The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-15


Year Among Them Returns and
Tells Something of Them and of
Chances Among Them The
Placer Fields In the Yaqui VAL
ley.
George H. smalley, of st. Paul, who
has spent two years in the Southwest,
has returned to the city for the sum-
mer. He spent one year prospecting
In the mining regions of Arizona and
one year in the Sierra Madre noun
tains of Sonora, Mexico, where he found
number of promising mines. Mr..
Smalley was seen by a G o b report
er and gave the following information
about Mexico's mining regions:
The old mine workings and placer
diggings Of the antiques give great
er interest to prospecting in Mexico
than In the mining regions Of the Unit
ed States. the prospector's life is
filled with additional excitement by the
possible presence in an old shaft or
deserted tunnel of hidden treasure
cached by the Spanish when the In
dams drove them away and while
searching for a mineral bearing lead in
the mountains he will come upon many
or these deserted workings. But he
will not always find the bars Of gold
or silver which they are supposed to
contain. The discovery Of one of these
old mines with rich gold bearing veins
| and several pounds of buried gold dust
was made last September, and It caused
considerable excitement in the lower
Yaqui country of the state of Sonora.
1t was this discovery that started the
/ vntf
country. was practically unknown to
! prespectors in this country up to that
time. The report of this discovery
was followed by other reports of re-
markable discoveries of placer fields in
the Yaqui river valley and further up
In the Sierra Madre mountains, where
the Yaqui river is fed by a great many
small streams which find their source
IN some deep canyon of the mountains
Wild stories came from distant por-
lions of the mountains Of rich discov-
erles, and the more remote the stream
the greater was the excitement to get
there. These reports were published
throughout the country, and from two
to three thousand prospectors came
into the Yaqui country between last
september and the last of April, when
| the excitement died out
The Prospectors from the Unit I'd
states found themselves in a rich
mineral country, where gold is found
in small quantities in most every
stream and the mineral leads are nu-
merous and intensely inviting. Those
VINO left the trails and went into the
mountains in almost every instance
found mine, but the most of them
never left the trails. The inexp .rienc-
ed expected to f1rd mine without COM
ing In contact with the cactus shrub
berry and prickly brush. They moved
III
until the towns became too far re-
moved from one another, when they
would turn the heads of their burros
about and retrace their steps back to
civilization. There were hundreds of
prospectors who never left the trails
except to find feed for their burros and
wood for their fires. Tney now con-
denim the country and say there is
nothing there. 1 came across many Of
the. successful ones few weeks ago,
while on trip through to the Sierra
Madre mountains from Hermosillo.
They were the prospectors that did not
willingly let the trails take them
and through the canyons. They sized
uD the hills and decided the most prom
lSlng mineral sections to work in, and
it was there that they went regard
less Of the kind of trails they would
encounter. Out of the great rush of
Sonora during the Yaqui boom were
successful. They were practical pros
pectors and mining men and they un-
derStood their business. They studied
the formation Of the hills, and they
knew where to go to look for the kind
Of mineral they sought. Many good
mines have been opened up to make
fortunes for their owners when they
become producers Practical mining
men regard the state of Sonora as the
best mining region Of Mexico It's lack
of development makes 1t poor field for
capital that wants mine to show at
least half Of the price demanded for
the property in ore blocked out. The
development of mines has just begun
there, and it is being carried on in a
manner that will draw capital and
make Sonora the leading mining region
of the republic
Back in the Sierra Madre mountains
there Is AN extensive gold belt, and
many valuable gold mines. One of
the old-time mines of Mexico is to be
found there. 1t is the Mulatos, mine
which has seen ninety-stx years of &C
tive working The values are entirely
free in soft ore which is easily milled.
The owner Is a Mexican, eighty -four
years of age, and has a vast fortune.
found many good mines idle, because
they are $50 miles from the railroads
and accessible only by trails. There
are copper mines which would be con-
sidered bonanzas were they in the
United States, and many Of them have
yet to be claimed. Mexico is famous
for Its rich silver mines. I saw one
mine which produced a pack train of
ore which required almost the same
number of mules in the train to
pack back the silver dollars coined from
the ore. This mine is owned by an
American named Shepard, and is Just
across the line Of Sonora in the state
Of Chihuahua. The greatest opportuni-
ties for capital in Sonora lie in the de-
eral companies operating in this way
at the present time, and there is room
for many more. The settlement of the
trouble between the Mexican govern
ment and the Yaqui tribe of Indians
has opened up new field, which is i'm
mensely rich in gold, silver and copper.
There. are rich placer bars, some Of
them favorably located but most of
them are so far above water that largs
sums Of money would be required to
properly work them. A Milwaukee COM
pany has dredge at work on the va
qui river near San Antonio del Huerto.
and the fact that they are about to take
another dredge to the river is proof that
the Yaqui river contains gold which
can be recovered in this way
1.-THE daily wage Of the Mexican min
er is 81 and SIPS. Out of this he sup
ports himself and often large family.
Corn is prepared by the sonora into
tortillas and tomales, and these, with
frijoles and jerked meat, penoche and
coffee, comprise their daily meal.
The miner will take a small bag Of
penole to the mine with him for his
lunch at noon, and it is not infrequent