Letter from Robert T. Emmet, and the Lost Adams Diggings

[UncleMatt]

Hi normally in flat land 30 - 50 miles a day was considered a day's travel. mountains ??

Hmm 4 X 50 + = yep, north central Sonora. snicker

Don Jose de La Mancha

I have spoken to a friend of mine about this, who spent a lot of time on the Spanish/Continental Divide trail in Colorado in the high country. He tells me that the trail in the high country is very easy to walk, and he has been able to do 11 miles in as little as three hours on foot with an injured horse in tow. If you go to geozone, they do an analysis about what a days travel is likely to be distance wise for mule trains, but they were thinking of traveling through the high country forest, not on a well developed trail. They came up with a far shorter distance than my friend has been able to actually do up there. I think 20 to 30 miles is a good days travel on foot or walking pack animal. In the flat or on an easy to navigate high country trail.

 

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[UncleMatt]

Anyone have a comment on the LAD earthquake destruction story I posted about yesterday, one way or the other?

 

[Springfield]

... Springfeild. I agree with your comment in part as there was a tenancy to over romaticise stories around the 1870 onwards, The Era when tabloid began to evolve with various newspapers. The quality of such article varies depending of each journalist. While I agree that it would be folly to rely 100% off any article. The same cane be said about books by so called authorities on such subjects and so called verbal history. A article is only as good as the information provided. but I beg to differ in part as Old newspapers do have their role except not as a sole reference tool. But as complimentary one and a vehicle for further research. One thing you will find at least is an example of what the rumors where back in the date of the publication. But to dismiss their uses as a research tool entirely is folly also.

Corp

I totally agree and wish to clarify my comments. By no means should any of this material be dismissed out of hand, but should be approached clear-headed and without naivety - 'read between the lines' in most cases. We must always consider the reason such articles, books, etc. are published. We can't assume some fortunate discoverer of hidden riches is anxious to share his good fortune - including the location of a a rich gold deposit - with all who will listen. Human nature generally suggests otherwise. However, when we read a lost mine story, it often gives us pause for thought. If motivated to look into it, then we try to get as close to the alleged events as possible. As a point of beginning, a lot of footwork is required checking the venue and its historical accouterments - did the towns, stage lines, trails, businesses, et al, actually exist? What about the protagonists - can we confirm their identities in the public record?

Then, the hard part - how close to alleged the events can we get? If a protagonist told the story directly to you, that's one degree of separation - the best possible circumstance. At this level, your job boils down to judging the teller's character and truthfulness (and reason for telling you), and working hard at a task more difficult than you might think: two-way human communication. Asking the right questions and interpreting the responses.

What if you are at the second degree of separation - interviewing a third party who interviewed the protagonist? Now the answers you seek are either filtered through the third party or unavailable. This is where human error multiplies and the probability of deception enters. The protagonist may have sincerely wished to share his secret (let's say he was too old to act any further), but the third party may likely have withheld the 'best part of the story' for himself and changed the story. Human nature always prevails. Most likely, if you hear a third party story, you've read it in a publication. Now the mistakes, innocent or intentional, begin to pyramid against the original truth. If you read it in an adventure column in a newspaper, you can bet that you are seeing a ghost image of the original event - if the news guy didn't totally fabricate the tale. A writer wouldn't do that, would he? Many of these tales have a basis in true events, but many don't.

My contention is actually simple - what sort of material would motivate you to actually commit to a significant ground search trying to locate a lost mine? IMO, the less known the story, the better reason to proceed.

 

[Springfield]

I have spoken to a friend of mine about this, who spent a lot of time on the Spanish/Continental Divide trail in Colorado in the high country. He tells me that the trail in the high country is very easy to walk, and he has been able to do 11 miles in as little as three hours on foot with an injured horse in tow. If you go to geozone, they do an analysis about what a days travel is likely to be distance wise for mule trains, but they were thinking of traveling through the high country forest, not on a well developed trail. They came up with a far shorter distance than my friend has been able to actually do up there. I think 20 to 30 miles is a good days travel on foot or walking pack animal. In the flat or on an easy to navigate high country trail.

I've done thousands of miles hiking every type of terrain you can imagine. I'm an efficient walker and try to maintain the same cadence, up, down and flat - shorter strides up and down, and about 30" on a level, good surface. On foot, I'd be satisfied with an average of 2-1/2 miles an hour on a good trail on reasonably level ground - 10 or 12 miles a day, let's say, for a backpacking trip. On horseback, 30 miles is acceptable in good terrain, especially with a large group going a long way - you have to make sure the animals are fed, watered and rested. Of course, the Apaches would ride a horse to death then eat it, but most of these pioneer-types knew they were in big trouble if they lost their ride, and took good care of the livestock.

The Baxter story. According to McKenna (Black Range Tales is a great book), Baxter was a man to be respected and, presumably believed. I know the earthquake was a major true event, but I've always felt that using it as an excuse for the gold deposit being covered up was a bit fishy. If true, it might explain why the diggings haven't been found. Hard to say, but it's a bit hard to swallow.

 

[UncleMatt]

I've read some earth quake data that another member posted about quakes in NM, and there were a few. Not sure about their timing though, so not sure if its a major true event in the story or not.

How high would the canyon walls have to be relative to the canyon's width to completely fill or cover the interior of the canyon if the walls fell in a quake? Or at least enough to make it unrecognizable? And that would also be big enough for trees to grow in large enough to build a cabin with.

I've done thousands of miles hiking every type of terrain you can imagine. I'm an efficient walker and try to maintain the same cadence, up, down and flat - shorter strides up and down, and about 30" on a level, good surface. On foot, I'd be satisfied with an average of 2-1/2 miles an hour on flat ground - 10 or 12 miles a day, let's say, for a backpacking trip. On horseback, 30 miles is acceptable in good terrain, especially with a large group going a long way - you have to make sure the animals are fed, watered and rested. Of course, the Apaches would ride a horse to death then eat it, but most of these pioneer-types knew they were in big trouble if they lost their ride, and took good care of the livestock.

The Baxter story. According to McKenna (Black Range Tales is a great book), Baxter was a man to be respected and, presumably believed. I know the earthquake was a major true event, but I've always felt that using it as an excuse for the gold deposit being covered up was a bit fishy. If true, it might explain why the diggings haven't been found. Hard to say, but it's a bit hard to swallow.

 

[Springfield]

I've read some earth quake data that another member posted about quakes in NM, and there were a few. Not sure about their timing though, so not sure if its a major true event in the story or not.

How high would the canyon walls have to be relative to the canyon's width to completely fill or cover the interior of the canyon if the walls fell in a quake? Or at least enough to make it unrecognizable? And that would also be big enough for trees to grow in large enough to build a cabin with.

From http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/periodicals/earthmatters/9/EMv9n1_09.pdf

" ... The largest regional historic earthquake was the 1887 M 7.4 earthquake that ruptured 63 miles (101 km) of the Pitaycachi fault in Sonora, Mexico. The event was felt as far away as Santa Fe to the north, Toluca near Mexico City to the south, Yuma, Arizona, on the west, and 155 miles (96 km) east of El Paso, Texas. The earthquake caused 51 deaths in small communities close to the epicenter due to collapsed adobe structures. Many landslides and ground cracks were reported ..."

 

[UncleMatt]

But that is probably too far away to have caused the damage that is described in Jack Purcell's book, isn't it? From the story:
"The whole mountain looked as if it had been crushed by giant hands, as a child would crush a snowball".

That sounds like there may have been a quake closer, or even centered on the area, that maybe wasn't even reported in historical records. I was in Sacramento in the late 1980's when that big quake struck San Francisco/Bay Area. I got nauseated a little, so I knew the ground was moving, and all the parts hung on pegs in the auto parts place I was working at started swinging around in place. But nothing that could have damaged geological structures or buildings. So I don't think the quake in Mexico would have caused the damage described in Jack's book.

Curious, though, many of the LAD stories state that a geologist would never have found the LAD, because there were no signs of mineralization around it. Yet in the Baxter story there is talk of "pink hills" and "copper stained shale". We also know that gold forms in areas that are subject to a lot of quakes, which opens up veins in the rocks for mineral bearing water to flow through and leave deposits. Perhaps the LAD is in an area that is, for whatever reason, very geologically unstable/active relative to surrounding areas. The relatively recent lava flows in the area also bear witness to this guess of mine. But perhaps the same conditions that were conducive to gold formation there have now hidden the LAD from our searching eyes with an earthquake that destroyed the site.

I live in Albuquerque, and as a single guy have a lot of time on my hands. I may start driving over into that area, and I am often over there for work. I love my lost treasure hunts in the San Juans, but may also start looking at this tale, which is a little closer to Albuquerque.

 

[Springfield]

I just dug out Black Range Tales and re-read McKenna's story about Jason Baxter finding the LAD and the earthquake later destroying the canyon. Seems like Baxter never recovered any gold when he first entered the canyon - he was too busy fighting for his life against the Apaches. As he was making his escape in a raging storm in the middle of the night, lightning flashes illuminated a burned down cabin and some sluice boxes, but he was in too big a hurry to investigate further - Indians, you know. Must have been the rich canyon though - right? Baxter's main landmark was 'Island Mountain', presumably somewhere west of Socorro.

Later, he led McKenna back to the canyon and claimed all the good stuff was buried under landslides.

Interestingly, Baxter claimed the Adams Diggings ("if they existed," as he said) were the same place as the Shaeffer Diggings, the Snively Diggings and the Ni**er Diggings - all referred to as the Lost Canyon Diggings. Baxter, who claimed to know Adams, also said, "I never put much stock in Adams' tale." Baxter was also described as having ridden with Quantrill's raiders during the Civil War - might be a message here for you JJ followers.

 

[UncleMatt]

I have finished reading several books recommended by other LAD commentators here, and now understand much better what the situation was and is. Does Jack Purcell post here? If not, has anyone been in contact with him or know him?

I spoke with dustedyou last night, and he has been exploring old abandoned mines smack dab in the middle of the LAD search area around HYW 60 in NM. Until I talked to him about it last night, he had never heard of the LAD. I plan on getting together with him very soon and making sure he knows what to look for, as he is a true desert varmint. He is constantly prospecting in the area out there anyway, so he might as well keep an eye out for certain other things while he is at it.

If it weren't for the fact that Adams and others came back and looked for the LAD location for many years, I would think it was all made up to cover a gold heist from a group headed east. Why would more than one survivor of the attack that year, including Adams himself, come back and search many years later if there wasn't something to find? For show? I kinda doubt it. It is very possible, though, that Brewer was able to find it and used the gold to start up his operation in Mexico. Even so, I doubt he would have removed all traces of the placer, as has been pointed out by others.

 

[lastleg]

I can imagine a scenario with Adams bragging about his exploits in the local ginmils until being
"persuaded" to show his cards or become a laughingstock.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Springfield:

Guess I'm slow on the uptake. While reading your post it came to me where Will Henry got the title for his novel - McKenna's Gold.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

CI:

I don't think the White Caps were KKK. They were part of the long history of California Vigilantes. There were at least three cycles of those - two during the Gold Rush/post-Gold Rush period in San Francisco.

Sadly, California had a number of these movements - down to the 1930s. There was a well-known lynching of suspects in San Jose.

Unlike in the Deep South, these movements were not primarily racially oriented.

And, of course, they were not limited to California. In Helldorado, Billy Breckenridge mentions late in life he was invited to a hanging by a local sheriff. He declined, thinking he'd seen three already - none of them, however, conducted by officers of the court.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[UncleMatt]

Please forgive if this was posted earlier, but here is a document showing Robert T Emmet being posted at a Union military camp in 1877 in New Mexico.

 

[UncleMatt]

He was later posted in Oklahoma in 1883, and finished up his military career in New York around 1898. Ancestry.com has all of his military postings over the years available online.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

While researching Henry O. Flipper's time at West Point - specifically, where in the Class of 1877 he graduated - I was reading the roster and found that Robert T. Emmet was a classmate of his! Second Lieut. Emmet graduated 53rd in a class of 76 (2nd Lieut. Flipper was 50th).

Lieut. Emmet was Aide-de-camp to Major-General Pope from January 7, 1882 to October 21, 1885. To refresh the reader's memory, the letter in question was dated March 5, 1882.

I also read that Lieut. Emmet was on "Frontier Duty" at Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, from December 26, 1877, to March 18, 1878, then on the Ute Expedition until September 10, 1878. Lieut Emmet was transferred to Ft. Union "commanding Indian scouts in the field" until February 10, 1881, "being engaged in fights with Apache Indians" on September 18 and 29, 1879, and April 12, 1880.

He was promoted to First Lieutenant on January 20, 1883.

- Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York...Third edition, revised and extended (Boston & New York: 1891).

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo