Arizona: Tucson: High Jinks Gold Mine Ranch

Historic High Jinks Gold Mine Ranch

The famous High Jinks Ranch, on the other side of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson and Oracle, Arizona has a long history of fame, invention, mining and intrigue.

The High Jinks Ranch, located near the YMCA's Triangle Y Ranch, was the stage for the 1924 motion picture, "The Mine with the Iron Door," from Harold Bell Wright's novel of the same name.

The stone-mason two-story home was built by Buffalo Bill Cody's foster son Jimmy Baker and displayed Buffalo Bill's memorabilla until 1945. The property is now surrounded by the Oracle State Park, Arizona state land.

The home, called La Casa del High Jinks, is on the National Register of Historic Places in Pinal County, AZ. (1966). Until his death in 2007, it had been the home to E. Dean Prichard who spent three decades preserving the property and helped open the Arizona Trail.

The High Jinks Ranch holds a lot of history and intrigue. Many hikers stop off near the High Jinks to rest along the way on the popular Arizona Trail.

After Dean's passing, the property stood abandoned for several years until Dan Blanco purchased the property in 2010 and spent the rest of his life remodeling and renovating the property. Dan passed away on September 19, 2016 after a bout with cancer.

Buffalo Bill Cody mined for gold, silver and other ores from the property 100 years ago when the valley was populated with miners digging mainly for gold. The area was called Campo Bonito and most of the mines in the area were in the Old Hat District, just south of near Oracle, Arizona, near the Triangle Y Ranch surrounded by Oracle State Park.