The Arizona sentinel., 1896-05-16
@E LOST MINE.
1 Box CaBJen in tue Castle Dome Range Slid to Contain Ailiiens Of the PreGi0aS KetaI.

The Yuma Apaches have z story
 which although old, is still told anc
 believed by them. They say that
 many years ago during the hot
 weather, whilst warriors of their tribe
 were hgsnting the elusive mountain I sheep in the Castle Dome range, they
 entered box-eanyoi,, cne which Wa; entiresy new to shem Fhe walls o
 the canyon were oi white a-ad pink
 fuor spar olnost perpendicular and hundreds Of fee, in height. The great
 canyon was entered at nigE,s fall and U was decided to camp therH 'fntil morning, as the surroE ndings looked good for water-tanks to 1S found and the precious fluid was becoming scarce among the party. When daylight came the warrlors looked arouna but no trace of water could be found. Matters were becoming serious, as the nearest known tank was 15 miles away. About the time that almost all hope had fled, q shout from a young brave at the head of the can yon announced the discovery of water. A rush was made to the place and a pool of water cool and clear as crystal was found running over from it's em- pOundment of granite, tiny stream flowing short distance down the canyon where 1t soon sank beneath the loose gravel. The "tank" proved to be spring which came up from below the face of the canyons wall and on the upper side the decomposed iron-rock, quartz and spar could be seen piled up, as if dumped from the
 workings of mines. The Indians camped there for some time awaiting the coming of mountain sheep for water. Late in the evening a large amount of game was killed and the hunters made preparations to leave for home In the morning number of young bucks took bath in the limpid pool and on reaching the bank of decomposed rock it was found to be fully one-half gold. Nuggets large and small were found in great pro fusion. Great excitemnt prevailed and the Indians carried away all they could pack. They knew the precious
 metal could be traded off in Mexico for knives, beads, pauocha, tobacco and mescal, With songs of Joy, they began their journey homeward. Sud- denly the sky became black, the thun- der pealed and lightning flashed and 1t seemed as if the rain was falling in river-like volume. In terror the In dians hurried along, for they knew full we'll, that if they did not get out of the box canyon before the water from the cloudburst came down, it meant death to one and all. With @ roar Of mighty force the wall of foam ing water came down sweeping every thing before t.
 Only one of the Indians escaped death and as he Wearily made bis way home, sadly mourning oyer the terrible end which had overtaken his relatives and comrades. Upon arriving home the Indian told his story of adventure and showed the gold he had found in the mysterious box canyon. An old man of the tribe then spoke out in words of anger and condemnation, saying, that the Yuma Apaches had been warned years before by the Great Spirit to never enter the canyon as 1t was the abiding place of the Gods. The Chiefs of the tribe had kept their people away from the forbidden spot for years, and it seemed necessary for the Great Chief to teach them lesson they never would forget.
 The legend above was told years ago to Nick Gunther, "Long John" Bor- land and Neil Johnson, who made re- peated searches for the canyon and l spring, but without success. A num- Der of the Indians say they know just | where to go and find the place, but l nothing on earth could tempt them to either go there or point out the way Some gold has been found in the Castle Dome range, but in trif1ing quantities. The best show of gold in that section so far as found is Tn the copper camp, MOntezuma district, where theyellow metal is found in the copper ore.
 The story of the Indians find IS be- ieved by many, and who knows but that in years to come the box canyon treasure house may be found and it's immense wealth distributed among those who need 1t most?