Mohave County miner., 1900-01-20

+bors lessar amounts The district then worked was
about miles square Since those early days the hardy
prospecor has banched and gold has been found on
the side of the range and down the river for miles
In fact the whole slope of the valley the east side OF the
Colorado river carries gold in greater or les quantity
Beside this great waterway have lived for centuries several
great Indian tribes In the centuries gone by they mined
the gold along the and the mountains but after
the conquest of Mexico by Cores they concealed all traces
the old workings and devoted themselves to pastoral pur
suits believing that the Spanish lust of gold would spread
death and deolaton their peaceful land. Being of
the race of Montezuma they fully of the
throw of the Aztec king and the conscaon of everything
dear to the Aztec heart. When Alarcon, the Spanish
explorer visited the valley the Colorado in l540 he found
tribes of people versed in the rude elements of irrigation
and agriculture Near the Gulf tribe which he
designated as Cucupas Above New river and extending
to the Ha-weah hamook (Bl Williams Fork) the Cuchans
Yumas had formed settlements and engaged in the peace
full pursuit of agriculture The A-moch-haves were far
ther up the river The Aztec guide taken from the City
of Mexico by Aarcon spoke the tongue and conversed
freely with the tribes and regarded them of his
of people. Among these tribes he found many golden
ornaments of curious Manufacture The Mohaves related
tradition that long time before the appearance of Alar-
great chief and gathered the of
all the great tribes and marched away the eastward
After months of travel they arrived big river and there
their lay southwark Moons and moons of travel
brought them to great water surrounded by beautiful val
leys, where they built up many villages They told of
the fights the way and of the tribes that
quered Then came the history of the of worn
weary and bedaggeled band of descendants of the
mighty host that forth to found new empire The
fear that into the depths of the desert would the Span
lard follow them caused the abandonment of every pursuit
but that of agriculture That they mined for gold and pre-
cous stones is evidenced every hand In the Great
Bend of the Colorado river and Mine Park are the
old turquoise workings In the former place the works
extensive and vast quantities of the precious stones
must have been taken out The crude implements of the
workmen lie scattered about. Here mined the gem
stones and gold that went into the workshops of Montezu
there to be polished and worked into eweed shapes
here in this desert country the barbarc followers the Az
tee god provided the spendor the kingdom on the far
away banks of Lake Tezcuco
Father Marco del Nico also incnes to the belief that
this the treasure house of Monezuma and aroux saws
that of the old priests in the Mission Monterey told
of the traditions of these Indian races which bear out this
assumption All the early explorers locate the gold fields
of the ancients west of the San Francisco mountains and
many unhesitatngy locate it in the mountains and valleys
bordering the great Red River of the Wes-the Colorado