Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1912-11-24

les wrote of Sprora: 1t can be sal
thai il il one Of the richest PROVINCES,
and at the same time, one u the poor
est in America, and the world The
tcok for the base Ell thIs reasoning"
says Nicoli. THE aearciIy o: popula
ton. and the distance which separated
this from other Inhabited regions
Time has changed ali of this. and The
population has increased ana rand
ways OF communication put tn. state
IN contact with the people OF the re-
public and the foreigner Thus, win
the aid Of these elements Sonora re-
mains exclusively rich"
States Early AisIory.
It's mineral resources are among
It's most important. the richness of
which is proyerbial and have been
proclaimed to distant parts. yelled
with the mystery OF tradition Alva
rado Nunez represented it marvel
onsly and fabulously. describing the
seven cities of Cioola The priest,
Mia. also wrote enthusiastic descriD.
tons. and Jose Francisco Velasco
the most practical and with better
discernment said. iii is known in the
world that there exists a rich So
nora the same as we all know thai
Siberia exists, and the land of tAA
Hottentots, without more knowI.dse
tnan the vague nor ees We have read
Of these countries Mining in So
nora remained ignored for more than
century after the country passed TO
the power Of Spain The Spaniards
thirsty for gold and glory. passed the
length of her mountains. scarcely ex
aiming them. The time aud the cir
cumstances had placed in their hands
the sword of the conqueror, and their
ideal was war and adventure. II So
nora's treasures had been locked in .
fortress they would have been TAX
Ell at the swords point. but they
we're in the innermOst recesses of the
Sierras, and required labor to get
them out This. for the Spaniards
was a work of the Romans" ana
they gave IL over to others, so a cen.
fury passed before the mountains
were broken into. The Jesuit mission.
aries were the first miners and their
methods were of course, crude. com
Pr.sins the use of the arrastre patio
amalgamatiOn. and the copper plate.
for amalgamable ores; and the adob.
furnace for more refractory minerals
The facilities OF TRANSPORTATION haze
no advantage over tkosn Of treatment.
water ore and PROVISIONS were all
carried on the shoulders of poems.
Under such circumstances only the
richer mines could be exploited: not
withstanding this the worl. At this
time revealed their richness. and the
ola world received great cargoes OF
white metal and gold from placers
and mines. The discovery OF Plan
chas de Plata brought forth the code
of Philip V. who confiscated an enor-
nous mass of virgin silver weighing
POO lbs. alleging that ii was a curl
Ositv. and that the silver OF New
Spain was part OF his rOyal patri-
mony The war of independence par
aiyzed work in the mines of Sonora.
IN to 1910 il was The custom for the
vice-reeal government TO sell quicksil
yer to the miner at cost price. and
on easy payments, as an aid to the
industry. but the "gritO de dolores
had scarcely been uttered. when the
government ceased giving this aid
the miner who was accustomed TO
nay for his quicksilver at 80 pesos
per hundredweight with from 6 to )
months in which to pay for II, now
bad to pay cash and at the rate OF
1875 pesos per hundredweight In con
sequence of this change many mines
were abandoned. OF the mines sban-
doned in this epoch, a number havei
never been discovered. Velasco in
his Noticias Establishes. meRtions
some OF the abandoned mines. and
others that were in operation at the
time of publication. as follows: ITO
the northeast OF the old cart road. be,
tween Hermosiilo and Guaymas. is
little mountain known as Cerro Pri-
eto. between the Rancho la Palma,
and a desert place called the Cara
rintsda. It is known by tradition tAst
in the mountain is an old mine
called La Tarazca. which is said 20
have been exploited more than 156
years ago. producing remarkably rich
ores: and hidden in its interior works,
are a number of bars of silver. the
utensils of the mine. and the robes
and crpsAents Of the district church.
The reason Tor It's abandonment is
SAID 20 have been she rerceLGtiOn OF
the Seri and Pima Ireians.
Properties Are Expleited
'ln The same. mou0tain. sootber
NINE was in operation. - hose imporf,
suce is Indicated by the detris o. The
| hacieDda de bepelcio that 'Sp be-
, louI6 about = kms. from the Raechs
De La PisOte. u is Known also ~
tradition. that socn. the TarSzea