The Lost Adams

In 1864, a teamster named Adams (no sources disclose his first name) and some prospectors in Gila Bend, Arizona were approached by a Mexican Indian named Gotch Ear, who offered to show them a canyon filled with gold only 10 days ride away. The miners accepted and together they rode to find the gold. They crossed a road on the way which Gotch Ear said would lead back to Fort Wingate, and that they should remember it so they could go back that way for supplies when needed. They soon arrived at a canyon with a blind entrance. At the bottom of a Z-shaped narrow canyon trail they found a creek rich with gold.

The men paid Gotch Ear and began panning for gold. However, a force of Apaches, led by a chief named Nana, confronted the miners. Nana allowed them to mine the creek, provided they did not venture up past the waterfall. The miners obeyed at first, but eventually several miners began mining near the waterfall and discovered two rich veins of gold. The diggings were very rich, with some gold nuggets described as being the size of hens? eggs.

The miners stored their gold under a stone in the hearth of the cabin they built near the creek. One miner, a German, kept his gold separate. He soon collected all the gold he wanted and left the camp.

Some of the miners were sent to Fort Wingate for more supplies. When this group did not return after eight days, Adams and a man named Davidson rode out to investigate. From the top of the Z-shaped trail, they found five dead men and three dead horses, all that was left of the party that had set out for the fort. Adams and Davidson then returned to their cabin by the creek and found that the Apaches had returned, set fire to their cabin and killed the remaining miners. Adams and Davidson narrowly escaped and walked twelve days through the desert until they stumbled on an army patrol, which took them to the nearest fort. Davidson died there. It was 10 years until Adams overcame his fear and returned to New Mexico to look for the diggings. Adams spent the rest of his life trying to relocate the hidden canyon.
[edit] Survivors and origin of legend

Aside from Adams and Davidson, there were two other people who survived the Indian attack- a German, perhaps Jacob Snively, and John Brewer, a member of the LDS Church with connections to the Apaches in Mexico and Mormon settlers in NM; both of these figures are known to history for their role in events not involving gold - again both, in addition to Adams, were able to give independent attestation to the same event without the knowledge of the others having survived the massacre.[citation needed] What's more, Adams and Brewer both mention an unnamed and clever, "Dutchman" as being in the original party that departed from southern, Arizona. It is also known for fact that Jacob Snively acquired about $10,000 worth of gold from some source during the early 1860s from a locations he never gave proper account of for later searches.[citation needed] Snively used the money to purchase a ranch in Arizona where he is now buried. For whatever reason Adams spent the last ten years of his life trying to relocate the diggings without success. For an analysis of these issues see Jack Purcell's excellent and true to history book on the Lost Adam's Diggings. Few lost gold stories are as thoroughly researched as the Lost Adams.
[edit] Possible locations

For decades the Zuni Mountains were considered the most plausible location of the diggings. Thousands of prospectors, ranch-hands, and men-of-fortune searched this area and the rest of southwestern New Mexico prior to WWII, as the Adams diggings became the most sought-for gold in the country. Only Frank Dobie's 1939 book Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver adequately describes how renowned the Adams legend had become. The combination of the depression and the deregulation of the gold market prompted the most unlikely people to search for the diggings. Between 1895 and 1930 several large logging communities flourished in the Zuni Mountains, several with schools and post offices; wide-gauge railroads crisscrossed the mountains. The loggers were well aware of the Adams legend, as it had become a nationally known story. Between running logs nothing was more common than prospecting except for drinking. Rumors of gold in the Zunis had become so common that the U.S. government ordered several geological expeditions in the years between WWI and WWII to verify whether this claim could be supported. The geologists found nothing. In the 1950s the area was thoroughly re-explored for uranium during the uranium boom around Grants, New Mexico. Eventually the obsession with the Zuni Mountains as a host for the Adams diggings faded. It was also around the mid-century that the popularity of the Adams legend began to diminish and the Lost Dutchman Mine became America's most sought-for lost gold mine. The Adams diggings were beginning to seem a hoax or a mine unlikely to ever be found.

Geologically, the Adams diggings could only be in the southwestern quadrant of the state. Adams himself spent most of the remainder of his life searching the areas in and around Reserve, New Mexico. This area was the largest gold producing area in the state, and hosted several small mining booms, including the rich strikes at Elizabethtown and Pinos Altos. The areas that could conceivably host the diggings in this region (containing several large mountain ranges that remain sparsely inhabited) are numerous, as minerals and evidence of previous mining can be found throughout the area. Local folklore will tell you that the gold is at the headwaters of either the Black River, the Gila River, or the Prieto River. Spanish Lore will tell you to look to the Blue Mountains. Dozens of mining camps in this region of New Mexico were thought to be the Adams diggings for brief periods, until each proved itself to be less rich than at first indicated: egregious hopes followed by rapid disappointment. That seems to be the story of gold in the desert southwest.

The Datils and Gallinas Mountains and the basins to the north of these mountains were considered possible locations for the diggings that increased in popularity as the other locations lost appeal. Dick French, in his book Four Days from Fort Wingate, places the diggings in this area. It has become known as "Dick French?s area," although his location was known to have been found by others in the 1950s, if not earlier. No gold has been found there.

A similar but geographically less plausible location was found in eastern Arizona by Don Fangado (name?) near Clifton. The site contains features described by Adams much like the area favored by Dick French; however, again, the gold remained undiscovered.

In some minds the gold was to be found on either the Zuni or Navajo reservations, but the laws preventing the acquisition of mineral rights in these regions have discouraged searching.

There are other sites, but the leading candidates in the popular imagination are mentioned above. If it really exists, its traditional location remains within "Apacheria" or the southwest quadrant of New Mexico and bordering areas in Arizona. The complexity of the story is detailed in Jack Purcell's definitive book on the subject, The Lost Adams Diggings: Myth, Mystery, and Madness. This work, unlike its predecessors, is a serious attempt to give historical perspective supported by cited research. Purcell believes that the gold exists and is perhaps somewhere in the mountains just south of Quemado, New Mexico. Perhaps gold will be found someday, but in the minds of most, the legend is fading away among the other items in the forgotten annals of American lore.


Legacy
The many stories arising or deriving from the lost diggings have inspired many to search for lost Apache gold ever since. Its legend has supplied many folk tales, stories and books with ample fuel for fantasies of lost treasures, hidden canyons, Apache secrets and gold, "somewhere out there" in the wilds. Another supposed Indian name for the mine was "Sno-Ta-Hay," which supposedly means, "there it lies" i.e. the gold is on the ground and can be picked up or panned as a placer mine. Chief Nana supposedly called it that when he first warned the Adams party before the attack. As previously mentioned J. Frank Dobie devoted half of his book, "Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver" -now in its ninth printing - to the story of the Lost Adams Diggings, and considered it to be the greatest, "lost mine" story of US history. The amount of mail being sent to western New Mexico during the 1930s prompted the government to create a new post office in the area affectionately named, "Lost Adams Diggings, NM;" the post office has since closed.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,22315.msg156468.html#msg156468

Here is the John Brewer part of the legend the biggest thing that I find hard to understand is why it took 25 years for him to tell his story.

The missing John Brewer finally turned up at the Ammon Meshach Tenney, Jr., ranch at Walnut Grove, south of St. Johns in the mid-eastern border country of Arizona and New Mexico in 1887. Adams had said that he and Davidson had only found five bodies of the Brewer detachment sent to Gotch Ear?s malpais fort for supplies, and Brewer was not one of the bodies. Assuming Brewer was dead and not having time to look for him, the Adams saga began.

Brewer, however, had not only survived the massacre, he had made his way into Colorado where he had lived for twenty-five years as a happily married man with his Ute Indian wife in the Ute wilderness. His version of the events varied somewhat from that of the legend surrounding the Adams tale.

According to Brewer?s story, he was working his way from California eastward in late summer of 1862, riding first one freight wagon and then another. While resting up in Tucson with his companions, four other men from California, they chanced to meet with a half-breed Pima-Mexican, who would come to their corral to chat with the Americans.

The Americans had with them several coins from California, which included some $50 gold pieces. The Pima-Mexican had never seen gold coins before, and he became highly excited when he saw the money, as he knew what money was for. In subsequent conversations, he revealed that he had seen pieces of gold larger than the coins, and he volunteered to take Brewer and his companions to the location if they would pay him one thousand dollars in the gold coins.

The Pima-Mexican said the gold country lay east beyond "snow mountain" where each shovel full of sand would show color, if not a nugget. After dickering for a week, the men agreed to a deal with the half-breed. They would furnish a good outfit and pay the expenses of the trip, and their guide would receive $50 in gold from each of the five men for his services. However, their guide had to furnish his own mount and saddle equipment. The Pima-Mexican agreed to this arrangement, and the next morning, he rode into Tucson, announcing he was ready to go.

It should be noted that John Brewer did not say his guide had a crumpled ear and was called Gotch Ear. This may be another fabrication of the legend. In fact, describing their guide in 1887, Brewer said, "He stood about five feet 10 inches high. His hair was as black as the plume of a raven. His eyes were large and round, and he seemed to have the power to decide at a glance what to do?He was excellent company and had a large fund of information about trails and travel. The map he drew for us at Tucson before we left was just one straight line a little north of east?Every move he made added testimony to his claim that he had been over the trail before?There was nothing in the world that he cared more for than the horse he rode. He would pet his horse all day, never letting it out of his sight, and at night, he would sleep at the end of the animal?s picket rope."

Brewer said that none of the miners had horses, having worked the freight system from California to Tucson. He borrowed the half-breed?s horse and made the rounds of the surrounding ranches and houses in search of horses for the trip, but met with no success. On his return journey to his friends, he met up with another man going the same direction, and they fell into conversation. The other man was Adams, and Adams said he would be willing to rent his horses for a share in the gold findings. Brewer thought Adams had about ten horses in his possession, horses Brewer thought had been bought "near Tucson from farmers because they all bore collar and harness marks indicating that they were veterans at the plow."

Although Brewer said he met with Adams on the trail, the truth is that no one knows which direction Adams traveled to get to the Pima village. It is entirely possible that Brewer and his men were already at the village and not in Tucson, just as Adams claimed. It would also account for the reason that Brewer had no luck in obtaining horses in the surrounding area, as one would suspect that horses were readily available in Tucson.

Brewer further said that there were just the five miners, Adams, and the Pima-Mexican half-breed in the party for a total of seven people. They traveled northeast through torturous timber country of the White Mountains. "On the fourth day, we rounded Baldy Peak on the north, and crossing the north fork of the White River, soon found ourselves on what is known as the continental divide. We had been crossing streams that flowed to the west, but now the watershed was to the north and east."

Before leaving the timber, he took note of the surroundings. "Directly in front of us and on the route we were to take, we could see a vast area of open country with high lava hills and rough canyons which we would have to cross. To the right and about thirty miles distant, we could see a round, timber-covered mountain. Directly in front of us and about fifteen miles distant, we were able to trace the course of the Little Colorado River, as it made its way out of the mountains toward the north. But the best sight of all was to the north and a little to the west. We could just make out through the hazy blue, three lofty peaks 200 miles away."

Brewer?s description of where they were puts them north of Baldy Peak in the vicinity of the Arizona-New Mexico border just south of Eagar, Arizona. From here, Escudilla Peak and Escondido Peak are to the east and the three lofty peaks north and west about 200 miles are the San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff. The question arises, of course, was he referring to Escudilla Peak in Arizona, or Escondido Peak in New Mexico, when he referred to the rounded, timbered mountain?

The small party rode out onto the plains and crossed the Little Colorado River, where they were dismayed to discover human footprints along the river?s bank. Rightly reasoning the prints were recently left by the Apaches, the party hightailed it east into the hill country and out of sight of the river. They traveled into a broad, open canyon for a few miles and then turned left up a canyon wall to high ground. They turned again almost north and continued on about five miles to a high plateau, where they spent the night. The next morning, the guide led them about 300 yards to a cedar tree and pointed, announcing, "See esas dos piloncillos? (Two sugar-loaf cones in the distance). Near them is our destination."

They headed straight toward their intended destination with the guide and Adams in the lead. After about five miles of travel and descending all the while, they could see what appeared to be a deep canyon in the distance across their path. Several hours later, they worked their way down into the gulch, and as they watered the horses at the bottom, the guide said, "There is a little gold in this canyon, but not as much as over yonder."

Everyone wanted to see the gold. They all dismounted and panned the stream. "We selected a spot 200 yards back and a little upstream from where we found the ?color? in the shade of a cluster of large cedars to unpack and hobble the horses. Then every man grabbed his pan and made a rush for the gravel." The party panned up and down the canyon finding color everywhere. When darkness brought them back to camp, they estimated the half day?s panning to be about a pound and a half of gold.

The men decided to work their camp for a few days before continuing their journey to where the guide wanted them to end up. On the morning of the third day, they discussed making that area their permanent camp, or moving on with their guide, who was anxious to terminate his contract. While they discussed the matter, "Adams said that regardless of what was decided, he must go to look for the horses which had wandered away. Taking one of the party with him, he set out. The boys were anxious to get back to work. I proposed that they go ahead and that I would wash up the dishes, set the camp in order to join them soon. Remaining in camp that morning saved my life. Little did I realize, as I watched those three boys pick up their pans and start off to work, accompanied by the half-breed guide, that they were going to their death."

The Indians struck that morning without mercy. Brewer heard what he thought was thunder, climbed up the canyon wall to see what the noise was, and was horrified to see his companions surrounded by upward of "80 and possibly 100 of the Indians, some on horseback, but most of them afoot. Suddenly they began to let forth horrifying screams and yells that fairly split the air, and forming a cordon around the helpless boys, butchered them in an instant."

Realizing his precarious predicament, Brewer hid in a thicket of cedars, where he remained until late into the night. He had no gun, pistol or provisions, but he deemed it foolhardy to drop back into camp for anything. When all was quiet, he crawled down to the bottom of the canyon, seeking the trail of the horses. Following the trail upstream, he was dismayed to discover that the Indians had unhobbled the horses. However, he found no indication that Adams and his companion had been overtaken and slaughtered like the others, and it gave him some comfort.

Before heading out, he decided to return for a last look at the camp. "I crossed the canyon to the opposite wall and, climbing out on top, saw that the country had been fired and was still burning. Cautiously, I felt my way along the rim until I was sure I was opposite to where the slaughter took place and in sight of the camp. But all I could see was a raging forest fire, and I abandoned my plan of seeing if there was anything which could be salvaged." He was further frightened to see in the faint glow of the smoldering embers, the shadowy shape of two men. Thinking the two men were Indians, he crawled back out the canyon and headed east, following the rising crescent moon, never once turning back.

The first night he covered eighteen miles before exhaustion overtook him. The only food he found was a small cluster of sour berries, only several hours after eating them, he had such painful attacks that he thought he would die on the spot. He was delirious, sick with fever, and badly malnourished and dehydrated by the time he stumbled upon a friendly Indian village five days later. His clothes hung in tatters from his headlong plunge through the thorny thickets, and he was covered in dried blood from the numerous scratches and cuts.

Brewer remained in the village for nearly a week recovering from his ordeal. While there, he got the impression that Gotch Ear had been from the village, and he said, "I saw at once that it was to my discredit that I couldn?t tell them his name." He also asked for a detachment of armed men to return to the canyon, saying, "?the guide and three of my companions were beyond human help, but that in the interest of humanity, we owed it to Adams and the other man to attempt their rescue."

The friendly Indians were much afraid of confrontation with the hostile Apaches, however, and Brewer was unable to enlist any help in a rescue attempt. As soon as he was well enough, he headed east, eventually hooking up with a pack train headed north to Santa Fe from Old Mexico. The train was following the course of the Rio Grande and took every opportunity to make frequent stops along the way. These unnecessary stops irritated Brewer, who was wanting to get help to search for Adams. He said that he thought he could have made better time if he had walked.

It took Brewer a month to reach Santa Fe, and knowing Adams could not have survived that long in the wilderness unassisted, he gave up any ideas of forming a search party. He soon found a job as a teamster, eventually making his way into Colorado, where he spent the last quarter of a century trapping and hunting in the Ute Indian wilderness. He did not really know if Adams and Davidson had escaped, but he said he had never suspected that it was Adams and Davidson he had seen in the faint glow of the cabin?s embers. Returning to look for the Diggings in 1887, he was just as confused and lost as Adams had been.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,22315.msg156517.html#msg156517

		Quote:			Posted by BitburgAggie_7377
	I've got a large folder of source material at home,  I'll try to post a list of the major reference works available tomorrow evening (if I don't get to it sooner).    There is not quite as much written about the Lost Adams as there is the Lost Dutchman, but it is starting to get close.

That would be good BA like I said before my info on the Adams is limited to say the least. This guy Brewer intrigues me for some reason would like to look at him a little harder.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,22315.msg156555.html#msg156555

One miner, a German, kept his gold separate. He soon collected all the gold he wanted and left the camp.
It may be worth some time to figure out who this guy was.

Yep Jones a list of names would be cool maybe BA can find a reference to some list, I know I have not seen one.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,22315.msg156575.html#msg156575

That good stuff Jones printed it out so can refer to it easier.

Linkback:

You are not allowed to view links.
Please Register or Login

http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,22315.msg156597.html#msg156597