The St. Johns herald., 1888-12-13
Tine Lost Adams DigsingS.


 lost Adams piace:s. The local;,y os tbs arr..tfops Wea.th has bee1 desc bed as being situated in New Me leo not far from the A: line. Fe1eat imas,na:iops have pictured the cauycn n which the beds of gravel e:-ist to fai lyg i,et with nuggets of gold, a2d the little stream tfat waDde.s through it ob- structed by bants of spark. gCold dust. The edito- of t;,.s rarer has from the ve. J first taken tbese re- ports cum g-aao sal.s. We do not say that Adams had no room for his statement, but it has been our opinion from the first that the pla- cers known to the popa'ar fancy were myth. The fact, howegec, remains patent that the Indians (not the Navajos) wee. and a-e now we'll acquainted with p acer ground unknown to the American and native miner. As evidence of the truth of tbis statement we will cite the facts that during the years 1880, 1881 and 1882, Apaches, in  person and otherwise, conveyed 10 Socorro, New Mexico, quantities of tbis golden product at tunes for 20 years or more previous, whe.e if was disposed Of for coffee and o.her articles of ApacEe lusu.y. In :he year 1880, the ed;'o: of tbis paper was present when ore Of these con sjgnments of gold dust and mug gets was delivered and upon exam ining it, found, both in the quil!s and the buckskin pouches, a num- Der of small garnets. The presence of these stones may have gwen col or to the report that the placers from which the treasure was de- rived lay in the Navajo country, that is poted for the galcets and spinel rubIes that are found within its limits. For years past the re- discovery of these hidden treasures has occupied tue attention of nu- merous entecprising and adventuT- ous prospectors, and we can safely sa.y that since the year 1880 not less than forty of these brave adventur- CTS have lost their lives in attempt ing to penetrate the mysteries that eaxi.on the fabulous fields of gold. Not the least of these were J. G. Barney, Capt. Prescott and MT. Me Cullough, who in 1883 or 1884 left Alma, New Mexico, for that pur- pose. Nothing definite was heard of tke party until November, 1884, when the remains of our three old friends wee found in gulch sit pated quite close to the lire of tEe Atlantic & Pacific ra.,:oad and not far from Arizona.
 Jn connection with this matters we must not omit to say that Gen. L. A. Sheldon, then governor of New Mexico, and the editor of the Bullion, fo: several months were engaged in-unt;ring efforts to secure information of the three advcntur- CTS, as we'll as President Cleveland, then governor of New York, who took a lively interest ;n the disap- peQrance of Mccullough, who was we'll known to him. Detectives were employed as we'll as keen from tiersmcn, but accident revealed the fate of GU. three friends to a pass ing party of cowboys, who reported their discovery in due season to the Bullion, then published in Socorro, New Mexico.
 The latest venture to secure pos session Of these deposits of fabu- lous wealth was made some weeks ago. The party consisted of sixteen first-class miners and prospectors, with every possible material wanted for such a journey. On arriving at tine Zuni mountain the party was increased to seventeen by the addi- l tion of Ben Swift, who joined the ranks of the adventures. The line