Big Bug is a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona. The former settlement is located twelve miles southeast of Prescott and was established in 1862.

History

Big Bug has a long history of frontier life. The town was settled by Theodore Boggs during the Arizona Campaign of the American Civil War. Boggs' father was a governor of Missouri who helped drive the Mormons out during the Second Mormon War. When he was ten years old he traveled to California with the famous Donner Party. His mother was a granddaughter of the pioneer Daniel Boone, making him a descendant aswell.

In 1862, Boggs left California for Arizona and settled along Big Bug Creek and began working a mining claim. A mine was built with a few other buildings of necessity. A town sprang up with an average population of 100. The actual claim where the minerals were mined was a few minutes walk outside of town. In the decade of 1860, Yavapai County was infested with hostile native Americans. In the early years only four men mined the claim, Theodore Boggs and three others. When not staying at the town, the four usually slept in a dugout, roofed with wooden poles and and grass.

The town had only been established a month before natives discovered the place. The small Battle of Big Bug occured when Apaches attacked the mine one night. Boggs and the three others were sleeping when one awoke to the sound of their crying dog. The miner peared out and witnessed hit dog, pierced with an arrown in his side. The Apaches then attempted to crush the dugout with all four of the white men inside. Big boulders were rolled down onto the structure from the mountain above. Two of the miners held a bed frame over their heads to keep the rook from caving in.

The Apaches came close and Boggs with the remaining miner manned their muskets. When the Apaches came close enough, the two stuck their rifles outside a few little portholes just dug and then they fired. Two of the Apaches were killed immediately and dropped to the ground. Caught off guard, the Apaches hastily picked up their dead fellow warriors and retreated up the mountain side. Once at the top, the Apaches cremated their dead in full view of Boggs and the others. They then continued a withdrawal from the area.

Later the four went back to the town unharmed and told the residents what had happened. A post office was established in 1879 and remained in servic until 1910. For a while the post office was actually Theodore Boggs' house. The assistant postmistress, Miss Dawson, delivered the mail herself on horseback throughouth the town and surroundings. Gradually the town died when the mines closed down. Big Bug Creek still has some indication of early mining activities, but little if anything remains of the town as of 2010.