In the early days of mining, the saloon was the working man's club. The opportunity for outdoor sports was limited.  Through a $100,000 bequest made by William Andrews Clark, Clarkdale has a beautiful clubhouse. Which was dedicated to the employees and their families in appreciation for long years of faithful service.

There were no dues or membership fees, with the exception of the bowling alley, soda fountain, and the pool and billiards tables. Because Clark recognized the relative isolation of the area, he wished to give his employees facilities enjoyed in larger more metropolitan areas, from which many of them came.  Clark was generous to his company town and its employees; he was the first to introduce the eight-hour day in Montana's mines and claimed to have played an important role in passing a territorial law mandating the eight-hour day in Arizona's mines. (Some might argue it was the result of a successful strike for a reduced workday at the United Verde Mine in 1907.) To many young boys born and raised in Clarkdale, such as Jerry Wombacher  "...... we would roam the alleys looking for pop or beer bottles worth 1 or 2 cents when we took them back to the cigar store. Other jobs were caddying at the golf course or swimming in Peck's Lake to retrieve golf balls, which we cleaned and sold back to the golfers.  Setting pins at the bowling alley was one of the most sought-after jobs because the pin boys like me, got to play pool for free, before the bowlers arrived each night.  On a league night, we would make about $3.00 for working 6:00 to 10:30. We thought we were rich! We got 25 cents per game!"   Jerry's dad Dan Wombacher (in photo) purchased the Texaco Station after the mine and smelter closed, where Jerry worked pumping gas on weekends going to college.

submitted by Cindy Emmett from CHSM collection of oral histories

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