Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-10-14
BAJA CALIFORNIA.
An Interesting Letter Writ
ten to the Herald"
THE PLACER MINES DESCRIBED.
Account of Some Rich Diggings in
the Real Del Castillo and
ZaragOssa Districts.

or more letters for publication, setting
forth my honest convictions regarding
this (Iaragossa) particular district as
gold producer, and whether it's miners.
resources were being developed. This
| can now do, since L have had ample
time to visit nearly every mine receiving
attention.
might here state that very few loca
tions have been made since last spring
although great number of prospec
tors have been in here, made rich
discoveries, covered them up and then
went away. And you will ask why. Be.
cause, under the provisions of the con-
cession by the Mexican Government tc
Mr.. Theopolis Masac, inspector OF colo
MES and fisheries, Republic of Mexico,
he was granted nine miles from north to
south, and twelve miles long from east
TO west, the object evidently being to get
control of this vast mineral selection
whose possibilities are inestimable.
Beginning at the west end of the conces-
sion on the San Rafael river and
east distance of twenty miles or more
with an equal width, is an immense
quartz belt which has as yet
received little attention at the hands of
the prospector. When this concession
was made to Masac, the Government re-
quired that he should locate fifteen
quartz and fifteen placer claims within
his boundary lines before the 18th day
OF September, 1888. Every prospector
coming in understood this, and he knew
that if he got inside the lines his loca-
tions would certainly be counted among
the fifteen, hence he quietly made his
notes and passed out of the district.
However, the trouble is all over now
the surveyors have been here and gotten
through with their work; the company
owning the Masac concession have their
fifteen quartz claims in the Zaragossa
district, and development work must
begin on them at once to carry out the
contracts made with the powers that be
at the City of Mexico, and this will give
the Zaragossa district an impetus such as
days of it's placers.
q 1t was believed for several months that
the company controlling the Masac con-
cession would be compelled to forfeit the
same because of failure to locate
the required number of quartz and pla-
Ger claims. Indeed, such would have
came to pass had not the services of Col
Francisco Arenas been secured Just in
the nick time. Don Arenas has been
identified with the mines in the Real del
Castillo and Zaragossa districts ever
since their discovery, eighteen years ago,
and he knows every gopher hole made
by Indians in search for placer diggings
for radius OF twenty miles. | doubt if
any other man could have found for the
company one-third of the claims needed,
and the best leads are yet to be opened.
The Zaragossa district is now open to
prospectOrs, SO let them como in and un-
cover some of the richest gold quartz
that ever resisted pick and powder.
What miner finds now is his own,
/ further than that he has to comply with
the laws of Mexico, which are really
more liberal than the United States laws.
The field is a broad one, and as Major
Robert Y, Anderson stated in an inter-
view with a reporter, last spring, after
he had travelled over the district and
given it thorough examination, he saw
more veins or lodges than he ever saw
before in his life, in the same
extent OF country; and Mr.. Anderson
is authority Oh matters of this kind
having heen an examiner Of mines for
nine or ten years, and has visited nearly
every mining camp of prominence on
the Pacific Coast and Colorado in their
infancy, and he claims to have never
seen more promising mineral section
in an undeveloped state. The veins in
the lodges thus far developed are from
one to four feet wide, incased in slate,
mica, schists and sometimes porphyry.
and generally cut across the forma-
ton and stand nearly vertical.
The float quartz, as we'll as the
cropping OF the lodges is barren-looking
and uninviting, but below the sur
face it changes rapidly, and in
many instonces is honeycombed and
heavily iron-stained, carrying very
fine and rich sulphurets. The greatest
depth realized on any lead yet in this
district is seventy feet, and that on the
"Agua Dulce." Work on it is tempo
farily suspended on account of foul air.
The next is the Golden Eagle" which
has attained to depth OF forty feet. 1t
lis owned and operated by Frank Gale
gos, a Los Angeles boy, and is very rich
in free gold, as are also his Fortune
and "Buena Vista" The two latter carry
free gold, and are in depth at this time
from thirty to thirty-five feet, with devel-
opment still going on. l remember last
spring when Frank Gallegos started in
here poor young man to prospect, and
to-day l don't suppose his properties
could be purchased, just as they stand,
for $4,000 1t is positively known that
two or three Los Angeles capitalists are
interested with him, and it is their in
tention to push work just as rapidly as
possible. The people on this peninsula
are tired waiting to see what San Diego
is going to do towards developing sthe
vast resources of Lower California and
have long since ceased to invite hel
mythical capitalists across the line. A
44os Angeles man is cordially re-
ceiyed because the Mexicans have
found that when one comes here he
means business, hence we will have tc
look to Los Angeles to develop Baia Cal
ifornia, and not San Diego.
I have gathered much valuable infor
NATION from Colonel Francisco Arenas,
nstive of Los Angeles, who resides il
Rea, del Castillo. For eighteen years h,
has hsen superintendent of the leadin,
mining operations in this district, and i
at the present time engaged in working
force OF miners in one of his rich proper
ties. He was at ono time commander o
the Mexican forces Of the upper peninsu
la, for many years was the Judge at Rea
del Castillo, and stands high in the es
TEEN OF the Government ant
that of Governor Torres. He i
thorouOhlv aduooted in Spanish ant