The Coolidge examiner., 1935-07-12
GOLDEN
PHANTOMS
Fascinating
Tales of ,.,,. 49,,
Lost Mines ewsu
SPANISH BULLION


as winter WAS drawing near they
we're short-cntting across the ranges
toward home.
Late one afternoon snow began
70 fall. Wen have To hole up for
the night. George" said one Of the
men to the other. First likely
looking cave We come to. Wen call
It a day"
Looks Ike one ahead, there"
said the other. and they quIckencd .
their steps. The cave proved to be
faIr-sIzed cavern.
After supper. relaxed before the
fire, they looked about them. Att
the far end OF the cave a second. /
smaller hole appeared. some 10 feet
Mp the rocky wall
Wen. we didn't End any hidden
treasure this trip" said the man
called George.
NO. and we never will. There
isn't any. that's why"
"Oh. | don't know. I've heard
listen, BIN. did anyone ever tell
You about the lost treasure OF the
Golden GIantT"
Nope: sounds like a fairy tale.
! suppose the giants ate up all
the"
NO. this Golden Giant Is a mine
at Plnos Altos. south OF here.
II has been gophered just under the
surface. and from the extent of the
workings I'd say that a lot OF ore
was taken out OF that mine, one
time and another It's supposed to
have been worked by the Spaniards |
who lived at Santa Rita. The local
legend says that the SpanIards got
fabulous fortune. whatever that |
means. and the next thing to do |
was 10 take II over 10 Santa Rita. |
where the fort was. So they loaded |
II on burros and set ont.
"Santa Rita Is about 25 miles
southeast OF Pinos Altos as the /
crow flIes-but burros don't fly. /
and they had TO 20 around. They |
got up above where Hurley now
stands. and I suppose they were
congratulatlng themselves that they
were on the last lap. when"
when the Golden Giant woke IN
and came after them?' politely In
quired Bill.
NO. you dummy Nothing like
that II was Indians that showed
up about then. good old boss-tlle
Apaches. The priest In charge OF
the pack-traIn just had time to get
them up on the mesa and hastily
bury the gold. Then the Apaches
got too near for comfort. and al.
though the Spanlards put up a
brave fight. they were all killed"
"I1l bet that right In these very
mountains there's treasure cached
away. II person could know where
to look"
That's a big If" moralized Bill.
What do you say If We get some
sleepf'
The next morning Bill. looking
about him with practiced eye for
traces OF ore, noticed again the
small cave In the rear OF their
lodging.
'I'm going to look and see
what's In that little cave" he told
his partner. who was ready to
start on.
Now who's got funny ideas
about hidden treasurer" jeered
George. Come on; no use climb
Ing up In that hole"
I'm going to look. anyway" re
piled Bill. "Here goesr'
He managed to scramble up the
rocky wall, and landed safely In
the darkness of the little cave. II
was hard to see anything; he lit
a match another fHey.
George!" he called urgently.
George, who had started on, heard
the summons and came back.
"Glve me a fashllght, and hurry
up"
What's the matter now?' He
unpacked the flashlight and handed
II TO Bill, whose hand trembled
little. what have you gotT'
For answer Bill tEyew down a
dusty. heavy. small oblong that
fell with a thud to the floor of
the cave. George bent over it to
pick 1t up, but he Strengthened up
again and looked at Bill as If he
were a ghost.
"G-goldr' he stammered, weakly,
"G-gold b-bars!"
"You will talk about Golden
Giants, will you?" roared Bill.
"Well, here's hidden treasure for
you-more than you and 1 can
carry!" He jumped down, went over
TO the door of the cave and looked
out. Then he turned back.
"Or am l going crazy?" he mum
bled.
No, he was not crazy, though the
two behaved like idiots for a while
in the exuberance of their emotions.
they Gained down long
enough to plan that they wouldtake
the gold home, then return in the
spring and hunt for the mine from
which 1t came.