The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1903-09-03
The Adams Diggings.

oi which many men are said to have
lost their lives, and as vet il remains
undiscovered. Most of these tales arc
no doubt, mythical, yet such is the
Unsuitable thirst Of mankind for sud
den wealth that searchers for lost
mines do not always stop to inquire as
Q" the probability Of the truthfulness
81 the stories which start them out on
long ana expensive Journeys. which
usually. ID not always. result in disaD-
V'iutme Mt and sometimes i'm terrible
Suffering, a. well a the loss of life.
80 region Is 50 iuhOSpitable nor mac
ce--ible "a 10 deter these hardy and
eager seekers after the precious treas
Hre- hidden deep in natures darkest
and !ouellcst reces7es from risking life
Itself In order to- drag them forth and
make them ministers 10 their comfort
ant happiness The story which /
avn going 10 relate OF the Lost Placer
tpld mine of %ew NcAicO does not be-
inug 10 the mythical class There
"c." 80 many participants in its first
discovery. and the incidents relating
thereto are - well known in CalifOr-
mia and elsewhere as to remove the
story from the realm of fiction and
place % among the remarkable occur
cuce- which have chS ractcrized the
search for gold i'm the West since the
day when Marshall made his famous
discovery of the e1istcuc. of the pre-
cIOus metal i'm ~uttcr'- Creek in Call
t)ruia. The story is - follows:
90 In the -rrInG of 1883 | arrived at
Lake valley. New McxieO, having left
silver CITY a few week before 10 pros
poet i'm the Black Range mountains
shortly after my arrival l was APP
proachcd by an old acquaintance, who
invited me to join party which was
being made up to prospect in the Mo-
.o.Ions mountains. As | had Just re-
turned from that region, and knew
Geronimo and some renegade White
Mountain y pachc- were on the STAN
pcdc' in that vicinity. declined the
invitation. but afterwards, by reason
at some Inducements which were held
out to me. ! rccou4dered my declina-
ton and joined the party. The object
oil the expedition was To rcdiscOver, if
possible, a placer mine in New Mexico
OF Incredible richH. -. In the party
was one of the original discoveries of
the mine, and the story which he told
i'm regard To il is "a follows
''' Ia the fall of 1875 u party Of Cali
fpruiuus arrived at Yuma, Arizona, at
The mouth OF the ella river where it
enters the biz Colorado river. They
had heard of great placer mines To he
found i'm the sands OF Arizona, and
were in search thereof The PARTY
consisted OF tWcut y-twO men and "a
fun complement OF saddle and pack
hOrsc5. While making inquiries of
the Yuma Indians rs to their best and
most feasible route up the old ella
river, which runs nearly due east and
west through Arizona, they found il
necessary To have an interpreter. the
spanish language being unfamiliar to
most of the CaliiDrniaus. y young
man with the Yuma tribe. who could
speak Spanish. was brought into ser
vice to act in that capacity, and the
Desired information was procured.
Just before the departure OF the gold
seekers they were visited by the
young interpreter, who requested to
gee the lcador of the band. His re-
quest was granted. when he said
Seniors, | ann Mexican. | was born
on the banks of the Rio Graude, ~
IcSH-. The ApachcS killed my pa
rents and made me a captive. ! re-
manned with them for several years
7 was then traded to the MaricOpas,
who i'm turn traded me To- the lumas.
/ am slave and u drudge. | wish
YOU would buy me. II you WILL ! will
show YOU where there is more gold
than your horses can pack He was
closely questioned but he adhered
strongly to his story and described
with great PARTICULARLY the place
where the precious metal was to he
found in such great quantity. His
statement was SO earnestly made and
he seemed 10 he so honest in il, that
ID made u strong impression upon the
party. aud negotiations were entered
INTO with the Indians to secure his re-
i"aSc. After much pGlaver and dick
crin% the Indians agreed to take Il few |
ponies for their captive, and the eX-
change was made.
TIE MENIcAN'S STORY.
- The story of tie young Mexican
was. in brief, rs follows: He said |
that a few years after his capture by |
the White Mountain Apaches they be |
gan 10 take hIm with them on their
various expeditions. "a they seemed |
to he satisfied that he was rcconciled |
to living with them and would not at
tempt To escape. enc of these trips /
was made To the south fork of the ella |
river While there he was shown
pieces of yellow metal The Indians |
told him il was white mans money /
and that If they know of ITS existence
the country would bc taken from the
Indians, their game all killed, and |
that they would have no homes. Be /
ing young, he knew nothing of its /
value. Afterwards he saw ii passed !
in the purchase of goods, and so ascer-
tanned that IL WAS of great worth. He |
also knew that in the region whence .
II came there were large quantities to
he had for the digging. He said that /
1t would bc found ON one of the tribu-
taries of the ella. one of the land /
marks being three mountain peaks |
which lay in the form ofa triangle, two |
streams coming together at the foot of |
the central peak. 1 he gold, he said,
was on the right hand stream.
80 The trip up the ella river was ,
After passing into New /
NcNico their guide informed them 4.
that il would then bo necessary to /
leave the river, rs there was box |
canyon near by which prevented fur /
Their progress along its banks Two /
days afterwards the three peaks de- |
scribed 10y the Mexican were discoV- |
cred, aud the party was in high spirits /
over the proha ability that his story was I
correct. and tina; they were on the eve /
their fortunes. Camp was made that
night. and in the morning the guide, +.
10y two of the party, /
went ahead to pick out the best route .
They had gone but short distance 1
when they were ambushed by party /
Of Indians and all three were killed. /.
The remainder of the party, nothing
dauuted by this untoward accident, /