Evening star., 1900-03-31
THE LOST MINES OF MEXICO
DEPOSITS OF FABULOUS WEALTH
ONCE WORKED By SPANIARDS.
Mexican wOman's Persistency and an
Discovery of Famous TaiOpn.
From the Land of Sunshine.

Among the rich mines worked by the
Spaniards was the Tarasca. in Sonora, of
which Humboldt writes so fascinatingly,
and Ward and other historians mention Ia
vorably. The history of Tarasca is one of
evil deeds. of duplicity. of theft. of greed,
and all the base passions melted by the
love Of gold The mine was worked long
before the Spaniards arrived in Mexico,
and the gold and silver fashioned into or
naments by the abOrigines- A family In
Guaymas has a necklace of flying fish pur-
chased from a Pima Indian chief, who
stated that the metal was dug from Taras-
ca. The mine was worked by various Span
iardS and later acquired for the crown Oh
Spain. 1t was extensively worked, barring
certain periods during Apache wars unIi
the epoch of the French intervention, when
the shafts and tunnels are SAID 10 nave
been concealed by the administration Don
Juan Moreno. an imperialiSt' VINO was
forced to seek safety in flight After the
restoration of peace Tarasca was looked for
in vain. and to the present time no one Is
certain of its location, though the mine now
known as CbarbO is believed to be the
TarasCa. Ubarbo had been extensively
worked when rediScOVered years ago. ana
the shafts and tunnels concealed under
earth and brush. Rich pillars of ore were
found in the drifts, and the mine corre-
spends in many respects with the deScrip-
tiOn in the archives of the American con-
Sulate AT GuaymaS-
But the lost mine about which tradition
gathers thickest is Taiopa, supposed to be
located in the Sahuaripa district, in Sonora
Little documentary evidence exists to prove
Taiopa Il reality. and that has evidently
been manufactured by unscrupulous ma
nipulatorS. a wealthy Mexican gentleman
recently made trip to Madrid, and after
minute search. at great expense, found abb
solutely no data to prove that such mine
was worked for the crown of Spain, and no
reliable data in the Mexican archives or
elsewhere to prove that such a mine was
ever known. But quite as trustworthy as
most written documents are the traditions
gathered from the Pima Indians. They
stoutIy maintain that Tatopa exists, and a
few claim TO know its locality. Small guam
titles Of very rich ore are occasionally sold
at the mountain mining camps, but all at
tenptS to follow the Indians to the spot
where il is found. bribe them to reveal
ii, have failed. Wanting but little in addi-
tiOn to the corn they grow. they are ims
bued with a superstition that If they reveal
the locality of a mine they will instantly
drop dead. To one unacquainted with the
Indian character this statement may seem
Incredible but any proSpector or miner in
the Sierra Madre will affirm its truth
Large sums of money have been offered the
Pimas to tell where the NINA tapada'' is.
They Scurn money, and the only open seS-
anne is mescal. by the liberal use of which
the Indian may be made to disclose many
things, but so far he has held inviOlate his
VOW To reveal TO NO mortal man the famous
Taiopa. But the fascinating secret, in part,
has been revealed to woman. All tales
of lost mines have for their central figure
grateful Indian. and this story is in that
particular ike the rest.
About 4 years and a half ago an old Pima
chief fell i'll in one of the valley puebos
and was cured by a Mexican lady so well
known and so estimable that her statement
is universally accepted. The cd Indian re-
turned to his tribe and from time to time
sent her rich bits of ore, which assayed
thousands of dollars to the ton. All her
efforts to induce him to lead her to the
mine were futile. He said the Great Spirit
would strike him dead if he did. Last sum-
mer the plucky sonora went to the noun
tainS and lived among the Indians for three
months. dcctoring the sick and giving pres
ents of ca leo and gay ribbons to the wo-
men and small quantities of meScal to the
men Of the tribe. She became convinced be-
yond doubt that the spot from which the
rich ore came was TaiOpa The chief admit
ted that it was the NINA tapada'' that
was worked when he was boy After
much persuasion and the gift of goodly
portion OF the fiery product of the maguey
he directed two women of the tribe TO take
her within a few yards of the mine that
she might discover it unaided and save the
Indians from the penalty of sudden death
for revealing it. Overjoyed at gaining so
much. the Mexican woman had two burros
packed with provisions. and mounted on
mules. the three women set out. They
Travelled mostly at night. passing through
deep canyons and over lofty mountain
passes The fourth night some hours after
dark the Indian women led her into deep
canyon and paused short distance from a
large rock In the dim moonlight an old
arrastra was seen, and across the canyon
was large ore dump, from which opened
a tunnel
The woman gathered bits of ore from the
dump and arraStra, but was hurried away
by the Indians, who said they would be
killed If they delayed beyond the time given
them by the chief. They Travelled until
the moon went down. rested a few hours,
and went on before daylight, completely
battling the Mexican woman as to the route
they had brought her. They arrived at the
pueblo at nightfall, and having taken four
days 20 reach the mine and but one to re-
turn the obvious conclusion was that she
had been led about in a circle-a curious
method Of putting at rest the complex In
dian conscience.
Despairing of gaining more the Mexican
woman returned to her home In Septem-
ber sle returned with her young son. a
mczO' and a few burros, to search for the
elusive Taiopa. In crossing Rio Aros the
moe and two of the burros were
drowned Disappointed but not discour-
aged, the plucky woman left her son to
work at mining camp and returned to the
valley Tor fresh supplies, promising to re-
turn and prosecute the search. May her
courage be rewarded by all the treasure
tradition attributes 20 the famed Taiopa
Other lost mines Of which one hears in
Vulnerable tales are Reina Mercedes and
the CaSa Blanca, which are said to have
been the property of the crown during the
Spanish occupation of Mexico. Both have
probably been rediscovered and worked to-
day under other names. The Reira Mer-
cedes Is said by the Pima Indians to be
one of the rich Conchena group of mines
and the Casa Blanca the Casitas mine
thirty miles west If Mulatos. Near Casitas
Is an ancient mine, now worked by a Next
can company. that had open cuts on the
surface for more than a mile and several
miles Of underground workings when re-
denounced by the Mexicans Near this
mine. where once large church has fallen
into ruins, were found two copper bells
bearing the name Of Guadalupe de Taiopa
thus leading many to believe that the Tajos
mine is the lOng-iost TaiOpa.