El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-11-17

sible the mine and then attacked tt
escort of NIUE train en- route
San Antonio. They Were C mplete
! victorious aud killed nearly ali til
Spauiards at hand, stole their horse
ana supplies, end it is supposed barie
their silver on the spot where the raj
took place
Strength i given to this suppositio
by the fact that some years aro ranct
man CT San Saba county, while diggin
on the old tra ii to San Antonio, fOun
Il bsr of silver VIII n, judging from it
share and size. might have bee
moulded in Il strip of caue.
Several attempts have been made t.
reclaim the lost mine in .the last hal
century. but the Indians did thei
work Of demolition so well that no d..
finite clue to it's lOca ton has yet beer
oh aimed. Several yea ago g search
ing expedition was projected by Mr.
| Chas. Dignowity a d several other local
capitalists. Mr.. Dignowi'y brought al
his experience in miuing to b ar on
the project and carried on the york in
a systematic msnner. He first mad
an exh aust We s udy OF the old records
and ma pS of the mir es in the archives
of n Catholic ciu~ch here AID based
his plans forsthe search on the data he
gained from these sources
In all the maps and charts this
place was designated as TAI ting point
of the survey Of thu min :. La an effort
to accurately locate the miue Mr..
Dis nOwity had line surveyed fr2m
here to San Saba county, but the sur
veyors were never able to strike the
right spot. The expedition came TO
h.n
were lost in the enterprise by the pro-
meters.
The following Interesting and de-
tailed history of the lost mine was pub
l shed several years ago:
After the destrucf ion of the NJ isslOn
San SARA, the Almagres mines were
forever closed aeai lst TIE Spaniards,
IS we have no account of their ever
h aving attempted TO reopen them. 1t
seems that with the downfall of tn $
important pest, all effort towaros
ca iaDizing the Indians in the re-
gion was abnndoned; ard Spanish
officer in high authority, writing to |
the viceroy, stated that the only way |
to subdue the Apaches a. Comauches |
was to carry force into the field suf- |
ficieDt 10 eXterpinate them. from the
ACE of the earth. Subseque history /,
las proven the correctness of his |
views.
However, from early accounts the
mines were worked by Mexicans with :,
ID a few years after the downfall of the |
u iseion, but without any degi ee of sue
cess. La 1906 royal permit was grant !
I'd a comla1y Org aniZ5d at Chlhue hua
% work he Aimagres mines On the
San Saba river. Owing to the great
distance over which Supplies had to be
transported. and Indian hostility, this
mps ny met with disastrous failure,
In tn year 1920 Don Ignacio Ohro-
!; n, Count of Kegla and suIeri utendent
# mir -, wss sent by the viceroy of
Mexico to Inspect and report to the
the condi,i ion of thu AL
nagres mi les. His report with the
oysl seal. is in the srthives of Mol-
,lova ard is the strongest link in the
,hain of lbe evidence which we shall
introduce to prove the existence of the
4 magres mines and their pIGba ole
ocation. That his report is unbis sed
Ind free from any pers )r al interest,
!, orn of mHrcenary mo Ives, Is evident
rom the fact that ircumbents OF his {
,f1il were forbidden under tne sever st
,ena tie 5. t, hold or to have directly
IT indirec ly any interes5 fl ancjalIy
n any mines or mining operations. lie ;
vas paid Ii beral salary and was re-
Iri~ei TO report to the crown all facts .
Ter nj 20 to mining tha1 came ucder
lis observation. The repor says:
the Mines de los Almagres on the
san Saba river. near the Mis- sion of r
IAN Saba, fifty 'elgues northwest of .
= ines. OF Cat4rce. The specimens
fhich accompany this report, taken $
rom near the surface in my pr se1ce,
1ill show the excl ed, richness of this
line, VIII :co, according to crude an t
!Ssis n ale heretofore at Queretas o $
ielded as h gh "a thirty mares to the
argo (about $3.50 to the tori Much I
f the silver il found in almost pure t
tate of iguanss Qizzards. } some weigh ,
lg as high as twenty-five pocnds." Q
He further states that the surface in i
ic,lous are such as would not lead y
le mineralogiat 10 suspect rich de- ! t
lit of silver in the vic nifty, He
escribeS the adjacent surroundings, g
ne advantages in the way Of fuel and n
alter, the mining operations that hsd 1:
cen carried on, the destruction of the h
ission and consequent aSar doL me1t b
the mice at d fife ent times on ac- o
ount OF the indian hostilities, and y
loses his report wi h an urgent reque st u
at the government esta blish milf q
,rY post at he old miss On for the pro- y
ecti ion of the mines, setting forth The
dvantsges to be gained thereby in b
ne way of revenue TO the crown. =
When this repo WAS MADE the state
f aft ,irs in Mexico WIS very unsettled. e
he Spanish power which had held ;,
espotic sway for thres hundred years,
as nov lettering, and It's fall WAS only e
gu st on of time. Tee patriot, Don q
iiguel Hidalgo proclaimed the indie
andepce Of Mexico on the night of a
eptemb Is, 1910, in the town of Do s
Dres, sta tie of Guansj alto. The indie e
{ ndeuce was finally effected by Don
Augus,iu 1turbide. comm anding the j:
rmy of the Three Guarantees, Oh the t
eth day of Sep ember, 1921. This was l
ust three months alter Don Ignaclo
sd ma g hisre pot from the Almagres Z
mines. The government was over c
rown and. Of cour:e. could take no 5
nrther MT rest in mines. The new !
O dition OF rational affairs was not S
nch a wind be calculated to encOur- e