The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-09-03
A MINER'S YARN.

hANL - AANN'
That" said a weI-known LeadvilIe as
sayer to a reporter of the Leadville Chronicle, !
indicating a piece of odd-looking ore which |
he held in his hand, ''that piece comes from /
a mine with a history perhaps as singular as
anything you ever heard"
He then related a story in substance as fol- /
lows
The mine from which this ore was derived /
is situated somewhere on the line of Southern (
Colorado and Mexico. Vast mountain ranges /
inclose it on all sides, like colossal barriers I
erected by nature to guard it from the intru- /
sion of mankind and no beaten path, appa- /
rently, leads thither by which any one could .
penetrate to the spot except the most daring I
monntaineer that ever scaled the mountain 1
heights or with pick and shovel delved into !
the finty bowels of the rugged Colorado /
slopes after the precious metal. The spot in /
which the mine is located is beautiful e cen
valley, in which summer eternally prevails,
with only one outlet, through a dark cleft in
the towering rocks, which from the outside
would never be discovered except by chance
About the year 1924, when the Spanards
under Cortez penetrated Mexico and over
flowed the country surrounding, a number
of the lawleSs Andalusians, camp-follOwers,
or whatever the occupation of those who
drifted into the beautiful country along with
the large hosts of soldiers, detected some of
the conquered Indians wearing ornaments of
massive gold upon their persons 50 directly
different from any of the precious metal the
secret Of whose deposit they had long before
wrested from the simple natives that they at
once concluded it must he derived from a
mine whose whereabouts was yet a mystery
to them. Avaricious and cruel, as Bancroft
on good authority represents the Spaniards
to have been at all times, the secret of the
hidden mine must come into their possession
at any price and at all hazards. But suppi-
cations and intimidations alike proved incf-
( fectual in forcing the red children of the for
/ est to make the coveted revelation, and as a
/ last resort, refuge was had TO a cowardly
ruse, the success of which is Unquestioned.
A number of the adventurous vandalS from
/ Spain, the destroyers of Mexico, tracked
some of the Indians at different times into
the mountains, and by this means finally dis
/ covered the whereabouts of the hidden mine
+ in the valley 1t was fully developed, and
H seemed to have been operated by the iutelli-
gent aborgines for a long time, the method
of reducing and eliminating the noble metals
being no secret to them. Suspicious even of
their comrades, and fearful lest by some
means their precious discovery would he be-
| trayed, or the Indians drive them from it,
, they fell upon the small body of Navajoes
/ working the mine and aSsassinated them to
the last man. They then took surreptitiouS
leave Of the Spanish settlement, removed
I their effects to the hidden valley, and found
ed colony there, erecting houses, and in
due time developing themselves into quite a
large and busy community.
In 1860 CoTteZ began his incursions into
the vast mountain districts lying north of
Mexico penetrating the intervening territory
and entering the southern portion of what is
now Colorado. By some strange happening
his soldiers learned of the existence of the
isolated colony, and, guided by an aged Indi-
an, they found the lonely mountain pass
which leads to the hidden mine. Under the
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 exc
cuted, assassinating the men and children
and outraging the women or carrying them
away with them into the mountains This
done, he selected number of his own force,
and, leaving them to operate the mine, osten-
sibly in the interest of his government he
pressed on toward the north to prosecute his
search for more hidden treasures
The new colony was less successful in the
management of the mine Strife prevailed
among them, and extended to the Indians
who lived in the neghborhood, and with
whom their predecessors, from the best Of
political motives, had lived at peace, court
ing their friendship by intermalTiage and
completely winning them over to their cause
The new colony had neglected this all-impor.
tans precaution, and having incurred the
hatred of the redskins by their initial move
ment of slaughtering their friends, open hos
tility between them was very soon the order
One dark night the Indians in counties.
force poured into the sleeping valley and in
augurated a feast Of blood in which nearly
three hundred Spaniards lost their lives, non,
escaping to tell the tale. As suddenly as they
had come hey had departed, leaving dread
full scene of carnage behind them. The i'm
provements went into decay, and Cortez, re
turning by another roaie, the valley was for
gotten, and centuries east their shadows owe
its bloody history.
Last spring two young men, named Chas
Ackerman and VIM. Ramsey, left Leadvill'
with pair of packed buTroS, two ponies an
shovels and picks, to go on long prospect
ing tour. They strayed into southern Cole
RADIO, and having for long time wandere'
aimlessly about among the rugged hills, goin
! out of The way of hostile Apaches, and Greer
ing along dun Indian trails, where, perhap,
never white man sst foot, they sought Il