The Washington herald., 1907-02-13
MINES OF BATOPILAS
AZtecs' Famous Caves Hold
Vast Silver Supply.
vERITABLE TREASURE HOUSE
For Nearly Three Centuries Holes in
Ground Have Never Failed to Give
of Natures Hoard, when Worked
PerxeverinEIy-Rich Ore Found at
Great Depth-The Longest Tunnel.


From the New York Tribune.
When the capital Of the Aztec empire
had fallen before the Spanish conquerers,
and the hero Cuauhtemoc had been tor
tured and killed in the vain attempt to
make him reveal the hidden treasure
house OF the Aztecs and to divulge from
whence had come the stores of silver
and gold. band of hardy adventurers
spread out over the land TO find the
source of the famed riches These hardy
soldiers Of fortune, with sword in hand,
left their TRAN of blood and ashes wher-
ever they found opposition, and, caring
naught for hardships, penetrated every
corner of the wilderness. tt was by one
of these expeditions that, for the first
time. Batopilas was entered by the
stranger. II was in 1888. almost three
centuries ago that one Of these parties,
descending into the ravine where now
lies the city of Batopilas, was astonished
to see the brilliant reflection in the river
of stones along the bank. On inspection
these were found to contain almost pure
silver in its native state. Immediately
the news spread throughout the country,
and many Hooked to this Eldorado, where
in many cases all that was necessary to
do was to give the metal the rounded
form and 70 stamp il with the bust OF
the reigning sovereign TO make it money.
Mines had been found in great number,
but the ores were extracted only after
laborious processes and the expenditure
of much time.
1.r s-ay.f
table treasure house has never failed to
gives OF natures hoard when the mines
have been worked perseveringly. In the
early days Of the life Of the place the
methods were crude There was no steel;
iron points were used for drilling, and the
powder was poor But Notwithstanding
every obstacle and difhculty millions OF
silver were taken out Of the then prin-
cipal veins-how much will never be
known for the archives We're destroyed
by an accidental FIRE. 1t is said that
Rafael Alfonso de Pastrana worked for
years in the bonanza which he encoun-
tered when. discouraged and dispirited, his
money and credit exhausted, he was
about 10 give Up. On one occasion he
built a road OF silver bars from the
church 10 the residence of the Bishop of
Durango. on the occasion Of the visit Of
that prelate to Batopilas. Another favored
of fortune was the Marquis OF Busta-
mente, poor Spanish merchant, who
worked the Carmen mine II is said that
he took out 100000; some say more
Another. a poor boy, Crist0bal Parez,
while working for lead in the San Antonio
Vein, discovered a bonanza. Up to the
time of the expulsion of the SpanidTds,
following the revolution of 1910 and the
succeeding years, Batopilas was a -four
ishing and productive place At this time
it langUished and industries died, so that
in 1870 there remained only ten families
in the place that had been the wonder
Of the vice-royal pride the pride Of the
Spanish kings, and which had drawn par
ticular attention from Humboldt and
Gamboa. At that date il was Of no more
Importance than any Indian village in the
Sierras-
This decay was due TO several reaso1s.
Much of the Spanish energy and enter
prise had been removed. new mining
camps had been discovered. and with
the primitive methods of working then
in vogue 1t was difficult 10 reap any
profit from the work. AS nothing had
been done below the level, and therefore
no silver found IL became the commonly
accepted belief that silver did not occur
at any depth. This has been disprOved
by the modern work. as there has been
found al a depth of 600 feet as rich ore
as had been found near the surface
The modern history OF BatOpiia5 began
in 1850. when il was visited by the late
cX-GOv. Alexander r. Shepherd, of Wash
ingtOn, u. c. This trip was taken with
the idea Of the acquisition OF the San
Miguel Mine, which was purchased; and
the governor took up his residence in this
isolated spot. which he left only twice in
bis lifetime. ana then only for his health.
Gov. Shepherd. who was man of great
creative genius. great viii power, and
tremendous energy, which he seemed To
transmit TO those with whom he came
in contact. early developed the idea of
acquiring the whole Of this vast mineral
tract of native silver and establishing a
great business, thus eliminating the
chances which are always present to the
miner who works on a small scale. To
this end. after acquiring for his company
the principal mines which We're for sale
he went 70 Mexico and obtained from
the Mexican government a concession
which was unique in the history of the
government. This included the mineral
which covered all Of the native silver belt
President Diaz, who for So many years
has SO ably administered the government
of Mexico. recognized in him a spirit TO
develop this part of Mexico, ana at no
TIME did he ever refuse him a request
T his development scheme included the
Harvesting Of the power of the river to
drive the mills and was accomplished
by "a dam more than 40 feet in length. of
solid masonry, and an aqueduct more
than two miles long which furnishes
power TO move the mill Of 1c0 stamps. and
drives the dynamos for the lighting of
the works and for the transmission Of
electric power to the mines. The water
is then carried from this Hacienda San
Antonio under the river through a FIVE
foot pipe 10 the Hacienda San Miguel
where u Is used % move twenty-five more
stamps and eight amalgamating pans
In order 10 overcome the difficulties
of hosting the ore and rock from
great depth and its transportation from
The mines 20 the mill on muleback Ga
very costly and sometimes impossible
task, because of the scarcity OF fnulesl
the great ''PoTfirio DiaZ tunnel" was pro-
jected and driven. This tunnel S,00o feet
long the longest in Mexico. and one Of
the longest mining tunnels in the world.
opens up a great area for exploration
Of veins st a depth, and. through it. hun
dreds of tons of ore are taken out weekly
in ears drawn by gasoline engines. and
the ore dumped into the mill. which is
at the mouth Of the tunnel. All of the
machinery had TO be brought upon the
backs of mules, or burros, for many days
When IN 1850 The trip was taken To BatOpi-
las. the railroad reached only as far as
san Antonio. Tex, and there was
fOrty-Gay stage trip 30 Chihuahua: from
there an additional eight days staging;
and then the six to eight day mule trip
across the Sierras.