LUE clue...the Obit of Hardrock Hammond

[Crow]

Its seems all very suspicious that this story 1929? With Ajo in which had Arizona first open cut copper mine.

The ore mined there was smelter into blister copper ingots. below

Blister copper ingots with have impurities in then Some time lead silver gold and other metals in then they are reprocessed in a refinery. Ajo did not have the capacity to refine the copper blister it produced until an updated plant 1924 with anode casting and tank house refining, precious metal plant capacity.

If the story of treasure being found in 1929 was true. it might of been pilfered blister ingots before 1924. after then pilfer precious metals from the precious metals plant.

In 1929, during a period of “stabilization,” copper men squeezed their price up to stratospheric levels of nearly 24¢ per lb. It was a cordial invitation to open every high-cost mine in the world. By 1933, the U. S. price was down to less than 5¢ per lb., foreign quotations to 4.40¢.

So temptation was there for employees to pilfer copper ingot or even process refined copper or precious metals.

A strike in 1985 led Phelps Dodge to suspend production, and depressed worldwide copper prices throughout the 1990s stymied efforts to reopen the mine. Nearby are the Papago Indian Reservation (east), the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (west), and the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (south).

Mining stopped in 1985. PD remained a presence in the community but sold much of its holdings, including the Plaza and the company housing. The remaining mines property is now owned by Freeport-McMoran Gold and Silver, Inc., which merged with Phelps Dodge in 2007.

That sure I am not sure there is any substance to the alleged Lue being connected to AJO operation?

Before 1872 AJo did not exist. the area is copper belt with very little significant gold vein deposits.

Crow

 

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[Crow]

The smelter below was fully functional by 1924 before that date ingots of blister was produced and shipped out through San Diego. A little more research Ajo smelter did have a tank house where used cathodes to help resolve copper anode in the electrolysis process. this the surrey of impurities could be processed in gold and silver in a precious metals plant.

Here is anode furnace creating copper anodes from the copper blister. Copper anodes are used in the purification of steel during the process of steel making. Electrolytic refining is the process of refining copper from other metals by passing an electric current through a solution of copper sulfate.

Looking at furnace below it look like a type 2 reverbitory furnace which would of used timer to reduce oxygen in blister copper to refine it to be into copper anode.

In the picture below you can see the anode cooling tanks and the anode casting wheel behind it. the furnace would have tap hole usually blocked clay.

And when the oxygen levels are reduced either by timber placed in the bath of molten copper or gas pumped in to push the air out. When air content reduced the furnace is ready to cast. unblocking the tap hole the molten metal flows down a series of heated launders into casting ladle pouring anodes in wheel of molds.

Here is the cast copper anodes below.

They they are sent to a tank house below. and placed in between sheets of cathodes over time the anodes dissolve and copper transfers to cathode and impurities such as gold silver etc fall to the bottom of the tank in slurry.

The slurry is sent to precious metal plant where through flotation tanks is separated.

If any gold came out Ajo area it was originally from theft most likely through employed in the late 1920s stolen over a periods of time.

Having worked in the industry I knew it easy to fOR employees to cheat their employees. While most plants had security there was ingenious ways to pilfer Copper and precious metals.

My guess this alleged treasure found in 1929 if the story was true? was actually from pilfering from smelting and refining process.

So if anything was recovered in 1965 my guess it would of been connected to previous employees 1929 pilfering from the smelting and refining process.

is this connected to Lue if any? is matter for conjecture.

Crow

 

[sdcfia]

. . . .
If any gold came out Ajo area it was originally from theft most likely through employed in the late 1920s stolen over a periods of time.

Having worked in the industry I knew it easy to fOR employees to cheat their employees. While most plants had security there was ingenious ways to pilfer Copper and precious metals.

My guess this alleged treasure found in 1929 if the story was true? was actually from pilfering from smelting and refining process.

So if anything was recovered in 1965 my guess it would of been connected to previous employees 1929 pilfering from the smelting and refining process.

is this connected to Lue if any? is matter for conjecture.

Crow

Ajo's copper mine was a "classic" open pit operation until its closure. Without the data, my guess is that most of the total production figures reported (Cu-Au-Ag) were recovered far, far later than 1929. At best, by 1929, IMO, any gold and silver would have been recovered in the flotation process. These concentrates would have been sent to a precious metals smelter for secondary refining, as far as I can determine Ajo was only smelting blister copper.

I can't imagine workers high-grading flotation sludge and smelting it themselves. The "Ajo treasure" was reported to be "A huge cache of 500 to 700 fine gold and silver slugs". If true, this sounds to me a lot like crude smelting of high grade ore. For example, concentration of the ore using arrastras/amalgamation, then crude smelting into "slugs".

Crow, you presented the geology of the Ajo Mine deposits. Sounds similar to many other Southwestern USA copper mines. Speculation: if the Spanish had found the Ajo deposit, or another rich surface deposit of high-grade gold somewhere in the region, they had the capability of producing the type of bullion reported as the "Ajo treasure". For comparison, the early Santa Rita del Cobre records indicate much extremely rich near-surface gold ores easily recovered there along with massive amounts of native copper by the Spanish, at least a hundred years before the lower grade open pit operation commenced.

As you asked, is this connected to the LUE? Beats me, I still don't have a clear idea what the hell the LUE is.

 

[Randy Bradford]

The only information that I've read about the Ajo cache, is what has been posted on this thread. Was there a map that led to the Ajo cache?

I'll post the story that ran from the PCI newsletter soon, I haven't read it in a while so it might shed some light. I believe it was published in 1968, so the LUE was a known commodity but hadn't been written about like it would be in 1970....

 

[Crow]

Okay some times Crow's old brain is like a fried turkeys.

You might of experienced this Yourself! When you remember story from a long time ago? And you cannot quite remember THE full details of the story? I might of already posted the details here many years ago. I Have been on here on the forum nearly 20 years.

I have hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from all over the globe. So much i forget where crap is? I will give you the part as my old fart of memory can remember.

There was a man living in mining area in the early 20th century as out hunting near a mining town. hunting deer and found a small cave in the rain and discovered a box full of bars. I think silver or copper?

I cannot remember the name? it was in a newspaper article. He recovered the bars which was supposed to have been pilfered from a mining operation? He sold the bars and bought a store in which he managed. I confirmed through census when I had his name. And I think I am not sure it could be related the Ajo mining district?

This may or may not be Johnson person connected to Ajo? If so? I did not know the later Hammond Miller connection in 1960's

As it being connected to the Lue I am not sure? Hell I am note sure the whole story of Lue was just ruse distracted would be treasure hunters away from karl's own pet projects?

Crow.

 

[mdog]

Okay some times Crow's old brain is like a fried turkeys.

You might of experienced this Yourself! When you remember story from a long time ago? And you cannot quite remember THE full details of the story? I might of already posted the details here many years ago. I Have been on here on the forum nearly 20 years.

I have hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from all over the globe. So much i forget where crap is? I will give you the part as my old fart of memory can remember.

There was a man living in mining area in the early 20th century as out hunting near a mining town. hunting deer and found a small cave in the rain and discovered a box full of bars. I think silver or copper?

I cannot remember the name? it was in a newspaper article. He recovered the bars which was supposed to have been pilfered from a mining operation? He sold the bars and bought a store in which he managed. I confirmed through census when I had his name. And I think I am not sure it could be related the Ajo mining district?

This may or may not be Johnson person connected to Ajo? If so? I did not know the later Hammond Miller connection in 1960's

As it being connected to the Lue I am not sure? Hell I am note sure the whole story of Lue was just ruse distracted would be treasure hunters away from karl's own pet projects?

Crow.

I've been studying the LUE Map for several months and posted my research in my thread, LUE MAP THEORY, MAYBE SOME CONTEXT. I'm confident in my research and have found that you have to know other information, in order for the LUE Map to make sense. You have to have the LUE Map, a constellation chart and a map of the United States that shows latitude and longitude as curved lines. With those tools, the LUE Map will lead you to specific locations associated with treasure legends and some locations where treasure has been recovered, some in the eastern United States. You must also know that the constellation Auriga was important to whatever group engineered the LUE mapping. The locations and treasure legends, associated with the LUE Map, were created over a period of a couple hundred years, so Von Mueller couldn't have fabricated it.

 

[mdog]

Its seems all very suspicious that this story 1929? With Ajo in which had Arizona first open cut copper mine.

View attachment 2170340

The ore mined there was smelter into blister copper ingots. below

View attachment 2170341

Blister copper ingots with have impurities in then Some time lead silver gold and other metals in then they are reprocessed in a refinery. Ajo did not have the capacity to refine the copper blister it produced until an updated plant 1924 with anode casting and tank house refining, precious metal plant capacity.

If the story of treasure being found in 1929 was true. it might of been pilfered blister ingots before 1924. after then pilfer precious metals from the precious metals plant.

In 1929, during a period of “stabilization,” copper men squeezed their price up to stratospheric levels of nearly 24¢ per lb. It was a cordial invitation to open every high-cost mine in the world. By 1933, the U. S. price was down to less than 5¢ per lb., foreign quotations to 4.40¢.

So temptation was there for employees to pilfer copper ingot or even process refined copper or precious metals.

A strike in 1985 led Phelps Dodge to suspend production, and depressed worldwide copper prices throughout the 1990s stymied efforts to reopen the mine. Nearby are the Papago Indian Reservation (east), the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (west), and the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (south).

Mining stopped in 1985. PD remained a presence in the community but sold much of its holdings, including the Plaza and the company housing. The remaining mines property is now owned by Freeport-McMoran Gold and Silver, Inc., which merged with Phelps Dodge in 2007.

View attachment 2170343

That sure I am not sure there is any substance to the alleged Lue being connected to AJO operation?

Before 1872 AJo did not exist. the area is copper belt with very little significant gold vein deposits.

Crow

I ran across this treasure legend and I thought it was interesting that the gold bars were stamped AJO.

1. In 1879, four outlaws robbed a stage near Gila Bend and made off with $125,000 in gold coins and 22 gold bars stamped “AJO”. The next day, the same gang robbed another stage near Stanwix Station obtaining 2 chests containing $140,000 in gold coins and $60,000 in currency. Fleeing northeastward when the posse trailed them into the Tonto Basin country, than northwestward when the posse finally overtook them. In the shootout, 2 of the gang were shot and killedand the other 2 escaped, making their way to Holbrook where they waited for things to quiet down. Here, one of the bandits was killed in a poker game and the other, Henry Tice, in a fit of anger, shot and killed the gambler. An irate made a quick job of justice and killed him.
   The search area for this huge store of treasure has centered around the cliffs between Mormon Lake and Flagstaff. All efforts to locate this hoard have failed.

I don't know anything about refining precious metals, but I was wondering, could the insignificant amounts of gold from the Ajo copper. have been recovered from a refinery up by Wickenburg, where there was more gold being recovered?

 

[mdog]

Okay some times Crow's old brain is like a fried turkeys.

You might of experienced this Yourself! When you remember story from a long time ago? And you cannot quite remember THE full details of the story? I might of already posted the details here many years ago. I Have been on here on the forum nearly 20 years.

I have hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from all over the globe. So much i forget where crap is? I will give you the part as my old fart of memory can remember.

There was a man living in mining area in the early 20th century as out hunting near a mining town. hunting deer and found a small cave in the rain and discovered a box full of bars. I think silver or copper?

I cannot remember the name? it was in a newspaper article. He recovered the bars which was supposed to have been pilfered from a mining operation? He sold the bars and bought a store in which he managed. I confirmed through census when I had his name. And I think I am not sure it could be related the Ajo mining district?

This may or may not be Johnson person connected to Ajo? If so? I did not know the later Hammond Miller connection in 1960's

As it being connected to the Lue I am not sure? Hell I am note sure the whole story of Lue was just ruse distracted would be treasure hunters away from karl's own pet projects?

Crow.

Hi Crow,

This Arizona treasure lead is from an old post by Tnet member GoldBack, and might explain why Johnson and his two friends were southeast of Ajo and close to the Mexican border.

"This has also been referred to as the Ajo Treasure. It is said that church valuables including gold and silver bullion have been hidden along the roadway between Sonoyta Mexico and the Tumacacori Mission. The old road was called Carretta Road. (Not so new but still a good one)"

Here's a map showing the area.

 

[Crow]

I ran across this treasure legend and I thought it was interesting that the gold bars were stamped AJO.

1. In 1879, four outlaws robbed a stage near Gila Bend and made off with $125,000 in gold coins and 22 gold bars stamped “AJO”. The next day, the same gang robbed another stage near Stanwix Station obtaining 2 chests containing $140,000 in gold coins and $60,000 in currency. Fleeing northeastward when the posse trailed them into the Tonto Basin country, than northwestward when the posse finally overtook them. In the shootout, 2 of the gang were shot and killedand the other 2 escaped, making their way to Holbrook where they waited for things to quiet down. Here, one of the bandits was killed in a poker game and the other, Henry Tice, in a fit of anger, shot and killed the gambler. An irate made a quick job of justice and killed him.
   The search area for this huge store of treasure has centered around the cliffs between Mormon Lake and Flagstaff. All efforts to locate this hoard have failed.

I don't know anything about refining precious metals, but I was wondering, could the insignificant amounts of gold from the Ajo copper. have been recovered from a refinery up by Wickenburg, where there was more gold being recovered?

In short no as there was no refinery separating gold from copper ore. Wickenburg had its own set of problems during that time frame around 1879.

Crow

 

[sdcfia]

. . . .

As it being connected to the Lue I am not sure? Hell I am note sure the whole story of Lue was just ruse distracted would be treasure hunters away from karl's own pet projects?

Crow.

Very astute observation Crow. Miller is a superb ringmaster, KVM The Great, but . . .

As far as the "LUE" itself is concerned, regardless whose ideas they are, various folks have adamantly placed it in all the 4 Corners states. Miners' high-grade theft stash, Spanish mining cache, Nazi anti-US booty, Aztec riches, KGC distraction. Out of this multiple choice test, I guess I'd pencil in the last option and pay attention to mdog's mapping concept.

What's next, extraterrestrials? The topic may be a waste of time, but there's not much else happening on TNet lately.

 

[Crow]

I found the following in History of the Ajo Mining District, Pima County, Arizona by David F. Briggs, Geologist.

Tohono O’odham Indians and their ancestors mined hematite from the hills around present day Ajo for many centuries prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers during the 1530s. Used as body paint, hematite was dug from shallow pits at a site known to the Indians as “au àuho,” which means paint. Later explorers used a similar sounding Spanish word, “Ajo”,meaning garlic, as the name of this site (Greeley,
1987).

During the late 1600s, Jesuit missionaries established numerous missions in northern Sonora and southern Arizona, including a mission at Sonoytain 1693.

These early settlements served as bases for early prospectors, who intermittently explored and developed primitive mining operations in the surrounding mountains. As more settlers arrived, there were episodic conflicts with the Indians, including the Pima Revolt of 1751. These uprisings disrupted mining activities at the remote sites.

This unrest led to the establishment of a number of
presidios - fortified bases - including Santa Gertrudis de Altar (1755) in northern Sonora and San Ignacio de Tubac (1752) and San Augustin de Tucson (1775)

in southern Arizona. At the outset of the Mexican
Revolution (1810-1821), the withdrawal of Spanish
troops from the region left many of the settlements.
missions and mines vulnerable to Indian raids and
outlaw depredations. Although protection was
gradually reestablished following the revolution,
significant mineral exploration and development did not resume until the mid-1850’s (Greeley, 1987).

Note sdcfia description of the alleged find gold and silver slugs is primitive process of casting A small crucible and furnace could melt gold. casting into wet clay with stick pushed holes in wet clay for a mold. Silver was a bit hard. But the silver may of cane from native raw silver which at the time not impossible. Either early Spanish prospectors could of resorted to those method.

These gold and silver slugs could hidden during the Prima revolt. But the said they could also occurred much later also?

Crow

 

[Crow]

n 1847, Tom Childs, a member of a group of 19
prospectors exploring the Cubabi Mountains southeast of Sonoyta, Sonora, heard rumors of a copper prospect at three little peaks north of the town of Sonoyta at a site named Ajo.

On their return to Tucson, the prospecting party found evidence of this early mining activity in the area that would become the Ajo mining district, including shallow open cuts in the hillside and a 60-foot inclined shaft that was accessed by ladders made from notched mesquite logs. They also found
buckets fashioned from rawhide that were used to
extract the mined material by hand (Greeley, 1987).

Note my thoughts this was evidence of earlier Spanish attempts at the site.


With the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican American War on February 2, i848, the United States acquired California, Nevada,Utah and portions of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Arizona. Unknown to both governments, gold had been discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s sawmill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848, nine days prior to the signing of this treaty.

As news of this discovery became known, prospectors from northern Sonora used El Camino del Diablo (aka the Devils Highway) to reach the California goldfields. Connecting Altar, Sonora and Yuma, Arizona, this trail passes very close to Ajo (Greeley, 1987).
Note this alleged treasure discovery near Ajo in 1929 could been buried by Mexican miners from Senora returning from the gold fields in California?

A portion of southwestern New Mexico and Arizona
south of the Gila River was purchased from Mexico
for $10 million through the successful completion of
the Gadsden Purchase in June 1854. This acquisition resolved outstanding border issues with Mexico following the end of the Mexican American War and provided a favorable terrain to construct a
transcontinental railroad along a southern route.

Returning to Texas from the California goldfields
in 1850, Peter Rainsford Brady met Tom Childs in
Tucson, who told him about his prospecting trip to
Ajo several years earlier. In 1853, Peter Brady joined
the survey party led by Colonel Andrew B. Gray, who
History of the Ajo Mining District, Pima County, Arizona 2 had been assigned the task of finding a suitable route for the southern transcontinental railroad, connecting Indianola, Texas with San Diego, California.

While on this expedition, the survey party passed through the town of Sonoyta, Sonora. With the help of a Seri Indian guide, Brady visited the Ajo site, where he gathered a number of rich ore samples. After completing this survey project, Peter Brady went to San Francisco, where he established the Arizona Mining and Trading Company in August 1854.

Other notable shareholders of this business venture included Robert Allen, Tom Childs, Colonel Andrew Gray, Granville Oury and Frederick Ronstadt (Greeley, 1987).

Shortly after the Arizona Mining and Trading Company began prospecting the area in October 1854, several wealthy citizens of Sonora claimed Ajo was located in Mexico. In March 1855, a company of Mexican cavalry was sent to Ajo to arrest Americans working at the site. This confrontation produced a skirmish that resulted in the Mexican cavalry returning to Sonora empty handed.

By September 1855, an official survey of the United States-Mexico boundary had been completed, with Ajo being located approximately 40 miles north of the border (Gilluly, 1946)

Crow

 

[Crow]

By the end of 1855, 17 mining claims had been
located near Ajo, a wagon road constructed to
Petato (now known as Gila Bend) and local Tohono
O’odham Indians were hired to help mine the ore.

Note: Interesting to note a connection to Gila bend

Approximately 10 tons of hand-sorted, high-grade ore, consisting mostly of cuprite and native copper was transported 300 miles by ox-drawn wagons through Fort Yuma to the port of San Diego and shipped by boat around Cape Horn to Swansea, Wales for smelting.

Note I am blown away ore was shipped to Wales for smelting?

Later ore shipments were transferred to
barges at Fort Yuma and floated down the Colorado River to the port of Guaymas, Sonora on the Gulf of California for trans-shipment to Swansea, Wales. (Greeley, 1987).

With the viability of this business venture threatened by high transportation costs, a reverberatory furnace was erected at Ajo in 1856 at a cost of $30,000. However, this alternative failed due to a lack of a suitable flux and the high cost of coke or charcoal to fuel the smelter. Unable to make this business venture profitable due to its remote location, high freight costs, low grade of the ores and the lack of water, the Arizona Mining and Trading Company ceased operations by 1859 (Greeley, 1987).

Note reverberatory furnace was erected at Ajo in 1856. So they could of been casting crude ingots from at least 1856. those ingots would of had silver gold copper mixed in.

Little gold other than little bit of placer deposit. Dis not seem to dominate the copper field. Silver and gold was secondary by products of smelting and refining.

So I am in agreement with sdcfia that this alleged discovery of gold and silver did not originate from Ajo itself a copper producing area could of originated from californium gold fields by Mexicans from Senora along the camio el dieablo that came into conflict with Indians or robber and hid their gold and silver died and never returned?

or earlier Spanish miners during the Prima revolt or another Indian uprising or attack?

So for me I See no evidence to support that this alleged treasure discovery in 1929 or the alleged 1965 could be connected to the Lue.

Do I know what the Lue is hell no! But i know whats it not. I am not sure hardrock Hammond or CVM ever went or even obtained a map of the Lue from Johnson. Not in the context to being part of alleged discoveries in 1929 and 1965?

The problem we have with these treasure stories they are fun to speculate but they are drowning in half truths and out right fantasy add by people repeating hearsay. Don't you love treasure legends. As soon as think you know the story it bites you in the ass.

That is why my tailed feather are half missing?

Crow

 

[Randy Bradford]

Desert Magazine did a 1950s era article on Ajo and the copper mining...I'd be happy to post if anyone's interested...

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

By the end of 1855, 17 mining claims had been
located near Ajo, a wagon road constructed to
Petato (now known as Gila Bend) and local Tohono
O’odham Indians were hired to help mine the ore.

Note: Interesting to note a connection to Gila bend

Approximately 10 tons of hand-sorted, high-grade ore, consisting mostly of cuprite and native copper was transported 300 miles by ox-drawn wagons through Fort Yuma to the port of San Diego and shipped by boat around Cape Horn to Swansea, Wales for smelting.

Note I am blown away ore was shipped to Wales for smelting?

Later ore shipments were transferred to
barges at Fort Yuma and floated down the Colorado River to the port of Guaymas, Sonora on the Gulf of California for trans-shipment to Swansea, Wales. (Greeley, 1987).

With the viability of this business venture threatened by high transportation costs, a reverberatory furnace was erected at Ajo in 1856 at a cost of $30,000. However, this alternative failed due to a lack of a suitable flux and the high cost of coke or charcoal to fuel the smelter. Unable to make this business venture profitable due to its remote location, high freight costs, low grade of the ores and the lack of water, the Arizona Mining and Trading Company ceased operations by 1859 (Greeley, 1987).

Note reverberatory furnace was erected at Ajo in 1856. So they could of been casting crude ingots from at least 1856. those ingots would of had silver gold copper mixed in.

Little gold other than little bit of placer deposit. Dis not seem to dominate the copper field. Silver and gold was secondary by products of smelting and refining.

So I am in agreement with sdcfia that this alleged discovery of gold and silver did not originate from Ajo itself a copper producing area could of originated from californium gold fields by Mexicans from Senora along the camio el dieablo that came into conflict with Indians or robber and hid their gold and silver died and never returned?

or earlier Spanish miners during the Prima revolt or another Indian uprising or attack?

So for me I See no evidence to support that this alleged treasure discovery in 1929 or the alleged 1965 could be connected to the Lue.

Do I know what the Lue is hell no! But i know whats it not. I am not sure hardrock Hammond or CVM ever went or even obtained a map of the Lue from Johnson. Not in the context to being part of alleged discoveries in 1929 and 1965?

The problem we have with these treasure stories they are fun to speculate but they are drowning in half truths and out right fantasy add by people repeating hearsay. Don't you love treasure legends. As soon as think you know the story it bites you in the ass.

That is why my tailed feather are half missing?

Crow

Then you have this very similar story putting a LUE (Jesuit?) treasure in the mountains near Sells, a mere hour east of Ajo. Is it related? Unfortunately this poster hasn’t been on the forum since 2021, so we can’t ask them.

Jesuit Treasure - Putting It All Together

1 pic, is the gold we obtained from about 20 lbs of dirt in the area they worked. 2 pic, that is the mountain where I missed the large treasure in a cave. Near the top about the middle. Side entrance not visible from the front. 3 pic, example of the area in search at the moment, this is a...

www.treasurenet.com

 

[Randy Bradford]

As promised...not only the NPG version of the Ajo Tresure story but also the entry from The Encyclopedia of Tresure Hunting and for comprehensiveness, the picture I posted previously along with a few comments. A couple of leads in here to run down, for the really research minded. Pardon the formatting, T-Net has some limitations that make direct copies with format difficult at best. Document is available in PDF if you'd like, simply email your request to: [email protected]

Ajo Treasure
By KARL von MUELLER
National Prospector’s Gazette
Volume 3, No. 2 – March-April 1957
​

This is one of my favorite tales. Of all of the treasure stories which I have ever investigated, I believe this is the one which I would hold up as my favorite. With possible slight errors due to my own memory taken into consideration, I know this tale to be true because by intent or accident I have come to meet or know several of the principals in the story.
The setting for this story is in southern Arizona in the area of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The actual treasure cache could very well be on either side of the border.
The story actually starts at Ajo, Arizona in the very late ‘20’s. Ajo was literally a man-made mining town where everything, including the soil, had been hauled in to provide some semblance to living conditions in the more verdant areas.

TRIO​

Among the many miners employed in the copper mines were a trio who, like many others, did considerable prospecting on the side when time permitted. Jack McGraw was a loyal Irishman who came to work in the pits from New York City. He was a tool grinder by trade. Johnnie (Swede) Johnson was a blacksmith by trade and his extraordinary knowledge of tempering out him in charge of the drill dressing shop. He came to Ajo from Cass County, Nebraska. Third man in the inseparable trio was Roger Martin who came to Ajo from England with a several year stop-over in various Colorado mining camps and the Wyoming oil fields. Martin was a dump boss.
Times were getting pretty rough at the time and every man with a lick of sense in his head was getting more and more interested in looking to the future. Little money could be saved from earnings at the mine so the more ambitious men on the payroll did whatever prospecting and mining that they could in their spare time in order to establish a bank account or to have a little spare money to send home. This trio did what mining and prospecting they could in their spare time.
Martin spoke the Spanish language fluently when he came to Ajo, so it was with little trouble that he was able to handle the Mexican lingo. McGraw and Johnson both learned practically all of their Mexican from the miners.

MEXICAN​

One of the errand boys around the camp was a native Mexican who had made his way to Ajo from Quitovac. On several occasions, this young Mexican was befriended and protected by Johnson. Consequently, he followed Johnson with undivided loyalty. As time went on, the Mexican confided in Johnson the approximate whereabouts of a gold deposit where the outcropping was rich with pure gold. Johnson asked the Mexican to tell his buddies, Martin and McGraw, about this deposit. Not much was done about the entire affair until a slow-down in operations at the mine gave the three Americans some spare time to think the matter over. To keep the planning above board, the Americans to the Mexican that they would like to locate the deposit if it was all right with him. He was fully agreeable and even offered to throw in his lot with them, and this is the way it was set up.

START​

They headed south into the Ajo Mountains following a well defined old trail. At one point they came to a spring which was located close to a dense growth of organ pipe cactus (this is unquestionably now in the Organ Pipe National Monument) and veered off sharply to the left, or east toward the Sawtooth Mountains (now known as the Mesquites). Upon reaching the foot of the Sawtooths, the party headed south again. The rest of the route is hazy because they would find, follow, and then depart from old trails from time to time. Neither Swede Johnson nor Martin were dummies when it came to overland travel, so Johnson recorded compass bearings and estimated distances throughout the entire outgoing trip and Martin would check these notes to make sure that they were accurate. These notes were later lost as we will show you.

DEPOSIT​

Anyway, they located the deposit and it was immediately apparent to the Americans that this deposit had been worked some time in the past. Shortly after arriving at the deposit the Mexican asked leave to depart to visit some of his people and this was granted. The Americans proceeded to investigate the deposit and surrounding area.
The deposit the Mexican was familiar with was almost to the top of the mountain, but immediately below it was found evidence of considerable work so the trio started excavating with their shovels. The absence of ledge rock in their digging convinced them that they were following an old tunnel. One am would dig, another clear the mouth of the tunnel, and this would generally leave the third man idle. He would scout the area for other signs. McGraw was on the idle trick and looking around when he came upon a pile of trash which was lying on a terrace below and to one side of the diggings. He reported this and the trio went to investigate. Considerable ashes and charcoal could mean only one thing; the existence of a smeltery.
With this reasoning, the digging was halted and further investigation of the entire area resumed.

TREASURE​

The float around one large boulder looked unnatural and it was decided to explore around it. As they started to excavate around it, they found one entire side paved with rock much in the same manner as we lay flagstone today. After removing the float and flagstone, they found digging pretty hard as the backfill had evidently been tamped. At any rate, they continued digging and when they got in behind the boulder they found their bonanza in the form of wedge-shaped ingots weighing from 3 to 5 pounds each. They made an inventory with the ingots in place and concluded that there were at least 6,000 of them and more than likely there would be 10,000. Each man removed five ingots for himself and the excavation was re-covered. Then, they refilled the tunnel, and did a little more exploration work and started back for Ajo.

RETURN​

On the return trip they followed the route by memory and occasionally checked with the compass and corrected any errors in the tack they took from one trail to the other by use of the compass. They took turns checking their bearings with the compass and it was while McGraw was the checker that he was involved in a slide and fall which damaged the compass. Nevertheless, they were forced to rely on the compass in checking their bearings over the terrain which left little or no trail.

LOST​

As might be expected, they were soon hopelessly lost. Johnson was of the opinion that all washes in the area would lead them to the Gila River and civilization. McGraw maintained that the washes would lead them to the Gulf. Martin sided with Johnson, so they followed the washes.

FOUND​

They were eventually picked up somewhere along the Santa Rosa Wash, probably in the vicinity of Casa Grande by several Mexicans who took them to Tucson where they were befriended by another Mexican family. After regaining some of their strength and vitality, they returned to Ajo. Somewhere along the line they had discarded almost all of their possessions. Their notes were lost and of the 15 ingots they had taken from the deposit, only two were left.
One of the ingots was taken to Phoenix for assay and it was learned that it was a gold and silver amalgam.

MARTIN​

Before another trip to the deposit could be made, Martin came down with scarlet fever, or something, in a little settlement on the outskirts of Phoenix. Somehow, a Phoenix doctor and a newspaper reporter got wind of the story and the reporter made a trip to Ajo to interview Johnson and McGraw. Neither would tell him a thing.
In failing health, Martin was shipped back East to be with relatives. This left only two of the trio in the area.

McGRAW​

McGraw accepted a job with a Los Angeles firm to go to South America as a mining engineer, and this left only Johnson in the area.

JOHNSON​

Johnson eventually went back to his Cass County home without ever seeking the deposit again.

MYSTERY​

Considerable mystery surrounds this entire affair. Figuring there were only 1,000 ingots weighing only 3 pounds each means that these men located a fortune. Yet, none of them ever got the gold fever so bad that they had an overwhelming desire to go back. The ingot which was assayed weighed 5 pounds, 1½ ounce. So if we look at this from the other extreme and assume that there were 10,000 of these ingots in place with each weighing at least 5 pounds, we will come up with 50,000 pounds of gold and silver amalgam.

PHOENIX​

Several years ago, a rock shop in Phoenix was selling wedge-shaped ingots somewhat similar to those mentioned in this yarn, and the rumor was that one of the principals in the rock shop had some difficulty with the Bureau of Internal Revenue due to these ingots. I have never checked this phase out.

TODAY​

Martin is an executive in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia today. McGraw is a retired mining man in South America and I corresponded regularly with him up to about 4 years ago. Johnson is retired, too, and will neither confirm nor deny any of the facts set forth herein.
It is interesting to note that although this happened almost 30 years ago, there were no Indian attacks nor furtive shots taken at the trio nor were there any unusual incidents or phenomena similar to those which are always associated with the legendary mines and treasures such as the Pegleg or Lost Dutchman.
Except for a brief article in a Phoenix newspaper ad another brief mention in one of the old pulp Western magazines, I believe this is the first time this tale has been in print.

SIGNS?​

I shall not be a bit surprised, as the years go by, if this tale shall mellow and ripen with age so that as they dug behind the boulder they found a teeming den of rattlesnakes, or that the boulder was literally covered with signs saying ‘Here It Is’ in Spanish, or that some unfriendly Apache reversed the road signs on them so that they got lost on their return trip to Ajo, and I wouldn’t even be a bit surprised if the story pops up that they hauled it all out and hid it right along Highway 80. The fact is that as far as the real principals know, it is still there and as far as they are concerned it can stay there. They tiptoed right up to the brink of the Great Divide once and came away, and they are too old to try again.

ADVICE​

If you harbor an adventurous desire to take a crack at it, do your searching in the winter months and become thoroughly familiar with the natural hazards before you start. Let someone at your jumping off place know where you are going and how long you‘ll be gone. Don’t forget to take along emergency equipment. If you are a tenderfoot, spend a couple of years in the Southwest getting hardened up and learning the ways and etiquette of the land. Hard-boiled, selfish attitudes will get you nothing but disdain. Remember this!!
As I have mentioned many times and as the Gazette has, on occasion, pointed out; when you get west of the Mississippi and into the less populated areas you run into people who speak a different language, people who are the salt of the earth, people whom you can trust to the end of the line, and you are more or less on your honor until you prove yourself.

SAVAGES​

One more thing, some people believe it is still the wild and wooly West. One Brooklynite wrote me for more information on the Julesburg Treasure and inquired about massacres and hold-ups. For the information of the uninitiated, the West is just as well educated and informed as any other part of the country. Look through the detective magazines on your newsstands to see where the bulk of the crime occurs. Look through a roster of business and political executives and you will see that the Middlewest and West provide their share and more of top administrators.

* * * * *

The Prospector’s Club (newsletter) Volume II No. 4 (July 1965)
* * * * *​

From “Encyclopedia of Buried Treasure Hunting” (Originally published in 965) by Karl von Mueller:

Ajo Treasure: A huge cache of 500 to 700 fine gold and silver slug were discovered in 1929 by a trio of mining men nr the U.S. – Mexico border SE of Ajo, Ariz. John E. Johnson, last of the trio, passed away in 1963 and took the secret with him.

* * * * *​

It’s possible, even likely, that this story was referenced in one of Karl’s other works. I have reviewed The Waybills to El Dorado, with nothing being found there. Neither Treasure Hunter’s Manual 6, Treasure Hunter’s Manual 7, nor Sudden Wealth have indexes, so any references to be found will only be done so after diligent searching. My own notes on previous deep dives into these volumes are currently in storage.

RB – 24 Sept. 2024

 

[cyzak]

Then you have this very similar story putting a LUE (Jesuit?) treasure in the mountains near Sells, a mere hour east of Ajo. Is it related? Unfortunately this poster hasn’t been on the forum since 2021, so we can’t ask them.

Jesuit Treasure - Putting It All Together

1 pic, is the gold we obtained from about 20 lbs of dirt in the area they worked. 2 pic, that is the mountain where I missed the large treasure in a cave. Near the top about the middle. Side entrance not visible from the front. 3 pic, example of the area in search at the moment, this is a...

www.treasurenet.com

You never can tell if you go stumbling around down there what you might come across.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

View attachment 2170829
You never can tell if you go stumbling around down there what you might come across.

Interesting rocks. Are they related to the Ajo/Sells/LUE treasures?

I try not to go stumbling around in country like that, I prefer to watch my step. Never know when you could step off into a coyote hole and break a leg.

 

[mdog]

As promised...not only the NPG version of the Ajo Tresure story but also the entry from The Encyclopedia of Tresure Hunting and for comprehensiveness, the picture I posted previously along with a few comments. A couple of leads in here to run down, for the really research minded. Pardon the formatting, T-Net has some limitations that make direct copies with format difficult at best. Document is available in PDF if you'd like, simply email your request to: [email protected]

Ajo Treasure
By KARL von MUELLER
National Prospector’s Gazette
Volume 3, No. 2 – March-April 1957
​

This is one of my favorite tales. Of all of the treasure stories which I have ever investigated, I believe this is the one which I would hold up as my favorite. With possible slight errors due to my own memory taken into consideration, I know this tale to be true because by intent or accident I have come to meet or know several of the principals in the story.
The setting for this story is in southern Arizona in the area of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The actual treasure cache could very well be on either side of the border.
The story actually starts at Ajo, Arizona in the very late ‘20’s. Ajo was literally a man-made mining town where everything, including the soil, had been hauled in to provide some semblance to living conditions in the more verdant areas.

TRIO​

Among the many miners employed in the copper mines were a trio who, like many others, did considerable prospecting on the side when time permitted. Jack McGraw was a loyal Irishman who came to work in the pits from New York City. He was a tool grinder by trade. Johnnie (Swede) Johnson was a blacksmith by trade and his extraordinary knowledge of tempering out him in charge of the drill dressing shop. He came to Ajo from Cass County, Nebraska. Third man in the inseparable trio was Roger Martin who came to Ajo from England with a several year stop-over in various Colorado mining camps and the Wyoming oil fields. Martin was a dump boss.
Times were getting pretty rough at the time and every man with a lick of sense in his head was getting more and more interested in looking to the future. Little money could be saved from earnings at the mine so the more ambitious men on the payroll did whatever prospecting and mining that they could in their spare time in order to establish a bank account or to have a little spare money to send home. This trio did what mining and prospecting they could in their spare time.
Martin spoke the Spanish language fluently when he came to Ajo, so it was with little trouble that he was able to handle the Mexican lingo. McGraw and Johnson both learned practically all of their Mexican from the miners.

MEXICAN​

One of the errand boys around the camp was a native Mexican who had made his way to Ajo from Quitovac. On several occasions, this young Mexican was befriended and protected by Johnson. Consequently, he followed Johnson with undivided loyalty. As time went on, the Mexican confided in Johnson the approximate whereabouts of a gold deposit where the outcropping was rich with pure gold. Johnson asked the Mexican to tell his buddies, Martin and McGraw, about this deposit. Not much was done about the entire affair until a slow-down in operations at the mine gave the three Americans some spare time to think the matter over. To keep the planning above board, the Americans to the Mexican that they would like to locate the deposit if it was all right with him. He was fully agreeable and even offered to throw in his lot with them, and this is the way it was set up.

START​

They headed south into the Ajo Mountains following a well defined old trail. At one point they came to a spring which was located close to a dense growth of organ pipe cactus (this is unquestionably now in the Organ Pipe National Monument) and veered off sharply to the left, or east toward the Sawtooth Mountains (now known as the Mesquites). Upon reaching the foot of the Sawtooths, the party headed south again. The rest of the route is hazy because they would find, follow, and then depart from old trails from time to time. Neither Swede Johnson nor Martin were dummies when it came to overland travel, so Johnson recorded compass bearings and estimated distances throughout the entire outgoing trip and Martin would check these notes to make sure that they were accurate. These notes were later lost as we will show you.

DEPOSIT​

Anyway, they located the deposit and it was immediately apparent to the Americans that this deposit had been worked some time in the past. Shortly after arriving at the deposit the Mexican asked leave to depart to visit some of his people and this was granted. The Americans proceeded to investigate the deposit and surrounding area.
The deposit the Mexican was familiar with was almost to the top of the mountain, but immediately below it was found evidence of considerable work so the trio started excavating with their shovels. The absence of ledge rock in their digging convinced them that they were following an old tunnel. One am would dig, another clear the mouth of the tunnel, and this would generally leave the third man idle. He would scout the area for other signs. McGraw was on the idle trick and looking around when he came upon a pile of trash which was lying on a terrace below and to one side of the diggings. He reported this and the trio went to investigate. Considerable ashes and charcoal could mean only one thing; the existence of a smeltery.
With this reasoning, the digging was halted and further investigation of the entire area resumed.

TREASURE​

The float around one large boulder looked unnatural and it was decided to explore around it. As they started to excavate around it, they found one entire side paved with rock much in the same manner as we lay flagstone today. After removing the float and flagstone, they found digging pretty hard as the backfill had evidently been tamped. At any rate, they continued digging and when they got in behind the boulder they found their bonanza in the form of wedge-shaped ingots weighing from 3 to 5 pounds each. They made an inventory with the ingots in place and concluded that there were at least 6,000 of them and more than likely there would be 10,000. Each man removed five ingots for himself and the excavation was re-covered. Then, they refilled the tunnel, and did a little more exploration work and started back for Ajo.

RETURN​

On the return trip they followed the route by memory and occasionally checked with the compass and corrected any errors in the tack they took from one trail to the other by use of the compass. They took turns checking their bearings with the compass and it was while McGraw was the checker that he was involved in a slide and fall which damaged the compass. Nevertheless, they were forced to rely on the compass in checking their bearings over the terrain which left little or no trail.

LOST​

As might be expected, they were soon hopelessly lost. Johnson was of the opinion that all washes in the area would lead them to the Gila River and civilization. McGraw maintained that the washes would lead them to the Gulf. Martin sided with Johnson, so they followed the washes.

FOUND​

They were eventually picked up somewhere along the Santa Rosa Wash, probably in the vicinity of Casa Grande by several Mexicans who took them to Tucson where they were befriended by another Mexican family. After regaining some of their strength and vitality, they returned to Ajo. Somewhere along the line they had discarded almost all of their possessions. Their notes were lost and of the 15 ingots they had taken from the deposit, only two were left.
One of the ingots was taken to Phoenix for assay and it was learned that it was a gold and silver amalgam.

MARTIN​

Before another trip to the deposit could be made, Martin came down with scarlet fever, or something, in a little settlement on the outskirts of Phoenix. Somehow, a Phoenix doctor and a newspaper reporter got wind of the story and the reporter made a trip to Ajo to interview Johnson and McGraw. Neither would tell him a thing.
In failing health, Martin was shipped back East to be with relatives. This left only two of the trio in the area.

McGRAW​

McGraw accepted a job with a Los Angeles firm to go to South America as a mining engineer, and this left only Johnson in the area.

JOHNSON​

Johnson eventually went back to his Cass County home without ever seeking the deposit again.

MYSTERY​

Considerable mystery surrounds this entire affair. Figuring there were only 1,000 ingots weighing only 3 pounds each means that these men located a fortune. Yet, none of them ever got the gold fever so bad that they had an overwhelming desire to go back. The ingot which was assayed weighed 5 pounds, 1½ ounce. So if we look at this from the other extreme and assume that there were 10,000 of these ingots in place with each weighing at least 5 pounds, we will come up with 50,000 pounds of gold and silver amalgam.

PHOENIX​

Several years ago, a rock shop in Phoenix was selling wedge-shaped ingots somewhat similar to those mentioned in this yarn, and the rumor was that one of the principals in the rock shop had some difficulty with the Bureau of Internal Revenue due to these ingots. I have never checked this phase out.

TODAY​

Martin is an executive in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia today. McGraw is a retired mining man in South America and I corresponded regularly with him up to about 4 years ago. Johnson is retired, too, and will neither confirm nor deny any of the facts set forth herein.
It is interesting to note that although this happened almost 30 years ago, there were no Indian attacks nor furtive shots taken at the trio nor were there any unusual incidents or phenomena similar to those which are always associated with the legendary mines and treasures such as the Pegleg or Lost Dutchman.
Except for a brief article in a Phoenix newspaper ad another brief mention in one of the old pulp Western magazines, I believe this is the first time this tale has been in print.

SIGNS?​

I shall not be a bit surprised, as the years go by, if this tale shall mellow and ripen with age so that as they dug behind the boulder they found a teeming den of rattlesnakes, or that the boulder was literally covered with signs saying ‘Here It Is’ in Spanish, or that some unfriendly Apache reversed the road signs on them so that they got lost on their return trip to Ajo, and I wouldn’t even be a bit surprised if the story pops up that they hauled it all out and hid it right along Highway 80. The fact is that as far as the real principals know, it is still there and as far as they are concerned it can stay there. They tiptoed right up to the brink of the Great Divide once and came away, and they are too old to try again.

ADVICE​

If you harbor an adventurous desire to take a crack at it, do your searching in the winter months and become thoroughly familiar with the natural hazards before you start. Let someone at your jumping off place know where you are going and how long you‘ll be gone. Don’t forget to take along emergency equipment. If you are a tenderfoot, spend a couple of years in the Southwest getting hardened up and learning the ways and etiquette of the land. Hard-boiled, selfish attitudes will get you nothing but disdain. Remember this!!
As I have mentioned many times and as the Gazette has, on occasion, pointed out; when you get west of the Mississippi and into the less populated areas you run into people who speak a different language, people who are the salt of the earth, people whom you can trust to the end of the line, and you are more or less on your honor until you prove yourself.

SAVAGES​

One more thing, some people believe it is still the wild and wooly West. One Brooklynite wrote me for more information on the Julesburg Treasure and inquired about massacres and hold-ups. For the information of the uninitiated, the West is just as well educated and informed as any other part of the country. Look through the detective magazines on your newsstands to see where the bulk of the crime occurs. Look through a roster of business and political executives and you will see that the Middlewest and West provide their share and more of top administrators.

* * * * *
View attachment 2170821
The Prospector’s Club (newsletter) Volume II No. 4 (July 1965)
* * * * *​

From “Encyclopedia of Buried Treasure Hunting” (Originally published in 965) by Karl von Mueller:

Ajo Treasure: A huge cache of 500 to 700 fine gold and silver slug were discovered in 1929 by a trio of mining men nr the U.S. – Mexico border SE of Ajo, Ariz. John E. Johnson, last of the trio, passed away in 1963 and took the secret with him.

* * * * *​

It’s possible, even likely, that this story was referenced in one of Karl’s other works. I have reviewed The Waybills to El Dorado, with nothing being found there. Neither Treasure Hunter’s Manual 6, Treasure Hunter’s Manual 7, nor Sudden Wealth have indexes, so any references to be found will only be done so after diligent searching. My own notes on previous deep dives into these volumes are currently in storage.

RB – 24 Sept. 2024

Thank you very much for the article, Randy.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Desert Magazine did a 1950s era article on Ajo and the copper mining...I'd be happy to post if anyone's interested...

Yes, thank you for the articles above. Very interesting.

I’m wondering if the Desert Magazine article from the 50’s mentioned the three partners names, as did Von Mueller’s articles. Just curious if the names originated with Von Mueller, or previously.