El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-18

Mexico"
BY the dim light of the candle the
American saw what looked like old
blood stains in the rock. After COM
ing out of the cavern, the old man
led his guest to an old trail about
half a mile till they came to an old
cross made from mountain mahogany
and badly decayed and erumbled
This" said he, 'is the cruz de d.
recion" From this point were two
word rails. "If you folIow this one,
said the old man, till you come to a
great high rock. you can look for
the mine. which is not far away, but
I cannot show it to you, as 1 swore to
my father, as he had done to his faith
our family" The American then fol-
lowed up the trail till he came to the
rock, as described, and saw deeply
worn trails Night coming on, he was
unable to follow the clue, and hav-
ing to leave the following morning,
he determined to return at some fu-
ture day to find the old mine. A sam
pie handed him by the old man as
coming from, the ledge. assayed about
$500 a ton in gold
Story of The la Rue Mine.
In the latter part Of the eighteenth
century the Roman Catholic church in
II
the priesthood to go as missionaries
among the barbarous tribes OF north
ern Mexico, and at least 10 young
priests were selected. among whom
was q priest Of great piety named
father La Rue ambitious and daring,
ready to brave all dangers and en-
dure all hardships IN the holy cause
Arriving In the City of Mexico, he
was assigned to a little pastorate sew
n al
Norte, on a hacienda or ranch. inhab-
tied by poor people OF the peon class,
mostly indians. Among them was an
old man, who in his youth had been
a soldier in the wars against the
Apaches and rowing bands of Co
manehes. a soldier of fortune whose
father was a. Frenchman and mother
an indian woman, and who had ira
versed a wide scope Of the mountain
and desert country of southern New
Mexico. The young priest and the old
halfbreed became warm friends and
in the last illness Of the old man. the
young priest nursed and cared for
him with almost filial tenderness.
With his heart full of gratitude the
old man told the priest OF a region OF
gold he had once seen in the north
across the Rio Grande in a lofty range
a couple of days north of the mission
Of Paso del Norte.
~Te reach this golcenda,", said the
old man, you must go through a
pass to the eastward, and below the
most lofty. peaks of the mountain il
a spring and up one Of the canyons
you will find not only rich placers but
also ledge so rich that you can see
the yellow metal glittering in the
sunlight. 1t is in deep. dark can
yon, and unless you search carefully
YOU might pass near it and never sus-
peet its existence The pass is called
San Augustine. and the spring is
called by the Tegua OF Pueblo in
dams the Spirit Spring" as they be-
lieve the spirits of the departed are
guarding it from the Spaniards. At
that time I dared not attempt 10
work the vein, but treasured UP my
information as a secret. intending 70
return at some future day. I think
those indians have. all been killed by
the Apaches and the place is desert
ed IF YOU go there / wish you to
promise me that you will use this
knowledge for the benefit Of these
poor people, as It has always been my
dream TO some day return there and
dig the gold and divide it with them"
The young priest pledged himself
to do as requested. A year or two
drouth and famine followed. in which
many Of the poor people of the haci-
enda eperished. The old soldiers tale
haunted the good priest, and finally
calling the people together he disclos-
ed TO them the secret and asked them
if they would go with him to the
Promised land" With Joy they
unanimously agreed and pledged
themselves 20 never disclose the secret
and told him to lead the way and
they would follow Weak and fam
forever and followed for days over
the dreary wastes until they reached
the old mission of Paso del Norte.
Find Spirit Springs.
The river was dry and they crossed
on dry land and proceeded northward
about three days journey afoot till
they came to the pass of San Angus
tine, some IA miles east of the present
town CT Las Cruces. and descending to
the basin below came to what an
swered to the Spirit springs" Here
was an abundance of water. green
grass and game Of all kinds, such as
deer. antelope and wild fowl. Father
La Rue recognized the locality as the
place mentioned by the old soldier and
after establishing camp sent out his
men in all directions, to find the gold.
After several days one man came in
with a collection of gold nuggets,
which he had gathered up in a can
yon in the heart Of the Organ noun
tafnS. Father La Rue was convinced
that they had found the place men
toned by the old man. Further pros
pecting soon lead to the discovery Of
the rich ledge, and he ordered a per-
manent camp to be established.
Treasure House Guarded.
At that time southern New Mexico
was sparsely inhabited, and only i'm
the valley, where farming was carried
on on a small scale 1t was determin-
ed to keep a guard always on duty to
prevent any outsiders from prying
into the camp and learning the source
Of the gold. At first they worked
the 'placers and had many arrastras
near the spring, to which the quartz
from the ledge was brought and a
number of adobe furnaces or vases
were erected. The yield of the placers
and, the. vein was enormous and pros
perity blessed the little colony. The
priest had a large room excavated in
the solid rock in which he lived, and
by common consent he was made
treasurer and kept the accumulated
gold in his subterfaneous treasure
vault, doing out to the people what
was necessary to purchase provisions
and sunnlieSe from the small farmers Of