The Elk Mountain pilot., 1880-08-05
1 COLONY or DEATH
Two LeadgiNs Adfeatgrefs Penetrate a Hidden
Valley and Find Evidence Ct Cotsz's
SWAY Ruined ssitIsInsnt which
Dates From i53O---Ths Ske!
ebl lnhabitans and The
Treasure they Guard

IftaSulb tllcy uudfu
Leadvills Chronicle.
"That," said a well known Lead
vile assayer, indicating piece. Of odd
looking ore which he held in his hand,
I" that piece comes from 4 mine with
"a history perhaps ne,la4 ss any
thing YOU eYst heartts { I; ssF I,
He then Teated 4 story in substance
as follows: 3 Z
The mine from which the orsslta
derived is situated ssmewhere on tie
line of Southern Colorado and MexiiedI
Vast mountain ranges inelese it.on an
sides, like colossal barriers erected by
nature TO guard II from thesintrusion
of mankind, and no beaten path, ap-
parently, leads thither by,which any
one could penetrate to the, spot ex-
cept the most daring mounta:neer
that ever scaled the mountain heights
or with pick and shovel deived iRttQ
the ainty bowels of the rugged
rado slopes after the prsci phstal.
The spot in which the MI losated
is beautiful Creep ya1lgs in which
summer eternally bAeaafls, with only
one outlet, through dark cleft in the
towering rocks, which from the out
side would never be discovered except
by chance.
About the year 1924, when the
Spaniards under Cortez penetrated
Mexico and overaowed the country.
surrounding, a number of the lawless
Andalusians, camp followers, or what
ever tie OCCUPATION of those who
drifted into the beautiful country along
with the large hosts of soldiers, de-
tected some Of the conquered Indians
wearing ornaments of massive gold
upon their persons SO directly dlsETee.s
from any ofthc precious metal tie Sc
cret of whose. deposit they had long
before wrested from the simple natives
thai they as;c3se concluded il must Be
aasisdslsall saaisrsee whose s#1.a<ss <s.sss
abouts vas yet mystery to them.
Avasicious and cruel, as Bancroft on
good authority represents the Span
iards to have been at all times, the
secret Of the hidden mine must come
into their possessions at any price and
at all hazards. But supplicaticns and
intinlidations alike proved .nclfectuaI
in forcing the red children TO make
the coveted revelation, and as . last
resort refuge was had TO a cowardly
ruse, ,sthc success of which is unque5-
toned.
Some adventurous Tandals Of Spain,
the destroyers Of Mexico, tracked
some of the Indians at different times
into the mountains, and by this
means finally discovered the where
abouts Of the hidden mine in the val
ley. It was fully developed, and
seemed to have been operated by the
intelligent aboriginees for long time,
the method of reducing and ellmin-
ating the noble metals being no secret
to them. Suspicious, even of their
corlrads, and fearful lest by some
means their precious discovery be be-
trayed, or the Indians drive them
from it, they fell upon the small body
of NavJoes working the mine and
assasslnated them to the last man.
They then took s,lrreptitious leave of
the Spanish settlement, removed their
effects to the hidden valley and found
ed colony there, erecting houses and
In due time developing themselves in
to quite a large and busy community.
In 1860 Cortez began his incursions
into the vast mountain districts lying
north of Mexico, penetrating the in
tervening territory and entering the
southern portion of what is now Col
orado. By some strange happening
his soldiers learned ofthe existence of
the isolated colony, and guided by an
aged Indian they found the lonely
and hidden mountain pass which leads
to the hidden mine. Under pretext
of administering punishment for the
crime committed against the Indians,
whom they had robbed of their secret
by taking their lives, Cortez had the
whole colony executed, assassinating
the men and children and outraging
the women or carrying them away
with them into the mountains. This
done, he selected a number from his
own force, and leaving them to oper-
ate the mine, ostensibly in the inter
est of his government, he pressed on
toward the north to prosecute his
further search for more hidden
| treasures.
The new colony was less successful
in the management of the nine
Strife prevailed among them, and ex-
tended to the Indians. who lived in the
| neighborhood, and with whom their
predecessors, from the best of polite
motives, had lived at peace, counting