The Arizona sentinel., 1897-03-13
THE NEW BONANZA.
The Ledge is Thought to be That Which Furnished the Gold fer the FabuIOusly Rich Frenchmen'S
 Diggings

new Bonanza in the $. H. mountains continue to give glowing accounts of the new find. We have interviewed many as to it's richness who have visited and made a thorough ex- animation of the ledge, and one and all give it as their opinion taat one o the richest mineral belts ever dis covered on the Pacific Coast has at last been found.
 The scene of the new strike is about 30 miles due north of Geo. w. Norton's ranch on the Gila river in the Mohawk valley.
 It is thought by many of our pio- neer citizens that the new find is the ledge which furnished the gold for the long lost and sought for French mems placer diggings which were discovered in the above vicinity more than thirty years ago. Numerous prospectors at various times since then have penetrated the Eagle Tail and s. H. mountain ranges in search of the lost placers, but without avail.
 The story as told by old timers is as follows: About twenty-seven or twenty-eight years ago three French men suddenly made their appearance in Yuma and deposited between $70OO and $SOO0 worth of gold nuggets with the mercantile firm of Hooper < Ce., then the leading business house of Southwestern Arizona. After purchas ing supplies they mysteriously disap- peared in the direction of Agua Caliente. Five Mexicans determined, if possible, to find out the source from which the nuggets of gold came, and accordingly took up the trail of the French prospectors, which led them to Agua Caliente, at which point they found the elusive prospectors encamp- ed. Next morning camp was broken and the Frenchmen pursued their tourney in a northly direction, cauti- ously followed by the trailing Mexi- cans,
 "They became apprehensive of being followed, made q retrogade movement and met the Mexicaus face to face. They then returned to Agua Caliente and made preparations ostensibly for permanent camp. The willy Frenchmen quietly pulled up stakes in the night, eluded the Mexi- cans and once more proceeded north wardly. When the pursuers awoke in the morning the birds had flown, The Mexicans after diligent search found the trail which they followed to point in the mountains, at which place the Frenchmen had separated, each taking a different direction. The Mexicans then returned to Yuma.
 "Nothing further was heard of the daring Frenchmen or their rich placers until the spring of 1889. During the excitement consequent upon the dis covery of the Golden Eagle and Bonanza mining claims 8 Mexican, about 40 years old, made his ap- pearance here and procuring man and team to carry himself, several barrels of water and other supplies to point in the Eagle Tail range of mountains, distant in a southeasterly direction about thirty miles from Harrisburg. On the way there the Mexican became communicative and unburdened himself as follows:
 "When I was boy about .I2 years of age ran away from home on ac- count of some fancied wrong, and while roaming around from place to place l met three men with pack train of three hurros i'll camp. They gave me food and treated me kindly. They offered to clothe and feed me if I would accompany them and cook for them, at the same time stating that they were prospectors. I gladly accepted the offer and accompanied them to what appeared to be a permanent camp in the mountains. At running spring where mesquite and cottonwood tree grew were erected two rough bnnks, one large, the other small. After resting a few days the men went into the mountains in the morning, returning in the evening with something in yeast pow der cans, which were carefully laid away. Prompted by curiosity during their absence one day opened one of the cans and found it to contain large and small nuggets of shining gold. I cautiously trailed them the next day and found them about one [oNrth Of a mile from camp busily engaged in taking out nuggets oi gold. On their return to camp that evening