Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1894-04-06
RIGHTS OF pRosproroRs ON GRANTS.

creating the U. S. court of private land
claims, lays down the following law: mo
allowance or confirmation of any claim
shall confer any right or title to any gold,
silver or quicksilver mine or minerals of
the same, unless the grant claimed effect
the diversion or sale of such mine or
minerals to the grantee, or unless said
grantee has become otherwise entitled
| thereto in law or equity; but all such
mines shall remain the property of the
| United States with the right OF working
the same, which fact shall be stated in all
patents issued under this act; and no such
mine shall be worked on any property
confirmed under this act without the con-
| sent of the owner of such property until
specially authorized thereto by act of
congress hereafter passed.
Such is the law. He who runs may
read. The clause, "unless said grantee
has become otherwise entitled thereto in
law or in equity" plainly contemplates
| that the owner of an unconfirmed land
grant could comply with the mineral laws
appropriate to the public domain and
make his title good. The clauses that
follow certainly suggest no restriction
of the rights of prospectors and miners
on unconfrmed land grants. 1t is only
after confirmation that the grantee gets
any power to interfere.
GO AHEAD BOYS.
submitted this phase of the case to
Mr.. Reynolds opinion, and his reply was:
"These prospectors are perfectly within
their rights. They are violating no law
of the United States, nor so far as know
of the territory, by going on to these I'M
confirmed grants in search of minerals.
am very glad these Cochiti discoveries
have been made, as the large public in
terests involved therein will compel con-
gress to take some action in accordance
with it's promise to regulate this matter.
1t has determined that the precious min
erals are not part of the property carried
in the confirmation of grant. We may
consider that as settled. Congress has,
however, reserved the right to regulate
mining by special act ON these grants.
l would suggest to the people interested
that they write to their senators in congress
and have them look into this matter.
There are great many Coloradoans in
this district now. 1t would be well for
them to write the facts plainly to their
senators and congressman and request
them to draft a proper bill and push it
through. / tell you what, Senator Teller
knows private land grant when he sees
it, and is just the man to straighten this
thing out. He is also member of the
committee on private land claims of the
senate"
THE PResPECToRs IN THE RIGHT.
1t will be seen from the above conserva-
tive opinion that the prospectors and
( miners have all the best of it just now.
The writer knows as an almost certainty
that ever if these grants are eventually
confirmed it will not be for several years.
The conflicts of the grantees will newt
ably take the cases to the supreme court
of the United States, and that means an
added period of somnolence SO far as the
grantees are concerned.
Outside of the Rio Grande bottom there
is not single cultivable mesa, and the
narrow canons do not afford room enough
to run dozen plough burrows. These
are all agricultural grants. Let the
croakers wag their ominous tongues.
Those who go into Cochiti with the pur-
pose of working hard and faithfully need
hardly fear misfortune. They can accum-
ulate plenty of the root of evil. if they
! hustle for it.
WHERE AND WHAT IS COCHITI.
The Cochiti mountains lie west of San
ia Fe, about thirty miles in an air line.
For thirty five miles their foothills extend
to within mile of the " es.ssa, bank oi
the Rio Grande. In direct line they are
about thirty-fve miles north of Albu-
querque, but the road thence is much
more circuitous, sandy and rocky. The
mountains are sister range of the Vale s
and Jemez mountains, whose hot geysers
still proclaim their volcanic origin. Be-
ginning at the northern end the principal
canons are the Frijoles, Cochlti, Ell Medic
Dia, Pine, Cola and Peralta. South of
the Peralta are the Ojo del Oso, Ojo del
Borrego and Bear creeks. Concerning
the latter have heard some of the best
reports. With the exception of one man
named Yeager, however, have not talked
with anyone who had actually prospected
that country, but he was enthusiastic in
its praise.
APPEARANCE OF THE RANGE.
AS one approaches Cochiti across the
high level mesas of Santa Fe county the
western horizon is serrated with noun
tain peaks about 5000 feet high, while
near the northern end is one over 10000.
Below these peaks roll bilowy hills, COW
cred with timber and grass. These grad
ually melt into flat, volcanic capped mesas
that step under step follow the course of
the river. This general appearance is
indicative of what is found in the detail
of the country. Every aspect is volcanic.
Entering the range, the road-bed is com
posed of bits of pumice stone, jasper,
chalcedony, and dark gray, rotten por-
phyry filled with small euclase crystals.
Here and there an atom of quartz is
found in the debris, but not in sufficient
quantity to indicate mineral. After trav-
cling about ten miles west of the Indian
pueblo of Cochiti the canons become
very narrow, and not only the debris and
wash incident to seismic disturbance are
found, bat the erupted porphyric rocks
rear themselves hundreds of feet above
the canon beds. The pretty sapphire Gu
clase or water stones are still found in
the stream beds and in the water worn
rocks, but the solid formation begins to
show quartz. Passing further west
through solid porphyry, for six or eight
miles, and the mineral belt is reached.
Here
GIANT VEINS OF QUARTZ
fill all the longitudinal cracks of the
porphyry. The quartz is highly refrac-
tory, but of this more anon.
The first bodies of ore we're found north
and south of the Grown Point mine and
| in n series of nnrnhvrv maaas cannad