It's not what I usually think of as a state park. It's actually a mansion in Jerome that you walk through. It's over 8,000 square feet. For $3.00 each you can tour it. It was interesting. Built by James Douglas (the younger), owner of the Little Daisy mine. He was wealthy all right. He also was hired to manage the mine in Bisbee, Arizona.
A little story I read about James Douglas, Jr. went like this. He approached a woman who was doing laundry in her front yard and asked her if she took in shirts. She said yes. When she washed them she noticed how frayed the shirts were and she repaired holes in the elbows. When he picked them up she recognized him and asked him why such a rich man was wearing dirty shirts with holes in them. He referred apparently to some old Mexican adage, something about he was saving his money for beans. I like that story a lot. That's partly how such rich people get so rich sometimes. Not only do they earn a lot, they're not afraid to be real. Back then, men had to be not only smart to be successful mine owners (and miners too), but it was very dangerous work. James later gave up his U.S. citizenship and returned to his home country of Canada. He came from Quebec. He spoke flawless English and Spanish. Well, he must have spoken French too then, right? Those French in Quebec are kind of crazy I hear. Intermittedly, they want to secede from Canada! Well, I don't mind as long as they don't kill anybody. We hopefully will see Quebec this summer on our way to...Nova Scotia.
