Donald Page was head quartered out of Berkley, Ca. Most of his papers are at the Bancroft Library. It was his papers though that lead me in my search for the location of the lost mission city of Ciru.
I have in my collection quite a few of his papers outlining many treasures secreted around Tucson.
I believe his papers in Ca. contain some reference to the Molina Map. But the link you provided does not come close to the many boxes of material I went through decades ago.
With the Government or state museum, you have to know what your looking for when you ask. I asked for a collection on the lost mission and was given boxes of material. I just so happened it was Donald Page that wrote those papers. But if you ask for Donald Pages papers you'll be given boxes that contain nothing on the lost mission. Makes me wonder how many other lost legends are boxed up with nobody knowing the name to ask for.
Don Page became interested in archaeology while he was a Tucson employee. His interest was sparked by his discovery of ancient ruins that were found during an excavation in the City of Tucson. Yes, he collected old documents during his lifetime, and he wrote some articles for archaeology periodicals. He appears to be a major source of information on the history of the Santa Catalinas. Page moved to CA after retirement where he continued to pursue his interest as a hobby. He died in 1958. Without documentation proving he owned a "Molina Map", this is just speculation. Santiago Molina did not sell maps, and there is no suggestion that such a map existed until sometime in the 1930s. Rose thought that the map was probably created by Ortiz.
If you look carefully at the map, you can figure out that the time period the map was created was in the last 100 years. Gary Don Oliver was attracted to the Tumacacori area by the stories written by John Mitchell. He made his first visit in 1974. After investigating the Camp Loco site, Gary became convinced that a treasure was buried in the old tunnel. He obtained the proper permits and commenced trying to reopen the old main shaft. He was able to open one entrance, but the evidence of the large tailing pile down into the canyon made him believe that he had not found the main tunnel. Gary did not get a copy of the map until shortly after the publishing of his book in 1991. He was given a xerox copy by someone, and he gave a copy to me. Since then I have seen some similar versions of this map that looked like they had been photo-shopped with some minor alterations.
John Mitchell never mentioned that he had a map. He only talked about the copy of the old document. Someone that was familiar with the Camp Loco site created that map using the directions given in the Molina Derroterro.
A man by the name of Juan Bustmente was also in possession of the Derroterro. He was well known by the treasure story writers, and he took Mitchell to some of the mine sites listed on the old document.
Tumacacori was never a Presidio. It was an old Pima village. Padre Kino had a Visita built there, but no mission building was built by either the villagers or the Jesuits. The current Tumacacori Mission was started about 1787 and never finished by the time it was abandoned. The Pima revolt of 1751 resulted in actions by the Spanish to build a Presidio at Tubac in 1752. Tubac is three miles north of Tumacacori. Over 100 Spanish colonists were killed during the 1751 revolt, and their farms destroyed. It was over fifty years before the area attracted colonists and a return of support by the Franciscan missionaries. Here is a history of Tubac:
Tubac Through Four Centuries: An Historical Resume and Analysis
Mexico won their independence from Spain in 1821. Tumacacori was active as a village and Pima community. Farming and the raising of animals again made the area prosperous, and efforts continued to finish the construction of mission building. The Apache was now a threat to the community, but the Presidio was maintained for protection of the villagers, colonists, and the missionaries. Enough of the mission building was finished and services were started in 1822. A good history of the mission was written by Frank Pinkley:
Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori
There was a Lt. Juan Maria Oliva that served under De Anza, arriving at Tubac in 1752. He was born in 1701 and was in charge of the Post until after the Jesuits were removed in 1767. I doubt if this is the Oliva, but I am sure he would have been knowledgeable about who was doing the mining in the area. Oliva is a common family name in the area. Maybe someone in his family was the one that ran the Galera and created the Molina Derroterro.
The treasure hunters and writers have long tied the treasure tales to the Jesuits. The Jesuits became aware of the expulsion order and hid their weath and church fixtures before they were arrested. The mine and geographical names used in the Derroterro are all Franciscan. The Franciscan missionaries may also have hidden the church fixtures when they were forced to leave.
If you stop and think about it, the mines, their names, and their locations weren't any big secret at the time they were operated. The only thing that would have been kept secret is the hiding of valuables. The missionaries were driven away from Tumacacori in 1824, and the Galera may have been closed at the same time. Research may provide the answers to some of these questions.
