The Ruelena (the name is spelled many ways) Mine along
with the Santa Rosa and Mina del Tiro are the only mines whose Spanish names are
known. Archaeological evidence has confirmed that it was worked prior to 1700.
Several visitors to the area recorded a number of old shafts or declines along
its vein with the deepest being 120 feet in 1869. It was reopened and worked for
a short time in 1872 by Dr. Enos Andrews along with the Santa Rosa Mine.
Newspapers published a lot of made-up stories about old Spanish mines in the 1880s.
Certainly one of the most outrageous statements refers this mine. "... the Rue
Alevia (sic. Ruelena) paid $237,000 to the Church of Spain in three months."
(Mining World, Las Vegas, 12/1/1882). Mines did not pay tithes to the Church, but
if they did this would imply a three month production of 2.34 million dollars for
the Ruelena!
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
