To say David Gowan's life was adventurous is an understatement. David was born in Scotland in 1843 to a fishing family. He served in the British Navy until jumping ship in Africa. From there he moved to the USA during the Civil War and joined the US Navy. After serving in the Navy, he returned to his roots as a fisherman, but during a storm he became the sole survivor of a shipwreck off the West Coast. Gowan then moved with a friend to the Arizona Territory where he worked as rancher and gold prospector. Additionally, Gowan aided Mormon scouts looking to settle in Arizona. During that time, Arizona was still the setting of violence stemming from the Indian wars and, under the threat of violence, Gowan once spent 3 days hiding in a cave under the Tonto Natural Bridge. Afterward, Gowan offered a claim of the site to his nephew, who accepted, and began to turn the bridge into the tourist spot we know today.
At the turn of the century, David Gowan began the Gowan mine near Payson, which he eventually sold for $10,000. Near the end of his life, Gowan lived in a cabin along Deer Creek and mined in what is now the Mazatzal Wilderness. Weekly he rode to a ranch to get his mail, but in December 1925, Gowan had not arrived for consecutive weeks and the ranch owner rode to Deer Creek to check on him. When he arrived, he found that Gowan had died. Days later, a coffin was prepared and Gowan was laid to rest in the spot where he passed away, right along the creek. Gowan's nephew had a headstone made, but unknowingly listed the death year as 1926 instead of 1925.
Despite the Willow fire of 2004, David Gowan's grave and headstone are well preserved and easily seen along the Deer Creek trail.we hike way up Deer Creek. We came across David Gowen's grave. Here is the story.
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