Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-14
SONORA IS FAMED LAND
Of ROMANCE AND GOLD
Was Subject Of Many Wonderful
Tales in Days When Spaniards
Conquered Aztecs.

| IF Americas National Guard sees for
eign service in its patrol duty along the
| northern Sonora border the boys in
khaki will be In a Mexican state where
fact and fable are fascinatingly inter-
woven in the accounts Of its vast min
eral wealth." says a war geography bull
letin issued from Washington by the
| National Geographic Society.
Even the name Sonora Is said by some
| historians to be derived from a peculiarly
musical and 'sonorous' quality possessed
by certain marbles quarried in the state.
| within a decade after Cortez landed
on Mexican soil and conquered the fol-
| lowers of Montezuma the Spaniards had
launched expeditions by sea and started
exploration parties over the mountains to
find that region which two centuries be-
fore, according to tradition. had supplied
the Aztecs with great stores Of gold and
silver when they passed through the
! land in their tribal migration to the vale
| of Anahuac By 1880 AlmindeZ Chirinos
had proceeded up the coast as far as
the mouth Of the Yaqui river, and he was
followed by de Vaca. who brought back
report that gold and silver could be
plucked from the ground in unbelievable
quantities. One Of de Vaca's followers
| was Sebastian, a mulatto. who had re-
markable gifts Of imagination. Among
the places he saw were the Seven Cities
of Cibola, ruled by King Tatarax, whose
| wonderful. bejeweled robes dazzled the
| eye as he worshiped each morning In
his magnificent palace before golden
cross. Mermaids also figured in Sebas-
tian's narrative as alluring marvels Of
| the Sonora coast.
Romance Of the Mines.
Among the Sonora mines. about
ly mingled is that OF Senior Armada Of
Quintera. The owner is said to have
celebrated the marriage of his favorite
daughter by paneling the bridal cham
Der with plates Of silver and paving the
| road from his home to the church with
bars Of the precious metal.
The legend concerning the Dona
Maria mine is that its owner. the widow
| Of Spaniard. de Rodriques, labored for
years saving nuggets of gold until she
had a treasure which required cara
van Of forty mules to convey the four
| tons of precious metal to Mexico City.
1t was long and arduous journey. and
the widow was constantly In fear OF
being robbed. When she finally reached
| the capital she would not rest content
until the fortune had been placed in the
safekeeping Of the Spanish viceroy. A
few days later the widow herself disap-
peared and the vast store of gold was
| appropriated by the government treas
ury and that treasurys custodian.
AN equally pathetic story is told OF
the Planchas de Plata (Silver Plates)
mine, which. according to Jesuit &C
J counts, was discovered by a Yaqui In
! dian during the first half of the eight
zenith century.
y, From a deep canyon the Jesuits are
| said to have taken great globules of
| silver ore weighing from twenty to
| fifty pounds One mammoth nugget
| of pure silver weighing quarter Of a
ton. was discovered and proved the
undoing of both the priests and the
Indians.
Owners close" the Mines.
| This treasure rock awas with great
difficulty loaded between two pack
| mules and taken to the capital, where
it was seized for the crown. After
| years of litigation the authorities de-
cided that not only this nugget. but
all other ore from the canyon belonged
to the state. Whereupon. Jesuits and
Indians conspired successfully to lose
the mine.
Just thirty-nine miles south of the
Arizona line and midway between the
border towns Of Nogales and Naco
is Cananea, the center of one of the
richest copper regions in the world.
while to the south Is Magdalena sta
ton. east Of which is the Santo Do
mingo canyon with its placer gold de-
posits which are said to have fur
nished the cargo for many of SPANS
treasure galleons.
'Tn addition to copper. gold and sill
yer, the mines Of Sonora produce lead.
coal, anthony. mercury. iron. zinc.
salt and tellurium. The graphite de-
posts of the state are said to be the
finest in the world. producing an even
better grade than the famous mines Of
Siberia and Japan"
Michigan. with eighty-six automobile
| factories. leads the United Staten; New