The Lost Carson Mine

[UncleMatt]

I am starting a new thread here about the Lost Carson Mine south of Silverton, CO in the Needle Mountains. I am at work at the moment, and will post the general details about this legend later this weekend.

There are no monuments associated with this legend, no secret trail to follow, and no associations whatsoever with the Spanish, The Jesuits, Atlantians, Phonecians, Egyptians, or anyone else like that. This legend is about a lone prospector who found a rich vein in the high country and brought the rich ore to Silverton to sell. Many attempts were made to follow Carson back to his mine, and he outfoxed his followers every time. Sometimes confronting them at gun point. The ore he brought to town was well documented, it is not in doubt, though I would love to get my hands on copies of the assay and sale records to prove that without a doubt to interested readers.

More to follow...

 

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[Crow]

I am starting a new thread here about the Lost Carson Mine south of Silverton, CO in the Needle Mountains. I am at work at the moment, and will post the general details about this legend later this weekend.

There are no monuments associated with this legend, no secret trail to follow, and no associations whatsoever with the Spanish, The Jesuits, Atlantians, Phonecians, Egyptians, or anyone else like that. This legend is about a lone prospector who found a rich vein in the high country and brought the rich ore to Silverton to sell. Many attempts were made to follow Carson back to his mine, and he outfoxed his followers every time. Sometimes confronting them at gun point. The ore he brought to town was well documented, it is not in doubt, though I would love to get my hands on copies of the assay and sale records to prove that without a doubt to interested readers.

More to follow...

Sounds interesting Please do continue...

I am supposed to be retired.....I am working longer harder now than before. I pop in around the clock when time permits.

Ah the greatest treasure of em all time!

Crow

 

[UncleMatt]

In 1895 Levi Carson made his first appearance in Silverton, CO, at least where he got noticed anyway. He probably arrived in the area in the early 1890's. But what a splash he made in 1895, as he showed up with his two burros carrying only 4 bags of ore weighing around 200 pounds total. But those 4 ordinary size bags of ore were sold for an astounding $2,800! A lot of money back in those days! After that he was on everyone's radar, and everyone was constantly trying to ingratiate themselves to him, much to his irritation and loathing. He was a solitary man, much like many prospectors of that era were. He wanted no partners, and preferred a taciturn existence in the mountains.

The ore itself raised great interest in Silverton, as it was not of a type anyone had seen before. It was an oxide ore of brown sugar quartz, richly impregnated with free gold with many of the gold particles as large as grains of wheat. Many people tried to buy the location from him, offered him partnerships, wined and dined him for weeks, all to no no avail. And though he was in no hurry to return to the mountains, he was careful not to spend his money foolishly. He really didn't have to as many people were spending their money foolishly on him.

 

[UncleMatt]

Assayers were careful to preserve samples of the ore and it was studied by all the local experts. And they were all stumped as to the area it might have originated from. Which caused everyone's curiosity to reach a fever pitch, and motivated many people to spy and follow him constantly to try to learn clues of his strike area.

To help avoid such individuals, he would have his supplies brought by wagon to the edge of Silverton near the old ball park where he was camped, and then load up his pack animals and depart long before the sun was up. He then headed to the area around Molas Lake near Snowflake Creek. Obviously some people were able to follow him at least that far, or we would not know of this today. Then he would travel along towards Lime Creek, the whole time meandering along in no particular hurry to get anywhere it seemed. His camps were always obscure and well hidden, and were not easily picked out from the countryside. This process allowed him to carefully observe anyone who might be tracking his movements. He was a patient man, and many people following him would simply lose patience and head back to Silverton in disgust.

 

[UncleMatt]

Those that did not lose patience were often confronted by Carson, as he stepped out from behind various places of concealment. He would always be angry, and demand they return whence they had come. In those days to be caught trying to follow someone with the intent of discovering their strike area was a source of embarrassment, and once discovered doing so they would withdraw in defeat.

Often when people followed him he would not even be returning to his strike area at all, but perhaps on his way to Mancos, or even nowhere in particular. He had pockets full of cash, and was fully supplied with provisions and gear, and no need or reason to rush back to the place he had found his vein of gold laden quartz. He did not appear to suffer from the greed and need to constantly recover more and more ore as most people would have been in those days in similar circumstances.

 

[weekender]

Don't stop now !
Thanks

 

[UncleMatt]

But then late in that same summer he showed up in Silverton once again, burrows loaded down with the richest ore anyone had seen there. It was all a huge mystery to everyone in the area how he was pulling this off. Once again he was the source of great attention, and was wined and dined by any and all who sought to learn of the origin of his ore. It was a repeat of his first appearance, and he delighted in telling people his strike was near Silverton, and was very rich. He almost seemed to enjoy teasing people with this talk, yet was careful never to get so drunk as to start talking too much or acting the part of a fool. He was a wise and crafty individual from stem to stern, with a full understanding of men and their lusts and motivations. He also warned people that though he was their friends while in town, once he left the city limits he had no friends and would consider anyone trying to follow him as an enemy, and would treat them as such should he discover he was being followed. He had purchased a Winchester repeating rifle and it was always brought to bear on such interlopers with the message coming through loud and clear: keep following me and you will end up dead.

 

[UncleMatt]

One man did manage to trail him for quite awhile when he left that summer. But was startled when he came upon Carson's pack animals picketed eating grass. Carson stepped out from behind him, and had him dead to rights with his Winchester. He recognized his follower from Silverton, and angrily demanded an explanation. The poor soul realized he might not see the light of another day and quickly came clean that he had been hired by several men in town to follow Carson to his strike area. Carson made him promise he would not do so again, and that he would not reveal anything he had learned, and then let the man walk away. Once he was a hundred feet away or so, Carson began peppering the guy with shot after shot, emphasizing exactly what would happen should there be a repeat of the situation or if he were to break his promise to Carson. This happened a number of times, but never with the same people, as they learned quickly he meant business. They would show up in Silverton with holes in their hats and clothing from near misses, and the word got around he was not to be trifled with.

 

[UncleMatt]

I imagine the ore matrix might have looked something like this, only with large grains of free gold particles all through it

 

[UncleMatt]

Of course, if anyone has more information about Levi Carson and this legend, or perhaps have copies of the assay reports for his ore, we would all love them to be posted here. Silverton and Durango newspaper articles would also be welcome on this subject. Another T-net member claimed in another thread to have seen a framed original assay for Carson's gold back decades ago in an old prospectors house. I would love to get my hands on that to share it here.

I will post more tomorrow.

 

[UncleMatt]

This was posted about the Carson gold assay by sdcfia in the thread about the new show on the dutchman mine, I hope he is okay with me reposting it here in this thread:

"Seems like the assayer worked out of Silverton (maybe)? Somewhere nearby, anyway. The old guy (in his 70s in 1974) was called Buddy and was a great guy with a fun wife. He lived a couple-three-four blocks or so east of where I lived at the time, which was the top floor of a corner house across the highway from a coffee shop on the north end of town. Buddy hired me to run his Punjar for him for about a month in his one-man mine (two, with me) outside of Ouray. It was in the amphitheater area in a kind of weird secret place behind a locked gate. I always rode in his truck with him to the site. It seemed easy enough then, but that was 40 years ago already."

 

[el padron]

In 1895 Levi Carson made his first appearance in Silverton, CO, at least where he got noticed anyway. He probably arrived in the area in the early 1890's. But what a splash he made in 1895, as he showed up with his two burros carrying only 4 bags of ore weighing around 200 pounds total. But those 4 ordinary size bags of ore were sold for an astounding $2,800! A lot of money back in those days! After that he was on everyone's radar, and everyone was constantly trying to ingratiate themselves to him, much to his irritation and loathing. He was a solitary man, much like many prospectors of that era were. He wanted no partners, and preferred a taciturn existence in the mountains.

The ore itself raised great interest in Silverton, as it was not of a type anyone had seen before. It was an oxide ore of brown sugar quartz, richly impregnated with free gold with many of the gold particles as large as grains of wheat. Many people tried to buy the location from him, offered him partnerships, wined and dined him for weeks, all to no no avail. And though he was in no hurry to return to the mountains, he was careful not to spend his money foolishly. He really didn't have to as many people were spending their money foolishly on him.

I know a girl who shares his same outlook with similar results.

 

[UncleMatt]

I assume you mean with regard to people spending money on her instead of her spending her own money?

 

[Crow]

Hello Matt

This might be some interest.

The Lost Carson Mine

Crow

 

[UncleMatt]

Thanks Crow. I prefer the source I first learned of this tale from, Golden Treasures of the San Juans by Temple Cornelius. Geozone pulls most of their knowledge of lost treasures in southwest Colorado from that source as well.

 

[UncleMatt]

Six weeks later Carson once again appeared in Silverton, but not with as much ore as his previous attempts. He explained this was simply due to the fact he did not need as much on this trip. Again, pointing to the fact he was not greedy and out of his mind with the pursuit of wealth and gold. I am sure he had already outfitted himself with the best gear he could buy at the time, and simply considered his vein of sugar quartz as his own personal bank account to make withdrawals from. Since nobody knew of its location but him, it was much safer to leave the gold in the rock than to carry it around on his person where it might be stolen or lost. And I am sure he already had quite a bit of cash in his wallet from previous trips. He was content to roam around the area aimlessly between trips to the vein to enjoy all the area had to offer, which also gave the people trying to track him fits I am sure. Shorty Swink and Milt Holiday had observed him on the trail on the west side of the Needle Mountains south of Molas Lake on this trip. He was on his way out at that sighting, from deeper in the high country to the east.

I have personally been to Molas Lake many time to fish and enjoy the scenery. The trout from it are clean and delicious. And the Needle Mountains tower above it to the east, presenting an imposing sight when one thinks of accessing them for any reason. Not an area anyone should venture who is not acclimated to the elevations involved, and fully prepared to deal with the elements that change within minutes.

 

[UncleMatt]

When he left town again he claimed he was going to lower elevations for the winter, and that anyone who wanted to follow him was welcome to try. No one seemed chomping at the bit to do so however, as word had spread of how he dealt with those who sought to invade his privacy. Late in the Autumn Carson once again showed up in Silverton, this time with only 2 small bags of ore to sell. He had not been feeling well it seems, from his own reports. When he left Silverton he took a small keg of "medicine", which I am sure was some form of alcohol.

But then sadly his body was found near the old stage station at Molas Lake on a grassy bench by a couple of riders. Quite a bit of money was found on the body as you can imagine. It appeared he had suffered a fatal heart attack and had simply fallen off his mule to the spot where his body was found. Ore samples were also found on the body, but there was no trace of a map or written directions to his vein.

 

[UncleMatt]

So here we have a treasure tale that involves no Indian attacks, no trail markers, no map, just a guy who found a rich vein outcropping on the surface and exploited it by himself. The usual treasure tale formula simply does not apply, and presents hardy individuals with an opportunity to search for something that is documented by assay and sales reports in Silverton. There are several such tales in the area, but involving different men in different areas in different ranges of mountains. This makes a lot of sense, as the prospectors present in the 1890's there often worked alone and deep in the wilderness. Far from prying eyes and greedy souls. WHen they died, their secrets died with them, and leave behind a true challenge to those who would follow in their footsteps.

There are more clues available as to where his vein might have been located, and I post more about that later this afternoon.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

sounds basically like the lost Dutchman mine, except there they have brought in too many confusing things. This is much cleaner and direct..

 

[sdcfia]

This was posted about the Carson gold assay by sdcfia in the thread about the new show on the dutchman mine, I hope he is okay with me reposting it here in this thread:

"Seems like the assayer worked out of Silverton (maybe)? Somewhere nearby, anyway. The old guy (in his 70s in 1974) was called Buddy and was a great guy with a fun wife. He lived a couple-three-four blocks or so east of where I lived at the time, which was the top floor of a corner house across the highway from a coffee shop on the north end of town. Buddy hired me to run his Punjar for him for about a month in his one-man mine (two, with me) outside of Ouray. It was in the amphitheater area in a kind of weird secret place behind a locked gate. I always rode in his truck with him to the site. It seemed easy enough then, but that was 40 years ago already."

Not a problem, Matt. I'm sure that Buddy must have mentioned Carson by name when he told me the story, but I don't remember ever hearing the name. At the time I was pretty green and now wish I'd paid more attention to what Buddy was saying - he had a lot of knowledge about the mines in the San Juans and told lots of stories. I wonder if any of the local museums, libraries or historical clubs in the region might have a copy of that assay? It seems like something that someone would have kept.

On the other hand, I was rummaging through some old filing cabinets in one of the abandoned buildings of the Pewabic Mine (lead, zinc) just west of Santa Rita and found an original telegram to the mine operators thanking them for their efforts that helped the US troops in North Africa during WWII. It was signed by DD Eisenhower. Just sitting there in a pile of old time cards and other worthless stuff. Maybe DDE telegrams were a dime a dozen, but I snatched it and gave it to the museum in Silver City. Seems like the Carson assay would have been preserved by someone.