The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-09-29


about the silver. 1t was concealed in a
separate place from the gold. The chart
had faded, and the part describing the
locality of the buried silver was indis-
tinct.
when we found the gold everybody
lost his senses. Some of the men began
to fill their pockets. They were so much
elated that they opened key OF mescale.
and in a few moments many OF them
were wildly drunk and they insisted on
dividing the treasure on the spot. Senior
Yorba tried to reason with them. He
told the men that there was enough to
make them all rich.
THE BATTLE
There is not less than half million
in the pile, he said. If We make any
mistake here the Texans will take It
away from us, he added
IA big desperate named Manchata
rushed to the pile of gold and began to
put bars into sack. Senior Yorba shot
him dead. That started the battle. An
other man was killed and I was wound
ed, as 1 thought, fatally. 1 ran into a
thicket where there was pool of wa
ter. There 1 stayed bathing my wound
until 1 was discovered by the vacquero
Americana The dead bodies of the two
MeXicans were found afterward in a ra-
vine only a short distance from the old
fort.
When Sanchez learned that the Tex
ans were searching for the buried silver
he told Miss Ranes he remembered that
Senior Yorba had said the Mexicans
poured cement over the pile of bars after
they were thrown in a hole in the
ground, and that an aged priest came
out of the mission and threw a gold cross
and the bust of a saint into the hole.
The people who are searching for the
4 Ss,1T afIiY~o Ilx- SLY, no hn
bust referred to was of life size, and
they have since been elated greatly and
at the same time much puzzled by the
finding of a fragment of a Sculptured head
about the size of all orange. This was
picked up by some children who were
playing about the pile of dirt that had
been scraped out of the fort. 1t was
impossible to discover the place in the
inclosure from which the fragment had
been taken. Many believe that this is the
head of the saint that was buried over
the silver by the aged priest. Tradition
has it that the silver was thrown into a
deep well and hastily covered with dirt.
Possibly the bust of the saint was
thrown into a deep we'll and hastily COW
cred with dirt. Possibly the bust of the
saint was thrown into the hole when 1t
was nearly full. Careful investigation
fails to discover any trace of this tradi-
tionary well. If this theory is correct the
treasure hunters may have to remove the
dirt to a depth of 100 feet before they
uncover the silver bars
The people who are at work with
ploWS, ScraperS and ShovelS are so con-
tident that they are on the right track
that 1t will take long time for their
enthusiasm to cool few days ago
they formed a company ''to search for
Spanish treasures and the lost Silver
Mine of the San Saba" Fanny Ranes
made nj he oV,1
money was raised quickly to defray her
expenses to Mexico. From the wounded
Mexican she has learned the address of
Senior Yorba, and she intends to 60 TO
see him and try to prevail upon him to
return to Texas and assist in the search
or furnish such information as he may
possess to the company under guaran-
tee that he shall share alike with other
members In all treasures or mines that
may be discovered.
In the last century fortune hunters
VINO nave searched for the famous hidden
treasures of San Saba have confined their
ATTENTION and labors to the ground in
closed by the old fort near Menardville.
James Bowie, one of the heroes of the
Alamo, visited this fort in 1882 and in
Scrlped his name on one of the stone gate
pillars. The Indians attacked his marty.
ana they were forced to seek protection
at Iona Grande, where desperate bat
Tie was fought, lasting several days. The
treasures were under their feet, if they
had only been aware of the fact. Old
Nine. Candellario, who recently died in
san Antonio at the great age of 116 years
always maintained that Col. Bowie found
a large quantity of silver in Western
IeXas. She said that when he returned
ne had plenty of money, which he spent
l1oerally. Upon one occasion he had his
horse shod with silver
Thousands of dollars have been wastad
IN the search for the mines and treasures
of San Saba. Only a few years ago a
san Antonio company sent costly ma
TO no
OF draining the river bed and slough,
Their engineer accomplished the work
and was repaid for his labor by finding
some old brass cannon that the Indians
into the river
The old Spaniards must have made
some rich discoveries in this region or
they never would have constructed such
a costly fort and dug such wonderful
canal in the heart of the Indian countr,r
l,5o0 miles form Mexico. They never
passed over the fine agricultural valleys
OF the southern part of Texas with the
intention of cultivating the rugged, bar
rem mountain pIateaux of the San Saba
The tools found about the fort and in
the bed of the river show that the Mexi-
cans were engaged in mining. Never was
a ploW or hoe found in that country,
but the river bed was covered with hicks
drills, sledge hammers and other mining
tools.
The walls of the old fort are six feet
four acres of ground. The south wall
runs along the shore of the San Saba
river. A few years ago one could have
hlled large basket with arrow heads
broken beads, pistols and bayonets in
the course of a single evenings walk
about the fort. 1t is probable that the
SpanIards made desperate resistance in
defense of the place, but they We're over
powered by countless swarms of Indians.
One peculiar feature about Fort RoUyic
interests archaeologiStS. The horseshoe
shaped works on the top of the hill were
constructed evidently by the Spaniards
but the massive stone wall down on the
side of the mountain is believed to be the
the remains of an Aztec temple The well
dressed stones in this wall are about four
feet thick and often six feet long The
Spaniards found this wall, or rather two
walls, forming right angle here when
they came The early Spanish explorers.
so the tradition runs, found pieces of sill
yer and gold about this old ruin. This
circumstance induced them to prosnect
the country, and it is said that a lucky
adYenturer fell upon an old trail which
led to the now famous Lost Silver Mine
of the San Saba.
The widest excitement about these lost
mines and buried treasures breaks out
afresh every few years. 1t is to be
hoped, in this instance, that the enthu-
S1aStic fortune hunters will find the hid
den millions in silver bars and some cIew
to the wonderful silver NINE If it is as
rich as tradition makes it, there will be
enough to divide among a thousand, with
a trifie over in millions for charity-New
York Press.
Don't Get Left.
Great Northern morning train for CT