The land that was to become Arizona territory in 1863 and a state in 1912 was, for centuries before, a destination for multiple Spanish explorations in search of gold, and also served as a prominent area for notable silver processing techniques — and stories of lost treasure.
Beginning on April 12, 1539, Fray Marcos de Niza — sent by Viceroy Mendoza — traveled into Arizona on an expedition reaching the Zuni pueblos in New Mexico. De Niza was credited with being the first European to explore west of the Rockies.
De Niza’s report of gold and silver utensils initiated the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado the following year. The expedition included 250 cavalrymen, 200 foot soldiers, 1,000 Indians, and 1,000 horses and mules. While the expedition mapped the region from eastern Arizona to Kansas, a distance of over 1,500 miles, it failed to uncover previously anticipated mineral wealth of the fabled renowned Seven Cities of Cibola.
Bartolomé de Medina of Pachuca, Mexico, is credited in 1557 with the invention of what became known as the patio process. It involved the amalgamation of silver sulfide low grade ore using a combination of salt, water, copper sulfate and mercury spread 1 or 2 feet high on an open floor or patio and crushed by burros hooves’ using an arrastra. Long-term sun exposure coupled with consistent crushing ensured that the silver ore binded with the mercury, forming an amalgam from which the mercury was later separated by the application of heat.
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This processing method proved invaluable for recovering silver, though it did take longer to treat the ore and was eventually improved with pan amalgamation invented by Alvaro Alonso Barba in the early 1600s. While retaining the mixtures of salt, water, copper sulfate and mercury with ground silver ore, it supplanted the outdoor patio with the use of heated shallow pans instead of reliance on the sun. This led to a reduction of the amalgamation process from a week to less than a day.
These processing methods saw practical application in later Spanish explorations. Antonio de Espejo discovered one of the earliest silver deposits in Arizona near the headwaters of the Verde River in 1582, which may have been the same location of the renowned United Verde Mine 300 years later. Espejo also documented the Verde River salt deposits.
The exploration of Juan de Oñate in 1604 along the Santa Maria and Bill Williams rivers in present day Mojave County reported rich silver ore, possibly in the Aquarius and Hualapai mountains.
The arrival of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1691 and subsequent mineral exploration and mining of silver ore in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson followed in the decades thereafter. With renewed mining interest, Jesuits founded a series of missions along the Santa Cruz River including San Felipe Guevavi and San Xavier del Bac.
The discovery of the Bolas y Planchas de Platas (Balls and Plates of Silver) in northern Sonora, 15 miles southeast of Nogales, occurred in 1736. The discovery was noteworthy, including slabs of silver weighing up to 2,700 pounds.
The area, comprised of a ranch and surrounding hills, was known to the Spanish as Arissona from the Papago (now Tohono O’odham) term Arizonac.
This discovery fell under the jurisdiction of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, employed by the Spanish colonial government, who declared it for the Spanish crown and sparked further exploration by his son Juan Bautista de Anza II, who went on to chart a route from Sonora to California in the 1770s.
When Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1823, the missions were abandoned, and no protection was afforded to the Spanish-Mexican miners in Arizona. The area became untenable to mining due to raids by Apaches and outlaws. Mining would reconvene under more favorable protections when the area was acquired by the United States after the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico in 1853.
One of the most enduring mining legends in Arizona involves the lost mines of the Peralta family. The story begins with Don Pedro, who left his homeland in Barcelona, Spain, in 1757 aboard a Spanish galleon arriving in La ciudad de Chihuahua, where he acquired multiple silver mines.
His five sons became mine operators. Some of them moved forward on an expedition in 1846 to uncover gold deposits they discovered at Mormon Flat.
The rich gold ore originating from an 18-inch vein and valued at several thousand dollars was milled in arrastres operated by the Peralta brothers. Additional out-croppings of gold-bearing quartz were discovered by Pedro Peralta upon a black-topped mountain west of Weaver’s Needle, also known as La Sombrera.
Pedro drew up maps and markers to the location while shipping gold to his brothers for processing. Two sons successfully returned to their home in Mexico with some gold from their placer mining operations, while Pedro returned to Chihuahua to muster 68 men and several hundred mules to mine the deposits upon his return in 1848. Apaches ambushed the miners, killing them onsite.
Pedro is said to have buried the gold while his entourage fought a rear guard action. This gold, and the later link in the 1870s between Peralta’s maps, Jacob Waltz “The Dutchman” and his partner Jacob Weiser, would evolve into the modern day quest to find a purported gold cache valued at perhaps $200 million.
William Ascarza is an archivist, historian and author of seven books available for purchase online and at select bookstores. These include his latest, “In Search of Fortunes: A Look at the History of Arizona Mining,” available through M.T. Publishing Co. His other books are “Chiricahua Mountains: History and Nature,” “Southeastern Arizona Mining Towns,” “Zenith on the Horizon: An Encyclopedic Look at the Tucson Mountains from A to Z,” “Tucson Mountains,” “Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum” with Peggy Larson and “Sentinel to the North: Exploring the Tortolita Mountains.” Email William Ascarza for a signed copy of his publications at AZMiningHistory@gmail.com
Read More:Mine Tales: Spanish explorations and mineral processing in present-day Arizona | History
2022-04-10 22:00:00
