The Lost Mines of the Desert - Part III: The Peg -Leg Mine

[gollum]

Thanks guys

Rich,

I don't know how straight up your friend is, but there is a story that is supposed to have happened in or in the vicinity of Amboy Crater. No proof exists, but the story goes that a couple of detectorists recovered some gold from the lava rock inside the crater. Amboy Crater is just outside Amboy, Ca. I've looked through the place, and never saw any gold.

I've been to and looked over many of the places that supposedly were the source of black nuggets. Very few had any REAL potential. I think that over the years, people who were REALLY looking for the black nuggets, came up with stories to send the hoi polloi out as far away from where they were looking as possible. I honestly think that there only about three or four places that hold any real possibilities.

Best-Mike

 

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[Treasure finder]

Mike,
I have been to the Amboy crater, but not looking for nuggets.
My friend used to spend a lot of time wandering around the Borrego area and some
time in the Chocolate Mountains also. Kinda vague, but that's all I can think of regarding
his story.
The John Mitchell story on the old trail east of Dos Palmas, and generally west of Corn
Springs had 3 small hills, I have always wondered if that one was Pegleg's real location.
When it cools off some I will be out wandering the desert again with the detector.
Cheers,
Rich

 

[gollum]

I hate to go out when the weather is milder. Too many people wandering around. I like the hottest part of the Summer, in the middle of the week. Nobody else out there, and the Park Rangers stay in their air conditioned offices. HAHAHA

Best-Mike

 

[Treasure finder]

I have been harassed by the Border Patrol when parked out there.
"What are you doing here!" Of course I answered "Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness". "OUT HERE!" He kept using "the voice" on me
and I pointed out that I had been going there since before he was born.
He finally relented when he found out I was a veteran and must be OK.
Also I am really fine with super hot weather, but a little tough on the vehicles.
Ah, what a hobby.
Rich

 

[Steve Baldwin]

PS - the arrival of Pegleg in LA dates to 1830 according to Harlan Hague (CA Historical Quarterly 1976), so would appear not to be the same trip as the 1826 trek with Yount? Now you have got me curious, have to "dig" a bit more here.....
Oroblanco

PSS - a quick check of some CO newspapers found an article published in 1892, states Pegleg Smith found gold nuggets in 1830, on "three little hills". It also includes a report of a miner brought into San Bernardino in 1855 nearly dead, with $7000 in gold, which he claimed had been found on "three little hills".

Oroblanco, Are you sure Hague wrote something on Pegleg? He's a fiction writer and there is nothing by him about Pegleg in the Calif. Hist. Quarterly. Did you mean someone else?

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Steve Baldwin: Thank you for the lead on that article!

The Search for a Southern Overland Route to California, by Harlan H. Hogue {California Historical Society Quarterly, Summer 1978 - Vo. 56, No. 2 - Pgs. 150-161).

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo