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Mother Magma A Memoir of Underground Life in the San Manuel Copper Mine
This admirable book takes the reader inside the San Manuel Copper Mine in Arizona, to witness the
never-before told story of one of the most productive mines of the world. Be "lowered" into this
amazing world, and see the intense and admirable endeavor of a courageous group of men who live
and die inside the entrails of Mother Earth. Definitely a great piece of Arizona's history.
The author, Onofre “Taffy” Tafoya, was born during the Great Depression. The eldest of five siblings,
he enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the young age of 15. He was stationed at the submarine base at Pearl
Harbor, where he was part of the relief crew on different submarines until World War II ended. “I
loved the Navy. I had never eaten so good or dressed as warm,” Tafoya recollects. He was discharged
at the age of 18, and soon after he married and had six children, later adopting two more. He worked
in a Phoenix brickyard in the early 1950s, before discovering his true passion for the “underground
life” of mining, when he moved to San Manuel, an emerging mining town, built to house the miners and
their families. His commitment to mining, hard work ethic, and love for the “best of people,” gives birth
to a written testament—Mother Magma. He currently resides in Mammoth, Arizona.
"They were good and decent men, these miners: ready to do the most precarious work and at
dangerous levels beneath the earth. They worked together and some died together. In Tafoya’s eyes,
they were heroes in the true sense of the word because of the sacrifices made in the name of 'Mother
Magma'.” Dr. Christine Marin
Read a short comment about Mother Magma published in the Arizona Daily Star
Mining History News
Magma Copper Company Underground Mine near San Manuel, Arizona
Title: Mother Magma, A Memoir of Underground Life in the San Manuel Copper Mine.
Author: Onofre Tafoya
Prologue: Chirstine Marine, Ph.D
Publisher: Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Series: "Our History, Our Words."
Pages: 162 (includes many photographs and diagrams)
ISBN: 0-9771167-6-X
Price: $ 24.95 (+ 3.99 shipping and handling; add 1.00 for each additional book)
To receive more information or to order this book by mail, call 480 - 983-1445
Personal checks or Money Orders must be made payable to:
HISI
PO Box 50553
Mesa, Arizona 85208-0028
This admirable book takes the reader inside the San Manuel Copper Mine in Arizona, to witness the
never-before told story of one of the most productive mines of the world. Be "lowered" into this
amazing world, and see the intense and admirable endeavor of a courageous group of men who live
and die inside the entrails of Mother Earth. Definitely a great piece of Arizona's history.
The author, Onofre “Taffy” Tafoya, was born during the Great Depression. The eldest of five siblings,
he enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the young age of 15. He was stationed at the submarine base at Pearl
Harbor, where he was part of the relief crew on different submarines until World War II ended. “I
loved the Navy. I had never eaten so good or dressed as warm,” Tafoya recollects. He was discharged
at the age of 18, and soon after he married and had six children, later adopting two more. He worked
in a Phoenix brickyard in the early 1950s, before discovering his true passion for the “underground
life” of mining, when he moved to San Manuel, an emerging mining town, built to house the miners and
their families. His commitment to mining, hard work ethic, and love for the “best of people,” gives birth
to a written testament—Mother Magma. He currently resides in Mammoth, Arizona.
"They were good and decent men, these miners: ready to do the most precarious work and at
dangerous levels beneath the earth. They worked together and some died together. In Tafoya’s eyes,
they were heroes in the true sense of the word because of the sacrifices made in the name of 'Mother
Magma'.” Dr. Christine Marin
Read a short comment about Mother Magma published in the Arizona Daily Star
Mining History News
Magma Copper Company Underground Mine near San Manuel, Arizona
Title: Mother Magma, A Memoir of Underground Life in the San Manuel Copper Mine.
Author: Onofre Tafoya
Prologue: Chirstine Marine, Ph.D
Publisher: Hispanic Institute of Social Issues
Series: "Our History, Our Words."
Pages: 162 (includes many photographs and diagrams)
ISBN: 0-9771167-6-X
Price: $ 24.95 (+ 3.99 shipping and handling; add 1.00 for each additional book)
To receive more information or to order this book by mail, call 480 - 983-1445
Personal checks or Money Orders must be made payable to:
HISI
PO Box 50553
Mesa, Arizona 85208-0028
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