Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-09-26
A Mountain Of Mystery-A Hill With q History
"A Richly Endowed District.
WHERE RECENT BIG STRIKES WERE MADE
Has its Hidden Mineral Wealth Now Been Discovered Must
the Search Be Continued?

to Mexico where he died not long
since. The aged mother of this man
had a nephew in New Mexico also
miner Of many years experience. To
this nephew, A. D. Bell. she wrote
letter last winter asking him to come
here and take charge Of her deceased
sons property. In that letter she adj
yised that he look out for mineral as
she had learned from her son that fish
would not live in the stream and she
was convinced that minerals abounded
on its banks.
This letter Mr.. Bell received at
Springer just as he was ready to 60
to the Dawson coal fields and he hesi-
tated to change his plans. That same
day a strange woman came to their
back door and said to Mrs. Bell that
she had been sent to tell her fortune.
Mrs, Bell laughed at the idea and tried
to send her away but the woman per-
sisted and finally was allowed to go
on with her prophecy. She identified
by description some distant relatives
Of Mr.. and Mrs. Bell most remarkably.
then she said, "you are going to the
south and you will stop at the first
large town. There you are to find
your fortune and will come into great
wealth through mining" Mrs. Bell
and her husband are neither the kind
of person to put any weight upon the
sayings Of fortune teller but they de-
termined, nevertheless. to come on to
Las Vegas and to the homestead Of
their deceased cousin Sheffield in Blue
canyon. So there they established
themselves last December and Mr.. Bell
being an experienced miner began
prospecting the surrounding country.
One day In January this year while
out looking for his horses which haG
strayed away his practiced eye detect.
ed mineral float in the rock at his
feet. He was interested at once and
began to search for its source. This
he found to be the dump Of long
abandoned working near the top Of
Mineral HILL A little prospecting re-
yealed a solid lead of mineral about
fifteen feet wide on top of the ground
assays from which showed d value Of
about $3.50 gold per ton. A little fur
ther development exhibited values in
the assay of $14 per ton and more re-
cent tests show still higher results
which the present owners do not care
TO have made public.
]. A. Baker, the well known mining
man largely instrumental in opening
up the Tecolote copper district learn.
cd Of Mr. Bells discovery and lost no
time In securing an interest in II.
Previously, H. Il. Blake and w. B.
Twitchell had taken lease but after.
ward allowed II to lapse. Later
Messrs. Baker and Bell associated
with themselves Messrs. Thos. Ross,
r. l.. Brown and M. M. McSchooler
and together the are now the owners
Il this promising prop9-'g Develop
ment Is going On stea ilv and conf
IDENTIFY. Already II Il down thirty.
fige feet encoulter'rg tbo foot wall of
porphyry. The width os the vein Mt
this point Is vet to be determined. The
entire matter taken out Of the shaft
from the surface TO its present depth
Is mineralized and all Of II would pay
for working Az Mr. Baker says: "If
this Is not mine there never was
one" And the experienced miners
working on IL declare II to be there
opinion that locations on the noun
tain side equally as good are to be
shown UP merely by intelligent pros.
pecting. Alreaody there have been
located claims by Lawyer Hayden, by
A. r. Quinly and by The Optic and 10.
cal prospectors are coming In daily
When We arrived at the mine the
other day in the late afternoon the
miners were Just cleaning out the
shaft after a blast and rich, indeed,
appeared the ore which was removed.
We were assured by Mr.. Bell that
every part OF the rock thrown over
the dump was mineral bearing and
would be worked up when a mill for