Stoneworld International began working to reopen the quarry three years ago. The site lies along Big Bug Creek in Mayer, an old cowboy town about 75 miles from Phoenix that is 5,000 feet above sea level. One of the first speculators on the site was a man by the name of William “Bucky†O'Neill, a lawyer, miner, cowboy, sheriff and congressman who was one of Teddy Roosevelt's “Rough Riders†during the Spanish-American War. O'Neill paid $150 for his one-third share of the mine, and shortly thereafter discovered that the site had “the richest deposit of onyx between Prescott, AZ, and Puebla, Mexico,†according to historical documents.
In March of 1893, O'Neill and his partners sold their interests in the regal sum of $200,000, and an investment of “over $10,000 worth of fine machinery†was purchased by George C. Underhill, a well-known specialist and examiner of stones from Rutland, VT. Underhill's new venture was named the Arizona Onyx Co. Experts in Chicago and San Francisco attested to the value of the quarry's yield, and the stone was exhibited and sold around the country as a premium material. Even the Ford Motor Co. began using the onyx as interior ornamentation for its new automobiles. However, as was the case with many quarries in the U.S., the site eventually closed during the Great Depression, and it laid dormant for over 70 years.