Lost Peraltas Mine and diggings

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loray12
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Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 5:14 pm

Lost Peraltas Mine and diggings

Post by loray12 »

I was a police officer in Phoenix from 1958 to 1962. During that time I became a friend of George Rodriquez. He was 62 at the time. He took me to a mine on the back side of a mountain near Fish Creek on the Apache trail. We spend several years exploring that mine along with several others in the area.
George had been prospecting for many years and knew his way around this area and the Four Peaks area.
We actually filed a claim and named it the Escadino. It obviously was an old spanish working because of the shape. It resembled a bell at the opening and went back about 50 ft. into the top of the mountain. There were no timbers used and the height at the front was about 8 feet and tapered off the deeper you went. It was impossible to see the workings from the trail because it was on the backside of the mountain and the mountain resembled a sombero. There was also signs where the spanish had followed the vein from the dry wash leading from the trail to the canyon leading to the mine. You could also see were they cut into the side of the mountain working up to the mine opening.
At the apex or top of the bell was a quartz vein about 4 in wide. There was also another working further along side the mountain about 50 yrs from this mine that appeared to have somewhat caved in. It was more like a stope working straight up. Tailings were obvious at both locations and we found parts of reed baskets that were not from this area at all.
I moved back east in August of 1962 and I doubt if anyone else has been to the location because George was rather sick when I left.
I always wanted to get back to this area because it was obviously a spanish workings of some type but I now live in Florida and just never made it back to the area.
We did some drilling with hand steel and a 5 lb hammer and also some blasting. The most it assayed then was about 1 oz per ton along with some copper and silver. Gold was $35 an ounce at that time so we were never able to work it.
I would like to know if there is anyone out there that is somewhat familar with the area that I could maybe give directions to. It is not easy to find or to get to but I would be willing to pass on the info since at 74 I could never make the climb.
I did have the geological survey maps of the area but they have been thrown out. This is not a fairy tale but I beleive it to be an actual spanish working.
This is not in the Superstitions but just off the Apache Trail about 1/2 way between Apache Junction and Roosevelt Lake. Near Apache Lake.
Cubfan64
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Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:20 pm

Re: Lost Peraltas Mine and diggings

Post by Cubfan64 »

Hello and welcome to the forum! If I lived in the area, I would definitely take you up on the offer just for the opportunity to see it, but I only get out there once a year. I'm sure someone here will contact you though - there's lots of folks who like explore out there!

One quick question for you though. I'm fairly ignorant as to how to identify who did work on a mine unless there are artifacts around to help date it and/or figure out what culture worked it. That said, I had heard in the past that one of the things to help identify a Spanish/Mexican worked mine was that it was often very small - sometimes just large enough to crawl into and work right along the vein. There was supposedly little effort wasted, so they would just work the rich outcroppings and follow the vein tightly until it played out.

That doesn't sound like what you guys found, so why do you think it was Spanish in nature?

Thanks,
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Potbelly Jim
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Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2012 8:13 pm

Re: Lost Peraltas Mine and diggings

Post by Potbelly Jim »

Howdy,

Sounds like the area you are describing is at the eastern end of Horse Mesa. There's a mountain on the north side of the Apache Trail that might be what you're looking for. I've done my share of sliding around and falling down in that area.

I misspent my youth up there and over in the McDowell Mts, chances are we found your mine and tried our best to become statistics in it. I remember alot of prospect holes and tunnels around there.

Last time I was over that way was a few months ago, I took alot of pictures and will see if I got any of that mountain. At any rate maybe I can post them in the pictures section to so you can see how the area looks nowadays! Take care, Jim
Jim R.
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