| Pages:
1
2 |
PaulW
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3005
Registered: 5-21-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
Mine locations?
Has anyone found more references to the Pioneer Mine? Other than Gebhard & Gulick?
I found a list of 5 mines all generally located at Calamajue, but with no exact locations
They are:
Rey Salomón Mine, Calamajue - Calcite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold
King Richard Mine, Calamajue – Gold Gebhard & Gulick mentioned
Josefina Mine, Calamajue - Gold
Calamajue, - Calcite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold, Malachite
San Antonio Mine, Calamajue - Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold, Malachite
|
|
|
Nikno
Junior Nomad
Posts: 90
Registered: 7-12-2019
Member Is Offline
|
|
I found a mine ruin at:
29.62480, -114.26880
I thought it was the Pioneer Mine but it might be a different one. If anyone knows the name of that mine, please post.
And then there is the gold mine opposite the Calamajue Mission site at:
29.42491, -114.19850
I don't know the name of that one but I'm sure DK does.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Quote: Originally posted by Nikno  | I found a mine ruin at:
29.62480, -114.26880
I thought it was the Pioneer Mine but it might be a different one. If anyone knows the name of that mine, please post.
And then there is the gold mine opposite the Calamajue Mission site at:
29.42491, -114.19850
I don't know the name of that one but I'm sure DK does.
|
That is a gold ore mill, not the mine... Molino de Calamajué. The 1970 Baja Guide by Cliff Cross thought it was also the mission ruin site. In a
follow-up edition, he corrected the error and said the mission was indeed across the arroyo from the mill.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by PaulW | Has anyone found more references to the Pioneer Mine? Other than Gebhard & Gulick?
I found a list of 5 mines all generally located at Calamajue, but with no exact locations
They are:
Rey Salomón Mine, Calamajue - Calcite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold
King Richard Mine, Calamajue – Gold Gebhard & Gulick mentioned
Josefina Mine, Calamajue - Gold
Calamajue, - Calcite, Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold, Malachite
San Antonio Mine, Calamajue - Chrysocolla, Galena, Gold, Malachite
|
Gerhard & Gulick give exact locations for both King Richard and Pioneer mines (page 85, 4th edition). King Richard was Dick Daggett's mine.
Equipment and supplies were shipped in from Guaymas and landed at Puerto Calamajué. Edward Nelson and Arthur North both mentioned Daggett in their
books about their 1905-06 expeditions.
The 1992 book 'Modest Fortunes' (#51 in the Dawson Book series) describe the mines of the area and provide old newspaper reports on them, on pages
184-188.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Looking through books:
Page 29 of 'Rockhounding in Baja' by W.R.C. Shedenhelm, La Siesta Press, c1980. Las Arrastras, La Josefina, and Pioneer mines are mentioned.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Page 26 of 'Lower California and its Natural Resources' by Edward Nelson mentions the King Richard Mine.
|
|
|
PaulW
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3005
Registered: 5-21-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
Is "Arrastras, La Josefina" an Arrastras (mill) or the mill & the mine or just the mine La Josefina?
Missing mention so far Rey Salomón mine.
BTW, the Pioneer mine was located by Harald with coordinates. It was on one of the Pioneer trail threads.
Hard to plot the mines on Google with just road descriptions.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Las Arrastras de Arriloa, Molino de Lacy (de San Francisquito), and Molino de Calamajué are Mills to process ore from nearby mines.
King Richard (aka 'La Josefina') and Pioneer Mine, are actual mines.
I never heard of Rey Salomón before.
|
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
there is one guy who knows ALL the mines in the area - Coco
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
|
PaulW
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3005
Registered: 5-21-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
Here is where I got my mine list and does not show Pioneer
https://www.mindat.org/loc-14346.html
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
That's not a very useful map... Has five listings at one point.
Here are some historic maps of the area:
The mine symbol south of Pioneer Mine is King Richard/ La Josefina.
This is the 1962 Gulick map.
1970 Cliff Cross map. Pioneer Mine is on the right.
1941 Map showing GOLD locations
1930 Map
1919 Map
1905 Nelson Expedition map.
1905 Mine Map, calls Pioneer Mine "San Francisquito"
|
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
Pioneer Mine 29.62480, -114.26880
Mina La Josefina - King Richard 29°32'53.70"N, 114°13'58.49"W
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
|
StuckSucks
Super Nomad
Posts: 2306
Registered: 10-17-2013
Member Is Offline
|
|
Pioneer Mine 29.62480, -114.26880
Mina La Josefina - King Richard 9°32'53.70"N, 114°13'58.49"W
|
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
here is what I have in the area:
Attachment: some.kmz (5kB)
This file has been downloaded 181 times
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
|
bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 602
Registered: 2-2-2015
Member Is Offline
|
|
Hey guys! Lets talk mines! I just happen to be researching that area right now. Paul, I looked at the mine dat web site and the reference cited for
the Rey Solomon mine was book by Panczner (1987) Minerals of Mexico. Its fifty bucks on Amazon. I doubt if it shows an exact location. There are
probably dozens if not hundreds of claims around there and the names tend to change over time as new owners work them.
I also looked at some Pioneer Mine threads. Harald has a link to a great description of the trail on Smugmug, it is a little glitchy to get it to show
but if you search manly-men it is possible to see some great pictures including some mine portalss. Harald, I am wondering something; you describe a
small valley with several mines. Is this the Pioneer Mine where coordinates are shown above by you and also Nikno? I also see smugmug has your
pictures for sale. What is up with that. Can I buy one and use it in a book?
There is some evidence that the mine shown on the BCA near the original site of the Calamajue Mission named El Toro may have been worked in missionary
times. It was worked in 1874, which is really early in terms of Baja mining, the owner must have been tipped off that it was there because someone
remembered the old mine of the Padres.
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
If there was any mining by the Spanish or missionaries, it would have been during the Dominican/Spanish period (1773-1822) as the Jesuits and
Franciscans kept good records as to where everyone was at and doing what. There is not one mention of mining by them in the region, at least the
Jesuits. Oh, there were notes about minerals seen but their time was fully involved with producing enough food for them and their flock. Sadly, they
usually did not have enough food to maintain many at the head mission. Dominican records are either non-existent or have not been found yet that
describe daily life, beyond the book by Padre Sales.
By the 1840s, mainlanders were coming to Baja to make a living for themselves. The lore of Spanish or Mission Mines is strong but the facts are not
yet found that show any mining north of La Paz by them. Real de Santa Ana and San Antonio were the silver mines of the 1740s and later and the
exception on the peninsula during the mission period.
|
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
starts about here:
https://carlosnpainter.smugmug.com/Events/Manly-Men-Baja-201...
the "valley" I have in mind
Attachment: San Francisco mining claims.kmz (2kB)
This file has been downloaded 174 times
To buy pictures is a standard feature on smugmug
haven't used it yet as I usually sell entire sets or articles
but I'll entertain the idea of selling any pic you need
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
|
4x4abc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4163
Registered: 4-24-2009
Location: La Paz, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: happy - always
|
|
let me repeat - the best source for mine locations and mine names in the area is Coco
I am certain that INEGI has everything on file as well
or the catastro in Ensenada
Harald Pietschmann
|
|
|
bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 602
Registered: 2-2-2015
Member Is Offline
|
|
Cool. I am slowly, slowly working on a book, tentatively entitled "Exploring the Gold Districts of Baja California Norte" (yeah, I know, it is
technically "Baja California") and if I ever get to the point of publishing it will PM you regarding use of your photographs. There really is not
much money in a niche book like this, it is more of something to keep me occupied in retirement. Small limited production run books may sell a few
hundred copies then used books start popping up on Amazon, undercutting the price of a new book and the author makes no money on it. That is why
Harry Crosby just cleaned out a garage full of his books. Why buy a new one when you can get a used one for half the price.
|
|
|
bajaric
Senior Nomad
Posts: 602
Registered: 2-2-2015
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: Originally posted by David K | If there was any mining by the Spanish or missionaries, it would have been during the Dominican/Spanish period (1773-1822) as the Jesuits and
Franciscans kept good records as to where everyone was at and doing what. There is not one mention of mining by them in the region, at least the
Jesuits. Oh, there were notes about minerals seen but their time was fully involved with producing enough food for them and their flock. Sadly, they
usually did not have enough food to maintain many at the head mission. Dominican records are either non-existent or have not been found yet that
describe daily life, beyond the book by Padre Sales.
By the 1840s, mainlanders were coming to Baja to make a living for themselves. The lore of Spanish or Mission Mines is strong but the facts are not
yet found that show any mining north of La Paz by them. Real de Santa Ana and San Antonio were the silver mines of the 1740s and later and the
exception on the peninsula during the mission period. |
Maybe the Dominicans whipped the Indians because they were not mining fast enough. lol
There is a pretty solid argument that someone in the Jesuit Missionary period located a gold deposit at Calamajue. If not the Padre, then one of the
soldiers. I do not believe the Dominicans had a presence there, as Calamajue was abandoned before the Jesuits were expelled. It was reported that a
gold mine was operated there in 1874 (Modest Fortunes, quoting 1874 newspaper San Diego Union Tribue) The odds of a prospector just randomly
stumbling across a gold mine in Calamajue 1874 are almost nil. The area was uninhabited, and it would have been a stroke of amazing luck to find an
out crop of gold ore in the vast, barren desert around that area in 1874. (Most valuable mineral deposits are located where people already live, by
accident e.g. Sutters Mill, The Boleo Deposit, El Alamo etc etc.) Why would someone have been wandering around Calamajue in 1874 looking for gold?.
Gold in Northern Baja had yet to be discovered, other than at Real del Castillo, in 1871. Not at El Alamo, not at Calmalli. The likely explanation
is that someone in Guaymas, an old port town that served the Missions, remembered a tale told by some ancient grandparent about the gold mine of the
Padres spoken by some soldier who brought back an ore sample after his service was up, and someone picked up on it and went there specifically to look
for gold, and found it. That is my story and I am sticking with it.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
