Mohave County miner., 1900-01-13

others lesser amounts The district then worked was
about miles square Since those early days the hardy
prospector has branched and gold has been found
the east side 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 less quantity.
this great waterway have lived for several
great Indian tribes In the centuries gone by they mined
the gold along the and in the mountains but after
the conquest of Mexico by Cortes they concealed all traces
of the old workings and devoted themselves pastoral pur
suits believing that the Spanish lust of gold would spread
death and desolaon their peaceful land Being of
the of Monezuma 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 of the Colorado in 540 he found
tribes of people versed in the ruder elements of irrigation
and agriculture. Near the Gulf tribe which he
designated Cucupas Above New river and extending
to the Ha-weahamook (Bi Williams Fork) the Cuchans
Yuma had formed settlements and engaged in the peace
full pursuit of agriculture. The A-moch-haves 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 own race
of people. Among these tribes he found many golden
ornaments of curious manufacture The Mohaves related
tradition that long time before the appearance of Aar
great chief and gathered up the of
all the great tribes and marched away the eastward
After months of travel they arrived at big river and there
their course lay southwark Moons and moons of travel
brought them to great water surrounded by beautiful
leys, where they built up many villages They told of
the many fights the way and of the tribes that
quered Then came the history of the of worm
weary and bedraggeed band of descendants of the once
mighty host that went 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 Mineral Park are the
old turquoise workings In the former place the works
are extensive and vast quantities Of the precious stones
must have been taken out The crude implements of the
workmen lie scattered about Here was mined the gem
stones and gold that went into the workshops of Montezu
there to be polished and worked into eweled shapes
here in this desert country the barbarc followers of the Az
tee god provided the spendor of the kingdom on the far
away banks of Lake Tezcuco.
Father Marco del Nco also ncines to the belief that
this the treasure house of Montezuma and Laroux
that one of the old priests in the Mission Monterey told
OF the traditions of these Indian which bear out this
assumption All the early explorers locate the gold fields
OF the anclents west of the San Francisco mountains and
many unhesltatngy locate in the mountains and valleys
bordering the great Red River of the West-the Colorado