Charles Spencer grew up in along the San Juan River in Utah Territory and near Mancos, Colorado. He received just three months of formal education in Durango, Colorado. Instead, Spencer opted to pursue mining and engineering. He served as Managing Director at the Lee’s Ferry, Arizona field office at the American Placer Company. Independently, he selected several sites for the harvest of resources such as gold or water, and solicited investors to fund the ventures.
In 1911, Spencer and his investors commissioned the construction of a steamship in San Francisco. It was shipped in pieces to Salt Lake City, Utah, and reconstructed to be used to transport newly mined coal up the Colorado River. In 1912, a clogged amalgamator rendered the steamboat unusable, and it was docked near Lee’s Ferry. The boat was submerged in a 1921 flood, and was later placed on the National Register of Historic Places and can still be viewed along the Colorado River.
In 1913, Spencer visited Flagstaff and began work on a project to acquire water rights from the San Francisco Peaks for distribution to towns and cattle ranches in the vicinity. He formally incorporated the Coconino Water Development and Stock Company in 1915, with attorneys C.B. Wilson and Gerard T. Wall of Flagstaff as his incorporators. This Company held water rights to a good portion of the resources in the region. In 1917, he incorporated the Great Western Cattle and Sheep Company in California and the Arizona Cattle and Sheep Company in Arizona. Jointly, these companies held stock in the Coconino Water Development and Stock Company, which enabled Spencer to avoid the need to create a public utility company. When the companies were unable to generate the promised resources and revenue by 1920, investors withdrew from the project, and Spencer was forced to end his projects relating to the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. He continued to be involved in mining ventures in the area until the 1960s in the area, though he was never overly successful.
From the guide to the Charles Spencer collection, 1910-1920, (The Museum of Northern Arizona)
