Originally published by the Verde Independent on October 20, 2016
Donald E. Robertson, 73 of Jerome, passed away on October 17, 2016. He was born on January 4, 1943 in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa to Henry E. Robertson and Marilyn Pitzer.
Don attended Mt. Pleasant High School, then joined the Army Reserves. There he worked as a master mechanic, and later went on to create the tourist attraction The Gold King Mine in Jerome.
Don loved antique trucks, motors, cars, motorcycles, racing and a passion for vintage transportation. He was proud of his establishment.
Don was preceded in death by his wife Terry Ann Robertson, mother Marilyn Pitzer and brother Tom Robertson.
He is survived by son Dale Robertson of Young, AZ; daughters Angie Wagner of Chandler, Jeannie Leffew of Flagstaff and Anna Cole of Cottonwood; brother Tony Pitzer (Monica) of Apache Junction; sister Bonnie Keeton (Gary) of Iowa; 14 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.
Further details will be posted in future notices.
At this present time, a memorial site is set up in the parking lot of the Gold King Mine with one of Don’s trucks.
To get to the Gold King Mine, drive past the fire department in Jerome and drive ¾ of a mile on Perkinsville Road. The Gold King Mine is located at 1000 Perkinsville Road.
This story originally published by the Verde Independent on May 12, 2016
Don Robertson, 73, may not be the King of Jerome, but he does live in his own little kingdom atop the tiny historic mining town.
Robertson is the owner of the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town which sits about a mile above Jerome.
His Kingdom started out with one building — a boarding house used by miners — and a love for engines and trucks. Robertson built his dream with two bare hands, monkey wrenches and elbow grease.
Thirty years later, it has grown into “a dream come true,” explained Robertson.
Build it and they will come. Haul it, fix it and grease it – and they will really come.
That’s what Robertson has found out. Visitors are now flocking from all around the country and Europe to see Jerome’s keeper-of-the-gold, his carriages and his merry minstrels who work for him.
From the sky, Robertson’s ghost town looks like a child’s playland with hundreds of tiny toy trucks scattered among tiny buildings in a sandlot.
But a closer look reveals that the hundred trucks, cars, tractors, service trucks and buses lined up around the property are very real and very “rare.” Some are restored, but many are rusted have been saved from extinction and are getting a second chance at life.
Most are International trucks, Fords and Studebakers that date back to 1902. One thing can be said about Robertson’s collection, “you can’t see anything like it anywhere else,” explained Mike Caruso, one of Robertson’s five employees.
But Robertson is the one that has collected all the vehicles, hauled them to Jerome from all over the country and even had to yank them out of fields and canyons to save them.
Now there are about a dozen buildings, some small sheds that Robertson has hauled to Jerome or built. One is a gas station that he hauled form Humble.
The ghost town property was actually a suburb of Jerome called Haynes, but it disbanded, he said. The Haynes Copper Co, discovered copper and gold on the property and the entrances of two
mines are part of the visitors’ experience.
Robertson said there were a number of mines in that area and “between them they produced copper, silver and gold.” One mine at his ghost town went straight down 1,200 feet and the other mine went straight into the mountain about 100 feet, he said. He said they mined them in the early 1890s and early 1900s.
Robertson said besides the gas station building that he had to haul over Mingus Mountain where it almost took up the whole road, he brought a small “country schoolhouse” from Flagstaff to the property.
Robertson estimates that he has about a 100 trucks and other vehicles. He finds his vehicles all over the country, but points out “I don’t do on-line” when looking for collectables.
“Sometimes it don’t’ take nothing to get them running,” he said. “Fire ’em up and make sure they have oil pressure and drive it.”
His oldest and most rare vehicle is a 1092 Studebaker Electric and is proud of his Studebaker race car that he built to Indy specs.
Robertson plans on counting the number of trucks he has someday, but it’s an impossible task because something else comes up or people keep interrupting him with conversation, he said with a smile.
photo by Ron Chilston
Beyond the trucks, Robertson has sawmills and has been sawing lumber and selling boards locally.
And then there is Big Bertha, a huge gas engine that Robertson rescued from a mine in Arizona. He says it’s one of the largest gas engines in the state that gear heads or anyone can start up.
Video of Big Bertha and the Robertson’s ghost town are all over YouTube, explained Caruso. Gear heads all over the world see them and come visit, he added.
Robertson added variation for his guests with petting animals and a gold panning area.
Visitors range from tourists, local residents, schoolchildren on school trips to groups of motorcyclists and gear heads. Robertson also hosts a successful Volkswagen bus-gathering each year in his parking lot and has had rock festivals there. Quite a few people have gotten married on the property because of the beautiful views of Sedona in the background, he added.
“It’s a learning experience,” Robertson said of his ghost town. When kids come here, they see Big Bertha and the pistons are exposed and they learn and see how it works.
Robertson said he learned to work on machines on the farm where he grew up and “you become a mechanic and welder.”
Robertson says he hasn’t “had to” sell any vehicles.
“Some of them are quite valuable,” said Robertson. “I don’t collect the common stuff. I try to collect the ones everyone else don’t have.”
When asked what will happen to his Kingdom when he his gone, Robertson said with a smile, “I don’t know. I get asked that more often. I must be looking older.”
Well you can watch Robertson at his ghost town or look for him at the Jerome Fourth of July Parade when he drives his race car down from his Kingdom.
Story courtesy of the Verde Independent, published October 5, 2013
Jerome will host musicians and artists at the third annual Gold King Mine Americana festival Saturday, Oct. 12.
Beginning at 11 a.m., attendees can enjoy more than a dozen Americana musicians, food from onsite vendors and a 50/50 raffle. Admission for adults is $10, and half price for children 12 or under.
Some of the proceeds will go toward Greyhounds of the Verde Valley, a nonprofit organization that works to pair the retired racing dogs with forever owners.
Lora “Ralo” Heiniemi ran the festival for its first two years and almost didn’t organize it for a third after it was almost entirely rained out in 2012.
Producing festivals since 1989, Heinieme said she had never been involved in an Americana theme.
“Don Robertson, who owns the Gold King Mine, he was the inspiration,” she said.
She used to host open mics at the Spirit Room in Jerome, where Robertson told her his favorite kinds of music were bluegrass, old country and old rock ‘n’ roll.
“I wanted to approach him about having a festival at Gold King Mine,” she said. “When first putting together the Americana music festival, I decided to go after acts that play the kind of music Don likes.”
This year’s festival will take place in October rather than August, after weather practically shut down the 2012 event.
“We didn’t make any money last year because we had a huge monsoon,” she said. “The only monies we were able to donate were the monies made off of the raffle.”
Heinieme was discouraged by the effort and small return last year, so Jerome resident Emily McClellan jumped in to help put on the festival for its third year.
“I wanted to make sure it happened,” McClellan said. “I was there the first year and loved it. I’ve always kind of had a dream of what I’d do if I had my own festival.”
McClellan is a Fit Kids instructor at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary. She said she saw a lot of potential for the Gold King Mine festival.
“There’s always this spontaneous beauty that comes from a bunch of people getting together and enjoying music and the land around us,” she said.
People can bring coolers with food and drinks, set up canopies, tents or park their RV’s and camp out to listen to music and enjoy the atmosphere. Heiniemi said there will be a kids’ area that offers activities like face painting.
“It’s something really cheap for a mom or a family to go do with young children,” she said. “We want it to be inexpensive and we would like it to always be inexpensive.”
Local barbecue will be sold as well, and Far Out Foods in Snowflake is selling vegetarian foods and sweets like cookies and ice cream. Artists who make jewelry, leather goods and original works of art will be selling their pieces.
“We’re celebrating American culture with Americana music,” she said.
[vc_row 0=””][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=””]The diversity of items at the Gold King Mine can be mind boggling. If you are a photographer, this can easily be an all day excursion. If you enjoy old buildings, wood, rust, cars, trucks, mining equipment, old saw mills powered by a large hit and miss engine, then this is the place you want to be!
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A road crew from Arizona Highways visited the Gold King Mine to film a segment. Here are a few images from that day, June 7, 2010.
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Photos by Ron Chilston
Arizona Highways TV
Episode: Don’s Dream
