UR1QUE AND ITS MINES. 3°7 
discovered as recently as 1888. That it 
should have remained so long unknown to 
any prospector in such a rich silver-min¬ 
ing district is one of the morsels of min¬ 
ing history, even a far greater mystery to 
me than that the existence of living cave 
and cliff dwellers on the rough moun¬ 
tain trails leading thereto should have 
been kept so long quiet. Cliff dwellers 
or angels in the air above them, or cave 
dwellers or demons in the earth under 
them would have attracted but little 
attention from a seeker of precious met¬ 
als beyond the momentary astonishment 
at their sight. 
The Cerro Colorado mine is an im¬ 
mense buttress or spur from the flank of 
the Sierra Madres, the whole spur show¬ 
ing signs of gold, not in any distinct 
vein, but in great masses distributed here 
