The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-28
IN A GOLD WALLED CANYON.
WEALTH AWAITING THOSE WHO
FIND A WAY To GET 1T OUT.
One of the Lost Spanish Mines-The
story of DiscOvery-An Electrical
Project - transportation, Reduce
ton, Irrigation.

fitness OF things the miners who are stalk
ing out claims and developing prospects
in the recently discovered gold district
Of COehiti call their new town Bland"
Cochiu is thirty miles due west from
Santa Fe as the telephone poles stand.
but somewhat longer distance as the
burro travels. 1t is a proposition of gold,
gold everywhere. and no way to get il
out Experienced miners who have tramp
ed over the distance say that thousand
tons Of ore a day could be produced. But
OF what use are vast lodges of lew grade
rotten granite II twenty-five miles of
wagoning or burroing over a ragged road
is between them and the nearest railroad
point, and If to the hauling and packing
must also be added a second transporta-
ton charge before the place of reduction
is reached? With this disadvantage sew
eral Of the mines are being worked. The
ore is assorted. and that which is sent
over the mountains and then transported
by RAN to smelters pays these charges and
yields a profit of from SIS to hundreds
of dollars a ton.
One Of the traditions Of New Mexico is
that there are many lost mines. Another
is that there are also many lost springs
This country is supposed to have been
much more attractive than it is now.
The Pueblo Indians rose in revolt on the
first full moon of August. 1850. When
they had driven the Spaniards down into
Old Mexico they set to work to change
the conditions so that there would be lit
tie temptation to reconquer New Mexico
| This idea inspired the filling of mines
which had been opened and worked during
the former Spanish occupation. The In
| dams, with great care, destroyed all traces
| of many mines. it is said. This is not so
surprising as what they did to the springs.
1t is tradition. and the statement is COM
monty accepted as historical truth, that
| in their labors to render the country as
uninviting as possible these Indians sup
pressed numerous springs. Such results
were accomplished in an ingenious man
| ner. The Indians dug down and cleared
away the dirt until they found the crevices
| of the rock through which the water
| came. They took the fibrOus bark of
species of fir tree and tamped it into tho,
| crevices. AS the material became water
| soaked it swelled until IL plugged the holes
| tight, and not drop came through Moth
| ing remained but to throw back the dirt
| and to give to the surface the general arid
T.
| This was not a temporary eXpedient. II
resulted, according to the present the
DRY, in the permanent suppression of
many springs. To this day the appearance
| of slight moisture often stimulates
search for one of the missing
| springs. Occasionally these searches
| are successful. The earth is re-
moved, the crevices are found, the bark is
| picked out and the water, after more than
two centuries of being turned back, re-
| sumes its natural flow.
| A rehearsal of the traditions of the lost
mines and suppressed springs is part OF
| the discovery of this new gold district with
its great promise of development. year
ago there was no BLAND" Cochiu as a
| mining camp had hardly begun to be.
! 4 sheep herder was entertaining himself
| over the exploration of a moist place, with
| view to the possible restoration of hid
| den spring Looking occasionally to the
movement of his flock he devoted himself
| for days to digging. He was successful.
| The rock was reached and the distractions
were removed. But the herder saw evil
dences of something more than a spring.
He found some remains of rude but
effective furnace used by the Spaniards
200 years ago to get out gold. Continuing
to dig, the herder discovered a hlled-up
mine. He came upon cavities from which
1t was plain that quantities of ore had been
taken. He took out some ore from where
the Spaniards had left off mining in 1850.
He brought the specimens to Santa Fe,
and told his story. This was the beginning
of the development of the Cochiti district.
Prospectors fiocked to the reopened mine.
They scattered all through that region.
1t was not long until the ancient city
realized that almost at her gates was a
great possibility.
Rotten granite" is the name the miners
gave to the Cochiti ore. Some describe the
for d hoo
Others say the ore lies in blanket sheets"
The district possess characteristics pecu-~
iarly it's own. There is no other just
like 1t. Cochiti lies on the west side of the
Rio Grande, the river being about midway
between Santa Fe and the mines. The
lodges are found in the decline of the
mountain range coming toward the river
The best which has been developed are
along either side of a great canon named
Pine, which extends from the Sierras down
to the river. A feature of these mountains
is that from the main ridge a distance
of thirty miles to the Rio Grande they
are indented with exceedingly deep and
somewhat narrow gorges. The gorges are
from fifty to $50 feet in width, and from
800 to 900 feet deep. They lie side by side
from a mile to two miles apart, making 1t
an utter impossibility to travel on that
side parallel with the river. The only
practical way is to enter one of the gorges
to its head. This rather unusual con-
formation encourages a mining system
that is also extraordinary. The peculiar
ity about the ore is the wonderful amount
of it. While 1t lies in large bodies, it
improves in richness with the depth. In
stead of sinking shafts from the top of
their claims, miners find 1t decided saw
ing of labor to tunnel in from the bottom
of the almost perpendicular-sided canons.
In this way the ore bodies are reached
with great saving of labor.
The discoveries and developments up to
this time are scattered over a district
three or four miles square. There have
been found some pockets containing ore
which yielded 5000 to 5000 to the ton.
But the great bodies of ore range from
$40 to $25 ton upward. Prospect shafts
have been sunk considerable distances
without finding the bottom of the gold
bearing rock. A fair average of the field
is said to be $50 ton. OF course ore of
that value cannot be mined and hauled
out of such a district with profit. 1t can
be blasted and thrown down with ease
and at little cost. 1t can be hauled down