Arizona republican., 1909-07-28

makes travel or satisfactory prospect
 ing a matter of great difficulty. IT recent years no prospecting has beer
 done in this section by men who were making systematic search for min
 eral as the conditions were too dis couraging unless one was led on by
 some old story in which he placed ere dence or thought that he had some
 definite information from Oldtimers
 who were in that section before the | days of the Apache wars. At that time-in the early seventies-the hold ing of any mine in the section was for an uncertain length of time and there
 was no insurance that the miners | would not be killed or driven out at | any hour by the savage Indians As a
 result the reports of the activities on | the slopes of the Mazatzals during the
 early days are shrouded in uncertain | ty and even the men who worked there are unable to certainly locate the scene of their operations.
 The following is the gist of the | story as it was told by the gager. at | the Verde station: little over two years ago when the Verde river was on a considerable and sustained flood and the volume of water was far too great to permit the fording of the stream at
 any point there appeared on the west
 side of the stream a man who indicat- ed that he was impatient to cross. The ! noise made by the rushing water was
 too great to make a shout heard across the stream. The gager went to the
 station which was about a mile from
 his camp and crossed the river in the
 box attached to a cable which is part
 of the equipment of the government
 gazing stations. The man was there
 to meet him and when told that the
 stream was past fording at all points
 he said that he had business of mo-
 ment in the -Four Peaks and that to cross the stream immediately was ab- solutely necessary. He returned to his camp and securing light bedding and a supply of food which would last him for several days he returned .to the car and crossed with the gager- to the camp on the east side of the stream.
 The gager naturally wondered what urgent matter called the man to make the long hard trip afoot but refrained from asking any questions. It was sev- eTdl nOuTS DetpTt lHt bNti come his suspicious and fears suffi- ciently to reveal the purpose of his errand and give the reasons for his misgivings.
 His tale began with a description of the valley of wealth of the Spanish empire during the sixteenth century. the most Elo"ious period in the history of Spain. He recounted the stories told of the fabulous amount of the pre-
 cious metal. property of the Spanish crown. He recalled that the source of this wealth was to 9 great extent unknown and that it was in all prob. ability the product of the continent to the discovery of which the desire for gold had led He had long held the theory that there were many more of the Spaniards in this section than the few authentic history tells of and he claims that his theory is established and proven and that his access to cer- tain records has given him knowledge of the exact location of the one mine that furnished the wealth and today still contains treasures just as vast.
 Through some accident an old Bo- hemian who had known the father of the prospector in question, in the old country. and who for many years had lived in Mexico learned of documents in the possession of the Mexican gov ernment known only to a few of the higher officials and which were kept under a strong guard in a capital of one of the Mexican states Through the connivance of bribed officials who were to share in the reward, the old man was allowed to puruse the records on condition that he would find some one in the United states upon whose word he could place absolute reliance to locate and work the property and to turn over to him the stipulated share of the returns. The old man selected the son of his old friend. who was a citizen of the United States and qual- flied under the laws to locate the mine.
 The Bohemian was called to Mexico to consult with the officials and was selected to undertake the mission. He was shown the records but was not allowed copy or to carry them out side the building. and from them he determined the location of the mines.
 According to his calculations they were located on the south side of the Mazatzals Further or more definite information he would not give but on the day after his crossing of the river he set out on foot for the site of the glorious treasure
 After an absence of three days he returned saving that he had either been deceived or that the records con suited had been faulty. He was at that time determined to give up the quest but after consideration he de- cided to return and again consult the records In so doing he encountered much difficulty being unable to re- main in the confidence of the officials However, finally convinced that he was trustworthy and that his failure was not an attempt to defraud them of their share of the wealth he was after the expiration of eighteen allowed access to the records the second time. He discovered a slight l in the calculations off his first | trip and he now returns to locate and open up the mine.
 Many who have heard the story are ! doubtful of it's authenticity but there | are others who place confidence in the | who believe that the story | may have basis in fact and who are | hoping that in this county. almost | within sight of Phoenix there may be |