El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-11-07
MINING NEWS
Once Famous Camp Proving
Greater Treasure House
Than Early Miners Imag
med.

(By L. II. DRvis.)
With ". H. Paul and J. H. Searle,
both mining engineers. have visited
Organ City.
Strange Thoughts arose as I revisited
the old scenes. The old granite peak
Of san Augustine lowered up $3.50 feet
and old Organ peak reared its dome
like head 9108 feet above the valley,
and nestled below san Augustine pass
was the old mining camp of Organ.
Just as in 1872. when a wild ex-
eitement over the discovery of silver
caused a rush which nearly depopu-
lated the then sleepy adobe town of
Las Cruces and the new railroad town
Of FL Paso.
The old familiar names still cling to
many OF the claims and mines, such
as the Memphis, the Merrimac, the Lit
tie Buck, Jim Fisk, the Bennett the
stevenson and the MOdOck, and the old
open cuts, tunnels, shafts and dumps
mark the mountain sides as Of yore.
But nearly all the old timers are dead.
Expecting Revival OF Boom.
Where once was q wild. frenzied
crowd OF red-Shirted miners, a half
dozen saloons and gambling houses is
now a quiet village, peaceful, but eX-
pectant of a revival of the gay and
Llush times when silver was worth over
81 an ounce
AS We climbed up the mountain side
from Merrlmac canyon, we found one
ola pioneer miner working all alone
IN a tunnel on four foot vein of
copper on his new Copper Bullion and
Iron Mask claims. He discovered the
famous Torpedo mine many years ago
and sold II for pittance-a mine that
a dozen years afterWard yielded half a
million dollars. He invested his money,
$4,000, from that sale in city lots, but
lost II through defective title; and
Row in his old age, is confident he win
m g. ST IN 10 rr~n
met Pat Breen, another famous pio-
neer, discOverer OF the Mountain Chief
the richest gold mine ever found in
those hills. who made a fortune in a
week lost 1t in sheep, and now is
delving again TO extract another stake
Only one other pioneer remains in
camp, Jim Robinson, an invalid con-
fined TO his bed.
Work OF the EARLY Frospeetors.
The amount OF development work
dune by the argOnautS of 1882 is Won
derfuL They were nearly all chic
riders, or pocket miners, and many
rich pocket they took out, single
pockets yielding from SO, 1000 10 S20,-
OpU- They We're also exclusively silver
hunters in those days: and so when
silver declined in price, the mines
closed down Little did they think the
DAY would come when the despised
zinc, lead and copper and low grade
ores which they threw over the dump,
would in the future prove to become
the great mineral resources of the old
Organ district But such is probably
the case
Probably the day is not far distant
when the Organ mountains viii be
the scene Of far greater activity than
ever before The early timers only
SKINNED the cream from the surface.
The future miners VIII gather the I'M
limited stores OF milk, the great ore
deposits OF low grade which exist in
the great contact extending from
south to north for over a score of
miles along the west side Of the
range And this is only 40 TO co miles
north Of here. almost at Fl PasO's
doors.
All Of the riches of the Organ noun
tains are not confined to the great west
side contact. For in the main granite
core Of the range and on the eastern
side are rich veins. and deposits Of
silver, gold and cOpper, which some day
viii swell the flood Of mineral pro-
ductiOn. This must depend on devel-
Opment and treatment or cOncentra-
ton Of the ores as well as cheaper
transportation.
The Organ mountains. so called from
the granite spires which in the dis
lance resemble the pipes Of a gigantic
organ, form a link in the long chain
of mountains extending from the
Fraklin mountains of Texas north to
the end Of the Sandia range near Al
buquerQuei n. VI.
The mass of the Organs form point
about four miles north Of the San Al
gustine pass. to point 10 miles south,
IS composed OF a coarse, granltlc rocks
pOrphyritic in structure, which have
intruded through the sedimentary rocks I
which are visible along the western
side Of the range.
Mineral Deposits.
The mineral deposits of the Organ
mountains are OF three kinds
One-Fissure veins in the intrusive
GRANTEES and porphyries, most of which
are on the east side of the range. Some
of these accompanying dikes Of Syenite
M mr. = hInnna
rock, which the miners used to call J
diOrite bikes. These veins carried ga
lena zinc blende and copper, and in the