The Coolidge examiner., 1935-08-02
GOLDEN
PHANTOMS
Fascinating
Tales of rs;,h. Il w.,.oo
Lost Mines euxo.
THE HILL OF SILVER

men set out from san Antonio,
. Texas. 20 search Tor a wonderful
silver mine. This mine was sup
posed to be near the old fort OF
san Luis de las AmarIllas. on the
san saba river. II was known 10
legend a. the Hill OF silver.
It--or something Ike it-had
been found" many times before.
The Indians knew about II. and ru-
mors OF its wonders had reached
the Spanlards OF Mexico as early
as the Eighteenth century. The
Apache- indicated its direction; the
Lipans brought silver from It's veins
10 San Antonio: the Comanches
knew its location. and the Chad
dos. wacos. and Tehuacanas. who
survive only by their names on
maps OF the South. fought or the
white men who travelled near IL.
Don Fernando de Miranda. lleuten-
ant general OF the province OF
Texas. found mine which he
claimed was OF vast extent. and
from which he brought samples OF
ore. and reported that he had been
told OF even richer mines farther
on.
The little group Of eleven men
from San Antonio were not hunt
lnE bllndIy. Their leaders were James
and Rein Bowie. who were sup
posed To have seen with their own
eyes the fabulous wealth OF this
hidden mine TO which they were 90
Ing James Bowie. who was 20 be-
come one of the martyred heroes OF
the Alamo. was said 10 have Joined
the tribe or Llpans who guarded
the mine. for the express purpose
OF learning It's location. Having
succeeded. be organized the com
pany TO 20 back. fight OF the In.
dlans. and secure as much as they
could OF the rich ore.
The old fort was only 80 miles
from San Antonio: both BowIes
had been az the mine. Putting these
facts together. one might suppose
that the travellers would head
straight for the source OF the treas
ure. But for some obscure reason,
they wandered about for three
weeks. following James Bowie. who
was looking over the lay OF the
land" and finally wound up about
six miles east % the fort-where
they were attacked by a large band
% hostile Indians. A day or so be-
fore. friendly Comanche had
warned them Of the projected raid.
50 they were prepared TO fight but
one man was killed and three were
wounded, ard there was no means
or caring for the injured. So. as
soon as they could move them they
took their casualties back 10 San
Antonio making the trip. though
crippled and halting. in ten days.
Perhaps reasoning that lf he had
gone straight on 10 his objective
the expedition would have met sue
cess. James Bowie organized an
other party. of-ihlrty men this time,
and started out again for the silver
treasure. This time he led them 10
the right location. but legend dis
agrees as 10 whether he found the
mine or not
That there actually Is a Hill of
Silver In that region Is substan-
fIaied by records In the archives of
Mexico. According 10 these rec.
ords. the mine was worked in the
early days OF the San Saba mis-
sion. When the local Indians up
rose and killed everyone at the
mine. Il was considered polite TO
abandon the place for a while,
until II should he safe TO return
and continue operations. But dur.
Ing the years after this massacre.
so many things OF grea. importance
occurred TO the Spanlards. and So
many Of those who knew the loca-
ton OF the mine were killed or re-
turned TO Mexico. that the Hill OF
Silver became actually lost.
Several years ago silver bullets were
found In the bottom OF San Saba
springs. and this find served TO
bring the lost site TO notice again.
II Is said that treasure-seekers are
now hunting over an area Of more
than 800 square miles. hoping TO
and the wonderful silver hill.
Other lost and hidden treasures
OF Texas include the famous Mig
gerhead." in the wild country along
the Rio Grande border. There Is
not much OF story 10 go on in
the search for this mine, but II Is
said that a negro who worked for
a ranch below Sanderson found the
ore and brought specimens OF II
into camp. He disappeared shortly
afterward, and ever since then the
hunt has been keen. but with no
results. Then there is that deep
spring one hundred miles south
west Of San Antonio, where "seven
jackloads of silver" were thrown
in early days when bandits at
tackled the Transporting party. Not
long ago drouth caused the water
to become much lower than ever
before. and a bucket which scraped
the bottom Of the spring brought