With the approach of the railroads to the New Mexico border in 1879 and the
reduction in transportation cost that would produce, there was a dramatic increase
in the potential profitability of mining. Many New Mexicans and others had been
prospecting in the 1860s and 1870s and staked claims and started mining on a small
scale, but the cost of transporting ore and machinery made very few of these mines
profitable. Wagon transport costs had declined from about 11 cents a pound in the
1850s to around 6 to 9 cents a pound as the railroad approached New Mexico in the
1870s. Even at 6 cents a pound few mines could make a profit, but there was great
hope that with the arrival of the railroad and lower transportation costs, many
mines would become profitable.
By April of 1879, papers were running stories designed to promote the fabulous
potential of the Cerrillos Mining District. The Engineering
and Mining Journal (April, 1879, p. 300) copied a story from the Kansas City Times
announcing the discovery of silver ores with 30 to 200 ounces of silver per ton at
Cerrillos. The Weekly New Mexican (4/19/1879, p2, c.3) reported in detail the
discovery of a silver ingot shaped like a crown weighing 9 lbs, 14 ounces. "This
remarkable ingot was discovered under a boulder about half a mile to the south
east of the celebrated Turquoise mine (Mt. Chalchihuital) in the midst of the new
discoveries." By the summer of 1879, Cerrillos mining claim owners were back east
promoting the sale of Cerrillos mines and mining stock. Though government geolgists
had never been positive on the district's potential, that information was not
commonly known. Wheeler gave the observations of Prof. J. J. Stevenson, "Los
Cerrillos Mines... When visited in June 1879 it had many prospecting shafts
varying from 20 to 50 feet in depth; but the ore streaks were very thin and the
prospects not altogether such as to satisfy any but a visonary miner. The ore is
galena, carrying silver. Some of the assays show ore of fabulous richness."
(Wheeler, 1879, p. 197). Prof. J. S.
Newberry earlier observations in 1859 were, "The (mines or veins) which I examined,
however, are not promising; where exposed they are not rich, and the evidence is
wholly wanting that they will prove more so upon further exploration."
(Macomb, 1876, p. 41).
Past mining histories with the exception of
Townley (1968) have ignored what happened in the Cerrillos District prior to
1879 and copied a story about the beginnings of the district which first appeared
in print in New Mexico on June 7, 1879. This false story of the beginning of U.S.
period mining in the district apparently originated with Henry M. Atkinson,
Surveyor General of New Mexico in 1879, and was copied by
Jones (1904) and all other writers (except
Townley), leading them not to look for earlier U.S. mining in the area. Atkinson
was in New York promoting the Cerrillos mines and probably trying to sell shares
in his claims. On May 3, 1879, he had filed the Grand Central Tunnel and Summit
Tunnel mining claims (CMDRB, vol. 1, pp. 36,37).
The Weekly New Mexican (6/7/1879, p. 2, c.3-5) copied a story run earlier by the
New York Mail. The reporter for the New York Mail gave several paragraphs on the
promotion in New York of Cerrillos mines, but what follows are the excerpts
pertaining to the history of the District.
"NEW MEXICO, ITS GREAT MINERAL WEALTH, ANOTHER EL DORADO
AWAITING ADVENTUROUS CAPITAL"
"... until the recent discoveries of carbonate near Santa Fe, at what is
called Los Cerrillos. ... the only one (mine) of any size is the Carbonate,
which had sunk, when I left, a thirty-four-foot shaft. Assays running from 5
to 90 ounces (silver) at the surface to 20 to 200 at ten feet. ... "The history
is very brief. Snow in Leadville and all over Colorado prevents any mining in
winter, and the result is that the miners either leave the country or [quit
mining till warm weather]... Among the Leadville miners were two men named
Frank Dimmock and Robert Hart, who thought they would travel thorough our
Territory on a prospecting tour until warm weather." They returned to Leadville
and then returned to Santa Fe and made known their discovery. "Several
gentlemen in Santa Fe joined Dimmock and Hart, and the result was that a shaft
was sunk at what is now called the Carbonate. The yield has surpassed all
expectations... "(WNM, 6/7/1879, p. 2, c.3-5)
The true story is that some U.S. Period mining had been going on in the Cerrillos
area at least since 1861, and a number of knowlegable Santa Feans had been preparing
for the coming of the railroad by purchasing the land on which they felt were the
best old mines. It was some of these New Mexicans that hired the Colorado miner,
Robert Hart, in 1878 to manage their Cerrillos mines. The story that appeared in
the Weekly New Mexican (6/21/1879, p. 2, c.3) gives what is probably the true
story of the start of the Cerrillos Mining Rush of 1879. This story was copied
from the Globe Democrat (St. Louis?). The article was written by their correspondent
H.R.P. which attributes much of his information to a letter from Governor Lew
Wallace (1878-1881), who was highly invested in New Mexico mines including some in
the Cerrillos District. Lew Wallace's first mining claim in the Cerrillos district
was reported as located by him on May 28, 1879 (CMDRB, vol. 1, p. 147).
"Dr. Andrews, Willison and others, of Santa Fe, purchased some
2,000 acres, (They legally purchased the best mining property from 1870 to late
1872 before the 1872 Mining Law took effect.) on which is located the old Spanish
silver mines and the Turquoise mines. They hired one Robert Hart, Esq., of Leadville,
an old mining expert to open up the shafts of the Cañada de las Minas. After
working a while upon these shafts, Hart then prospected upon the Government lands
and finding extremely rich leads of silver ore cropping out in every direction,
he left precipitately for Leadville, whence he brought with him other experienced
miners, among whom where Dimmock, Bush and others, who at once opened up several
rich leads. About 150 miners, together with the citizens of Santa Fe, have taken
up some 300 mines, yet there is plenty left for the balance of mankind. Among
those taken up are two mines by T.A. Maddox, Esq., who has named his the "U.S.
Grant" and "Globe Democrat" respectively. ....
THE CARBONATES OF SILVER
There is but one new shaft over 35 feet, and that is one owned by a man by the
name of Dimmock, who was so selfish that he did not want the world to know
through the press of his good luck.
But the citizens of Santa Fe were not that way inclined; they insisted that the
press should have all the facts concerning the silver mines, and through the
courtesy of Messrs. Smith, Breverout, Salazar, Wallingfourd, Andrews, Warner and
others, all the necessary information was obtained." ... (He gives a nice
discussion of the fact that the rock is so decomposed that it can be worked with
a pick and shovel and needs very little dynamiting which is the techniques used
by the Spanish miners in this area.)
Since writing the above I have received a letter from Charles H. Fitch, Mineral
Surveyor, in which he says that there are twenty-five arrivals per day at the mines,
all satisfied, and that two towns are being laid out (probably referring to Bonanza
and Carbonateville)." (WNM, 6/21/1879, p.2, c.3)
The man who quickly took leadership of the Colorado miner's efforts to gain control
of the Cerrillos area wrote his name "Dimick" in the CMDR books, but must have
pronounced it like "Dimmock", as that is how it was consistently reported in the
press.
In the late summer or fall of 1878, Robert Hart was hired by Cerrillos mine owners
to manage some of their mines in the Arroyo de las Minas. Hart prospected on his
own and after finding promising ore on land still owned by the Government, he
abruptly quit his employers and went back to Colorado to recruit friends to come
to New Mexico. Hart probably felt he needed a number of other outsiders in order
to sucessfully overcome resistance from local mine owners to their intrusion. The
severe winters in Colorado helped him recruit them and by March, 1879. they were a
force to be reckoned with in the development of the district. Dimick and other
Colorado miners returned with Hart before January 13, 1879, and staked claims on
the government land and started the Carbonate and other mines. In March of 1879
the old mine owners apparently came to the conclusion that they had to form an
official mining district to protect their interests from the outsiders.
On March 14, 1879, the Galisteo Mining District was formed and Enos Andrews was
elected President and M. A. Bartleson recorder
(GMDRB, vol. 1, pp. 1-2). No record of the
attendees of the meeting or its location were kept. Record books were started and
on April 16th a deputy recorder, W. P. McClure was elected. It appears that this
district was dominated by the "Santa Fe Old Timers" as opposed to the eastern area
that became the Cerrillos Mining District, which was dominated by the Coloradans
such as Dimick and Hart. The 20 attendees of a mass meeting held on June 5, 1879,
was recorded. Solomon Spiegelberg was chosen to preside and they formally adopted
by-laws for the district. The attendees were: Solomon Spiegelberg, W. H(sp?).
McBroom, W. P. McClure, C. L. Thayer, W. L. Guyer(sp?), J. H.(sp?) Stewart, V. S.
Shelby, Abe Spiegelberg, J. Girouse (Peonis), L. A. Manning, A. Phelps, J. Martin,
W. L. Studler, R. Martinez, Wm. Mailand, McKinsie, J. Shaw, L. Spiegelberg, Willi
Spiegelberg, and Henry Reed (GMDRB, vol. 1, p. 229-). A few other Santa Fe Old
Timers who recorded claims in the Galisteo district before the June 5, 1879,
meeting but did not attend it were C. H. Gildersleeve, L. L. Bennett, George E.
Blain, Wm. Breeden and J. L. Elkins. They elected Abe Speigelberg President,
C. L. Thayer Vice-president, and W. P. McClure secretary. Enos Andrews did not
attend the meeting and may have sold his mining interests in the area by then.
The Spiegelberg claims were south of Hungry Gulch but they had been involved in
other mines (Fierman, 1964) and in Cerrillos
mining since at least 1861.
The last Galisteo District meeting in the record book was on January 15, 1880,
to elect a new recorder (CMDRB, vol. 1, p. 233). The record book does not contain
any meeting to dissolve the district. The last entry in the Galisteo Mining
District Record Book is the survey by J. Lyman Haward of the Wolverine Claim dated
April 19, 1880 (GMDRB, p. 171), yet his book published that August still showed
them as separate districts.
The Los Cerrillos Mining District meeting of July 5, 1880, voted to include the
Galisteo District area in their District without mentioning it by name.
Los Cerrillos Mining District
Thirteen days after the Galisteo District was formed, a
meeting was called at Dimick and Hart's Camp on March 27, 1879. They chose
the name "Los Cerrillos Mining District" and adopted rules, regulations, and
boundaries for their district. Frank Dimick was recorder and on August 15, 1879,
called a meeting on September 1, 1879, to elect a new recorder. The September 1,
1879 meeting was presided over by Col. Wm. McMullen with N. B. Laughlin as
secretary. They modified and adopted the rules and regulations adopted on March
27th. The "... west boundary shall be east boundary of the Galisteo District,
previously established..."(CMDRB, vol. 1, p.236).
Hayward (1880) gives the regulations and
by-laws of the District and his map shows the boundaries between the two districts.
In a "Miners meeting at Carbonateville" on July 5, 1880, section 2, article 1
was changed. The minutes of the meeting say that the reason for changing the
boundaries of the Los Cerrillos Mining district are "... as to take in more timber
to be used in mining." The new district boundaries were: on the east, the west
boundary of Pecos Pueblo to the Santa Fe River; on the west, down the Santa Fe
River to the Santa Fe County line; on the south, east along the north boundary
of the Ortiz Mine grant to the Pecos Pueblo Grant (CMDRB, vol 2, pp.252-53).
Though not stated, this very large area obviously included the Galisteo Mining
District and resulted in combining of the two districts. This vote also included
Turquoise Hills in the district for the first time.
The record books of the Galisteo District at some point passed to Michael O'Neill
along with the Los Cerrillos Mining District Record Books.
The seven volumes of Cerrillos Mining District records start with a claim on
April 1, 1879, and end with two claims in 1889. Of the first dozen claims, Dimick
was a partner or sole owner of most of them and he was writing the district records.
By late June of 1879, Surveyor General Atkinson (CMDR, 1, p. 104) and Dimick
(CMDR, 1, p.105, 106) were selling claims. In July, Dimick sold L. Bradford Prince
(Governor 1889-1893) three claims (recorded 7/8/1879, Book A, p.482 & 483, Office
of Probate Court). By September, 1882, claims had filled 5 and a 1/2 volumes of
District Record books. The press was no longer helpful in promoting the areas
potential and the district was on the decline, but there were still 138 miners
participating in district affairs. On September 19, 1882, a meeting was called to
discuss an article that had appeared in the New Mexican on 9/15/1882 by C. L.
Bubbs critical of the District (CMDRB, vol. 6, p.161). In the election for
recorder on September 4, 1882, J. Layman Hayward whose 1880 book on the district
has been the standard reference, ran against the current recorder. Voting lasted
to 7 PM at Carbonateville and Cruttendeer got 78 votes to Hayward's 60 votes (
CMDRB, vol. 6, p. 160).
Three years later, in 1885, the mining rush was totally over and so few people voted
in the election for recorder that the minutes stated "... H. Beckwith recieving
all the ballots was unamiously declared elected recorder..." (CMDRB, vol. 7,
p. 146). This was the last district meeting recorded. In 1885 there are only 13
entries, in 1886 only 3, in 1887 3, in 1888 two, and in 1889 two. Michael O'Niell
recorded one of the 1888 claims and the Spiegelbergs recorded both of the 1889
claims. By 1882 the district was on the decline and by 1885 most of the outsiders
had moved on to other areas. The decline of silver prices in the late 1880s and
their final crash in 1893 probably closed the few remaining mines until they
reopened around the turn of the century as lead-zinc mines.
Early Mine Development
The early mine development of the district is beyond the scope of this report.
Of about a thousand claims made in the district by 1881, only a few dozen ever
developed into mines. The mines that saw early development were mostly the "Old
Spanish Mines", the ones purchased back in 1870-2, and which had "Old Spanish"
shafts that could be reopened. The Mina del Tiro, "Cash Entry", Ruelena, Santa
Rosa, and the Marshal Bonanza (which may have been a new mine). Table 1 lists
the "Old Spanish Mines With U.S. Period Names" in the District. The list has two
mines not previously listed by 20th Century authors as old Spanish "Nick of Time"
(discussed later in this report), and "Owasco" (mentioned as a old Spanish mine i
n U.S.B.M., 1883, p. 370). Dimick's 1879 Carbonate Mine, which led him to build
his camp and the later town of Carbonateville in the hollow just to the east of
it, like most other new mines (non-old Spanish mines) was a failure.
The history of the mines in this project area, "Hungry Gulch", are covered under
the individual mine names later in this report.
No record of houses in the area exists for the 1870s, outside of the two ranches
north of the hills (Wheeler map, 1877, No. 77
(B)) and one house south of the hills at what later became Madrid (1876, Juana
Lopez survey). Andrews built a smelter west of Waldo on the Galisteo River in 1872
and may have built a few houses in Hungry Gulch, but none are shown on the Wheeler
Map. The 1880 photo of Poverty Hollow also shows
three stone or adobe houses that must have dated from the 1870s or earlier. In
June of 1879, two towns were laid out, but these were only tent towns for a year.
By May of 1880, the first frame buildings were being constructed in them. Following
the arrival of the railroad, the town of Cerrillos also started to develop.
Hayward, who apparently completed his book except for the introduction on August
1, 1880 (Hayward, 1880, p. ), said there were
five camps in the district with a population of twelve to fifteen hundred in the
summer of 1880. The five camps he lists are: "Dimick's Camp, now known as Turquoise
City.... Purdin's Camp, Poverty Hollow, Bonanza City, and Cerrillos Station."
(Hayward, 1880, p. 5). Two other camps are also mentioned in other reports,
Turquesa, and Vallicitos.
Carbonateville (aka Turquoise City, Dimick's Camp)
Dimick and Hart set up their camp in the first valley a few thousand feet east of
their Carbonate Mine in the spring of 1879. Hayward said, "In January 1879, some
Colorado miners formed what was then called Dimick's Camp, now known as Turquoise
City." (Hayward, 1880, p. 5). The earliest date they said they staked a claim was
January 13, 1879 (Bonanza No. 2 Claim), so they arrived very early in January 1879.
It was at Dimick and Hart's camp that the Los Cerrillos Mining
District was formed
on March 27, 1879 (CMDRB, vol. 1, p. 236).
The August 15, 1879 notice of a Mining District meeting still referred to it as
Dimick's Camp, but the meeting notice of July 5, 1880, referred to it as
Carbonateville. Apparently there was a brief period in the spring or summer of
1880 in which there was an effort to change the name from Carbonateville to
"Turquoise City". Hayward was apparently promoting the name change and
"Turquoise City" as the logical center of the mining district. He also
claimed that a well currently being dug there would probably relive the town's water
problem. No well ever succeeded at Carbonateville. On Hayward's (1880) map and in
the advertisements in his book for the Wallis Hotel and Alfred F. Brainard Assayer,
the name Turquoise City was used for the community. The name "Turquoise City" was
shortlived and was never used in the mining district record books. Though the name
Turquoise City was used by Hayward (1880), the accepted local name seems to have
always been Carbonateville from the spring of 1880 until its abandonment in the
mid-1880s.
There were no wells at Carbonateville and all water had to be hauled in from Alamo
Creek or the Galisteo River and sold for up to one dollar a barrel. Several frame
hotels and stores were built in the town in the summer of 1880, but as the mines
there were not successful, the population gradually shifted to around the Cash
Entry Mine a mile to the south of Carbonateville. A frame and brick boarding house
and several brick homes were built near the Cash Entry mine at some point after
the railroad arrived.
Only one photo of Carbonateville is known, Brown
Stereo Card No. 85 (No. changed to 141). A copy is in the Museum of New Mexico
collection, photo No. 14834, by George C. Bennett, which they have dated as 1882.
However, it is much earlier, probably early 1880, along with the other Brown photos
used in this report. The photo was taken from the southeast corner of town looking
northwest. This photo shows a tent city with no frame buildings, and newspaper
reports tell us that several frame buildings were started in May, 1880,
(WNM, 5/24/1880) and finished by August, 1880, including a two story hotel that
would be in the foreground of this view, and whose stone lower story is still
partially standing. Hayward wrote prior to August, 1880, that the town, "has now
about forty houses, some of them quite substantially built of lumber." (Hayward,
1880, p. 5). The drawing of the town on his map corresponds well with the ruins
on the site today and appears accurate and is the only known map of Carbonateville.
An AML effort in 1993 to do aerial photographic mapping of the town was not
successful.
Purdin's Camp
The location was probably the residential area described in Hungry Gulch in the
archaeology section of this report. C. M. Purdin's activity was concentrated in
Hungry Gulch in 1879 and 1880, thus it is logical that a camp with his name would
have been there. The following mine locations in Hungry Gulch were made by Purdin
by himself or with others: Union (8/17/1879), Agricultural (8/29/1879), Purdin
(9/15/1879), Vulture (9/23/1879), Little Joe (10/27/1879), Badger (1/1/1880), and
Sunny Slope (1/1/1880). Only three other claims were listed by Hayward (1880) for
Purdin, two just north of Hungry Gulch, Washington (9/23/1879), and Capital (next
to Flying Dutchman) on 3/11/1880. The New England Tunnel listed by Hayward as
located by Wells, himself and Purden (sic.?) on 11/17/1879 was started on the east
side of the hill east of Hungry Gulch, but would have exited in Hungry Gulch. Thus,
of the 10 mining claims located by Purdin in 1879-80, seven are in Hungry Gulch
and none were very far from the gulch.
The location of Purdin's Camp in lower Hungry Gulch is also supported by the
comment of Hayward that, "The camps are well watered, with the exception of
Turquoise City." (Hayward, 1880, p. 5) The cottonwood tree above the spring in
lower Hungry Gulch and one stone house are shown but not named in the
1880 Brown photograph. The Hungry Gulch Spring
is the only spring in the Cerrillos Hills, other than one in Arroyo de las Minas
below the Mina del Tiro, that did not previously have a mining camp known to be
associated with it. Thus, it appears certain that Purdin's Camp was the residential
area above the spring in Hungry Gulch.
Bonanza
The town of Bonanza was built on the Los Cerrillos Land Grant just south of Alamo
Creek. In many documents and maps the creek is called Bonanza Creek after the town.
The only major remains today are the foundations of an early 20th century mill.
The Marshall Bonanza mine and
mill were the early impetus for this town. Bonanza
with its good water supply had a much better location than Carbonateville, and
though it also crashed in the mid-1880s, it had a church and resident priest on
and off into the 20th century. A cemetery for the town is reported in the area.
Adolph Bandelier in his journal entry for October 26, 1890
(Lange, et. al., 1984, p. 124) said,
" ... Bonanza (that better should be called "Malanza" because its seems so ruined
and deserted)... ". This note indicates that it also was largely abandoned before
1890. However, Bandelier's route of travel from the town of Bonanza to the Cash
Entry Mine and Bonanza Mine that day would have taken him through Carbonateville
and he did not even mention its ruins, though he noted that ruins of the old Pueblo
of Cienega or Cieneguilla were in the canyon near the town of Bonanza.
Lang, et al. (1984, note 795, p. 523) say that Bonanza was started in the spring
of 1880 (actually 1879) and had at one time had a population of two thousand
(probably a gross exaggeration). It had a post office from 1880 to 1883 and was
almost deserted by 1884. It had a small revival in the early 1900s when a small
smelter was built there. The only remains visible today are the mounds and
foundation remains of a smelter. No foundation remains of houses except for a few
scattered stones which were located in a 1992 walk around the site, which is on
private land.
Cerrillos (aka Cerrillos Station)
In 1871, Steven B. Elkins purchased 606 acres from the Government for $2.50 an acre
along the proposed railroad route at what seemed like the logical site for a town
to serve the surrounding coal and hard rock mining areas. Laying out and selling
town sites was considered a much more reliable investment than buying land with
potential mines. According to William C. Rencher, on October 17, 1871, Elkins agreed
to sell him a 1/3 interest in the town project for $1.25 an acre, which later led
to a law suit. Rencher had also applied to the Government to purchase land in the
area and his and Elkins's lands were patented on December 8, 1871. The Government
sale of the area in 1871 is a strong indication that no one lived there at that
time.
The only reference to ruins in the area were the remains of a few old smelters
south of the Galisteo River on Elkins' town plat. These small smelters could have
been some of those built in 1861, 1831, or earlier times.
After the railroad arrived ten years later, the town site was first called
Cerrillos Station, but was later shortened to just "Cerrillos". Elkins left the
town site in the hands of his more famous, in New Mexico, apprentice, Thomas B.
Catron, to develop and sell when he went to Congress in 1873. However, Elkins was
still being requested to give a power of attorney to Catron so that the titles to
the lot they sold could be legally cleared up in 1891
(Elkins Papers, Victory letter to Elkins, 12/28/1891,
747). The threats of law suits by purchasers to get clear title to Cerrillos
town lots reported in the press eventually lead to a resolution of the problem.
The crash of Cerrillos hard rock mining in the mid-1880s was replaced by coal
business from the Madrid area which Elkins nominally controlled from 1879 until
he sold the Madrid area in 1891. The railroad, Madrid coal business and the revival
of hard rock mining around 1900 supported the town of Cerrillos, and though it
approached being a ghost town in the late 1940s and 1950s, it has survived. It is
the only circa-1879 mining rush town that has survived around the district.
Poverty Hollow
Poverty Hollow is shown on Hayward's 1880 map as having 8 or 9 buildings. It was
just west of the junction of Gallina and San Marcos Arroyos on the north side of
San Marcos Arroyo. The "Cerrillos Reservoir" was later built at this location.
The sedemented-in reservoir may cover some of the 1880 or pre-1880 building
foundations of this community. The modern local, known as Poverty Flats, is 0.5
miles south of the Poverty Hollow location.
A placer miner claimed that the next arroyo drainage west of Gallina Arroyo, north
of San Marcos Arroyo, had galena (lead-silver) nuggets as well as gold fines. If
this is true, the pre-1880 residents may have been placer miners. However, Poverty
Hollow and its San Marcos Arroyo water is only half the distance from the Cash
Entry Mine (and its Mexican and Spanish predecessors) as the Galisteo River. Thus,
the old buildings seen in the Brown 1880 photo
(No. 87=143) were probably residences related to pre-1880 mining in the Cash
Entry Mine area. This was the closest water to that area prior to drilling of a
well at the Cash Entry Mine in the 1880s. Even the small seep in Arroyo de las
Minas (aka Mina del Tiro Arroyo, Hayward, 1880) is as far as the Poverty Hollow
site from these mines.
Vallicitos
The circa 1880 Brown photo of "Vallicitos"
(photo No. 282 crossed out and 162 written in) shows the Vallecitos camp in the
Hungry Gulch area of the Cerrillos Hills. The placename "Vallecitos" was a widely
used term in New Mexico.
Turquesa
There are references to another location in the district called "Turquesa, NM",
confused by some authors with Turquoise City, the name used for a few months in
1880 for Carbonateville. Turquesa is the proper Spanish name and spelling for
turquoise and refers to the mining camp on Turquoise Hill. A few mining district
records were recorded as being entered in the record book at that place,
"Turquesa, NM, Feb. 28, 1883" (CMDRB, vol. 7, p.3) and "Turquesa, NM, April 10,
1883" (CMDRB, vol. 7, p. 25), but most documents that give the location at which
they were entered in the books say Carbonateville. The name "Turquesa" was used
as the address, probably just a Cerrillos P.O. Box name, by the American Turquoise
Company years later for their operation on Turquoise Hill. Thus, Turquesa probably
refers to the houses built on the south side of Turquoise Hill by miners.
Ritch (1885, p. 12) in his listing of
"New Mexico Mining Camps" lists, "Turquesa, Santa Fe county, (Turquois, gold,
silver,) S. of Santa Fe; 25 miles; near Cerillos (sic) district." Ritch also lists
Cerrillos ("near Cerrillos Station, A., T. & S. F. railroad;") and
Carbonateville ("6 miles north of Cerrillos station"), but does not give their
distance from Santa Fe. His use of 25 miles, which was the distance given in some
1800s reports, to Cerrillos may be an error (as Turquoise Hill is only about 15
miles south of Santa Fe Plaza), or it may be an indication that "Turquesa" was
already in 1885 thought of as a Cerrillos post office box name used for the miners
on Turquoise Hill as much as it was for the actual houses on the hill.
The majority of mining claims staked in the rush of 1879-80 claimed gold and they
and their stock were sold as gold mines, though they showed little or no gold in
outside assays or production records (AML Turquoise
Hill Report, 1994). No record of a gold mine (mine whose major or even second
product was gold) existing in the Cerrillos Hills was located. Actual production
records of Cerrillos mines reported to the government show insignificant quantities;
a fraction of one ounce per ton of gold was produced by Cerrillos Hills mines. Yet
the concept of the area as having gold is very prevalent to this day. It is
mentioned by both geologists and historians writing about the area. This
misconception was promoted in the 1880s to sell mines, but probably owes its general
acceptance to the reports of the Director of the Mint in the 1880s and later by
the U.S. Bureau of Mines reports.
These U. S. Government agencies lumped most of southern Santa Fe County mine
production under the heading "Cerrillos Mining District"
in their reports. Thus, they recorded all of Old Placers and some of New Placers
Mining District production under "Cerrillos Mining District". This created the
concept that the smaller, or what is the proper "Cerrillos Mining District",
produced gold.
Though this error in government reporting has been mentioned twice in the past,
including Disbrow and Stoll (1957, p. 113),
it is still generally accepted that the Cerrillos Hills contain or did contain
significant amounts of gold. The reports from the mines that the U.S. Bureau of
Mines used to make their district summaries were destroyed decades ago. However,
some of these original mine reports have survived elsewhere and they verify this
reporting error. The latest error located in the surviving files was the Berton
(sic Benton) Mine in Old Placers District, recorded as "Cerrillos District" in
1936, though Disbrow and Stoll felt the reporting error was corrected in 1930.
Disbrow and Stoll (1957, p.45) give the U.S. Bureau of Mines reported Cerrillos
District production from 1905 to 1945, and even though it includes gold misreported
from other districts, the "average grade of ore... (was still only) 0.01 ounce of
gold per ton." (Disbrow and Stoll, 1957, p.46). Over half the gold production for
this century was reported in the two years of 1926 and 1927 and probably came from
outside the district.
Elston (1967, pp. 34-35) apparently looked
at other old U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) reports, which indicated to him that the
reporting errors by the USBM continued to 1942, and that an error also occurred in
1956 (Elston, 1967, p. 35, notes d and e). Old USBM report forms to support Elston's
comments could not be located in the preparation of this report. There is an error
in Elston's reporting, "a - Includes a small amount of placer silver from Old Placers,
1909-1942" (Elston, 1967, p. 35, note a). The Old Placers district never produced
placer silver. What was misreported by USBM was placer and lode gold from there as
being from the Cerrillos District.
The only evidence found for significant gold production in the Cerrillos District
are the misleading government reports from the 1880s to 1930s that put gold
production from other areas under Cerrillos District. Government reports prior to
1880 mention the absence of gold in the true Cerrillos Mining District (Cerrillos
Hills). "The Cerrillos,- ... The minerals contained are silver, copper, lead, iron,
and coal. Gold has not yet been discovered in any amount worthy of notice, ...
Mining in this locality has been mostly for silver and lead."
(Raymond, 1874, p329).
Consulting geologists' reports as recently as the 1980s recommend to clients that
they examine their Cerrillos property for gold, "as the district has a past record
of gold production". That record is only in the old government reports and does
not refer to the Cerrillos Hills.
The location name "Hungry Gulch" (T15N, R8E, section 30) dates from 1879 and possibly
earlier for the valley system in the western Cerrillos Hills that drains to the
southwest. On modern topographic maps it is named the Tom Payne Arroyo. It was
used in some mining claims to describe the location of the claim. It, along with
the mines south of it, were the Galisteo Mining District formed in 1879 and at
first dominated by Enos Andrews. A dispersed residential area of about a dozen
houses was built between the mines in the broad part of the gulch and the narrow
part of the canyon a mile to the southwest where a small spring is located. One
circa 1880 Brown photo (no. 87 changed to no. 143)
is looking Northeast from above the spring toward the open area of the gulch and
shows two miners by one of the cabins. This project covers
the mines of Hungry Gulch with the exception of those on or near the top of the
hills around it on the south and east sides. Dr. Enos Andrews purchased about half
of this project area (NE 1/4 and SW 1/4 of section 30) in 1872 as Cash Entries
nos. 100, 101, and 145 before the 1872 mining law took effect.
See also Appendix 2 for selections from the
Disbrow and Stoll 1957 report on Hungry Gulch.
Correlation of Current Mine Names With Those of 1880
Brown Stereoscopic Photo Cards used in this report were probably taken in the
spring of 1880 at the height of the mining rush. The photographer is assumed to
be Brown's associate, George C. Bennett. The original numbers on the cards are
probably those put on the cards in 1880, and advertised in Hayward's August, 188,
book (p.102 but not numbered) as "Sterioscopic Views of New Mexico and Los
Cerrillos". The cards were probably being renumbered for Brown's Series No. 7
"Cerrillos Mining District", which was advertised a few years later. The Bennett
photos used in this report are compatible with the known early development of the
mines, and with little doubt must have been taken in early 1880 and not later as
some past reports indicate. This set of cards belonged to Michael O'Neil, who came
to the area during the mining rush of the early 1880s, and contains numerous
duplicates, some marked "sample". They show four of the features in this project:
two views of the Ruelena and Nick of Time mines, two views of Our Georgie (aka
Our Georgia, now the south air shaft of Tom Payne), and one view of the Cock of
the Walk and Mary Mines. The Brown photos used are from a private collection, and
the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources has copies. The Museum of
New Mexico has copies of a few of these Brown Photos.
Pennsylvania (SE 1/4 sec. 30 and NE 1/4 sec. 31 - private)
The old name for this mine was the Ruelena (1880 Brown photo No. 144 and 145).
Photo No. 144 is looking west. The modern landscape
has been much changed due to juniper growth and the later Pennsylvania Mine waste
pile. Photo No. 145 is not included here. One of the Spanish Period Ruelena Mine
shafts was opened up again by Dr. Enos Andrews in 1872
(Raymond, 1874).
Pennsylvania Group: Five mining claims were patented as this one group; Bob
Ingersoll, Sure Winner, Bertha Mable, Owl Lode, and J. B. Weaver. The Pennsylvania
Mine is located on the northern most of these, the J.B. Weaver claim. The other
claims are not in this project. The earlier Ruelena Mine became the main
Pennsylvania Shaft, or else that shaft's waste pile covers the older Reulena shaft.
Nick O'Time (SE 1/4 sec. 30 - private)
This mine has retained the same name since 1880
(also shown in Brown photo No. 144 & 145) U.S.
Patent No. 533. The mineral survey (MS) of the Nick O'Time states that the Ruelena
is on its south, Alcalde-east, and Agriculture-west. The MS shows a shaft at the
south end of the Lode and says Shaft No. 1, discovery shaft 4x7x10 feet deep, and
Shaft No. 2, 5x8x300 feet deep.
Armington Shaft (SE 1/4 sec. 30 - private)
There is no 1880 equivalent. It is located between the 1880 Agricultural and
Toronto claims. The Byrne notebook (Byrne, n.d.) indicates that he was considering
reopening this mine and gives his cost estimate of doing so at $4,124. There is
no date for this note, but it was probably post World War II and prior to his move
from Cerrillos to Ojo Caliente. He also considered driving a tunnel to drain the
mines.
Armington Tunnel (SE 1/4 sec. 30 - private)
There is no 1880 equivalent, but the old shaft SW of it may be the "Atlas" of 1880.
Tom Payne (SE 1/4 sec. 30 - BLM)
Written in pen on a Brown photo card (number 285
crossed out and 160 written on it in pen) is the comment "Strike on our
Georgie", and there is another Brown photo with
no number taken the same day with the same men and mules at the mine. The
circa-1880 photos were taken at the location of the modern south air shaft of the
Tom Payne. The official name of this mining claim was "Our Georgia" with a
different last letter. Both Hayward (1880) and the Brown photo card use "Our
Georgie", so this appears to have been a local variation used for the mine that
became the Tom Payne mine of the 20th Century. The claim was filed in GMDR,
p. 160 by A. James Sterling and D. L. Hamaton(sp?), and Eugene Bamis(sp?) as
located on April 10, 1880, and recorded June 9, 1880. The registration description
of the Our Georgia Lode says that it is bounded on the west by the Vulture claim,
which confirms that it is the Tom Payne. The claim was never patented and this
area is a small island of BLM land in the NW part of the SE 1/4 of section 30.
Vulture (SE 1/4 sec. 30 - BLM)
The 1880 Vulture shaft is across the arroyo to the west between the Tom Payne
main shaft and its north air shaft. It was never extensively developed, judging
by its current depth and small waste pile.
Andrews Tunnel (NW 1/4 sec. 30 - BLM mineral)
There is no 1880 equivalent. Disbrow and Stoll (1957) do not give the basis for
the name, but it may be named for Dr. Enos Andrews who worked the area in the
1870s. It is further north and higher than the 1880 Irwin, but not as far north
as the Captain Jack.
Bottom Dollar (SW 1/4 sec. 30 - private Cash Entry)
The name of the 1880 Bottom Dollar has not changed. However, its importance is
that the Spanish "Santa Rosa" mine's name was changed to Bottom Dollar in 1880.
The old Spanish and Mexican Period decline shaft and 19th century shafts are
probably buried along the vein to the south of the present 20th Century shaft.
No Name Shaft - West of Bottom Dollar (SW 1/4 sec. 30 -
private)
Probably one or more of the 1880 claims in the valley west of Bottom Dollar: most
likely the Purdin (20 ft. shaft) or Julius (22 ft. shaft)-Theresa (one 10 ft.
shaft and one 15 foot shaft).
No Name Shaft - North of Bottom Dollar (SW 1/4 sec. 30
-private)
Now only a pit 8 feet east of the road and only 12 feet deep. There is no 1880
equivalent and it is referred to in 1930s report as the north shaft of the Bottom
Dollar; thus, it is a 20th Century digging. It is located on the Bottom Dollar Cash
Entry deeded area.
Black Hornet, or just Hornet (SW 1/4 sec. 30 - private)
There is no 1880 equivalent and reports indicate it was first dug in 1944. There
is a name on Hayward's 1880 map in this area, but it is not legible and Hayward's
text lists no mine for 16-17 map coordinates and F or G other than mines higher
on the hill. The adit or starting of a tunnel SE of the shaft is about where the
1880 New England Tunnel was projected to exit on the west. However, both the shaft
and adit were probably dug by the World War II lessee of the area and reworked to
some degree in 1955-56.
Names uncertain - two shafts NE of Nick O'Time
(SE 1/4 sec. 30)
The possible 1880 equivalents are Little Joe (11 ft. shaft), and Marine (24 ft.
shaft). They were not extensively developed and wood and square nails indicate
they may not have been worked after the 1880s.
Mary (NE 1/4 of sec. 30) [Currently a trash filled pit with
AML sign]
This is the only feature in the project that is not in Hungry Gulch. It is next
to the access road into the gulch, about a 1/4 mile from the pass ,and was included
at the request of the land owner. Brown 1880 photo
No. 157 shows the Cock of the Walk Mine in the foreground, with the Mary Mine
in the distance on the right edge of the photo. Cock of the Walk does not need
any remediation. The Cock of the Walk (CMDR book 1, p. 113 and p. 180 and book 6,
p. 96) and this Mary Mine (CMDR book 1, pp. 174-175) were reported by Hayward in
1880 as "Old Spanish" mines . These mines in the NE 1/4 of section 30 and their
potential must have been why Andrews purchased this 1/4 section (cash entry no.
145) on July 6, 1872. The problem with the Mary Mine is that Hayward (1880)
reports two mines with that name in his index but only discusses one in his text.
In his text he describes a Mary Claim (the one in this project) located July 6, 1879,
by Sullivan and Raulston and owned by Hall, Niding et. al. The CMDR book states
it was located on July 16, 1880 not July 6, 1880, by William B. Sullivan and John
Raulston and in the description says "... an old Abandoned Mine and adjoining the
Lode Known as the Cock of the Walk." and was filed on October 10, 1880.
The other Mary Mine listed in Hayward's index is on his map at 7L. However,
Hayward does not describe it in his text and it is probably an error. This may be
the reason Warren (1974) dropped one of the
Mary Mines from her list of "Old Spanish Mines". The CMDR book indexes do not
contain a second "Mary" claim. They do contain a "Mary Anderson" (CMDR book 2,
p. 70) by Carbonateville, and a "Mary Carry" on "rattle snake hill by the Old
Castillian (western end of Turquoise Hills) and the La Veta Chiquita Claim"
(which Hayward has on his map but not in his text). In the Mary Carry Claim filed
Dec 30, 1880, the La Veta Chiquita is described as only a 10-foot shaft in alluvium,
having not reached the ore body. The Mary Carry Claim was located June 21, 1880,
but was not filed until four months after Hayward's book was printed. The other
Hayward (1880) Mary Claim (7L) adjoined the Marshall Claim on the east, which was
the Marshall Bonanza Mine. The Marshall Bonanza was one of the early and profitable
major mines of the district, which though not listed by Hayward as "Old Spanish",
may have been. Therefore, the 7L Mary may have had old workings. The Mary (13J)
in this project was reported by Hayward in 1880 as having a 60-foot shaft and a
10-foot shaft with galena ore assaying 38 ounces (silver). The current size of
the waste pile of the Mary Mine does not indicate development ever went much beyond
the 60 feet reported in 1880.
Both of these mines are on Andrews's 1872 patented land and, therefore, the Mary
and Cock of the Walk claims were a trespass ("Claim Jumping"). Andrews must have
been aware of these claims on his land, and one possible explanation is that he
considered these mines worthless after studying them. The claim holders filed
proof of labor on them for several years and found buyers for them. There was
also a hope on the part of the newcomers of breaking the patents given to Santa
Feans on the old mine areas in 1871 and 1872, but this was not accomplished.
Local names often preserve the history of a locality for centuries even though
there are no formal documents covering an area's history. There are arroyos called
"Arroyo del mina" (arroyo of the mine) and "Arroyo del Plumo" (lead arroyo) even
though there are no records of mines in the area or any living person who
remembers any mining there. These are simply place names to the local people,
preserved by word of mouth over the generations. Local place names often preserve
history not preserved in any other manner. The following is a tracing from
contemporary documents of the name "Santa Rosa Mine" and a hypothesis of its origin
in the 1690s.
Several claims recorded in the Galisteo Mining District in 1879 and as late as
January, 1880, use the Santa Rosa mine as a reference for their location. These
give us a location description for the Santa Rosa that fits the Bottom Dollar mine.
Registration of the Atlas Lode - relocated Dec. 20, 1879, states "... claim is
situated about 3000 feet NW from the old Rualainaia (sic Ruelena) Mine in Galisteo
District and about 1000 feet nearly east from the Old Santa Rosa Mine."
(GMDRB, p. 155). The registration of "Our
Georgia Lode ... bounded west Home and Vulture and about one thousand feet East
(sic northeast) of the old Santa Rosa Mine." (GMDRB, p. 160). The "Pelican"
mining claim recorded on January 1, 1880 gave its location as follows. "Said claim
(the Pelican) is situated about 2,000 feet north from the Old Ruelana Mine and
about 1/2 mile north east from the old Santa Rosa Mine ..."
(CMDR, Book 2, p. 1)
These descriptions all confirm the location of the Santa Rosa Mine to the location
of the Bottom Dollar Mine. The Bottom Dollar Mine is the only mine named by
Hayward (1880) in the bottom of Hungry Gulch
as an "Old Spanish" mine. The Bottom Dollar and Santa Rosa are one and the same
mine. This is supported by the fact that the Santa Rosa is consistently mentioned
by 1870s commentaries on the District and ceases to be mentioned by people once
the name "Bottom Dollar Mine" appears in 1880.
The following description of the Santa Rosa Mine was written in 1869, before any
known U.S. Period mining, and thus represents the surface evidence left from Spanish
and Mexican period mining. In 1883, a new shaft ran into a old drift level at a
depth of 110 feet so the mine was deeper than this early description indicated.
"The Cerrillos, 17 miles southwest of Santa Fe, contain many
silver bearing lodes, which have never been described, although they are well worth
it. They are situated on an old Spanish grant belonging to the Baca y Delgado
family. ... Through the kindness of Don José Baca y Delgado the following mines
could be visited under his guidance: Santa Rosa, discovered forty years ago by
Alvarado, is situated in a small valley (Hungry Gulch) surrounded by hills. The
inclined shaft is 50 feet deep, but mostly caved in. The lode is 6 feet wide,
strikes north 23 degrees east, and dips 80 degrees northwest. The walls are
granite, and encase argentiferous galena, zincblend, iron, and copper pyrites, in
a gangue of hard quartz. About twenty tons of ore are lying on the dump."
(Raymond, 1870, p. 412)
Two years later, when Andrews smelted the ore on the waste dump, he reported it
yielded $92.50/ton in silver. Dr. Enos Andrews purchased the area in 1872 as a
Cash Entry and acquired both the surface and mineral rights as the 1872 mining
law had not yet gone into effect. Therefore, he did not need to file a mining
claim for the mine in 1879-80, when the Cerrillos mining rush started. In June,
1873, Rossiter Raymond again visited the area after Andrews had reopened the Santa
Rosa and obtained the following information on it from Mr. Huggins:
"Recently, Dr. E. Andrews, of Santa Fe, having with other
gentlemen, obtained possession of all the known mines in the Cerrillos, has
re-opened two of them, and is now at work on one called the Santa Rosa, preparatory
to extensive operations. He has a furnace erected on the Galisteo, to which he
has already packed and worked serveral lots of the ore. The shaft, on re-opening,
was found to be sunk 55 feet. The results of assays and smelting up to June 15,
1873, were as follows: Four assays from debris, respectively, 9 ozs., 12 dwts.,
10 grs.; 18 ozs., 15 dwts., 15 grs.; 15 ozs., 5 grs.; 8 ozs., 15 dwts.,
7 grs. Average 13 ozs, 2 dwts. (silver) per ton of 2,000 lbs. = $15.90.
A small quantity of ore found at top of shaft was first worked in the furnace,
producing bullion worth $92.58 ton. On sinking the shaft to 65 feet Dr. A. made
a run of fresh ore, otaining $120 bullion. On sinking 10 feet further he obtained
$132 (ton). This was the last run made ut to the date given. The shaft was in June
nearly 100 feet deep." (Raymond, 1874, p.330).
Silver was selling for $1.20/oz. in 1873, so at the 75 foot level, $132/ton is
over 100 ounces per ton, well above the breakeven point in the Spanish Period.
Even the old 20 ton pile of galena left on the dump seen in 1869 yielded $92.50/ton
or 77 ounces per ton, which would have been profitable by amalgamation. Raymond
(1874) said that Dr. Andrews found that the old shaft had been sunk to 55 feet
and that he had extended it to nearly 100 feet by June, 1873. In Raymond (1870)
the shaft was reported as 50 feet deep. Alvarado may have dug this 55-foot decline
around 1830, but more likely he just reopened an earlier Spanish shaft on the vein.
Somewhere in the area, probably south of the current shaft, must be an earlier
Spanish shaft that was filled in or collapsed by 1869 that extended to over 100
feet. The reason this must be the case is that, in 1883, while digging a new shaft,
an old Spanish drift was encountered at a depth of 110 feet.
The 20 tons of galena ore lying on the dump in 1869 could have been left from
some unknown early U.S. period mining, but that is unlikely, as the shaft was reported
as "mostly caved in", indicating that it had not been worked in a long time. Thus,
the ore was probably left from the 1830s or earlier. The Wheeler map,
(Wheeler, 1877, Atlas Sheet 77 (B)) has
only one mine labeled in the Cerrillos Hills as a result of his 1874-75 field work.
It is labeled "Andrews Mine" and is at the approximate location of the Santa Rosa
mine.
In Raymond's (1874, p331) comments on the ore of the Mina del Tiro he said,
"Assays of inferior samples from the debris have been made, ranging from $8 to $52
per ton. In appearance the ore is much the same as that of the Santa Rosa, and it
will doubtless prove equally rich." Later assays indicate that the Mina del
Tiro never assayed as high as the Santa Rosa Mine.
The galena ore lying on the dump in 1869 yielded about 77 ounces per ton which
is well above the break even-point on a silver mine in the Spanish Period.
Bartolome de Medina's invention of the Patio Process in 1555
(Probert, 1969) lowered the break even-point
on Silver Mines from 150 to around 50 ounces per ton or less. Raymond's (1874)
report gives at 65 feet: $120/ton (100 ounces silver per ton) and at 75 feet, $132
(110 oz./ton) which would have been profitable at any point from the area's first
European prospecting in 1581 onward.
Escalante's assays of silver ore from the Cerrillos Hills in 1581 may have been
high, but ore found at the Santa Rosa almost 300 years later was good enough to
have been of major interest to Escalante and his fellow prospectors.
Arny (1873, p.92) copied Raymond's 1870
report which was largely based on the field work done by Professor Bruckner but
he gives a few additional comments.
"Since the above report (Raymond, 1870) this mine has been
reopened by a vertical shaft, and the ore is being reduced in a furnace situated
upon the Galisteo. The bullion thus far produced has averaged $165.50 per ton of
silver (about 138 oz/ton)." (Arny, 1873, p. 92)
Arny (1873) gives the silver yield of the Mina del Tiro Mine as only $42.75 per
ton or only 1/4 as rich as the ore of the Santa Rosa.
Enos Andrews apparently sold the Bottom Dollar (Santa Rosa) before the summer of
1880. The explantion for Hayward's (1880)
entry on the Bottom Dollar Mine is that it was, "located Feb. 1880, by Ward and
Cousins", which is not correct. Unless they were claim jumping, they must have
purchased it from Andrews. Neither they nor Andrews ever filed a "Bottom Dollar"
mining claim in the Galisteo Mining District, as the mine was on the land purchased
in 1872 by Andrews. Hayward went on to describe the Bottom Dollar as "One 30 foot
shaft (new shaft started by Andrews?) and one old shaft 160 (old shaft extended by
Andrews?) feet deep. Vein galena and copper, 4 1/2 feet wide, assays 40 ounces.
Owned by Ward and Cousins." (Hayward, 1880). New owners, probably the Bonanza
Mining & Tunnel Co., in 1883 hired a contractor to sink another new shaft.
The February 14, 1883 edition of the Santa Fe
Weekly New Mexican Newspaper carried a story of the diggers encountering an
old Spanish drift or tunnel at a depth of 110 feet. The 110-foot level appears to
have been about the geological water level where ore would change from oxidized
to unoxidized, and thus this would be the level below which the ore would be
difficult to smelt or refine. Thus, this was probably the maximum depth worked on
the Santa Rosa mine during the Spanish Period.
The Santa Rosa becoming the Bottom Dollar mine is also confirmed by a comment in
Ritch (1885, pp. 168-171) where he is
quoting from S. H. Bernard of Carbonateville, "The Bottom Dollar mine, formerly
known as the Santa Rosa...". Bernard goes on to describe the mine in 1884 or 1885
as, "... owned and operated by the Bonanza Mining and Tunnel Co., has been
developed to the depth of 110 feet. Water was found at this depth. ... The vein
at the surface is fully four feet wide, but as you go to the depth of fifty feet
it grows to its natural width- two feet- and holds good as far as developed. A
drift north has been run on a four-foot vein, showing very good mineral. A
contract for fifty feet of (shaft) sinking has been let. ... They are using a
whim at present, but will no doubt erect machinery this spring." (Ritch, 1885,
p.168). He gives the assay as 40 ounces of silver per ton.
Summary of what is known about the Santa Rosa in the 1800s.
What we know is that a lead-silver mine called "Santa Rosa" was worked around
1830 by a man named Alvarado, about three and a half air miles south of Alamo Creek,
the probable location of Vargas's Real de Los Cerrillos. This mine had a 50-foot
decline shaft that was open but caved in when seen in 1869, but later old workings
(drifts) were found at a depth of 110 feet. It still contained ore with 75 ounces
or more of silver per ton, and one of the most reputable of the 1800s reporters
on American Mines, Rossiter Raymond, reported it along with the Ruelena as the
richest of the silver mines of the Cerrillos Hills. A new vertical shaft was dug
or an old filled in one was reopened by Dr. Andrews in 1872. In February, 1883, the
contractors digging yet another new shaft for the owners struck an old Spanish
tunnel (drift) at a depth of 110 feet which contained stone axes and other tools.
The shaft there now is either the 1883 shaft, reworked in the 1900s, or a post-1900
shaft on the same vein.
How long do local names survive?
Your personal idea of the answer to that question will determine your credence
given to the following hypotheses. Going backwards in the New Mexico Archives,
the next earliest date that we find a "Santa Rosa Mine" in the Cerrillos is the
year 1709. Is it possible that the name "Santa Rosa Mine" had survived in the
local vocabulary for 124 years (1830 - 1709 = 124 years)?
In 1709, General Uribarrí claimed (denounced) the mine abandoned by Pedro Rodríguez
Cubero [T# 1018, R5, frame 1098- ] in "los Serrillos de San Marcos". How many years
General Uribarrí operated the Santa Rosa mine is unknown, but he continued to be
interested in mining in New Mexico and obtained another mine grant in the San
Pedros in 1710 (T#1019). Many of the local names given mines in the 1870s have
persisted to 1994 (124 years), and it is possible that a 1709 mine name persisted
to 1830, especially considering there were many fewer mines and thus each one was
a more significant part of the landscape.
Governor Cubero had no knowledge or interest in mining before coming to New Mexico
in 1697. Though we do not know at this time where or how Cubero obtained silver,
we do know that he shipped silver to Mexico City while he was governor
(Hendricks, 1993, 1994). We know Cubero
owned the Santa Rosa Silver Mine in the Cerrillos Hills while he was governor.
We know that Governor Cubero's predecessor, Governor Vargas, was interested in mining
and had spent most of his career prior to becoming Governor of New Mexico as an
administrator in mining districts (Kessell,
1989). We know that Vargas promoted three mines in these hills and founded
the Real de Los Cerrillos, an official Spanish Mining Camp, in 1695, probably on
Alamo Creek three miles north of this mine, and that one of the last things he did
as governor in 1696 was order more mining equipment.
Considering Cubero's lack of background in mining, it is probable, if not likely,
that the Santa Rosa Mine was one of the mines referred to by Governor Vargas and
possibly even owned by him. Cubero may have acquired it during his imprisonment
of Vargas from 1697 to 1699 in Santa Fe, when all of Vargas's property was
confiscated. Governor Cubero fled New Mexico via Zuni when he heard that Vargas
was returning in 1703. He undoubtedly abandoned his mine, and no one would have
been inclined to claim it under the circumstances until after Vargas's death in
1704. General Uribarrí, as executor of Cubero's will, was the first to know that
it was safe to claim the Santa Rosa and did so in 1709.
It seems probable that the Santa Rosa Mine of 1830 and 1709 are one and the same
mine. Therefore, the Santa Rosa and Ruelina reported in the 1800s as the richest
silver mines of the Cerrillos Hills are the prime candidates for mines referred
to by Governor Vargas in 1695 and were mines probably worked on and off since the
founding of New Mexico in 1598.
There are only three mine grant transactions in the Cerrillos Hills between the
1709 claiming of the Santa Rosa Mine and the 1830 reopening of the Santa Rosa Mine.
All three relate to Our lady of Sorrows Mine (Nuestra Señora de los Dolores) in
1763 and 1764 (T# 39, SANM roll 1, f. 300-306
and T#593, SANM roll 3, f. 1263-1266) which was probably what we know as the
Old Castilian mine on Turquoise Hill.
Little has survived in the way of records of 1700s mining in the Cerrillos Hills,
but knowledge of the silver-lead ores persisted. In the 1770s, the Viceroy
requested that the Franciscans supply him with all the information they had on
the Northern Frontier including New Mexico. In 1782, Fry Morfie wrote a Geography
of New Mexico and though he does not list "Los Cerrillos" as a ranch, he does
mention the Cerrillos Hills. Opposite page 93 of the manuscript (numbers added
later) as the first entry under "Minerals" he wrote: "De Plomo con aquiria Plata,
en los Cerrillos de Sata Fe, y el arroyo al sur." This translates as "Lead with
silver ore are in the arroyo on the south side of Los Cerrillos of Santa Fe".
This is a reference to either the Arroyo de la Minas that the Mina del Tiro is
in, or the Santa Rosa and Ruelena in Hungry Gulch, or else both arroyos. Hungry
Gulch is more directly south of Los Cerrillos and much closer than Arroyo de las
Minas to the farming area called Los Cerrillos in the 1600s and 1700s. There are
records of a mining company being formed in Santa Fe in 1830 to reopen the Mina
del Tiro and two other unnamed mines in the Cerrillos Hills (Ortega, 1831). It
is possible that Alvarado was part of this group or independently worked the
Santa Rosa during that period of increased interest in mining around 1830.
How long the 1830s mining continued is not clear, but judging by Gregg's comment,
it was of short duration. "The mines of Cerrillos, twenty miles southward of Santa
Fe, although of undoubted antiquity, have, to all appearance, been worked to some
extent within the present century; indeed, they have been reopened within the
recollection of the present generation; but the enterprise having been attended
with little success, it was again abandoned." (
Gregg, 1844, p. 106).
Raymond or his informant were shown around the Cerrillos Hills by Don José Baca
y Delgado in 1869 (Rayomond, 1870 p 412). José Baca y Delgado was the probable
souce of the statement that in 1830 the Santa Rosa Mine was discovered by Alvarado.
The Delgado Family claimed all of the Cerrillos Hills as part of a land grant in
the 1860s (Raymond, 1870) and the Mina del
Tiro was leased from the family for mining. No record of their filing such a
large land grant claim with the government was located in the archives.
By 1871, the U. S. Government declared the area public domain and put it up for
sale and homesteading. The approach of the railroad led to the 1879-80 Mining
Rush to the Cerrillos, which occurred in spite of the poor ore prospects outside
of the few old Spanish Mines already purchased by the locals before the 1872
mining law took effect.
1880- The Santa Rosa Mine becomes the Bottom Dollar Mine
Dr. Enos Andrews who came to Santa Fe in 1859, and was a merchant, dentist, and
mine investor of the 1860s and 1870s, is the earliest known U.S. Period developer
of Cerrillos Mines with two exceptions: The 1861 reopeners of the Mina del Tiro,
and possibly a mine operated by the Delgado family.
Andrews purchased from the U. S. government the 160 acres (T15N, R8E, SW 1/4,
section 30, Cash Entry Patent, No. 101, dated, July 6, 1872) containing the Santa
Rosa Mine (Bottom Dollar). Dr. Andrews, as others, rushed to purchase land with
mineral values before the implementation of the 1872 mining law. This land and
the other good mineral property in the Cerrillos Hills was purchased before the
law took effect. The "Cash Entry Mine", the best known producer in the Cerrillos
area even took this purchase process for its name. Only after the passage of the
1872 mining law did the government reserve or keep the mineral rights on land that
it sold. Dr. Andrews reopened both the Santa Rosa (Bottom Dollar) and the Ruelena.
Raymond visited his mines and his smelter to the south of them on the Galisteo
River in June, 1873, but they were not operating at the time and they were described
before Andrews opened them up in Raymond's 1870 report.
Dr. Andrews apparently sold the mine in 1880. The sale was not located but should
be in the county records. Dr. Andrews's 1872 Cash Entry patent to this area
exempted him from normal mining regulations including claim filing. He and others
formed the Galisteo Mining District two weeks before the Cerrillos Mining District
was formed in 1879. The two districts were combined into the Cerrillos Mining
District in 1880. Michael O'Neill (aka. O'Neil), who around 1910 owned the Santa
Rosa (Bottom Dollar), kept the Mining District Record Books for both districts
and passed them on to Vern Byrne.
The U.S. Bureau of the Mint Report (1882)
for 1880 and 1881 said, "The Bottom Dollar is also being actively worked above
the water line. Its ore, of which several tons are being daily added to its dump,
is similar to the Marshall Bonanza. Machinery for this mine is on the way from
Chicago, where one of the owners has been for some time making purchases." The
U.S. Bureau of the Mint Report(1883) for 1882
said, "The Bottom Dollar, in Hungry Gulch, is an old
Spanish mine. The shaft has recently been put in shape, and it is the intention
of the owners to work it extensively. It is now opened about 110 feet deep." There
are no comments in the later U.S. Mint Reports on this or most Cerrillos mines.
Nineteenth century production is unknown, but probably stopped when the high grade
silver-lead ore ran out or silver prices started to crash in the late 1880s. This
mine, as were most in the district, was revived as a lead-zinc mine around 1900.
Reese Fullerton reported in 1942 that the lessees in 1901 shipped 300 to 400 tons
of ore to Joplin, MO, which contained 13 to 50 % combined lead and zinc. The
reported yield was $375 to $500 (probably per 40 ton railroad car)
(MDA,NMBM&MR). That would be a gross
production for them of about $160,000. In 1910, "The Boston Cerrillos Mines
Corporation" became interested in the property and eventually purchased it.
Through a local mine promoter--his stationery says "Jas. Lucas, Broker and Promoter
of Mining Property, Cerrillos, N.M."--the Bottom Dollar was promoted to a potential
investor, Mr. Swart, who then wrote to George Felt in Cerrillos for information
on the mine. George L. Felt wrote back to W. G. Swart in Denver on 1/20/1910 on
the stationery of "The Boston Cerrillos Mines Corporation, Cerrillos, NM".
"Yours of the 18th just received. You have the right dope on the
Bottom Dollar as regards the showing, from all I can learn. It is in Hungry Gulch,
about 3 miles north west of the Cash Entry (which the Co. owned). I don't know
Lucas but the claim is owned by Mike O'Neil, who lives on a claim adjoining the
Cash and Central. It is under option to Kniffer(sp?) and Woodward but I believe
there is some legal tangle on it between O'Neil and the Bank of Commerce of
Albuquerque. This is one of the group which is going into the new company being
formed by Misour. K- and W. A party was out here from Boston about a month ago
and sufficient money was promised to go ahead with the work, $100,000, I believe.
They are only waiting to make a good showing on this property (Cash Entry) before
starting there. Everyone here say that the Hungry Gulch properties are A1,...
If you would be interested in any single claims, I think I can pick up several
around there, only they are scattered and could not be worked from a single location. ...
I get down the Cash Entry every few days and there they have a fine body of ore
which is easily mined. At present there are only two machines (rock drills)
working on a shift and they keep the mill pounding 24 hours, at about 150 tons
capacity. Ive seen as much as 30 tons broken from one round (blast). In the
general average the lead seems to run about double the zinc in percentage."
(George L. Felt file, U of M).
Mr. Swart was not with the Boston Cerrillos Mines Corp., as Felt offered to buy
claims for Swart in Hungry Gulch. B.A. Statz of Albuquerque sent Swart on
1/19/1910 the results of an assay. "Average of ten tons of Bottom Dollar ore.
Silver 8 5/10 oz.; Lead 31%; Gold trace; Silica 12-7/10; Iron 4-1/10; Zinc
23 6/10%. Made by Phile(sp?) S. & R.C., Pueblo, Col." (B.A. Statz file, U of M).
This Bottom Dollar assay may have been from years earlier (possibly the 1901
mining) as no date is given for the assay. If the ten ton sample was not from 1901,
it would indicate some 1910 working of the mine which is not indicated by any
other record. Felt's use of the stationery of the Boston Cerrillos Mines
Corporation and his words also indicate he worked for them. Otherwise, he would
not have been visiting the Cash Entry Mine "every few days".
Michael O'Neill was reported by his family as being the manager of the Cash Entry
when New Mexico became a State (1912), but this has not been confirmed. A
grand-daughter-in-law still owns the Ruelena (Pennsylvania Group) and other claims,
and a great-grand-daughter still owns the O'Neill Turquoise Mine. Michael O'Neill
arrived in the Cerrillos District sometime in the 1880s, but his only claim located
in the CMDR books is 1888(as O'Neil). He worked at a number of different mines and
later claimed and/or purchased and patented a number of mining claims. The date
between 1910 and 1924 when O'Neill sold or lost control of the Bottom Dollar was
not located.
In 1924, Reese Fullerton and John Matt of Santa Fe got title to the Bottom Dollar
mine. In 1929, Frank Staplin of Santa Fe bought Matt's 1/2 interest. In 1929, the
mine was retimbered and prepared for operation, but no production occurred
(MDA,NMBM&MR) due to the collapse of metal prices at the start of the depression.
In 1934, the American Metals Company optioned the property and again prepared the
mine for production, but the company decided to suspend all of their New Mexico
operations. A copy of the American Metals Company 1934 report was not located, so
that all we have are excerpts given from it by Fullerton in 1942.
Fullerton said that in 1934 the shaft was flooded to the 150-foot level, and that
after the initial dewatering it was kept open to 170 feet by pumping only 150
gallons per day, which is a very small water problem by mining standards. The
excerpt from the 1934 report does not state that 170 feet was or was not the
bottom of the shaft. Two pits both filled by debris or wash were also reported on
the property in 1934. One pit was 400 feet north of the shaft (probably AML # 13
now only 12 feet deep) and was then 40 feet deep. The second pit, 350 feet south
of the shaft and 60 feet deep in 1934, was not located in 1994. This second pit
was either an earlier U.S. Period shaft or an even earlier working. Its location
would have been on the edge of Hungry Gulch arroyo and may now be filled in by
that arroyo. That would likely have been where the vein outcrop would have been
first seen by the Spanish, as the area around the current shaft has over 10 feet
of sediment over the solid rock ore body.
Fullerton reported, "January 26, 1934: Assay: Special high grade sample pay-streak
about 4 inches wide: 15 oz silver; 59 wet lead; 7 zink". This is interesting, but
not very informative, as it does not give sample weight. By the 1900s, silver was
no longer the commodity the mine was being operated for. It had become a lead-zinc
mine with about equal amounts of each. If this was an assay per ton, 15 oz of
silver was not much of a pay-streak. The units of the lead and zinc are not given.
Neither pounds nor percentage per ton fit other assays. Other 20th century assays
give lower % lead and higher % zink than this reported assay. Thus, the meaning
of the assay is unclear.
There was no work on the mine between 1934 and 1942.
In 1942, Fulleton and Staplin applied for a "Preliminary Development Loan" from the
government to reactivate the mine for lead and zinc production for the war effort.
This preliminary development loan was granted and the government also did major i
mprovement work on the road to the town of Cerrillos. A number of small cement
retaining walls are still along the roads in the valley from this World War II
government improvement, one of which has the date 1943 in it. They still owned the
property in 1944. At some point during the war they leased 120 of the 160 acres
including the mine to Robert Hume. It was Hume who cleared and retimbered the
shaft to 126 feet with money from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. During
WW II, the Sierra Metals Co. leased 20 acres (SW1/2,SW1/2 of sec. 30) of the 160
acres in the Cash Entry. The Sierra Metals Co. developed (dug) the Black Hornet
Shaft (AML # 6) and adit (AML # 7) on this lease during the 1942-1944 period.
Western Development Company may have also done some work on the "Hornet" in the
1955-56 period.
The last reported operation of the Bottom Dollar was for less than two months in
1955-1956. In January, 1956, Western Development shipped 47 tons of ore. From this
tonnage came zero gold, 87 oz of silver, 260 lb of copper, 5,359 lb of lead, and
7,465 lb of zinc. E.C.(1957) in an
evaluation of Tom Payne, Bottom Dollar and Hornet Mines gives the economics of
the 1955-56 operation by Western Development Company of Delaware. "Shipments of
160 tons of ore from the Bottom Dollar mine yielded $3,200 net or $20 per ton.
Lead and zinc were present in nearly equal proportions and silver amounted to 3
ounces. Over $57,000 was spent in rehabilitating the mine and mining the 160 tons
of ore. The economics are obvious." (E.C., 1957, p.1, NMBM&MR). They spent
$57,821 to produce $3,200 of minerals in the 1955-56 operation of the mine according to
E.C.'s information. Production only lasted from December 21, 1955, to January 10,
1956, as their first results of $20 per ton (which cost $361/ton to produce)
showed it to be economically unsuccessful. The assay of the shipment was 3.20 oz
silver, 9.69% lead, 10.37% zinc. The current shaft timbering and load out at the
Bottom Dollar were probably either rebuilt or constructed in 1955 by Western
Development Company.
There is a mine map (NMBM&MR) dated Feb.
29, 1956, of the Bottom Dollar by Western Mines Inc., who was the last operator of
the mine. In vertical, the map shows the two compartment shaft, remains of which
are there today, only going down to a drift level at 100 vertical feet, but 125
feet on an incline of 70 degrees. The north drift was 131 feet long and the south
drift was 95 feet long with a stoped-out area close to the shaft. A possible
reason for not stopping further south could have been collapsed older workings, as
it is assumed that is the direction of earlier Spanish mining.
In 1957, the property was sold to Minerals Products Corporation, 3000 Cerrillos Road,
Santa Fe. Mine maps indicate that they did not work below the 100 foot level in
the 1950s, and reports indicate they did not plan to work below the 150 foot level
of the 1930s.
The Santa Rosa may have ended up an empty hole, as all old mines must some day,
but it helped sustain the community around it for over 350 years. In 5 years it
will be 400 years since Zaldivar first opened this or a nearby mine, and it is
already into the fifth century since Escalante prospected the area named by our
first governor "The Mines of Escalante".
There have been a number of different spellings of Ruelena used in the past and
the following references give the spelling they used. The spelling "Ruelena",
coming probably from José Baca y Delgado in 1869, is most likely the correct
spelling. The twentieth-century Pennsylvania mine or its waste pile covers the
major Spanish Ruelena mine shaft opened up in 1872. The major modern shaft of the
Pennsylvania Mine is on the J.B. Weaver Lode Claim - M.S. 1325, patented in 1907
at the location of the Ruelena Mine.
The earliest U.S. Period comment on the Ruelena is Raymond's 1870 report. He said
the Ruelena Mine was a rich old Spanish mine with rather extensive workings. It
was worked in the Spanish Period(note 16)
and possibly during the Mexican Period. However, no reference to it by name was
located. The following descriptions of the mine were reported between 1870 and 1885.
1. Workings: inclined shaft 120 feet deep in 1869.
2. Vein: Width: two layers on the surface, one of which is 3 feet, the other one
foot wide. Strike: It crosses the stratification of the country rock (granite)
strikes north 15 degrees east, and dips 80 degrees southwest.
3. Nature of Ore: galena, zincblende, iron and copper pyrites and the product of
decomposition of these ores all in a gangue of quartz and partly decomposed
feldspar.
1873: Ruelena Mine, (Raymond, 1874, p. 330)
He visited the area in June 1873 but attributes some of his information to Mr.
Huggins on mines he did not visit. It is not clear if he visited the Ruelena.
1. Workings: The opening is in a zigzag course, and extends to
about the depth of 70 feet. There are several old openings on this vein, in which
considerable work seems to have been done; but they are all filled in. The vein
can be traced by its outcroppings for a mile and a half (Thus some old workings
could have been some distance from the Pennsylvania shaft.)
2. Vein: no comment
3. Nature of Ore: no comment but assay results. "Dr. A.(Andrews) has made
twenty-five assays of samples found in the debris, the lowest of which ran $16.25,
and highest, $227.60; the average being about $104 per ton. The bullion in all
these runs covers about 75 per cent of the dressed ore from which it is obtained."
[This is a very rich galena, but the Santa Rosa was even richer.] All the mines
were closed when they visited the area in June of 1873.
1880: Ruelena, Hayward (1880, p.78) spelled
"Rourlann" in text but "Ruelana" on his map. "Located Mar. 19, 1880 by A. J.
Steirling and still owned by him." (Hayward's dates given for locating a claim
are often earlier or later than the actual event for various reasons.)
1. Workings: One 80 foot shaft, two 150 foot shafts.
2. Vein: galena, 4 feet wide.
3. Nature of Ore: galena, mill run 80 ounces (silver).
1880 Photo:, Brown (George Bennett) photo No. 144,
looking west shows waste pile and tents, and photo No. 145 looking north. Museum
of NM #14841, Brown No. 145, (not shown here) is the only Museum of New Mexico
photo used in this report. All the other Brown (or Bennett) photos are from a
private collection. Copies are available from the
NMBM&MR, Milford Collection. The photos
show a fairly large waste pile which could have been dug recently but were probably
mainly from pre-U.S. working of the mine.
1. Workings: "The Ruelina is an old Spanish mine, which has been
developed by cleaning out the old shaft to a depth of 115 feet and running a drift
50 feet. It is now well timbered, and work will be resumed at once."
2. Vein: "it has a vein of carbonates varying from 14 to 26 inches,"
3. Nature of Ore: "which gives an average run of $65, silver."
1. Workings: 150 feet deep
2. Vein: 2 feet 9 inches wide
3. Nature of Ore: 80 ounces silver per ton.
The Ruelena was worked by several shafts or declines to over 100 feet deep prior
to the U.S. Period. It was reopened by Dr. Andrews in 1872 and some ore was sent
to his smelter on the Galisteo River. A.J. Steirling was reported as locating a
claim by the name of Ruelena on the mine on March 19, 1880, but he probably
purchased a prior claim, as the mine was well known and had been operated by Dr.
Andrews. The mine is just east of a 1/4 section purchased by Dr. Andrews in 1872,
and he may have thought he was buying it in that purchase along with the land
around the Santa Rosa mine. The Brown photos show that a large crew was working
the mine circa 1880, but the Nick of Time mine is also in the views, and crews from
both mines are probably in the photos. By the summer of 1880 (Hayward), there were
three shafts on the claim, two 150 feet deep, and one 80 feet deep. These were
reported in 1882 as well timbered but the mine was not being actively worked.
No data on the activity between 1882 and the patent survey in 1907 was located.
It was patented as the J. B. Weaver Claim of the Pennsylvania Group. The ore was
most frequently reported as containing 60 to 80 dollars per ton of silver in the
1880s. Like other mines in the area, it was worked as a lead-zinc mine in the
20th century.
An application for a federal loan was applied for in 1942 to develop the
Pennsylvania Mine to produce lead-zinc for the war effort. Michael O'Neill had
purchased the mine earlier and title had passed to his estate in 1942. The mine
was leased to Willard Smith and Sam K. Carnes of Santa Fe. The mine was operated
under the name of Cerrillos Lead and Zinc Company. The report indicates that they
were not sure that the shaft reached its current 200-foot level until World War I.
This note indicates that the mine was active during the WW I (1914-1918) period.
The 140-foot drift level was collapsed but the 200-foot drift level was open part
way both north and south till it reached collapsed areas. The south drift was
reported as originally 260 feet long but was now caved at 200 feet. High grade
assays on the 200-foot level were reported as 20% lead and 20% zinc. With silver
varying from 0.12 to 6.48 ounces/ton and gold only 0.005 ounces/ton. Reserves
(the indicated amount of minable ore) were estimated at 150 tons of 50% combined
lead and zinc. They received a loan and the mine was worked during World War II.
The Pennsylvania production can not be isolated from the other shipments made by
the Cerrillos Lead and Zinc Company during this period.
Disbrow and Stoll (1957, pp. 114-115) say
that the Company shipped a couple of railroad cars of ore in 1942, but this probably
came from the Tom Payne. Their 1945 shipment of 291 tons to the American Smelting
& Refining (AS&R) company mill at Hanover probably contained a lot of
Pennsylvania Mine ore, as did their shipment of 166 tons in 1946.
Elston (1976, p. 31) reported the dimensions
of the 1945-1946 ore shoot that was mined as, "370 feet long, 220 feet deep
(height), and from a feather edge to 3 feet wide." They closed operations on
August 15, 1946, and that is the last known operation of the Pennsylvania Mine.
However, Verne Byrne may have operated the Pennsylvania Mine for a short period
in 1951-1952, but no record of any production was located. Verne Byrne registered
the mine as an active mine on 9/19/1951 with the New Mexico Mine Inspector and
said that Cipriano Padilla of Cerrillos was in charge. The
USGS "Mineral Resources Data System also
lists the last production of the mine as 1952 and gives Verne Byrne as the source
of the information.
The main shaft on this claim was less than three hundred feet north of the Ruelena
Mine shaft of 1880 and probably was a reworking of one of the other old Spanish
shafts of the Ruelena Vein on which it is located. The 1870s reports mention a
number of old workings being on the vein. The company first operating the mine in
the 1880s was even named the Ruelena Consolidated Mining Company. However, it was
not listed by Hayward (1880) as an "Old
Spanish Mine", but it should be listed as one of the "Old Spanish" mines with U.S.
Period names, and is so listed in Table 1. Hayward (1880) listed it as located
11/26/1879 by (Enos) Andrews and Jenks and still owned by them with one 24 foot
shaft.
The Bureau of the Mint Report for 1881 said, "The Nick of Time is developed by a
shaft 180 feet in depth, and by levels and old workings (probably meaning old
Spanish workings) to the extent of about 500 feet. The vein caries 2 feet 6 inches
of mineral, chiefly galena, which assays about $80 to the ton. Machinery is now
being erected, consisting of a steam pump of the capacity of 18,000 gallons per
hour, and a 40 horse power engine."
(USBM, 1882, p. 347)
The Bureau of the Mint Report for 1882 said, "The Nick of Time is being thoroughly
prospected. The shaft is now 275 feet, and is still going deeper, with a drift
running north 187 feet, a cross-cut to the east of 106 feet, and will soon be run
to the west, where it is believed the large vein shown in the Ruelina (sic) will
be discovered, the shaft of this mine being but 200 feet north of the Ruelina
(sic) shaft. This mine has employed eighteen men and taken out about 250 tons of
$50 ore, leaving much in sight." (USBM, 1883,
p.271) If this production refers only to the year 1882, that is a gross
production of 12,500 dollars in silver for 1882.
The Mineral Survey field notes for the Nick of Time claim done by Jacob Laderer
and sworn to on July 1, 1885, lists the following adjacent claims: "Adjoining
Claims "Ruelena" on the South, "Alcalde" on the East, "Agriculture" on the West,
No other known." (BLM, M.S. 533 file, p.153). The Nick of Time claim was made for
J. L. Jenks and Ruelena Con. (Consolidated) Mining Company according to the M.S.
survey and BLM records. However, Hayward lists it as located by (Dr. Enos) Andrews
& Jenks Nov. 26, 1879, and still owned by them when his book went to press in
the summer of 1880. This indicates Dr. Andrews sold his interest to, or formed,
the Ruelena Con. Mining Company. The main shaft in 1885 was 300 feet deep with
785 feet of drift which indicate it developed quickly and its ore production was
pushed as rapidly as possible. This rapid development may have occurred through
reopening of some older workings, but the only evidence is the 1882 Bureau of the
Mint comment. It was located only 78 feet plus most of the 60 by 28 foot frame
shaft house (total of about 140 feet), north 30 1/2 degree E from the SW corner
of the claim and is probably the shaft still on site. Thus, it was 200 (USMB, 1883
comment) to 300 feet north of the Pennsylvania (Ruelena) Shaft.
No record of 20th century activity was found and the small size of the shaft and
its crude timbering indicate it may not have been worked after the 1880s. It must
have been a profitable silver mine in the 1880s considering the large amount of
work done though the ore grade reported for 1882 was low, $50/ton.
Ritch's 1885 description of the workings is, "The Nick o' Time has been developed
to a depth of 300 feet. Water was struck at that depth. A drift has been run north
on the vein for 200 feet, and good mineral has been brought to the surface. A
cross-cut 50 feet in length has been run east to strike a large body of mineral
lying in that direction. Machinery has been placed upon the mine. This mine is
owned by the Reualena (sic. ,Ruelena) Consolidated Mining Co.; formation, porphyry
and trachyte." (Ritch, 1885 p. 171)
No post-1885 descriptions or references were located. In the Brown 1880 photos
(not shown), the Nick of Time is visible (on the right) along with the Ruelena Mine
(on the left).
Hayward's (1880) description, and Laderer's 1885 field notes for MS 533, Nick of
Time Claim, show that what was patented as the Armington Claim, MS 1664, in 1916,
was known as the Agriculture Claim in the 1879 to 1885 period. The mine features
present on the claim were probably dug during the 1879-1885 period before the
Agriculture claim was abandoned.
All of the mine features present on the Armington Claim today were there in 1915
when the MS was performed. No new shafts or adits were built after that date and
there is no indication of post 1915 working of the features. The Tunnel (MS Tunnel
No. 4, AML #11B) was not extended after 1915 and is still 360 feet long. Shafts
MS No. 2 and 3 (both listed as AML #11A) have old small dimension shafts and
cribbing compatible with 1880s construction, and are partially collapsed and thus
much shallower today than they were in 1915. Shaft MS No. 5 (AML 11C) is totally
collapsed and only a pit. Thus mine features do not indicate any post 1915 working
of the claim.
Mine features in this project not discussed in this section are the remains of
prospects developed in the 1879-1885 period or shortly thereafter and were not
developed into major mining features. The only historical record of them located
is given in the section, Correlation of Current Mine Names with those of 1880.
The Mineral Survey (MS) description of mine features in Hungry Gulch is given in
Table 2.
HISTORY OF THE TOM PAYNE - OUR GEORGIE (AKA OUR GEORGIA)
The name change probably occurred around the turn of the century. The 1880
identity was established by photos and references to adjacent mines. There are
two circa-1880 Brown Stereo Photo Cards (1),
(2), one of which has written on it "Our Georgie".
The present-day view may be duplicated from the Tom Payne Mine south air shaft.
In the distance on the left side of image #1 is the 1880 wagon road into Hungry
Gulch from the town of Bonanza. On Hayward's
(1880) map, he has the "Our Georgie" mine a little too far south, as the photos
show it was further up Hungry Gulch and higher up on the hill on the east side of
the gulch. Hayward (1880) did not include "Our Georgie" in his text as he may not
have recognized that it was filed as the "Our Georgia" claim, but he also does not
have the Our Georgia in either his text or map. The name change to Tom Payne
occurred some time prior to 1905, when Lindgren and Gorden
(Lindgren, et. al., 1910) surveyed the area.
The "Our Georgia" claim was located April 10, 1880, and recorded June 9, 1880, by
A. James Sterling, D. L. Hamaton (sp?) and Eugene B. Ames
(GMDRB, p. 160). The Brown photos show them
hoisting ore with a windless and sorting it on the dump. The 1882 proof of labor
lists the owners as J. C. Evans, W. P. Sisson, and E. B. Ames
(CMDRB, vol. 6, p. 120). The
Bureau of the Mint 1882 Report (p.347) for
the year 1881 gave a list of four mines including the Georgia and said "have all
been developed to a depth of 100 feet and upwards and in all of them, ..., good
bodies or paying ores have been encountered."
No record of the 19th century production was located, but the results of 1911
production (38 oz silver per ton) indicate that virtually all the quality
silver-lead ore was removed in the 19th century, and what they did in 1911 was
pull a few remaining pillars of silver ore and combine it with the type of ore
they mined in 1912 (1.38 oz./Ag./ton).
Lindgren, et al. (1910, p. 167) just says "some ore shipped" for the production
prior to 1905. Production data is available for 1911 to 1952, with a total
production of 6,771 tons of ore mainly during high metal prices during WWI and WWII.
Elston reported the ore "shoot in the Tom Payne mine, mined out during World War
I, was 300 feet long, 130 feet deep, and 6 inches to 4 feet wide."
(Elston, 1967, p. 31). In 1911 (1,951 oz)
and 1912 (1,040 oz) of silver were produced, exhausting the silver ore. After 1912,
very little silver was produced with a total for the 40 years of only 7,412 oz.
of which 40% was produced in 1911-12. In 1911, 16.58 oz. of gold were produced
with the total for the 40 years of only 39.94 oz. of gold production out of 6,771
tons of ore (or only 0.0059 oz. Au/ton). It thus appears that, in 1911 and 1912,
the original silver pay-streak the 1880s miners were after was completely removed
and the mine became another lead-zinc mine. The 1911 production of 1,951 oz. of
silver in 51 tons of ore is 38.25 oz/ton. Considering that these 51 tons were
partly ore of the 1.38 oz/ton quality produced in 1912, it indicates that it was
probably producing ore with well over 50 oz/ton silver in the 1880s. The following
table gives the 20th century production of the Tom Payne Mine and is a detailed
record seldom located for smaller mines. It covers the years of activity from
1911 to its final closing in 1957.
note A: Western Development Co. reportedly
(Warner, 1956) had made 18 shipments to the
American Smelting & Refining plant at Deming. This probably represented 18
railroad cars of ore, with the assumption that each car carried 40 tons, so you
get a total shipment of 720 tons. However, they were operating both the Tom Payne
and Bottom Dollar and possibly also the Hornet at the same time. Though the ore
probably came from the Tom Payne, that is not certain.
(Elston (1967, pp. 34-35) summarized the
Cerrillos District's production from 1904 to 1957. He estimated 1956 Tom Payne
production and had only part of the 1957 production.
A calculated recovered grade (actual metal recovered at the smelter) from all
shipments from the Tom Payne mine for the period from 1905 to 1949 was reported
by the Santa Fe Lead-Zinc Mine, Limited officers in 1951 to be those in the table
below. Total production from 1905 to 1949 was given in their report as 6,771 tons
(note 17):
Tons Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc
1905-1949 0.006 1.1 0.19 2.4 8.3
1951 in
stockpile 0.03 1.0 0.10 3.25 5.9
In April, 1951, they reported that there were 1,150 tons of ore stockpiled at the
Tom Payne, indicating that they had been mining in 1950-51, but that no ore had
been shipped. The hoisting capacity of the Tom Payne was about 40 tons per day
(Warner, 1957) thus the stockpiled 1,150 tons represents at least 29 days at full
production. The assay of the stockpiled ore showed higher gold and lead content
than previous production. The Santa Fe Lead-Zinc Mine, Limited report on the assay
summary of 1905 (sic. 1911)- 1949 production is probably about correct. They were
applying for a one-hundred thousand dollar loan for operating capitol and to build
a small upgrade mill. This was the time of the Korean War and metal prices were
once again high. It appears that they did not get the loan, and a later calculation
of the costs of production (Warner, 1957) showed that it would be cheaper for them
to send the ore to Deming for milling rather than build a mill at the mine.
The 1942-44 production had been partially funded by a twenty-five thousand dollar
loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation which was not repaid. The "major
partners" of Santa Fe Lead-Zinc Mines Ltd. were W.W. Moyer and Richard McGhee both
of Santa Fe. The Tom Payne was never patented and is on BLM land.
Finlay was appointed State Mine Appraiser for the State Tax Commission in 1921,
and his report gave an excessively conservative estimate of mine values. In his
opinion, none of the Cerrillos mines had any value. He gave a much lower tonnage
(2,254) of Tom Payne 1917 ore production than they reported to the Bureau of Mines
(3,027), but he gives a value of the product and the fact that they barely made
a profit even in 1917, the year of maximal metal prices during WWI. "The Cerrillos
Hills... Several small mines, none of which have present value, have made an
estimated production of a few hundred thousand dollars (in this century?). Among
these are the Cash Entry, Central, and Tom Payne. In 1917 the latter (Tom Payne)
produced 2,254 tons of lead-zinc ore, with a gross value of $28,663.27 of which
$134.66 was operating profit." (Finlay 1921-1922,
p. 77)
In 1956, the Shattuck Denn Mining Corp (Warner, 1956) tried to sell the Western
Development Company a 40-ton per day upgrade mill for the 25 thousand tons of ore
they had blocked out (developed ready for mining) at the Tom Payne Mine. This is
the type of mill that their predecessors at the Tom Payne (Santa Fe Lead-Zinc
Mines, Ltd., 1951) had tried to get a government loan to buy. A hand-written
attached page to this letter, probably done by someone at Western Development Co.,
shows that the savings produced by the mill would probably not cover the cost of
the mill.
In 1956, the Western Development Company was operating with a 4 man crew, but the
economic projection by Warner (1956) for the mine with mill are a good picture of
mine operations and economics of that time. Warner's projections are as follows:
"Operating Statistics --- 40 ton per day productive mining
8 men @$15.00 per day $120
Powder Timber Supplies 70
Other cost 100
$290
Milling
2 men @$15.00 per day $30
Power, repairs, etc. 20
Other cost 50
$100
Trucking, Freight Treatment
3 to 1 ratio - 13 tons @ $10.00 $130
Total daily expense $520
(The "3 to 1 ratio" refers to the mill reducing 40 tons of ore to 13 tons in the
upgrade process so that only 13 tons needed to be shipped to the smelter.)
The F.O.B. the mine/value of each ton shipped should be 520/13
or $40.00 rock. In terms of your milling contract at 10 cents per pound average
for lead-zinc metal this would mean 400 pounds. In terms of grade, it means 20%
total lead-zinc. Your average shipments for the last 18 lots has been
approximately 20% total lead zinc." (Warner,
1956)
The transportation costs were about $10.00 per ton. The railroad freight charge
was $4.07 plus 3%, and the trucking cost to the railroad in Cerrillos from the mine
was $1.30 per ton. These expenses would have been reduced by reducing the 40 tons
of raw ore to 13 tons by an upgrade mill. Thus, their cost per ton delivered to
AS&R in Deming was about $50.00 per ton.
Calculated yield per ton: The pencil calculations by someone in the company show
a net return of $12.68 cents per ton without consideration of the cost of the
mining. If there were 4 men producing 40 tons/day, it would have been about
$230.00/day, thus a cost for mining of about $5.75/ton. An overall net operating
margin of $6.93/ton disregarding equipment, development, and all other costs of
a 4 man operation, would be $1.18/ton. However, there were probably at least six
men working and profit potential would have been marginal.
The milling contract with American Smelting and Refining (AS&R) would pay 10
cents a pound for lead-zinc metal recovered, with a treatment charge of $4.00 per
dry ton of ore.
They lost money and shut down in 1956. The calculations attached to
C. E. (1957) are unclear as to whether Western
Development Company's development costs of $57,821 are all attributed to the
Bottom Dollar (see Bottom Dollar) or not. They probably include
the Tom Payne as well, as they had both been in operation in 1956. Of the 1000
tons shipped from the Tom Payne, the smelter yield was $18.00 per ton. (Production
and transportation cost alone would have been about $16.00 per ton disregarding
all capital costs and development costs.) A $2,000 return on a $57,000 investment
would not even cover interest charges. No record of Western Development's total
investment was found, but they continued to try to get a mining operation going
at least until 1957.
The last production of the Tom Payne mine was in 1956.
This website is maintained by the Cerrillos
Hills Park Coalition
and is dedicated to the creation, enhancement and stewardship
of an historical, recreational, and cultural open space in
the
Cerrillos Hills, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA
