The Coolidge examiner., 1941-05-02

and New Mexico were first ex-
plored because it was believed
they held the secret of immense
wealth, legends of lost mines and
buried treasure have Travelled
down each rutted ox-road, and
maps showing mine and treasure
cache have been scanned in the
light of many campfires.
Dobie presents his collection of
old legends neither as fakes to be
exposed nor as literary master
pieces, but rather as well-told, oft
elaborated stories, just as he
heard them from old .prospector
and pioneer. Some of the Incl
dents told are Of course true
some contain a germ of truth out
of which has risen a fantastic
story of murder, robbery, and
ghosts.
Most plausible or the stories are
those which deal with lost mines.
The Spanish worked silver mines
near their villages and missions.
One of the most famous Of these,
and one which may have been
worked for only a few months, is
the San Saba mine.
History records that silver was
discovered on the Llano in 1856
by Don Bernardo de Miranda
lieutenant-general of the province
of Texas. Don Bernardo urged
the vice-roy to permit him to es'
tablish a village and mine the
silver; he was ordered to send
thirty burro-loads of ore to smelt,
ers eight hundred miles away for
assay. While preside was es-
tablished so miles away on the
San Saba, the fate of Don Ber'
nardo's enterprise is unknown.
Presumably no mine was work
ed on the Llano, and thirty patti
ent burros did not take their
heavy load to the distant smelter.
But legend says there was much
mining at the San Saba, and at
last Don Bernardo's mine was con-
fused with the stories of the San
Saba, and prospectors have looked
| for ii both on the Limo and San
Saba rivers. One man found it on
the Little Llano, worked it until
the Comanches drove him away
and SO years later was unable to
lind it again.
James Bowie, who later died
at the Alamo, spent time and
money in a vain search for the
mine Many men have spent lives
and fortunes in search of the San
Saba workings, sometimes guided
by stories OF the Comanches who
were also supposed to have work
ed the mines, sometimes directed
by maps or documents" purport
ing to be copies of official Mexi-
can records. But no one mas
found it.
Buried treasure is an easier
kind of wealth than a mine. May
be Santa An filled his cannon with
gold before he sank them In the
streams as his men fled after the
battle of San Jacinto. The spoils
of thirty-one mule loads of silver
stolen by bandits. are buried In
old sheep pens along the Nueces
Richest of all Is the Lost Padre
Mine near Juarez, where at least
800 loads of silver, not to mention
gold ingots and jewels, were seal
ed up by the Jesuits.
In Skeleton Canyon, in Arizona
and far away at the foot of the
Davis mountains in Texas, search
ers have looked in vain for the
Monterrey loot, consisting of sill
yer and church treasures. These
are supposed to have been stoler
by the notorious Red Curly o.
Tombstone fame. and buried
somewhere.
Along the lonely chihuahua
trail and the other dangerous
roads of early ninteenth centur.
travel there were of course rob
bers, and many travellers wer'
murdered for their gold and silver
Since business negotiations wer
completed with the payment o
huge sums in cash or bullion,