A sepia toned reproduction of a Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum photograph in postcard form. A view of the transfer wagons with the Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company General Office Building in the background in 1903. The back caption at the top left reads: “TRANSFER WAGONS – 1903 Presented by the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum. Waiting for the train bringing supplies. The building behind the men was the mining company headquarters.” This photo is from the Burgess Collection and the postcard is from the Burl Schweikart Collection.

Before the invention of automobiles, horse and mule drawn wagons functioned as the U-hauls of their era. Incoming residents in Bisbee would hire to transport their belongings from the Southwest & El Paso train depot to their new homes in Bisbee. Among these businesses were the Bisbee Transfer Company that at its peak owned fifteen wagons and the Brophy Transfer company that owned five. The transfer companies needed to pay a license of $30 ($936.16 in 2021) for every wagon they owned after Ordnance No. 95 passed in 1906. On top of this license, the cost of keeping a pair of horses was a dollar a day, or about $31 today, not including fees from the blacksmith and veterinarian to keep the animals shod and healthy.

2018.23.6