless everywhere else.
But thank God we’re not in
those days anymore.
A lot of people working on things.
And things are way better off.
Okay, so I took this from
the U.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey,
median household income here,
$99,000 a year.
In the United States,
that number is roughly $74,500.
So it’s 36% higher
than Arizona’s statewide median income.
Similar looking streets.
RVs, side-by-sides.
Pick up trucks.
Yeah, so that’s where people are
spending their money, in their vehicles.
Because they can’t add on to homes.
They can’t build homes.
So they get nice GMC Yukons instead.
Alright guys,
not many people out and about.
We have the diner on Main.
Don’t want to go eat yet.
Want to figure out this town first.
Definitely an interesting feel.
Just the geography.
The massive expanses
before coming into this town.
The fact that it just comes in
on one road and dead ends.
And also the fact that
it’s a true company town.
“Celebrating 140 years of the best
copper town anywhere. Established 1882.”
So a few details about
the copper situation here in Bagdad.
Roughly 105,000 tons of copper per year.
Which gives an estimation of
roughly $850 to $950 million a year.
That being the gross value.
Now, internet numbers.
I don’t have the books
of what’s going on in the mine.
But I think we can all say
a lot of copper is coming out of here.
So, open pit copper mining.
This is what it looks like.
We’re not going to be able to get in here.
No way.
1,000 employees, 145 contractors.
The equipment has to be unbelievable
to make all of this happen.
You can see it’s an
extensive operation out here.
Look at the tire on one of these machines.
And that’s, I guess is a…
What is this, in the audience?
Is this a copper claw?
What do you call that?
I’ve never seen that before.
And here we go.
I guess this is what it looks like.
Right over the hill
there.
Digging deep and then
pulling these chunks out
and then extracting the copper
from the rock.
Here we have a Bagdad skeleton
and a caged bird.
It’s got a bit of modern day
ghost town vibes.
It is Sunday.
So, everyone must be at home.
There’s a door open over here.
Let’s see if we can find some life.
[Peter] This is your game shop?
-Oh yeah. Yeah.
-That’s cool.
You’re packing a lot in here.
You even have Japanese candies.
Yep, mm-hmm. We got a bunch.
We have these Botan Rice Candies.
It has a wrapper in a wrapper.
You can actually eat the wrapper
that’s within it.
-Oh, nice.
-It’s pretty interesting.
-Okay, you import all this stuff from Asia?
Yeah, we just appreciate it.
You love Japanese culture? Yeah.
I mean, we’re pretty passionate about it.
I mean, even me and my fiance.
Like, we’re thinking about
not even just doing a wedding.
Just going to Japan or something. [laughs]
-Japan’s awesome.
How’d you end up in Bagdad?
I grew up in Prescott,
but I came here to Bagdad
because I actually met my now fiancé.
-He was working at the mine.
-Okay.
And I met him online through a dating app.
And then, you know,
now we’re getting married.
Okay, so how is it living out here?
What’s your take on it?
Um…
Living out here is, you know, unique
’cause it’s a very small town.
-Sure.
-So, it has its ups and its downs.
But I think it’s mostly up, you know,
’cause you’re a pretty,
you know, tight-knit community.
-Okay. And I was thinking
everyone’s employed pretty much,
so it’s pretty well off that way.
Yeah.
People here, they either, most of the time
they come here because they need stability
or they’re coming here because
they’re like, you know, they’re growing.
You know, some people are in debt
and they come here.
There’s a bunch of different reasons.
And a lot of people actually
just grew up here.
Like there’s a big chunk of people
that just grew up here
and they just,
their kids start working for the mine
and then their kids work for the mine.
So FMI offers tons of benefits
for living here in the middle of nowhere.
They actually pull water from the mine.
So we don’t have to pay for water.
The water is just completely supplied
by the mine to the whole town.
So there’s just perks like that.
-And working in the mine
you’re getting health care I’m sure.
Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, in the mine
you have a ton of benefits.
So we have like really good insurance
’cause you can change it
at the beginning of the year.
-And you’re not spending money
unless someone’s at your shop.
-This is the only place to shop in town.
-[laughs]
I’m going to get some Jenga.
I mean, it’s not a shopping mecca out here,
I don’t think, other than your place.
Jessica, thank you.
-Yeah, thank you so much for stopping by.
-Good luck with Japan.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
And the business, A&J Games.
Here’s the sign on the door, A&J Games.
I’m thinking that’s the coolest store
in Bagdad for sure.
[four-wheeler engine revs]
The world is so random.
Didn’t expect this in Bagdad, Arizona.
[crunches KitKat]
Okay, museum’s closed, but they have
all of these cool things here.
Fitness center,
aquatic center, CrossFit gym.
Okay, there’s an outdoor pool.
Really bizarre place.
And for the locals out there
that are watching this,
you’re probably like,
I could show you this and that.
Well, I wish you could
go back in time right now
and show up in my video
to help me out here.
Because look, there is nobody,
literally nobody.
There’s a guy over there.
But okay, indoor pool.
I don’t want to put the camera
on kids close up in a pool.
But you got it. That’s a cool zone.
And then some fields out here.
-You live up here?
-Yeah.
And you were saying
everything’s included if you live here.
Yep. I moved here
first year of middle school.
And now I’m a senior in high school.
-Okay. How do you like it?
I enjoy it. It’s a nice little town.
-You know everyone?
-Yeah, basically.
So I asked the woman
at the table there with her kid,
you know, “Is there much crime here?”
I pretty much knew the answer.
She’s like, no, not at all.
And if you act up in this town,
you know, criminally,
you’re just getting booted out.
And you could see with a lot of
the garages and the houses we pass,
garage doors open, expensive toys in there.
And it doesn’t look like
that type of place where
that’s a concern at all.
Which is nice.
Depending the zip code you’re in,
in the United States, your garage door up
could mean you’re losing
a lot of stuff really quickly
or not.
Or even your door’s down
and they’ll figure out a way to get it up.
But it’s cool to see communities
like this where…
Let’s go in here.
The company town
isn’t going to put up with that.
-Zero crime, you said?
-Yes. Zero.
-You guys go to high school here?
-Yeah.
How is it?
It’s pretty decent.
You guys going to stay, you think?
Or are you too young to know?
I’m going to stay as long as I can.
-Cool.
-I have no idea.
-Yeah, be a kid. Have fun with that.
-Yeah.
Yeah, I work in the mines
right after I graduated here.
Cool. How’s the mine job these days?
Pretty good.
Pretty busy and a lot of stuff to do.
-Plenty of copper left, right?
-Yeah.
We’re like one of the only towns
that still do pit mines.
Yeah.
-Okay.
-Here in Arizona.
This is the first mine in the U.S. to do…
They’re haul trucks,
like unmanned haul trucks.
-Driverless trucks here?
-Yeah.
-So it’s state of the art out here?
-Yeah.
-There’s zero unemployment here?
-Zero.
Unless someone’s elderly
and retired or something.
Yeah, until you retire from the mine
and then they have to
find their own houses outside.
-You do your time in the mine but when
you retire you’re going to have to leave.
‘Cause that house needs to be
filled up by a worker.
-Yeah.
-Okay, gotcha.
[dog barking]
Dude, so you just yelled at me
from across the street
and came over like you knew me
because your parents are who I talked to
when I came into town, right?
-Yeah.
-Okay.
I was trying to find you
because I really wanted to see you.
-Thanks, buddy.
-Yeah.
Fisties? There you go.
And a shake, which is more legit. Yeah.
Cool. So you’re just cruising around?
Yeah, just cruising around
trying to look all over.
-You enjoying your time here?
I mean…
Me, my mama, everybody,
we used to own a ranch
and we had a lot of freedom,
but overall, I’m just not a fan of town
but this is a really nice town.
-It is, yeah.
-Yeah, it’s a really nice town.
And there’s also a diner,
the The Stacked Enchilada.
-I’ll go to the diner.
-Yeah, diner.
You like the diner the best?
I mean, to tell you like…
-Give me the inside truth here.
The diner hasn’t stayed
under one person that long.
-Like, it’s been like multiple…
-Ownership keeps going to different people?
Yeah.
-That’s not your style, huh?
I mean, it’s nice.
-Where should I eat?
Probably diner would be the best.
-Okay, you’re saying diner.
You got front pegs.
-Yeah.
-Nice, buddy.
I mean, this is very lucky
for you to come to like
something in the middle of nowhere, so…
I’m digging it. It’s my style.
Yeah, I mean, it’s just miner stuff.
-You want to ride beside me here?
-Yeah.
[boy] Hi, Aaron. I’m on camera right now.
[laughs]
-Aaron’s your buddy?
-Yeah.
He’s my neighbor.
-You guys shred around town on the BMXs?
-Yeah.
-Nice.
-All right, I got a present for you.
-Okay.
-You ready?
-Yeah.
I got it at this cool shop here.
-Mm-hmm.
What about your buddy?
Do you want a present, buddy?
-Yeah, sure.
-All right, come on over.
Okay.
Magic cards?
Oh! Whoa!
I saw you at the Pokemon store.
-Yeah.
-I remember you!
You remember me?
I got a really good one.
-Here you guys go. That’s a present.
-Oh!
-My dad loves it.
-Jenga. That’s for your dad.
I can’t believe it. Ah! Dang it.
-See you guys. All the best.
-Okay. See you, Peter.
See, it’s similar styles here.
A little casita look.
Nice cypress tree.
I guess for the right person,
this is a dream come true.
It’s like Jessica said in the shop,
stability.
People want stability.
Well, this environment is one.
We have some old churches.
That’s an old church.
Yeah. Stuck in time
but different than most
stuck in time places.
It has an economy.
So I’ve never felt that dynamic before.
That’s what, that’s what it is here.
Bagdad is removed, stuck in time sort of
but the money is there
to buy vehicles like that.
And I’m sure send your kids
to college and do whatever.
Because all the mining towns I’ve seen
were old coal towns in Appalachia.
There’s a lot of just
economic decay going on.
Let’s see if we can get a look
at this mine.
I don’t think we’re
going to be able to see much,
but I see one route here that looks like
we can get close to it.
And you’re not gonna believe
the name of the road we’re on.
And I know it refers to a man’s name,
but it just sounds a bit odd.
We’re on Old Dick Road.
Old Dick Road goes high over Bagdad.
The names out here,
I mean, you can’t beat them.
A little bit of that in the Midwest.
I would say the names are as wild as here,
but Arizona is doing pretty well
on the name front.
All right, so you see the town just ends.
It says pavement ends.
Old Dick Road keeps going.
And that looks like tailings way up there.
I think those are tailings.
Top of something.
Top of the mine.
Arizona is the Copper State.
I didn’t see any
“no trespassing” signs back here.
So we’ll go as far as we can go
until that time.
This is Yavapai County,
Arizona.
So the county is in charge of the roads,
to my understanding.
Look at this thing.
This is a massive operation.
Freeport, one of the big
mining companies in the world.
I think they have operations
all over Indonesia,
other parts of Arizona even.
And you see what a resource like this
does for a community,
the jobs it provides.
And I’m sure there’s
controversy involved too.
This isn’t a North Korean tour.
I’m not trying to make it one.
But when you don’t know the ins and outs
of a place, you just sort of have to go
by what the locals tell you
and I believe what they tell me.
And just sort of by,
you know, basic facts of a place.
But from what I’m seeing,
and the guys also said at the picnic table,
there’s a high level of happiness here.
Because there is no unemployment.
Because people get paid pretty well.
And because housing prices,
at least to rent, are very low.
So it just takes
a lot of stress out of life.
And all built up around the resource.
Copper’s right around $4.70.
Depending on when you’re watching this
but $4.70 a pound.
It’s gone up quite a bit.
So there’s even more money
being made out here at the moment.
Cool boulders back here.
Alright guys,
we’re going to go back into town because
I don’t think
we’re going to get a viewpoint.
Check it out online.
Google Freeport Mine,
Bagdad, and you’ll see it.
It’s quite spectacular.
So the copper you use,
that’s in all sorts of things,
A lot of electrical wiring, right?
Might have come from this mine here.
The people mining here help create
the modern world that you live in.
Quite cool when you start
piecing these things together.
Sort of linking them together.
Like okay, this mine in Bagdad.
The electrician at my house.
The new wiring system
he put in behind the wall.
It’s all connected.
And we’re all relying on one another.
Even if we don’t see it.
It’s all indirectly there.
It’s quite cool.
Alright guys, just met this miner here.
He’s been here for 22 years.
Said he loves living here.
Wants to stay a long time.
There’s plenty of copper left.
And he told me that there are…
I believe he said 32
autonomous driving trucks.
That just started here.
He’s for it.
He was part of that development.
And he also said the reason I can’t get
anyone to speak on camera about mining is
they just can’t do it.
You have to go through
a PR department or something.
They can’t speak openly about
the mines to anyone on camera.
No crime here.
Sort of everyone said this. The consensus.
No crime.
Great pay.
And hey, it’s for some people.
They’ll do the long run here he said.
And others just can’t stand it.
They want to go immediately
because of the solitude.
And well, you’re going to know everyone.
That’s the center of town,
Basha’s, the grocery store.
Standard grocery store.
This is your main drag.
And… Guys.
I think we’ve tapped most of this town out.
I’ve done my time off camera.
You’re not seeing it.
Driving around trying to talk to people.
Again, the mining stuff is just
not gonna happen on camera.
I get it.
That’s not an issue.
Um…
So…
Let’s go to the diner over here
and get a meal.
No pickles.
Is that me? I’m making a video
of your restaurant. Is that cool?
-Sure. Yeah.
-This is the smash burger, right?
-The Bagdad smash burger.
-Yeah.
The diner burger.
[waitress giggles]
-I’ve been smashed.
-[giggles]
That’s good.
-I’m glad you like it.
-Yeah.
So pretty straightforward burger here,
curly fries, pretty good.
Actually surprised for a town this size.
No, it’s good.
Yeah, it’s not bad.
All right guys, what a cool day today, huh?
Skull Valley, Bagdad.
Bagdad, a very interesting concept.
Almost gone in this country,
which is the true company town.
Where everything revolves
around the industry.
And look, only here a few hours.
But what was my take?
I’d say people were very nice.
Everyone I talked to seemed to be happy
with the way things are here.
Now, of course, I didn’t talk to everyone,
and I’m sure there are people that aren’t
but for the most part, the security,
the low anxiety and stress
that comes with a place that,
well, has low rent and high income,
sort of feel it.
Plus, it’s just so removed.
I hope that came through the camera today.
So guys,
thanks for coming along on that journey.
That was a lot of fun.
Until the next one.
[country music]