Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1935-08-22
Golden
PhantOIllS
FASCINATING TALES
OF LOST M 1 N ES
@w.N.U. Bv Edifh0 l.. Watson
HIDDEN "STONES OF
THE SKY"
ew.N.u. Bv Edifha L. Watson

southwest, TeldlcS III OHC VI LAC 60
ticles that the Indians knew how to
hide springs of water so well that. they
were found only by accident. He Dol
stored this statement with an account
of the experience of the Hon. Amad0
Chavez of San Mateo, New Mexico,
who found that small space of ground
near some ancient ruins seemed
springy under his horses tread. He
had this strange spot dug into, and ex-
cavations revealed a layer of cedar
bark at some distance beneath the sur
face Below this were pine logs laid
close together, then more bark, and
these layers were repeated for depth
of several feet. When the last Of this
material had been removed, little
spring was found which dubbed with
clear water, as fresh and limpid as 1t
had flowed centuries ago.
With such success in concealing
spring, it is only natural that mine
shaft could be hidden equally as well
by the willy natives of the country.
So, somewhere in New Mexico, there
is said to be turquoise mine which
was hidden by its primitive workers,
and would never have been found in
the ordinary run of matters. The
"Stones of the Sky" were precious to
the aborigines-so precious that they
tried to conceal their source.
However, fate decreed that cave
which was conveniently located should
be enlarged as storage place for
ranch supplies. The cave was not deep
enough in it's natural state, but
charge of dynamite would attend to
that without much trouble. SO 1t was
planned, and so it was accomplished,
but when the rancher looked in to see
the results of the shot, he was sur
prised to find that a tunnel extended
back into the darkness. Nothing of
the sort had been suspected before,
but evidently the mouth of the tunnel
had been filled up to form the back of
the cave, and afterward all traces Of
human work had been neatly oblit-
Grated.
The tunnel led into the ancient tur-
quoise working There were smoky
marks on the walls where torches had
leaned. Stone tools had been left ly-
ing about, and a shaft led up to the
top of the hill, although no trace of
1t could be found from the outside. 1t
proved to have been covered in much
the same way as Amado Chavez spring
with fallen trees and earth, and the
growth of centuries had covered the
spot equally with the rest of the hill
top.
One of the most famous turquoise
mines in the United States is the
Mount Chalchihuitl (Aztec for tur-
quoise), which also is located in New
Mexico. 1t was worked by the Indians
for themselves long ages ago, and later
under the harsh Spanish rule after the
Conquest. At one time twenty of the
tribesmen were killed in cave-in, and
this is said to be one of the many
events which led up to the rebellion Of
1850, in which all the Spaniards were
driven back to Mexico.
After the reconquest by de Vargas in
1892, an effort was made to reopen this
NINE but the Indians refused to enter
the old workings 1t was not until
1855, when other such mines had been
found and the hostile Indians who kept
white men from their locations driven
away, that Mount Chalchihuitl was
again allowed to produce its stones Of
the sky. 'FaT,
In Arizona, George Simmons, riding
through the Crescent mountains in the
Mohave desert, saw a small artificial
mound 1t was too large for grave,
and its peculiar location made it seem
like something worth examining. SO
Simmons got off his horse, went over
to the strange mound, and began to
dig in its center.
He dug into what proved to be for
tune for himself. The mound marked
the hidden shaft of turquoise mine,
worked long ago by the Indians and
then concealed from the encroaching
white men.
Since Simmons could not afford to
patent the ground at the time, he kept
his find a secret for years. He built
d SlVChduc uIOullu tle pluCc, anu ke)l
an armed guard on duty day and night.
Many persons attempted to follow him
to the source of the gems, but they
soon found that this was dangerous
business. Simmons went on the old
principle of flinders keepers"
1t Is said that he used to come to
Denver with d travelling bag full of
fine turquoises. That they were valu-
able Is shown by the fact that he sold
one 32-carat stone in New York for
$1,000.
1t seemed impossible for Simmons to
get money enough in the United States
to patent and develop his mine, so at
last he went to London He put a
value of 100000 on the property, al
though 1t was easily worth three times
as much, and hoated 1t with English
funds.
Without doubt, the mine that Sim
mons found was one of those which
were worked by the Indians in pre-
discovery days. and often later were