New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-09-13
A VISIT TO NEW-MEXICO.
ON THE WAY TO THE SAN PEDRO MINE.

| LAND GRANTS-lHE COONlhi i>'AaiiON
SCENES ON THE JOURNEY 10 TnE MINE WITH
WHICH GENERAL GRANTS NAME HAS BEEN
| CoNYECTED-THE ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP.
| IFRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT TRIBUSE.l
| SANTA Fr n. NJ. August 22.-New Mexico. with
mors than two centuries of Spanish and Mexican
civilization, with delightful climate, and wealth
| of mineral deposits which have no doubt, equal
if they do not surpass those of Colorado, is to-day
| lust being aroused from slumber as profound as
that of Rip Van Wrinkle by the screech of the loco
motive whistle and the rattle of the railway tram
| 1t is a vast territory of immense possibilities ana
| small accomplishments Its wealth OF gold anG
silver. copper. iron. and coal is not modern DIS
coverv like that of Colorado aud Nevada, Utah and
| Montana Millions of dollars worth OF gold ana
silver were washed out of the sands and dug out
of the rocks of this Territory more than century
before the precious nuggets found in the tail
| race of Suffers Mill in California, and yet to-day
there is less of actual mining development i'll New
Mexico than III of the districts of the Centen-
NAL State in which the first white prospectors pick
! was struck less than two years ago.
WHY NEw-MEXICO HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED.
| The reason for chs is threefOld. In the first
place. the country mas been occupied by race OF
people who are destitute of ambition and wanting
! in enterprise. The spirit which animated the
| Spaniards when they conquered Old Mexico and
\
| of the Rocky Mountains all the way from FL Paso
into Southern Colorado. seems to have disappeared
| as the proud Castilian blood became more and
more diluted with that of the Indian race. The
! highest ambition of the average Mexican OF to-
! day is to live and die as his fathers did If they
cannot be said 10 resist the march of modern ciyllz
| alton. they do not welcome It. gentleman who
visited wealthy Mexican at his ranch, two or
three years ago told lie that he saw in the parlor
new Moline plough of the latest pattern, while five
farm hands with as many yokes of oxen were
breaking up field with the old-fashoned crooked
sticks such as were used in Egypt in the time of
Moses When the Mexican was asked why he did
not use iron pOughs, he replied that the wooden
ones were good enough for his father and grand
| father and were good enough for him.
The second obstacle To the development OF New
Mexico has been the great number OF grants OF land
! that were made by the Mexican Government before
the Territory was acquired by the United States,
| and the great uncertainty which exists as 70 the
validity and limits of many Of these concessions.
The one thing which will induce prospector to
undergo the hardships and pryatonS Of the life he
leads. Is the knowledge that if he discovers o
bonanza he can acquire ndlsputabe title 10
the land on which it is found by purchasing it at
| a nominal price from the Government This has
not been so in New Mexico The finder of u valu-
able mine in this Territory has never had any
assurance that he could hold it. There has always
been the danger that some old. forgotten Mexican
grant would be found TO cover an important dis
| coverv and the boundaries Of those grants were
| often described in such an indefinite way to in
wife all sorts Of fraud in the survey and conirma-
| ton of them. | may write more about this unfor-
! tunate system of Mexican grants before | leave
| Sante re.
The third and by far the least seriou, drawback
! ,,I of Tar
tory has been its isolation. | say this is the least
serious because the history of this entire Western
country an especially of the mining districts in
it, has been that nothing in the shape Of physical
obstacles will keep the Western miner or proapcctor
out of a country which he believes to be rich in
gold or silver He will toll for months across the
barren plains; be will climb steep mountains far
above timber line and work from sunrise 10 sunset
in an atmosphere rare that every stroke of the
pick or sledre makes HIM gasp for breath; be will
cross high ranges on snow shoes, face hostile In
dians and even defy the Government of the United
States and eyade its soldiers his search fer gold
or silver on reserved ground. For thirty years
New-MexicO has not been inaccessible III the sense
that California was III lS49-jO. or Montana in
1o02-63.
GENERAL GRANT AND The SAN PEDRO NINE.
While the mining developments in this Territory
have been small there is no part of the Rocky
Mountain region which it Is more interesting to
visit both account OF its prospective growth and
industrial activity and also becaI,e Of the oppor
tunItes that are here presented OF studying the
manners and customs Of a strange people. But the
extent of this Territory IS 50 great and the means
of getting over it so slow and uncertain. that
single month will not suffice to visit the more
prominent points OF interest and, as l have work
to do in other parts Of the West. have devoted
time since coming here to looking into few of the
most important mining operations in which Eastern
capital has recently embarked in New-Mexc0. and
especially to examination of the property owned
by the san Pedro and Canon del Aqua Company, of
which General Grant, after looking it over very
carefully last month was elected president, and Of
the Ortiz Mine grant. on which ve-y im-
pOrtant operations are contemplated In the mean
time have seen and heard many things since |
came into the Territory that have interested me.
and have incidentally gathered some material
which may be used III this series Of letters.
An excellent opportunity for visiting the Canon
del Aqua grant presented Itself a day or two after
nv arrival III Santa F6. The camp which is the
present Headquarters Of the company's operations,
and where Colonel NJ. G. Gillette. the superntend-
ent of the mines resides, IS nearly thirty miles
from the railroad, with no public conveyance run
ming TO any nearer point. But Mr.. /. l.. Slckels,
the eminent civil engineer and ferner superinten-
dent of the Union Pacific Railroad, had also come
t. Santa F6. and. he desired to examine the
mines and also the important hydraulic works in
process OF construction in the Sandia Mountains,
for the purpose OF supplying the New Placers with
water | gladly accepted his polite invitation to
accompany him. having not only the pleasure OF his
companionship, bat also the advantage OF his very
valuable explanations OF the work.
We started from Santa Fe al about o'clock in
the morning, by private conveyance. intending to
reach Colonel Gilette's camp III the Tuerto Noun
tains forty -four miles distant the same evening.
The road from this city leads little west Of south,
about twenty miles TO the Gallseo River, not =
i'm. Of hnlitnfinn hmm IN with thrnu nlnut