Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-09-25
AN ANCIENT GOLD MINE.
One in srixoaa Was Worked a cenfnr
aud Half Ago by Ie.I.its.

oHe IN Srixoaa Was Worked a Century
aud a Half Ago by Jesuits.
The old Fort Tumaeacori mine III
Santa Cruz County, Arizona, says the
Oasis, was worked by the spanish
Jesuits Of the old Tumacacori mission
century and half or more ago. The
cayed shafts and scattered dumps of
their old abandoned works are vet Wis
ible upon the brow OF the hin above
the camp, and from their site the cas-
ual visitor, facing westward. includ-
ing in his view a panoramic sweep
covering a score of miles along the
fertile valley of the Santa Cruz. Il
pointed to the ruins Of the mission
church and convent which through
more than century sheltered the de-
yout and holy men who penetrated the
wilds Of the western world bearing
aIoft the cross of Christ, at the same
time carrying along a goodIy supply
of picks and shovels ta.at their con
yer Il neophytes might show their
faith in works, to the glory of God aud
the enrichmes: Of the holy mother
church
When came the great breakup Of
the power of Spain in the new world.
early In the nineteenth century, the
protecting power Of the Spanish arms
was withdrawn from this remote re-
gion, priest and soldier returned to
sunny Spain, and mines and missions
here We're abandoned The great
Apache uprising If 1926 or thereabout
probably assisted and accelerated that
abandonment.
For more than a half century was ali
this fair region harried by Apache
hatred. Every mountain canyon re-
sounded with the dread war whoop.
every mountain road is lined with
graves where rest the remains of dar-
ing but unfortunate prospectors who
met their fate while in the quest of
hidden treasure, and many a lowly
mining camp was obliterated by the
red devils, who left owner and work
men dead and scalped beside within or
furnace.
Then there came the new rejuyenes-
cence of the region, when American
grit and valor undertook to solve the
problem of subjecting the Apache and
again opening to the uses of civiliza-
ton all the wealth nature had treas
ured in these rock-ribbed mountains.
Among those who came to Arizona
in those early days was Mark Lulley, a
yenturesome youth from the national
capital. who had cut his eye teeth in
several years residence in the Golden
State. He came to Tucson in search
of fortune engaged in business in
1.-THE old pueLto." But he found an ir-
resistibi4 charm in the life of a pros
pector, and he frequently cast aside
business cares to roam the mountains
in search of the glittering treasures
there imprisoned. He also heard the
romantic tradition of the lost mine of
The Jesuit priests of Tumacacori and
!Ie determined to find it. Carefully
studying the story. faithfully following
every clew which could east upon the
mystery of the old tradition any light
of solution, and interviewing scores if
not hundreds of old natives whose
early lives reached back to the golden
days of the Jesuits, he finally deter
mined to visit the Santa Ritas and YER
ify. if possible, the conclusions he had
drawn as to the location of the lost
mines.
To make a long story short, he proved
his theory and found the old Tumaca
corr mine