El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-07-15
FACT AND FABLE
BLEND IN SONORA
For Centuries Rich Mines
Have Supplied Great
Stores of Wealth.

Washington, D. c, July IL II Amer
fca's national guard sees foreign ser
vice in its patrol duty along the north
ern sonora border. the boys in khaki
will he in a Mexican state where fact
and fable are fascinatingly interviewer
in the accounts Of its vast mineral
wealth" says today's war geography
bulletin issued by the National Geo
GRAPHICAL society.
Even the name Sonora IS SAID nF
some historians to be derived from d
neculfarly musical and 'sonorous'dual
possessed bv certain marbles quarried
in the state. -
within a decade after Cortez LANDED
on Mexican soil and conquered the iol,
lowers of Montezuma the Spaniaros nd1
launched expeditions by sea and star teu
e,pIo7-ation parties over the mountains
TO find that region which two centuries
before. according TO tradition, mao SUP
pIied the AztecS with great stores %
soId and silver when they passed
+T-or,erb the land in their tribal migra-
Ron to the vale OF Anahuac- BY l9SV
Alu1indez Chirinos had prcceedeo up
the coast as far as the mouth OF tne
Yaoui river. and he was followed oH ue
gold and silver could be plucked from
me -rround in unbelievable quantities
sees Seven Cities of CibOla.
one OF de Vaca's followers was Sc
bastian a mulatto. VINO had reIldI haole
ITS of ina gina ton Among the places
- .sov-' were the Seven Cities OF
CiboIa. ruled by king TaIaraN- whose
wonderful bejeweled robes dazzleo Tue
eve as he worShipped each mornlhS IN
his magnificent palace be1ore SoiueH
cross AIermaids also figured IN >fods-
fans narrative as allurlng narNeis VI
The Sonora coast
Among the Sonora mines about
which romance and reanN
strangely mingled. is that OF senior Al
-nada Of Ouintera. The owner Is sa!u
20 have celebrated the marriage OF ms
favorite daughter by panelins the pIl5
daI chamber with plates of silver, anu
,ax-511ar the, road from his home 10 the
church with bars Of the precious me 'Ai
Legend of DonR Maria Wine.
The legend concerning the Dona Ma
rfa mine is that its owner, the WlooW
~ a Spaniard. de Rodriues, laoored Ior
vears saving nuggets Of gold untu she
. had a treasure which required d "a 80 a
: IN If 40 mules 70 convey the TOUR tolls
30 -,rccious metal to Mexico CITY -
was a long and arduous journey. ahe
the widow was constantly IN rear o.
beiuc- robbed. When she flnaliE redcheu
fbe Genital she would not rest content
,-+51 he fortune had been placed in
the safekeepine, Of the Spanish viceroy-
A few davs later the widow herself as
auDeared and the vast store OF solu " a
appropriated by the government treas
urv and that trea sury's CUSTODIAN
Needle to Lose Rich Wine
An equally pathetic story IS told OF
the Planchas de Plata tSilyer rates
mine which, according TO jesuit &C
counts was discovered hy a 1aqul In
dian during the first half Of the 1Sth
century. From deep canyon the JeSu-
SIS are said to have taken great GO
buIes Of silver ore. weighing from ~ 70
so pounds One mammoth nugget OF
r,ure silver. weighing a quarter OF ION
was discovered and proved the undo-
inc of both the priests and lnulans-
This trea sure rock was with great OH
ffcultv loaded between two pack mules
and taken to the capital where IL was
seized for the crown After years OF
litigation the authorities decided tna'
not only this nugget but ali other ore
from the canyon. belonged to the stare
Whereupon Jesuits and Indians con
snired successfully to lose the mi me
The Cananea Mines.
aJ,st 80 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 station, east OF which IS
the Santo Domingo canyon with us
placer gold deposits which are said 10
have furnished the cargo for many OF
Spafn's treasure galleons..
In addition 10 copper, gold ana Sill
yer the mines of Sonora produce leao'