Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-02-10
A LEGENDARY MINE.
MeXicans Start in Search of
it and Die.
MURDERED FOR A MERE MAP.
The Trail to the FL Dorado Marked
Out in the Blood of the
First DiscOverer.
IAssociated Press Dispatches to the HERALD.

Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD.
The report of the murder of eight
Mexican miners by Americans who were
said to have jumped their ancient gold
claim, has had new light thrown upon it
by the following dispatch:
CHEYENNE, Wyo., February 9.-The
discovery of the bodies Of eight Mexican
prospectors at the mouth Of the aban-
doned San Salvador mine, in the north
ern part of Wyoming, has brought to
light a romantic story, rivalling all the
tales about the seekers for Capt. Kidd's
buried treasures. Miguel Martinez, at
the head of party of his countrymen,
was here last fall for two days. He con.
fided to Mexican gambler here that
that they were in search of an aban.
doned gold mine, which they believed
to be rich in the metal, and were 60
ing to develop it. Martinez carried a
chart traced on parchment, which they
said was 200 years old, and was made
by an ancestor of his in the Seventeenth
Century. The chart had been lost for
years but had recently turned up and at
once party was organized. The story
that had run through the family for gen.
erations was that Martinez, the elder, was
at the head of band of Spanish gold |
hunters who were working a rich mine |
in that part of the country. The miners |
quarreled and finally fought, and their |
division resulted in the abandonment of |
the mine, though it was very rich. Mar
tinez was wounded and died on the way
home. With his blood he traced chart
which was to be q rich legacy to
his children. A faithful friend delivered |
this document, which soon afterwards
was lost, and only recently turned up.
Martinez discovered two mines in the
north that mineralogists have declared
were worked by Spaniards hundreds OF
years ago. Martinez party was not heard
OF again until to-day when hunter
named Keller reported that his
party had discovered their bodies. All
the Mexicans had been shot and were
somewhat cut up by knives, showing
that the struggle was hand-to hand
one. There we're evidences that the
victorious party had lost three or four
men, and they had made hasty de-
parture, carrying their dead and
wounded with them. What surprised
the hunter most was to find that the
mine had recently been worked. 1t is
not known that pickaxe had touched
the stone since two men starved Is
to death there in 1877, There
is reason to think that the San
was not the mine described on
their chart, and that the murderers have |,
taken the map and gone off to locate the
ancient mine. The fact that the Mexi-
cans horses and tools were taken. and /.
that their jewelry and some money were
not removed from their bodies, seems to
prove this. Keller says there was every
indication that the San Salvador
mine was paying, and he believes
that the mine sought for by the Mexi-
cans is not far from the other and is
known to the party who were at work.
No one here knows who the murderous
were, and as the region in
which the events occurred is almost in
accessible, it is not likely any one will
start to work the old mine and bury the
Mexicans before spring.