MAPS, PICS, SITES THAT MAY HOLD TREASURE, LOST OR NOT


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LGS= Lost Gold and Silver mines of the Southwest, by Eugene Conrotto. A compilation of articles originally published in Desert Magazine. (search Ebay for available issues, pub 1947 through early 1970's).

CAMP ROCK CALIF PLACER AREA, SE OF DAGGETT

LA PAZ AZ PLACERS (picked over, now again on part Indian Land)

HARQUA HALA MINES, SW AZ

LAGUNA GOLD PLACERS AZ/CA

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LGS= Lost Gold and Silver mines of the Southwest, by Eugene Conrotto. A compilation of articles originally published in Desert Magazine. (search Ebay for available issues, pub 1947 through early 1970's).

AZ LOST SILVER AND LOST CLIP GOLD

POTHOLES AZ/CA (pretty well picked over).

WHIPPLE MTNS AZ/CA PARKER AREA

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WOOD RIVER IDAHO GEOLOGICAL ERROR

LET THE WATER DO THE WORK

CAJON PASS, LYTLE CREEK, COW CANYON PLACER GOLD AREAS, FONTANA CALIF AREA

Dear Bob:

I'm sorry that this has taken so long, but I have been busy. I attempted to do some preliminary research, allowing you to do some documented cross-referencing on the area indicated by the maps. A few years ago, I would have been able to tell you which references to use for detailed information of the area. That is not the case now, as I have forgotten a lot of the past research information that I did when I was actively mining in the area.

Blue Cut offers some variety in mining areas, as well as hiking, and roads that are out of the way and scenic also. One is standing right on the San Andreas Fault. Most of the feeder canyons into Cajon Creek are gold-bearing. Most of the creek is open to panning, but a few registered claims are to be found in the area, especially near the gravel pit, and under the freeway going into Cleghorn Canyon.

I have numbered a few areas that I think may be of interest to you, and some of them may pay off in a rich find or in relic-hunting.

AREA 1: The whole area of Cajon Canyon has been worked for gold since the time that the Mormon Batallion disbanded and made its way back towards Utah, via Devore, (1847). Directly east of the Highway Patrol scales of the southbound I-15 is a monument to these Mormons, who, among other things, founded San Bernardino. The Cajon Canyon route was uitilized extensively by Capt. Jefferson Hunt, who established a regular freight route between Salt Lake, and Los Angeles (Fort Moore). Other Mormons discovered gold deposits in nearby Lytle Creek, Mt. Baldy, and the Fairfield? district north of Rancho Cucamonga.

Later on, Cajon Canyon and Creek was also worked by the systematic Chinese, who had an extensive village in the northern part of the canyon. By walking around the gullies about a mile or so off of the freeway, you can come across these ruins, and occasionally find relics. The Mormon camp was also in the same area, adjacent to the Chinese Camp.

AREA 2:

This is the location for the claims belonging to the Gold Prospectors' Association, which are open to anybody respecting their property. The gold that is found in this area is flour, and can be recovered by dry washing (unless you want to truck it down to the creek).

AREA 3:

Crowder Canyon is gold bearing, and is one of the principal feeders for Cajon Creek. Like Cajon Creek, the deposits are found in plentiful black sands, which tend to clog conventional Hungarian riffle-based sluice boxes. It is somewhat complicated to explain, but the ideal system for sluicing in this area is based upon tweed-type carpet or miner moss (rubber), utilizing a turbulence producing riffle system that tend to clean itself. Some gold can be found near the surface, but the general paystreak tends to run deep (8-10'). The gold is likely fed from erosion off Cleghorn Ridge, and mostly consists of wires, and grains.

Beware of the strange guy that hangs out around the area. Up to 1986, 7 bodies have been recovered from abductions from groups panning/camping in the area. I knew one personally. She went out of the way to take a leak. Her corpse was recovered about 5 weeks later in the general area. (2008- guy no longer around; last heard he was in jail)

AREA 4:

Cleghorn Canyon Is a main gold feeder for the area. If you can do a little hiking up the canyon, you may get lucky and make the find that gold Ken Marquiss was after, as recounted in his book: THE GOLD HEX. He sounds like a credible guy.

AREA 5:

This has to be the area which I have frequented the most. I have done the most panning near the gauging station, on both sides of the creek. On this map, in all of the areas that I have highlighted, I have prospected and found gold. At the time that thsi area was popular with me, I was more after a good sluicing spot than any other type of method.

The speed of the flow, the shallow depth of the bedrock, the accessibility of the workable areas, etc., made this a good location. Also, there had been a big flood down the wash that had taken care of all of the vegetation, and somebody sent their bulldozer down to plow ground and restore the flood plain. This made it an ideal location to look for gold. I found small nuggets, but the largest that I had seen from the area was about 8 dw., and the guy got that by working the bench. Originally, the stream bed was higher and shallower, but the railroad gouged it out deeper so that flooding wouldn't hurt its right-of-way. For this reason, the gold that is found there is easy to get at, having migrated from upstream down and across this realtively new rock flooring.

The creek used to zig-zag through the hill where the rails now sit just north of the old freeway, and there is some decent gold that can be had if one wants to make the effort to transport it from there down to where the water is now.

Gold is also found along Lone Pine Canyon, but the paystreak is probably located 45' down, at least. Areas 8 & 9 are places of interest. Lost Lake is caused by the fault movement of the San Andreas Rift. One time when I was down there mining, the Law pulled an old Volkwagen out of the Lake, and there were four bodies inside, each with a bullet in their head. Nice Place to go swimming, but the water is a little cold, and tastes funny (I wonder why?). It doesn't look it, but it is also fairly deep.

In Area 9, or thereabouts, are the ruins of an old mill of some sort. The guy that lives up and across the road has what appears to be a cyanide recovery mill for gold. He has quite a few claims adjacent to his property. Another person that isn't too friendly to curious poeple. (2008-lots of houses and ranchettes in previously vacant land)

AREA 6: There's an old road that climbs the side of the greenstone mountain and passes under the freeway through a big culvert. There are some prospects, but the road is paved (2008-locked gate) for a ways and then drops down into a little valley/meadow. You cannot get out except by the way you came, as there was some kind of subversive group (machine guns and all) that lived in a house located in Pittman Canyon (2008, no longer the case). There are also many mineshafts from the last century all over the hills between Devore and Blue Cut.

AREA 7:

When you go along Cleghorn Road, you'll pass a row of houses and outside are a whole bunch of old telephones trucks that are parked. When I first went to Blue Cut, There was an old motor lodge still standing, and the faded painted name of Blue Cut, which fronted the freeway (Cleghorn Road).

AREA 11 is also known as Swarthout Road, and lead to Lytle Creek. Areas 10 & 12 are prospect areas. Area 13 is the spot that I dowsed here in Las Vegas, and pinpointed at 200 yds. downstream of the bridge abutments. I found 4 bottles of whiskey, a bag of rail tokens, and a coffee can of Mexican 20 centavo coins (silver, 1935-37). So much for big treasure finds!!!

I had promised to send you another map concerning the Camp Rock Placer Mine near Lucerne Valley. I had to special order the map, and will forward it to you when I get it. I happened to come across that area name when I was doing research for another area. I went out there once to discover that it is a ways from town, but that there had been signs of extensive workings at the site. As is the case for most of Southern California, the area is frequented by people on their motorcycles, or by hunters. I only noticed minimal working by those with a drywasher. I worked some of the material myself and noticed that the gold is pale in color, probably alloyed with a large quantity of silver.

I worked a few areas, (drywashing) and had the best results up closer to the hill. The bedrock isn't very far down. Unfortunately there also is a fairly large amount of lead shot and bullets that were recovered, making it a probable bad area for using a metal detector. The least confusing way of getting there is to take the Camp Rock Road south from Daggett. It's about 20 miles to the mine from Daggett. Bear to the east, and when you pass a rancher's shack/house, then you are coming to within 5-7 miles of the placer mine. Also, if you are into off-roading, there are plenty of areas adjacent to the mine to explore. The mountains around the mine are also good sources of rough rockhounding material. Refer to Gem Trails of Southern California.

LOST LAKE CALIF GOLD AREA (NEAR DEVORE)

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LOST DUTCH OVEN MINE, 2 DISTINCT AREAS OF POSSIBLE LOCATION

NEEDLE CALIF AREA PLACERS

LGS= Lost Gold and Silver mines of the Southwest, by Eugene Conrotto. A compilation of articles originally published in Desert Magazine. (search Ebay for available issues, pub 1947 through early 1970's).

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NICHOLAS CANYON GOLD, NOW PART OF ANZA BORREGO STATE PARK, HIKE IN ONLY, SITS ON THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE PARK

LGS= Lost Gold and Silver mines of the Southwest, by Eugene Conrotto.

PEGLEG GOLD AREA, CALIF. 3 SEPARATE AREAS. BROWN GOLD NUGGETS CAUSED BY OXIDEIZED OR WEATHERED MANGANESE OR COPPER COATINGS ON NUGGET EXTERIOR. I FOUND MINE IN THE nw AREA OF OCOTILLO WELLS.

Portions may be now located on military use land

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I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WERE GOLD MINES IN VIRGINIA dept.

EMJ 9 15 1928

Virginia Gold Mine to Reopen

The Whitehall Mine, in Spottsylvania County, Va., is being reopened, by T. B. Iles, of Washington, D. C. A new shaft has been started, and a pilot mill is completed. This is the best-known gold mine in Virginia. U. S. Mint records show that, prior to the Civil War, more than $1,800,000 was produced from a depth of less than 30 ft.

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CO Bob: USED TO BE THE DESERT was open and free; then the military moved in, and the park system renegged on their previous decrees of leaving the land open to mining and prospecting.

Of course, the Desert Magazine had drawn up some very intricate maps, but the days of wanderers like Nell Murbarger and the like are over with, as well as borderless frontiers. Many of these sites are closed to vehicles (especially those on the perimeter of the Salton Sea) and now include bombing ranges or other withdrawals. Anything along the border with Mexico is a no man's land due to narcotraffickers and human slavery smugglers, especially in the areas east of Tecate.

There are some good placer gold sites on the perimeter of Laguna Salada in Mexico, just south of Signal Mtn., but you'll be watched the whole time, and likely ripped off when you pack up to leave.

Still, there are other places to still go, but SE Calif is remote, and services in general, non existent, should you break down, run out of gas, or need some other form of assistance.

I have been out to most of these places at one time or another. A map tends to suck in a guy to thinking that land and open space is manageable, but once you get out there, it's such a vast terrain that pinpointing a site is nearly a life work that would require a substantial effort just to traverse the areas through hiking amid jotting down notes and observations.

There is a place just north of I-15, roughly starting near the junction with Field Rd, and trending NE through almost insurmountable sand and other traps. I have a relative that once used this route with regularity in the 1800's, without any sort of mechanical contrivance other than a wagon and team of horse or mules. No matter what time of year it is, the climate just goes against a guy; raining being perhaps the best environ. I have located a few marks, relics (probably worthless to anyone but me), as well as remnats of the old trail that generally meanders along the skirt of Ft Irwin, towards the Silurian Hills, and up towards Tecopa Hot Springs (a stop on his trail) via Dumont Dunes, then across a better portion towards Potosi and Las Vegas, over mostly paved access.

The quest, fraught with challenge, is perhaps the most valuable part of the whole ordeal. using your means and 'tools' to find something comparable to atomic size within a vast acreage, forms the basis and reqard of the quest; perhaps a view not lost on many detectorists as well. To some extent, it is also appeasing to the spirit to have dealings on a personal basis with the land and the planet, along with all its quirks, idiosyncracies, mysteries, and obstacles. It is through the quest that a person grows within, I think. Even if the treasure is not located, it serves as an excuse to get out and grow within through the effort, sweat, and search.

Believe you me, I can readily remember the excat circumstances and setbacks about any foray, more than most any other detail. Or, as in the case of the farm jack handle that popped me in the head out near Vanderbilt, Calif., after getting stuck and into a road building epic that lasted about 10 hours, not only do a I remember that with crystal clear clarity, I also remember it by noticing the scar in my head from time to time. That whole scene was messed up, but isn't the only time that things were 'messed up'.

BTW, it was a result (Vanderbilt) of a dowsing foray where I finally figured out how to accurately pinpoint a site where something was buried. I thought it was going to be money, but it appears that someone else dug up the money and left a body with a bullet in its skull at the site. out of four pinpoints, one had money, one didn't have anything other than some sort of lining in the hole, and two had body parts (human). actually there was a fifth, but my buddy, after checking it out with a 2-box and digging a hole about 12 feet deep (two weeks work), found an old car hood or trunk lid. the whole experience of dowsing drained me like a battery with a broken diode, and after proving to myself the quirks of the method, dropped it and went onto something else. Of course, it takes practice and experimenting to get to the pinpointing part. I dug like 3 holes about 5 feet deep out in the desert only to not find anything. It's like all day to dig just one hole. after I studied a little more at home, trying out some alternate ways of determining acurracy, I went out into the desert again and dug up 4 silver bars (w gold and lead mixed in), near the site of the first hole. It was close, but even a few feet away from the first hole I dug 7 weeks earlier, might as well have been somewhere in Kansas off the target.

anyway, besides a mind game, you can be sure that I was getting some good back and ab exercise.

I guess while we're on the finding and searching part, there are people out there that have an undefined affinity for finding things of worth, say gold nuggets, coins, relics. I don't know why it is that I seem to stumble across dead people alot. besides, most of them are already stripped of cash and jewelry. I cannot remember which one was first anymore, either it was the drunk with a slashed throat slumped over in his car at the supermarket (blood was dripping out of the door), or when I was camping as a boyscout, playing hide and seek and jumped down into a nook, right onto the ribcage of some stiff that had been out there cooking for 8 months or so. I used to keep a running total, but after 30 or so, simply quit counting (waste of time anyway). So count your lucky stars that you are finding something of worth, even if it's a nickel.

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Once during the late 1960's and 1970's, I was on a quest to find some of the old camps. I made brief notes, intending to go back, which I did to some, others no. I think I had a hayes or gardner detector about that time, which wasn't much good for placer gold, but okay for some relics, and better for errant bombs that skipped out from bombing ranges in the area.

This is a list of gold and mill sites of interest to me in Pershing County, NV:

Pershing County Nevada sites

AMERICAN CANYON; EAST FLANK OF THE HUMBOLT RANGE, ROCHESTER DISTRICT; CHINESE PLACER MINES; PAYSTREAK 40-80 FEET BELOW SURFACE, EST $9 MILLION PRODUCTION

CHAFEY; OLD CAMP DUN GLEN AREA, RICH GOLD ORE AT BLACK HOLE MINE, $1 POUND, IN SAGE COVERED INLET TO DUN GLEN CANYON.

Dun Glen Canyon. Est mining production is $32 million.

Farrel, 5 ½ miles north of 7 Troughs, gold mines, situated in Stonehouse Canyon.

Goldbanks, 35 miles south of Winnemucca, gold, silver, and mercury mines.

Loring (or Willard), 10 miles NE of Lovelock, in Coal Canyon, gold ore.

Oreana- mill town along Humboldt River.

Packard, gold mine on southern end of Rochester District.

Placeritas, 8 miles south of Scossa, placer gold, $30,000 in first month pick and shovel production, later dredged, water to work dredge and paydirt was problematic.

Rabbithole, another placer district.

Rochester, gold and silver district.

Rockhill, placer district, in Rockhill Canyon, 3 canyons south of Barbers Canyon, stone houses.

Rosebud, gold ore worth up to $30,000 ton, northern part of county.

Scossa, rich gold ore and jewelry rock. Also noted in Nevada Nugget Hunter historic tidbit threads under Nevada heading.

7 Troughs, rich gold ore at $200,000 per ton, other mines considerably less.

Torreytown, 3 miles to the east of Arabia in the Trinity range. Milltown

Trinity, a silver camp on the east slope of the Trinity Range.

2008: now some of these sites have since been converted into major mines, while a few still have potential for nuggetshooters. If I find other notes for other areas, I'll post those too.

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GREAT info whats4. I added a good deal of it to my collection on my area (Southwestern AZ and Southeastern CA).

In addition to the area south of Mount Signal (Centinela) being a bit dangerous, the area west of there, towards Elliot's Mine, can also be quite dangerous. For decades the area has been the domain of drug and alien smugglers. Further west, going up the grade toward San Diego, it gets even worse. Even back in the '70's, the drug smugglers were protecting their "mules" by posting snipers on elevated perches.

Anyway, thanks for the great posts.

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I'd hate to see this great information, that has been generously "gifted to all forum members" by Charlie, just kinda find its' way further down the page of the main forum.

Rob, you asked forum members for suggestions as to how, you could make your web-site more friendly and many have replied giving some great responses. May I also suggest some 'forum updates' as well.

I don't need to mention names here, some of which you know personally, but many of the people I've corresponded with have made mention that I should "talk" to him, Charlie....."He is a wealth of information".

One must consider his past experience, much like "Bob" a.k.a. 29 Prospector. To much of this "down-to-earth" research respective of being involved with the belly of the beast is "lost" today with "coils, specials, marketing etc."

All I'm suggesting is to put these "Topics" in a more refined format on the forum. Good people tend to 'camp' around a good fire, throw some wood on it!

Gary

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GREAT info whats4. I added a good deal of it to my collection on my area (Southwestern AZ and Southeastern CA).

In addition to the area south of Mount Signal (Centinela) being a bit dangerous, the area west of there, towards Elliot's Mine, can also be quite dangerous. For decades the area has been the domain of drug and alien smugglers. Further west, going up the grade toward San Diego, it gets even worse. Even back in the '70's, the drug smugglers were protecting their "mules" by posting snipers on elevated perches.

yeah, I KNOW the feeling. it used to be one could get away by going out into the desert or sticks; now it seems to play out in some sort of scoundrel-ridden (ridding) adventure. all sorts of subversives, wierdos, criminals and gangstas, and just plain mean folk out to play games with the 'campers'. I was out in these places in the 70's, and part of the 80's. even later than that as a humanitarian volunteer in some desolate places west of westmorland and east of yuma. things just aren't the same anymore.

I also worked a drywasher on the mexican side on the orilla (edge) of Laguna Salada, as well as other placer areas in Sonora, such as Benjamin Hill (now too close to a major marijane camp out of Caborca/Altar). narcs and smugglers- what a scourge! ANYMORE, I avoid Mexico, and the fronteras (borderlands), and everywhere else, I carry a semi auto heater.

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here is a blurb that I am working on to post in its entirety on Nevada Nugget Hunters. having to do with gold deposits around Ensenada. Baja is still relatively 'safe' lower than Tijuana for the white folk. Maybe this can be another ticket for the snowbirds/tourists/property owners/expats----

check it out:

The Mining Journal 2- 15 1931

Lindgren, describing the geology in the vicinity of Ensenada, states that the higher hills forming the Coast Range, north and south of this point, are of quartz-porphyries, and quartz-hornblende porphyries lying on granite, which forms the floor of the depression at Todos Santos Bay. The hills are therefore younger than the granite, and they are proved to be pre-Cretaceous, by the fact that their rounded fragments have been found in Cretaceous beds.

Gold quartz veins, which seldom appear in the granite, are found 12 miles east of Ensenada, in a belt of nearly vertical metamorphic slates, associated with diabase.

Farther inland from Ensenada, lies the famous Alamo gold mining district. The first mines worked were the Pueblo, and the Castillo, the latter giving the name to the town of Real do Castillo. Other mines in the region were the San Nicolas, the San Francisco, the San Luis, the Siuza, the Accidente, the Tepeyac, and the San Raphael. In the nearby Jacalitos district, were the China, Piedad, Mina, California, Cristo, and San Luis mines. Most of the deposits were pockety, and were mined by coyote holes. The district has been practically deserted since 1912.

In the vicinity of Calmalli, where the numerous skeletons of old mill buildings attest to considerable past activity, there were found many superficial gold deposits. Not far from here is the El Arco Mine, which during the past year, was opened and operated for a short time by a company financed by King C. Gillette. At present, this mine also is shut down, and it is not known what plans have been made for future operations.

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I once sold books on Ebay, among which was this one. It is still in print at DoverBooks.com or Dover.com unsure which

LOST GOLD AND SILVER MINES OF THE SOUTHWEST by Eugene L Carotto, soft cover, 250 pages, like new condition 1996 Originally published as Lost Desert Bonanzas in 1963. This is a book that I almost hate to publicize because there definitely are treasures out ‘there’ to be found. The maps included in the book are of the detailed, meticulous type that characterized many such books and magazines published a half century ago, or before. The problem is that roadways and landmarks have changed and it is up to the searcher to perform overlay work on modern (and available) maps in order to calculate and plot access to these areas. A negative note is that many of the sites are now re-designated fed reserves, where access and digging may be ‘illegal’ (government never leaves well enough alone). Nevertheless, the fortunes and treasures still wait, and you may be the one to uncover them.

There are probably 125 tales and maps listed in this book. They are a result of authentication and publishing of articles in Desert Magazine. The limits on the areas noted are the Western US and Northern Mexico. ¡Buenas suerte!

I would suggest that you also get a copy of The Gold Hex by Ken Marquiss for more such lore.

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