The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1888-05-05
From ~" Globe-Democrat.
OUR MINING INDUSTRY.
an Abundance of Mineral in New
Mexico and il is Being Rapidly
Developed.

III asO. Texas, April 2l-Ihe
approaching building Of railroad
from FL Paso to the White Oaks
country, in the center of Lincoln
county, New Mexico, and the con-
sequent prospect of getting ore to
a renunerative market, has caused
a small army OF professional pros
pectors to spread over that country.
Many are busy locating claims and
sinking shafts so as to do their
first years assessment. The cOun-
ty of Lincoln, n. NJ, Is three times
as large as the state Of Massachu-
setts, but has up to the present
time only 10000 inhabitants.
There is not a mountain chain
within its lines but what is full of
mineral of all kinds. The most
prevalent is geld, not only IN veins
but also in extensive placers, very
few OF which have ever been work
ed, on account Of the scarcity of
water In the very first range of
mountains encountered north of
Ell Paso, the Jicarillas, or Silver
Hills, placer gold is found in every
gulch. Prospectors have washed
SlmOst at random in the various
can0ns, with the OF the little water
contained III their canteens, and
have never failed to find gold pres
ent; but the knowledge of this fact
could never be utilized, because
the nearest water was twenty-five
mi es distant. W ellis sunk hereto
fore, In one instance to the depth
OF nlnty feet, have failed to bring
water. There must have been wa
ter in these hill in former times,
tor the remains of old mining work
ings are found IN various places
and old dumps Of rejected ore
which at the present day would be
very profitably to work over.
AT ether places great excavations
can be seen that were evidently
made for that valuable gem. the
turquois. numerous small speci-
mems Of which are found every
where in the debris. As the tur
quois was eagerly sought after and
mined by the Aztec Indians in
New Mexico long before the com
ing Of the SpaniarJs, more particu-
larly in the district of CerriIlos,
near Santa Fe, the finding of these
old turquols diggin&s would seem
to indicate that the Aztec must
have mined in the Jicarillas hun
drcds OF years ago. If so, the wa
ter supply that enabled them to
/ Prosecute their labors has since
vanished from natural causes, prob
ably from the increasing aridity OF
/ the country.
Twenty miles TO the north of the
Jicarillas lies one of the great MN
eral curiosities OF the country, the
largest deposit Of chemically pure
snow-wMte gypsum, probably, in
the world. 1t is called the white
sands. 1t insists of an aggrega-
ton Of low, undulating hills, about
forty or fifty feet high, thirty miles
long by twenty miles wide, of daz
zling whiteness, with not speck
of Vegetation or discordant color to
mar the snowy pureness. Travel.
ers who pass through the district IN
day time have to carry a piece ct
yelling or musquito netting to save
their eyes from tie binding glare.
The gypsum is found in the form
OF fine powder, and shoveltul
held over the campfire for few
minutes becomes pure plaster of
paris in its natural state. 1t
makes splendid fertilizer. To
show how little the immense nat
ural resources OF this codntry have
been utilized, it need only to state
that not a single foot OF tins gyp