Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-06-28
AMONG THE MINERS
The Interesting History Of the Rich
Moreno Placer Fields in Col
fax County.
D0NA ANA COUNTY MINES
A Rich Ledge Of Copper Ore Pound in the
San Andreas Mountains Mining
Operations in GRAFT and
Other Counties.

Inc IrSI lnIOrTnatlOn relative 70 the
, Moreno placer fields and their minerali-
| zation was given early in 1866 by a
young Indian who visited Fort Union
| and told the soldiers that there was
! copper on Baldy mountain, referring to
the present site of the Mystic. Upon
| this information the soldiers resolved to
| prospect there. A few men. two of them
| named Brownson and Kelly, left the
| fort and pitched their tent under large
tree in Willow gulch, near Elizabeth
town. While in camp they panned some
of the earth. and to their surprise found
it filled with particles of gold. The tree
was called Discovery Tree" and was
a landmark from which claims were
staked and numbered consecutively.
| In 1867 rich placers were found in the
| Moreno valley, first located at point
Of rock in Michigan gulch, near the
| present home of James Lynch From
the date of these discoveries came the
influx of prospectors by whom gold was
| then found in many other places The
quantities now now fully demonstrated
The old hand rocker, the ground
sluice. with little water. and other sim
liar devices were of little use to handle
the vast amount of ground containing
| the precious metal, so other ways must
be devised. Now only sufficient water
was needed to transform this district,
unknown except to the red man, into
thriving community. To accomplish this
end stock company was incorporated
The work was accomplished they had
expended $300,0O0 Prominent among
the stockholders were Lucian B. Max
well, William Kroenig and William Fl.
Moore.
They sought to utilize the water of
Red river, in Taos county, and to con-
duct it to the placers they constructed
what is known as the "big ditch" with
1868. 1t was a colossal undertaking,
work which stands to-day as a marvel
| Gus piece Of engineering. The ditch
forms three quarters of a circle in it's
length of forty-two miles. skirting
along the edge Of mountains. bridging
ravines and gulches with mora than
twenty fumes. In places the water bed
| was made in perpendicular walls of SOL
| Id rock with drill and powder. Later on
| the supply of water was increased by a
| itoh
creek. and out of the Ponil river from
the east,side of Baldy mountain. 1t will
be seen this undertaking was no small
| one when all supplies and material were
| to be freighted from the Missouri river,
| the nearest railroad point then. 1t was
| this water supply that caused the viii
lage Of Elizabethtown to reach the pop
ulation of 5000 during 1868 and bear the
distinction Of being the first incorpo-
| rated city in this territory. To-day
| may be seen from Elizabethtown doz-
en- or more sprays. which look like so
| many fountains playing on the placer
| banks, and the foar of the hydraulic
giant. which reminds one of the buzzng
spindle of the eastern factories or the
threshing machine Of the western prai-
ries, Is heard. Four hundred ounces of
gold have been taken out in one clean
up, and as high as $25, 900 has been made
1T single shipment. Although over
S. 100000 Of placer gold has been re-
moved from the banks of the Moreno
creek, only a small portion has yet been
worked, and an area of 5000 acres re-
mains intact. with an average depth of
10 to 14O feet to bedrock. 1t has been
demonstrated that the Moreno creek
bed, with it's numerous bars and
gulches, from Eizabethtown to the
mouth Of Cimarron canon, a distance Of
six miles, Is rich with both fine and
| coarse gold. This portion. owing to the
fact that the debris or tailings are not
easy to dispose of. must be worked by
dredges. Already this manner of work.
| ing has proved a success, and the near
future will find the valley studded with
steam shovels, which easily separate
the gold from its gravelly bed.
| Owing to the distance the water flows
| in the big ditch considerable is lost by
evaporation and seepage. 1t Is proposed
by the owners, the Moreno Gold Mining
Company, H. H. Argue, trustee, to
shorten the ditch nearly thirty-fve
miles and put In four miles of pipe line.
This will give twice the water capacity,
and the time for placer mining will be
doubled. With timber plenty and ac-
cessible, a temperate, healthful climate,
the advantage of the pipe line, with
dredges, and the development Of the
lode mines, Elizabethtown may easily
be made one of the most flourishing
| camps in the west.
| DONA ANA COUNTY.
| Judge A. B. Fall has just completed
his assessment work on the Copper
| Glance mine in the Organ mountains.
The Copper Glance Is very promising
claim. and Judge Fall expects to soon
begin active operations on the property
Doubtful canon. in the Organ noun
tains is coming to the front as a great
silver camp. Judge Fall and Mr.. Lytle
are developing several claims, and 9TH
er parties are doing likewise. with ev-
cry prospect of opening up rich and ex-
tensive veins of ore.
Jerry Wines has made an extended
tour of the mining camps in the Organ
mountains and other parts Of New Mex.
leo. He says the mines in all the
CAMPS he visited are looking we'll, anG
considerable capital Is being invested
In the development of new claims.
A. 3. Ssaley has located a rich Ledge
Of copper ore In the San Andreas noun
tains, and has had samples Of the orr