Lost Spanish Gold of Santa Rita Mountains:
In the year 1781 a group of 7-10 miners were working a gold mine recently discovered a year earlier by a rancher who was also retired presidial soldier of the Elias family name. Being the land owner he wrote to a couple of family members in Arispe (the capital of Sonora) to come work the deposits.
It didn’t take long for a mining party (being made up of only 3 full relatives and the rest were native workers) to be assembled and on its way north to Pimeria Alta and the Santa Rita mountains.
Upon arrival to the site of the Placer deposit, they began work immediately building a corral, cabin, and sampling the deposits. The gold wasn’t as rich as some other discoveries in the area but they were picking up small nuggets and it also soon showed signs of silver which made the party even more passionate. The miners were producing 3 pack fulls of gold and silver a week and storing the ore inside of an alcove next to the mine and walling it up with stacked rocks after each day.
Three months into the workings of the deposits proved to be easy going as well as very lucrative. Every two or three weeks, a small party would travel to the local ranches, San Xavier mission or Tubac Presidio for supplies and then return to the mine.
On one of these supply runs, two of the 3 family members left the mine to go get more supplies. All who was left at the mine was one Spaniard and the native laborers. When the small supply train went beyond the hills nearby, screaming was heard and dust was seen rising into view. The Apache’s fell upon the Supply party and those at the mine almost at the same time. The native workers scattered and abandoned the only Spaniard left to fend for himself.
The laborers went to the families ranch hacienda to deliver the news of the Apache attack. The Indians were all killed on the spot for leaving his relatives to die and when the rancher and his vaqueros arrived on the site they found all the livestock, provisions, and clothes of his murdered family members were gone and the bodies mutilated. The mine was said to be sealed by the rancher and his vaqueros and never re opened.
The mine alone and even hidden gold and silver barring ore would be a great discovery if you can find the walled up alcove.
If while on your adventures this weekend, and you find your self near the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, Keep your eyes open, you never know what you might find!
(Please follow and respect state, government and private property)
Stay Safe, Stay Alive, Keep Treasure Hunting!
the philosopher's stone alchemy 