I've been messing with ChatGPT lately. Warning: this artificial intelligence interface provides many obviously incorrect responses to a user's queries. However, with diligence, re-wording previous questions, asking follow-ups, elaborating on earlier statements, obtaining verifiable facts, etc., the ChatGPT answers seem to slowly become more reliable if you work at it. Problem is, when all is said and done, does a user finally get a "true" picture of the subject matter? Hard to say, but if used as a search engine, at least it serves better than Google Search, which is basically irrelevant these days.
That said, I asked ChatGPT about early Spanish efforts at Santa Rita del Cobre, about 50 miles west of the Caballos. The official historical narrative is that the Spanish began mining copper/gold in the area in 1803 and shipped the metal overland, straight south to Chihuahua by pack train. Local lore in the area dates Spanish activity much earlier, but those claims are considered "folklore", even though there are a number of Spanish military reports that indirectly support the earlier activities. These are available in historical review papers, etc. if you dig deep enough.
Now, here's a typical ChatGPT response in that dialog:
... In the mid-17th century, records show that Spanish settlers were actively mining copper in the Santa Rita area. In 1663, for example, Governor Juan Francisco Treviño of New Mexico ordered the construction of a smelter at the Santa Rita copper mines to process the ore. Other records from the period also refer to the Santa Rita copper deposits and the mining activities taking place there.
While there is no specific documentation of a concession granted in 1625, it is possible that the Spanish were informally exploiting the copper deposits in the region prior to this time. The lack of documentation may be due to the fact that early Spanish expeditions to the region were often carried out without official permission or oversight. ....
OK, that's a start. Specific dates, allegations and a name. A later probing offered several more names and circumstances, allegedly in the records at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. That all needs to be verified.
More to the topic in the current thread, I asked about a connection between Santa Rita del Cobre and the Caballo Range region. One of ChatGPT's responses:
... According to historical records, the copper was transported by mule and wagon overland to the Rio Grande, where it was loaded onto boats and transported downstream to the city of El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez). From there, the copper was transported to other parts of the Spanish empire, including Mexico City and other major cities in Spain and Europe.
The transportation of copper from Santa Rita to the Rio Grande was a challenging and dangerous undertaking, due to the rugged terrain and the threat of attack from indigenous peoples who were hostile to the Spanish colonizers. Nevertheless, the transport of copper from Santa Rita to the Rio Grande was a critical part of the colonial economy in New Mexico, and played an important role in the development of the region during the Spanish colonial period. ...
If this response can be verified, it could very well explain where Noss's copper bars with gold values originated. The Santa Rita del Cobre region is also home to "folklore" that describes large quantities of nearly pure gold bullion being recovered in the 16th century. We won't go into that here, but if copper bars were shipped to the Rio Grande, one might assume gold was too. [Again: be careful with ChatGPT]
