Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-07-22
A FASCINATING PROPOSITION
Wonderfully Attractive Business Fea'
lures of the COchiti Mining
District.
Popularity of the Great Ore Deposits
An Electrical Project Combining
Transportation, Reduction
and Irrigation.

"''o -"
developing prospects in the recently dis
covered gold district of Cochiti call theil
new town "Bland." Cochiti is thirty
miles due west from Santa Fe as the tele
phone poles stand, but somewhat Longer
distance rs the burro travels. 1t is E
proposition of gold, gold everywhere
and no way to get it out Experienced
miners who have tramped over the dis
trict say that thousand tons of ore 6
day could be produced. But of what use
are vast lodges of low grade "rotter
granite" if twenty-five miles of wagoning
or burroing over ragged road is between
them and the nearest railroad point, and
if to the hauling and packing must also
be added second transportation charge
before the place of reduction is reached
With this disadvantage several of the
mines are being worked. The ore Is as.
sorted, and that which is sent over the
mountains and then transported by rail
to smelters pays these charges and yields
a profit of from $25 to hundreds of dol.
lars a ton.
IRREGULARITIES OF THE CAMP.
The popularity about the ore is the
wonderful amount of it. While it lies In
large bodies, it improves in richness with
the depth. Instead of sinking shafts
from the top of their claims, miners find
it decided saving of labor to tunne; in
from the bottom of the almost perpen-
dicular sided canons. In this way the
ore bodies are reached with great saw.
ing Of labor.
The discoveries and developments up
to this time are scattered over n district
three or four miles square. There have
been found some pockets containing ore
which yielded $4,000 to 5000 to the ton
But the great bodies of ore range from
$50 to $25 a ton upwards. Prospects
have been sunk considerable distances
without finding the bottom of the gold.
bearing rock. A feir average of the field
is said to be $50 ton. OF course ore of
that value can not be mined and hauled
out of such district with profit. It must
be handled near where it is found It ex-
lists in immense quantities. 1t can be
blasted and thrown down with ease and
az llbplC COsUs IL Cdu W uOWu bue
canon by railroad. These are the
elements which enter into the estimate OF
the new fields importance. And these
are the conditions which have led to the
development of an interesting enter
prise.
Hundreds of locations have been made
and several hundred people have estab
lished themselves at Bland and neigh.
boring town called Allerton to wait foi
the railway and the reduction works
Some silver is found, but the main pro.
duct is gold, and it is as gold bearing
that the lodges or blankets claim atten.
ton. Half dozen mines are down to q
depth of 100 feet, and selected ore is be-
ing shipped out from them. A thousand
tons day is considered Il not excessive
estimate of what may be handled wher
the promised facilities are in operation
The saving in transportation on half 6
million tons of this ore will be many
times the cost of building the railroad.
ELECTRIC POWER AND RAILROAD.
Cochiti lies on the Rio Grande, just be
low the famous White Rock canon. Com
ing down from the plateau of Colorado
the river has cut for its way gorge from
300 to 1000 feet deep and from 200 tt
1000 feet wide. This is the source O
power. There are natural points in thu
canon for dams. One of them is at tn,
mouth of the White Rock canon ant
nearly opposite where Pino canon open
upon the river. At its mouth the canoi
of the White Rock is only 300 feet wide
with nearly perpendicular walls from 3O'
to 500 feet high. Two dams in the canoI
are contemplated by the plan of the com
pany. The water power thus created il
to furnish the electric power for operat
ing the railway in the Plno canon, driv
ing the machinery of reduction works
lighting and operating the mines. TIN
dams will back the water in reservoir
ten miles long and from quarter to hal
mile in width. A double use of tn
water is contemplated.
While the mountains come down to tn
river on the Cochiti side, there IS wild
level valley on the Santa Fe side. Whe
the water has been used for power it will
be drawn off through bitches to this plai
and used for the irrigation of Thousand
of acres of fertile land. The mining IN
reduction works will bring to the Cochit
district many people, and there will b
an immediate market for all of the pre-
duce that may be raised in the vicinit,
The feasible approach to the district
from the Santa Fe side, and railroa
from this city to the Pine will be the frs
step in this enterprise. The canon ha
been examined by engineers. There
said to be nothing in the way of the raj
road construction up the Pine from tn
river to Bland. And when the road
built, the estimate is that the ore can b
hauled out from the mines to the -edu,
tion works profitably for the transport,
tion company at from $l.50 to 81 a to-
With railway and reduction works
operation on such plan, and with tt
utilization of electric power thus derive
from the storage Of water in the Whi
Rock canon, it appears that the lowe
grade ores can be turned out with prof
The whole proposition is fascinatin
one.
THE COoHITI GRANT.
4 Like 80 many other New Mexican 81
terprises and plans of development, G.
chiti has suffered from the incubus OF
old grant claim. It has been scarcely
month since decision of the land cou
partially removed that wet blanket. III
law provides that confirmation of gran
J shall not affect gold and silver mine
Still the existence of such claim hi
been, until now, check on the railroa
reduction and irrigation projects.
Ten years ago Joel p. Whitney al
other wealthy Bostor ians bought the G
chiti grant. Nothi' : was known then
the existence of these immense gold-bea
ing lodges. The capitalists invested #
.. springs and grazing. They thought tn,
were getting good title to between 30'
600 and 400, 900 acree. This title went ba'
200 years to Spanish grant of son
planting land near the Rio Grande rive
But, BY confusion of opinion as to whe