578 



Ex. Doc. No- 41. 



quantity of gold it contains, traverse the whole mass. I saw in the 

 boilers lyin^ over the mine, masses of the blue limestone, supposed 

 to be cutaceous; the water had filled many of the abandoned cham- 

 bers of the mine; in others, the flies had perched themselves in 

 great numbers, to pass the winter. The fort which was built to de- 

 fend the mines^was built in the shape of an equilateral triangle, 





^ r-' ' 



f 



^A 



t 



*^ f 



t 



"Wl 



h round towers at the corners; it was built of adobe, with walls 

 'four feet thick; the fort was still in tolerable preservationj soine 

 Remains of the furnaces were left, and piles of, cinders, but no idea 

 ^could be formed of the manner of smelting the x)re, except that 

 k^harcoal in quantities was used; seveYal hundred dollars' worth of 

 ^re had been got ready for smelting when the place was abandoned. 

 •-McKnight, who was for nine years a prisoner in Chihuahua, made 

 )a fortune h^fe, and abandoned the mines in consequence .of the 

 Apache Indians cutting off his supplies; at one time, they took 80 

 pack mules from him, (authority Carson;) the rair.e is very exten- 

 sive, and doubtless immensely valuable. Water is abundant, and 

 ^pasture fine, and many lands which will furnish breadstuff by cul- 

 ^tivation; wood is v^ry abundant, and particularly in the vicinity. 

 Leaving the copper mines, the rocky masses soon show iron in the 

 greatest abundance; then going west, we came to the blue lime- 

 stone, standing vertical, ranging south, and^bent so as to lay level 

 -west; through the seams of this limestone, some igneous rocks had 

 been interjected, and occasional masses of iron ore, similar to that 

 ^ seen' on the blue and false Wachita rivers; then we cagne to a moun- 

 tain mass of the same rock as of the copper mines; from this, west- 



P 



can 



v J 



ksj the hills were not very lof(y, so that, gradually, we 



^passed the great backbone of America without perceiving it— the 



'dividing ridge between the Atlantic and Pacific. The general set 



out to march 15 nailes, to San Vicentia spring; but, finding no 



"^rass, he^came on, expecting to find water, a Spanish guide said, at 



three leagues, but. it proved to be 15 miles further, where we all 



arrived after night. Before we left the copper mines, some. Apa- 



-ches showed themselves; and, as we came off, they rode upon a 



hill, made a smoke, and as we got opposite them on the road, coiii- 

 mence ^ ^'* • - " . . 



plied, 



menced calling out to us *'not to be afraid, but come on;'^ we re- 



* It IS you that are afraid; why don^t you come on?" 



the 



■ then approached, but motioned us all back but the guide, (Carso_ „ 

 until he had a talk, and satisfied them. Some of our mules gave 

 out to-day; three Apaches came to camp Distance, 30 miles. , 

 . 0^'^oher 20.-— The Apaches came to us this mornintf^, as we did 



-^ftot start until late. Red Sleeve came with fifteen or twenty ppr- 



