Cooney no longer exists but it has a poignant history. The town was named after a Sergeant James C. Cooney, a guide and scout stationed at Fort Bayard. While serving as a scout during 1870, Cooney discovered high-grade silver and copper ore in the Mogollons. When his enlistment expired in 1875, he returned to his find and filed the first of several claims. Frequent Indian raids were a constant problem for the small community that had developed and was named after James Cooney. In an effort to warn others of an Apache Indian attack, Cooney was killed along with a companion. Their bodies were buried beside the road near the entrance to Cooney Canyon, where they had fallen. Cooney's brother, Michael Cooney of New Orleans, upon hearing of his brother's death, left New Orleans for New Mexico to continue his brother's mining operations. Upon arrival, Michael Cooney had a vault hewn out of a large boulder as a permanent resting-place for his fallen brother. While combing the mountains for a lost mine in October of 1914, Michael Cooney failed to return. As winter set in, search parties were forced to abandon their search. Four months later, his body was discovered in a nearby canyon. The town of Cooney is gone. Only some rock foundations attest to its onetime existence. Courtesy Henry Chenoweth.

Update:We found out years ago, when returning to our old town and silver mine, that the remaining artifacts were TAKEN by the nearby mining town of Mogolon for their own purpose, right before they received news of a big flood that would hit our (Cooney)canyon. That, which was not pilfered, was washed away by the flooded river. The river did not wash away the highland artifacts, they were taken. Submitted by: Brian Cooney