History & Culture of Ajo

The area's copper mining possibilities were first noticed in 1853 by Captain Peter Brady, part of a surveying party with the Thirty-Second Parallel Railroad. Even with the great potential for mining, the area was not developed until 1911 when a cost-effective process for the ore was discovered. The Phelps Dodge

Phelps Dodge	(fe'lps do'j)
A large mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps.

Corp. has a large stock in the town and area. They have a huge open pit mine near Ajo. The mine is over a mile in diameter and a thousand feet deep.

Ajo is a small community which began as a mining town with the Phelps Dodge

Phelps Dodge	(fe'lps do'j)
A large mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps.

Corporation. During the 1980's it became primarily a retirement community. Now in the late 1990's, Phelps Dodge

Phelps Dodge	(fe'lps do'j)
A large mining company founded in 1834 by Anson Greene Phelps.

may open the mines back up to bring the industry back in Ajo.

The Tohono O'odham (formerly known as the Papago Indians) were the first known people in the area. From the ore-rich rocks they obtained a pigment, au-auho, or red paint, which gave them one of the first names for this area. The first Mexican miners, possibly influenced by hearing the Indian name, called the place after the abundant wild garlic known as the Ajo lily.