Show THE LOST PADRE MINE rediscovery discovery re of an old spanish bonanza in new mexico herald dishop bishop cala antiquities which relic hunters and museums will value highly and data on the early history of new mexico which may prove of great value t tj the students of history and archaeology has been round found by arthur kunze in the san andreas mountains of socorro county new mexico in connection with the discovery of the supposedly legendary lost padre silver mine which has proven to be no myth at all but one of the richest silver mines ever discovered in a canyon deeply secreted by primeval forests and twenty five miles east ot the old bar cross ranch stands the old stone fort erected by mission padres during the period of the first spanish invasion and here the miners working for kunze have found relics of the spaniards of the warlike apaches who drove out all others in time and even of the antiquated aztec civilization whose pottery and peculiar hieroglyphics are found scattered among the defiles of the membrilla Hem brilla canyon the hieroglyphics are of an unusual kind cut ciet into the lime walls of the mountain and gorgeously painted in reds chrome yellow and black centuries of rains have washed down over these pigments storms have blown the sand into the deep figures yet none of these elements seem to have dimmed in the slightest the brilliant colorings and the clear graceful lines of the ancient artists the human figure was the chief theme of the artist who chiseled these rugged lime walls and a life sized portraiture of the montezuma Monte zurna is among amon the more interesting subjects this portrait shows the ruler of the race in full robes of regal splendor holding up his scepter of power over the subjects that surround him there are figures on horseback indians holding a bow and arrow trees strangely drawn and parallelograms allelo grams with mystic interlineations add to the interesting collection not the least interesting of the relics recovered near the mouth of the canyon are the remains of old wagons with gigantic wheels sawed from the trunks of great cottonwood trees all in fair state of preservation i presumably these were e the ore wagons used by the mission monks in hauling the silver ore from the mine to the smelter or possibly as far as the seaport at vera cruz from where according to the best authenticated records the bullion was shipped hipped fc to spain A considerable stampede has been started into the lost padre country and recently the las cruces papers the nearest publications licati ons to the mine published something of the history of this district and or of the lost padre the montezuma indians are credited with the first discovery of the lost padre who made their find known to the aztecs azteca who held them in a form of bondage the mission padres converted many of the aztecs azteca and were very friendly with them learning in many cases about their rich mines and the lost padre was obviously one that fell into their hands by these means with the peaceful indians as miners the padres worked the lost padre of the Hem brillas until driven out by the bloodthirsty and belligerent apaches the cause of war between the apaches and the padres with their montezuma allies was not the wealth of ore as might be supposed but a point in religion as is amply proven by the records the Hem brillas in that section hold a large mountain of oe obsidian which in those days was sacred to the apaches and from which they secured material for their weapons piles of obsidian chips and arrow heads in all stages of completion are now found by the prospectors indicating that the apaches won the day and the mine then and held it for many years game was very plentiful there and the place became one of the most favored camping grounds in the early adventurous american miners found this retreat found the lost padre and began to take out the ore which they packed out one party of eight miners is known to have been in there who sorted over the rich dumps left by the padres and made one trip after another to the mine they made one too many in fact the apaches surrounding them at the mine and massac the whole party A new mexican garrison of soldiers was detailed to the place then found the in miners iners and drove out the indians A mound or stone now marks the eight graves of the intrepid adventurers but the mine was again forgotten when the soldiers were sent out of the country and from that day until now the lost padre mine has merely lived in the camp fire stories of southern mining camps the old working disclosed two main veins named by kunze the lost padre vein and the membrilla Hem brilla vein A good many shafts and several thousand feet of work was done by the padres and the indians on 01 these as many hundreds of tons of ore were thrown on the dumps through one dump a mesquite tree has grown which from its size and age indicates it has stood there for many years the richest ore deposits found are heavy with lead and run as high as ounces in silver kunze has located fifteen claims on the two veins and his holdings have on them the old stone fort from which the padres hel held d off the apaches for a while lie he has incorporated his holdings in the lost padre silver mining alining company of new mexico the inyo store company is having some improvements made on the building |