El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-09-11
When Ell Pasoans Made A Rush To
the Black Mountain Gold District
Story Of the Stampede Nearby
Rival Cripple Creek; Revival Now Promised.
By l. H. DAVIS


\ FL Paso. was experiencing a pro-
,onred manic. a ruE1or reached town of
ricb gold strike that would equal
thai recently made in Cripple Creek"
in. mysterious region so or go miles
north of FL Paso. It was reported to
have been made by strangers from Al
ALBANIA and also by gold hunters from
White Oaks, N NJ 1t was whispered
around that the discovery was made IN
q basin lying east Of San Augustine
T1eak near the old Davies windmill and
steam pump, and that there were scores
OF true fissure veins of quartz cOurs-
ing east and west, covering an area 10
miles long, north to south, by four and
five miles east and west, and that
every one Of them panned gold
The country was described as YER
liable paradise, for on the south tow
cred the lofty flutelike peaks of the
organs. above the parklike basin, to
an altitude OF 1000 to 5000 feet the
naked. Inaccessible dOmes and pima
cles slistening white in the sun; below
which were tan pines and sombre cod
ars To the west arose San Augustine
peak, like a mature Pixies peak, vis-
ibIe for hundreds of miles away. To
the north doomed up the black wall
like scarp Of Black mountain. rising
abruptly several thousand Feet above
the golden basin To the east and be-
low, stretched the great valley so miles
wide and hundreds OF miles long, pc
tween the western mountain ranges
and the eastern range OF the Sacrament
tos There were springs, timber and
game and Wild fowl in abundance
But better than all these scenic at
fractions was the presence OF the GIT
tering. yellow gold, plainly visible IN
the nilkWhite quartz, in the dark, iron
stained quartz and in the rose quart
Accommodating the veins were long
dikes of diorite and phonoHte-all IN
dicatfnK permanency and continuity OF
CGIIed Fl Paso's Opportunity.
Here the discoveries said, was n
P8SO's gOtden opportunity II SoS
needed the knocking at her door, SIie
from this new goiconda as ColoIao9
Springs had reaped from the mines U
Cripple Creek, and dozens OF n n,
aires would spring up, whose proMnss
stone fronts and marble palaces WouIo
soon dot the heights Of the city, Just as
did those of the Bonanza kings OF SeH
Francisco in the wild days Of the Com
stock boom It was SAID pesslmlsts,
knockers and stayatnomeS WoaIo rue
the day for failing to rush TO the goI9
fields The Optimists. enthusiasts ana
enterprising alone would gather the
golden harvest
There were valid reasons to strength
en- the faith of the opttmists- Col q.
W Bay1or recalled an incident or the
DAYS of the civil war when he was IN
command of Confederate troops at the
San Augustine Springs at the Dase OF
fhe DREAMS of a Frenchmau, a scout,
bringing to him one day a large piece
of quartz. more than half OF winch was
massive gold The 0uaTLZt ne SS1us was
r1iikwhite From the gold beaten from !
it the colonel. had a magnificent badge /
manufactured which he presented 10
the generai Of the army This quartz
was found, he claimed, in the northern
part of the gold BASIN NIL A ):
Fountain, of Las Cruces, N M, reca1leQ
the result of his researches among OLD
church archives Of IN ancient gold mine :
worked two centuries before by the
padres so rich that 1000 people derived
their livelihood from it 1t was stu
Won back Of san Augustine springs, and |
was suddenly destroyed and buried De
meath an aYalanches caused by cloud |
Pat Breen's- Discovery.
Many oldtimers remembered Pat |
Breen's discovery of vein OF gold on |
the high ridge of black mountain III
that he filled q score Cd sacks Win
nuggets of the yellow stuff and caused /
a wild stampede from the little towns /
OF 81 Paso and Las Cruces
1 well remember what wild mop 4
Of excited men surrounded old man
Shed, the lOngWhiskered hermit OF
san Augustine Springs, when, IN 1889
he exhibited q nugget as large as two /
fists at the corner Of Ell PaSo and San
Antonio streets and shouted: Boys,
was found in Californy in its best days,
for there's q mountain of gold
The minds of the people were pre-
pared to believe the report OF new DIS,
coveries up there, and the expected
happened, and rush TO the Black
Mountain gold fields, as it was called
followed
Within a few weeks a floating popu-
lation Of between 500 and 1000 people
had scattered over the hills ana
golden basin. and white tents and cab
ms dotted the landscape from san Au-
zustin Springs Bob, Burch's- stone
house clear north to Pat Breen's
Mountain Chief and Alamo Springs
Scores Of prospect holes were SINKING
in Mineral hill, antelope hill and IN the
lower basin, over an area OF ~ m11es
long and TWO to three miles wide The
bright steel gold pans swung IN the
hands Of redshirted prospectors IN ev-
cry gulch and water hole. The blasts
of shots reverDerated from hundreds OF
prospect holes throughout the basin,
sounding like the roar of artillery:
Thousands OF curious people visited
the camp, coming from every part OF
the west. OF these only 500 or 500 re-
manned to dig for gold Ben Scott IN
augurated a daily stage between Las
Cruces and camp, and the old road soon
became dusty from strings of vehicles
and pack animals hauling men and Il
supplies to camp. The travel became
so great that a couple OF stages were I
mt On the road direct from FL Paso to
camp along the east side of the noun
fains One Of these was run by capt
J. w Johnson, the old policeman, who
made the daily trip with four horses in
10 hours, a distance OF 30 miles, Ihe
noon stop was at F1eck's ranch, about
IS miles north of Ell PasO. The ter
minus of the stage line was at Capt
J. NJ Smiths store at Davies Wells,
and here was the postoffice and the
center Of a collection of restaurants
and lodging houses. Some of the old
pioneers claim there was a, saloon and
dance hall in one of the gulches not
lar away Old man Mundell. the well
known cook and hacKman of FL Paso,
instituted a novelty in the shape Of a
floating cafe Ia Franchise, for he was
an old negro caterer from New Or
leans This was in a tandempaIr OF
1mnibuses. In these he served ten
derloin steaks smothered in mush-
rooms, oysters on the half shell, fresh
fish every Friday, and indeed all the
Iuxuries the markets of FL Paso af-
forded- Two or three townsites were
surveyed and laid out in different To-
calities. One Of these was inaugural
ed by judge A G. Foster and z. V
Berrien, of FL Paso. Two enterprising
women bought big gospel tent of a
stranded evangelist and hoisted it in
camp as a rooming house. It was
crowded nightly until one of the March
winds from the pass swooped down and
il in one night
Mills Are Erected.
Meanwhile great improvements were
First was a three stamp
mill erected by John Wat
SON the ROunev brothers on the