THE LURE OF GOLD

Evening Star, Issue 23375, 19 September 1939, Page 13

THE LURE OF GOLD

LOST MINES RECALLED HIDDEN IN THE MOUNTAINS A littlu while back “ Death Valley ” Seottv dusted out his castle m the bleak* Mohave Desert, of which Death Valley is a part, and was host at the wedding of 'some prominent persons (writes F. A. L. Minnegerodc hi the ‘A’ew York Times ’). , The wedding in the castle was only of passing interest: hut whenever Scotty gets into the nchvs there inevitably follows a great deal ot speculation as to where this picturesque man nets hi.s apparently inexhaustible hinds. Ivnowu as “ the mystery prospectoi by many, ho has kept Ids secret, and, so far as is generally •ksidfrn, the nature and source of his income are even niore mysterious than Scotty himself. . When Scotty is in tlie luneliglit the dreams of treasure 'hunters everywhere ■arc aroused, and -there follows renewed activity on the part of those soldiers of fortune tVho seek their reward in bidden gold'and lost, mines. Once again men of adventurous turn are on the alert, and the search for buried treasure in the south-west takes on new life. Many a lone prospector leads his burro, loaded with supplies, into a remote place Imping to find a hidden cache or the old shaft of some fabulously'rich mine, long lost. That many of these rich prizes are legendary and that little authentic evidence supports the stories about them does not seem to disturb the more credulous. LANDS OF TREASURE. Among the many localities where treasure is supposed to be buried or where rich mines are presumed to exist, there are three spots men never tire of prospecting. Strange tales that drift across the border of a remote tribe of Apache Indians in the high Sierra Mountains of Mexico—braves who are said to carry around ■ little vials or sacks or •gold—seem to entice men of all walks of life. From this tribe come the “ Bronco ” Apaches, so named because they are as wild and fierce as were their brother tribesmen in the days of Cochise and Geronimo, chiefs who made more trouble for the United States Army in the period following the Civil War than did the chiefs of any other Indian tribe. These “(Broncos of Mexico are said to be led by an American white man, who, more than 50 years ago at the age of six, was kidnapped by raiders and taken across the line into the rocky fastnesses. The inaccessibility of this tribe makes any expedition extremely hazardous, but men. nevertheless, a r e constantly in'lrigned with the possibilities and more ihuii one party has set forth determined to prove or explode the stories. Xot so remote, and more easily checked, is the story of the long-hidden ‘ Mine With the Iron Door.’ This real or legendary mine is supposed to bo near the little town of Oracle, Arizona. A FABULOUS HOARD. As the story lias come down, this mine was worked by Spaniards more than 400 years ago. The gold assayed as high as £lO a ton, and somewhere in the recesses of the mountain, lodged behind an iron door, there is supposed! to be a cache of 2,000,000. ounces of gold worth, at to-day’s price, about £14.000,000. '

For more than 50 years men have been searching for it. Much literature and many old maps have been gathered from the early missions of Mexico, Arizona, and California, which are presumed to provide authentic clues as to its location. Recently an old mine shaft, long obliterated by the forces of Nature, was found and, since there are no records of any other mines ever having been worked in the locality, it is possible that patience and much additional labour will bring to light the truth. To date, the only person who has reaped a reward from his interest in “ The Mine With the Iron Door ” has been Harold Bell Wright, whose hook with that title sold many thousands ol eopics. It is little wonder that the mine was lost. At the present site of Oracle there was an early settlement of Spaniards, who eamo almost on the heels of Coronado. Alter working the mine in great secrecy and hiding the gold already mined, the whole colony was wiped out by Apaches, who cared nothing for the precious metal. UNMOLESTED FOR GENERATIONS. That section of Arizona was left unmolested for many generations. Nature completed tho obliteration of the old shaft until the traces of what may be it were recently found. Somewhere on Superstition Mountain, near. Phoenix, Arizona, is the 1 Lost Dutchman Mine.” This mine has been a lure to get-rich-quick adventurers for many' a year. Frequently parties are organised 1 , fully equipped and provisioned, and Superstition Mountain is gone over with a fine tooth comb all to no result. That there_ aim rich deposits of gold somewhere in the mountain is almost a sure thing. I'or years an old Dutchman would come out ol tho mountains from time to time with a valuable load of the metal, and, after disposing of it and supplying himself, would quietly disappear again. How many men have perished in thenfruitless search for tho “ Lost Dutchman Mine ” in that rugged and waterless land is not known, but there are authentic records of nearly a score of men who disappeared into Superstition Mountain and never returned. From the eastern slopes of the Rockies to the Pacific, from Mexico to Canada, are numberless lost mines and locations where precious metals and money are supposed to have been buried. But it is in the South-west where the greater number Continue to entice the hunters. PICTURESQUE NAMES. What picturesque names tho lost mines and hidden treasures have I “Lost Nuggets of the Mexican Shepherd Girl ”; the “ Weepah Stampede,’’ caused by rich ore found in the ‘ Badger Hole*’’; “Maximilian’s Treasure” at Castle Gap; “Skeleton Canyon Loot,” supposed to be somewhere near the old town of Tombstone; “ Gunsight Mine” and “ Pegleg Mine.” Near Santa Fe, New Mexico, men still talk of the “ La Mina Perdicla ” (the Lost Mine), and of “ Burro Mine.” In the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma are supposed to lie three burro loads of Spanish gold and nine cartloads of gold and silver. Further north in the same State “ Cut-Throat Gap Treasure ” and “ Cherokee Cow Man’s Gold ” are still undiscovered. Hidden treasure spots mark the map of Texas. Near Houston Santa Ana’s pay chests are buried—moneys the Mexican general hid before he was taken into camp by General Sara Houston in the Battle of San Jacinto.