Lost Adams Diggings
Encyclopedia
The Lost Adams Diggings is a Southwestern treasure story that refers to the existence of a canyon rich in gold deposits somewhere in western New Mexico in the early 1860s.
Along with their guide the group followed White River and its east fork into the White Mountains and entering western New Mexico. The guide paused and pointed to two mountains that were shaped like sugar loaves. “The gold canyon lies at the foot of those peaks,” the guide said. According to Adams, from that mountain lookout the miners were able to observe San Francisco Mountains. Adams thought that this mountain range was located on Mt. Ord, or on one of the mountaintops nearby. The miners entered a canyon with a fantastic gold deposit through the Little Door, as Adams referred to it. He said that the passageway was so narrow that the riders had to enter it one by one. Within few days the group collected a fortune of gold nuggets that they hid in a corn-grinding basin left by ancient Indians. The young guide left the miners on the second night after the discovery and after being paid. Before leaving the guide issued a warning. He told the group not to stay long in the canyon that was a campsite for Apaches. The miners continued to mine the gold until run out of supplies. The party decided to send Brewer and other five people to buy more supplies at Old Fort Wingate, west of modern Grants. Nine days after the provisions part did not return, Adams became concerned about their safety. Along with another miner named Davidson, Adams climbed out of the canyon to discover five bodies on the trail, Brewer was not among them. They raced back towards camp, but it was too late. A large party of Indians had reached the camp to kill the remaining miners. Days later, Adams was found by a military patrol wandering in the wilderness and out of his mind.
Upon recovery Adams settled in California and when Apache wars ended he led several expeditions to find the canyon and the basin filled with gold.
Adams must have had a terrible sense of direction, after so many years of searching his quest proved hopeless. But in his search he inspired others to joint the hunt.
The Pima Village
According to the very early sources, the story took place in the Pima Indian villages of south central Arizona Territory. Which Pima village has not been precisely established. At the same Sacaton has been taken into consideration as the most logical location because of its centralized location and its history of being a major supply point for travelers.
The Mining Party
It would not be unusual for twenty-one miners to travel together across the southwest desert in 1864. At that time the Civil War was in its fourth year. Thousands of Southerners had lost everything because of the conflict. Prospecting and mining precious metals was homesteading.
The Pima-Mexican Guide
The story involving a half-breed guide was a little bit unusual. At the same time Indian tribes tell stories of the capture of children by renegade groups. Mexican, Indian, and Anglo children were known to have been raised by such groups. The Pima-Mexican guide could have been one of them.
Indian Trails and Routes
Adams was very consistent with the fact that the miners were moving on well established Indian trails; this recollection goes well with the fact that the Apaches and other Native American tribes established many trails for centuries. Trails covered long distances and connected the districts.
Zuni Mountains
Zuni Mountains have been considered to be the most possible location of the Lost Addams Diggings. At the same time Adams never mentioned the cart road that stretched between the Zuni Pueblo and the crater. The Zuni Indian Tribe has mined salt in a vast deep meteoric crater. The mining has gone for hundreds of years. The cart road should have been obvious to any traveler heading northeast or north-northeast of Springerville.
The Little Door
Hundreds of gold hunters have searched for this unique doorway. According to Adams, the miners rode through the long wall without a single break in the solid mass of rock. Only by close examination one could see an opening. The entrance of a narrow corridor was concealed behind a vertical column of stone.
At the same time though this sort of cut through a bluff does occur in nature, it is very rare.
The Haystacks
The Pima-Mexican pointed out two mountaintops. The guide referred to them as being the same the miners had seen before from the White Mountain lookout. The peaks should be an easy thing to find since they stood side be side, and could be seen from the White Mountain range. Despite all the years of search Adams never saw the peaks again! How could Adam be so sure that the peaks were the same? The guide may have been the only one who could answer this question.
were considered the most plausible location of the diggings. Thousands of prospectors, ranch
-hands, and men-of-fortune searched this area and the rest of southwestern New Mexico
prior to WWII, as the Adams diggings became the most sought-for gold in the country. Only Frank Dobie's 1939 book Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver adequately describes how renowned the Adams legend had become. The combination of the depression
and the deregulation of the gold market prompted the most unlikely people to search for the diggings. Between 1895 and 1930 several large logging communities flourished in the Zuni Mountains
, several with schools and post offices; wide-gauge railroads crisscrossed the mountains. The loggers were well aware of the Adams legend, as it had become a nationally known story. Between running logs nothing was more common than prospecting except for drinking. Rumors of gold in the Zunis had become so common that the U.S. government ordered several geological expeditions in the years between WWI and WWII to verify whether this claim could be supported. The geologists found nothing. In the 1950s the area was thoroughly re-explored for uranium during the uranium boom around Grants, New Mexico
. Eventually the obsession with the Zuni Mountains as a host for the Adams diggings faded. It was also around the mid-century that the popularity of the Adams legend began to diminish and the Lost Dutchman Mine became America's most sought-for lost gold mine
. The Adams diggings were beginning to seem a hoax or a mine unlikely to ever be found.
Geologically, the Adams diggings could only be in the southwestern quadrant of the state. Adams himself spent most of the remainder of his life searching the areas in and around Reserve, New Mexico
. This area was the largest gold producing area in the state, and hosted several small mining booms, including the rich strikes at Silver City
and Pinos Altos
. The areas that could conceivably host the diggings in this region (containing several large mountain ranges that remain sparsely inhabited) are numerous, as minerals and evidence of previous mining can be found throughout the area. Local folklore will tell you that the gold is at the headwaters of either the Black River, the Gila River, or the Prieto River. Spanish Lore will tell you to look to the Blue Mountains. Dozens of mining camps in this region of New Mexico were thought to be the Adams diggings for brief periods, until each proved itself to be less rich than at first indicated: egregious hopes followed by rapid disappointment. That seems to be the story of gold in the desert southwest.
The Datils and Gallinas Mountains and the basins to the north of these mountains were considered possible locations for the diggings that increased in popularity as the other locations lost appeal. Dick French, in his book Four Days from Fort Wingate, places the diggings in this area. It has become known as "Dick French’s area," although his location was known to have been found by others in the 1950s, if not earlier. No gold has been found there.
A similar but geographically less plausible location was found in eastern Arizona by Don Fangado (name?) near Clifton
. The site contains features described by Adams much like the area favored by Dick French; however, again, the gold remained undiscovered.
In some minds the gold was to be found on either the Zuni or Navajo
reservations, but the laws preventing the acquisition of mineral rights in these regions have discouraged searching.
There are other sites, but the leading candidates in the popular imagination are mentioned above. If it really exists, its traditional location remains within "Apacheria" or the southwest quadrant of New Mexico
and bordering areas in Arizona. The complexity of the story is detailed in Jack Purcell's definitive book on the subject, The Lost Adams Diggings: Myth, Mystery, and Madness. This work, unlike its predecessors, is a serious attempt to give historical perspective supported by cited
research. Purcell believes that the gold exists and is perhaps somewhere in the mountains just south of Quemado, New Mexico
. Perhaps gold will be found someday, but in the minds of most, the legend is fading away among the other items in the forgotten annals of American lore.
devoted half of his book, "Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver" -now in its ninth printing - to the story of the Lost Adams Diggings, and considered it to be the greatest, "lost mine" story of US history. The amount of mail being sent to western New Mexico during the 1930s prompted the government to create a new post office in the area affectionately named, "Lost Adams Diggings, NM;" the post office has since closed.
The 1963 novel MacKenna's Gold by Heck Allen is loosely based on the Adams legend. The novel was made into a film in 1969 with the title, Mackenna's Gold
. Numerous other books about, or based on the diggings, have been written.
The Legend
Adams, for whom the legend became known and whose first name forever has been lost to history, was journeying in his wagon from the state of New York to Tucson. After Apaches set his wagon on fire, Adams drove a dozen saved horses towards Sacaton, Arizona, with the hope to sell them. In Sacaton Adams met a group of twenty one miners led by John Brewer traveling together in search of the gold fields. The party also accounted the Pima-Mexican guide who promised the prospectors to lead them to the valley of gold :“I know a place where canyon walls cry tears of [gold] every day! And those tears are larger than your coins!” The Pima-Mexican guide had a story to tell. In 1862 the young Pima-Mexican had gone on an expedition with the Apaches when those attacked Pueblo Indians in western New Mexico. While on the expedition he had seen gold nuggets that were larger than oak nuts. The young man had appreciation for works made out of silver and turquoise but had no knowledge of gold value. The miners made a bargain with the guide who only asked for a horse, a saddle, a weapon and some of the gold in exchange. The group was badly in need of horses, and when by fate Adams appeared in Sacaton with his twelve head, Brewer struck a deal with Adams on the terms that Adams would share leadership with him in exchange for donating his horses.Along with their guide the group followed White River and its east fork into the White Mountains and entering western New Mexico. The guide paused and pointed to two mountains that were shaped like sugar loaves. “The gold canyon lies at the foot of those peaks,” the guide said. According to Adams, from that mountain lookout the miners were able to observe San Francisco Mountains. Adams thought that this mountain range was located on Mt. Ord, or on one of the mountaintops nearby. The miners entered a canyon with a fantastic gold deposit through the Little Door, as Adams referred to it. He said that the passageway was so narrow that the riders had to enter it one by one. Within few days the group collected a fortune of gold nuggets that they hid in a corn-grinding basin left by ancient Indians. The young guide left the miners on the second night after the discovery and after being paid. Before leaving the guide issued a warning. He told the group not to stay long in the canyon that was a campsite for Apaches. The miners continued to mine the gold until run out of supplies. The party decided to send Brewer and other five people to buy more supplies at Old Fort Wingate, west of modern Grants. Nine days after the provisions part did not return, Adams became concerned about their safety. Along with another miner named Davidson, Adams climbed out of the canyon to discover five bodies on the trail, Brewer was not among them. They raced back towards camp, but it was too late. A large party of Indians had reached the camp to kill the remaining miners. Days later, Adams was found by a military patrol wandering in the wilderness and out of his mind.
Upon recovery Adams settled in California and when Apache wars ended he led several expeditions to find the canyon and the basin filled with gold.
Adams must have had a terrible sense of direction, after so many years of searching his quest proved hopeless. But in his search he inspired others to joint the hunt.
A Closer Look
Some of the facts that have been written down by so many can testify or compromise the story’s credibility:The Pima Village
According to the very early sources, the story took place in the Pima Indian villages of south central Arizona Territory. Which Pima village has not been precisely established. At the same Sacaton has been taken into consideration as the most logical location because of its centralized location and its history of being a major supply point for travelers.
The Mining Party
It would not be unusual for twenty-one miners to travel together across the southwest desert in 1864. At that time the Civil War was in its fourth year. Thousands of Southerners had lost everything because of the conflict. Prospecting and mining precious metals was homesteading.
The Pima-Mexican Guide
The story involving a half-breed guide was a little bit unusual. At the same time Indian tribes tell stories of the capture of children by renegade groups. Mexican, Indian, and Anglo children were known to have been raised by such groups. The Pima-Mexican guide could have been one of them.
Indian Trails and Routes
Adams was very consistent with the fact that the miners were moving on well established Indian trails; this recollection goes well with the fact that the Apaches and other Native American tribes established many trails for centuries. Trails covered long distances and connected the districts.
Zuni Mountains
Zuni Mountains have been considered to be the most possible location of the Lost Addams Diggings. At the same time Adams never mentioned the cart road that stretched between the Zuni Pueblo and the crater. The Zuni Indian Tribe has mined salt in a vast deep meteoric crater. The mining has gone for hundreds of years. The cart road should have been obvious to any traveler heading northeast or north-northeast of Springerville.
The Little Door
Hundreds of gold hunters have searched for this unique doorway. According to Adams, the miners rode through the long wall without a single break in the solid mass of rock. Only by close examination one could see an opening. The entrance of a narrow corridor was concealed behind a vertical column of stone.
At the same time though this sort of cut through a bluff does occur in nature, it is very rare.
The Haystacks
The Pima-Mexican pointed out two mountaintops. The guide referred to them as being the same the miners had seen before from the White Mountain lookout. The peaks should be an easy thing to find since they stood side be side, and could be seen from the White Mountain range. Despite all the years of search Adams never saw the peaks again! How could Adam be so sure that the peaks were the same? The guide may have been the only one who could answer this question.
Survivors and origin of legend
Aside from Adams and Davidson, there were two other people who survived the Indian attack- a German, perhaps Jacob Snively, and John Brewer, a member of the LDS Church with connections to the Apaches in Mexico and Mormon settlers in NM; both of these figures are known to history for their role in events not involving gold - again both, in addition to Adams, were able to give independent attestation to the same event without the knowledge of the others having survived the massacre. What's more, Adams and Brewer both mention an unnamed and clever "Dutchman" as being in the original party that departed from southern Arizona. It is also known for fact that Jacob Snively acquired about $10,000 worth of gold from some source during the early 1860s from a location he never gave proper account of for later searches. Snively used the money to purchase a ranch in Arizona where he is now buried. For whatever reason, Adams spent the last ten years of his life trying to relocate the diggings without success. For an analysis of these issues, see Jack Purcell's book on the Lost Adams Diggings. Few lost gold stories are as thoroughly researched as the Lost Adams.Possible locations
For decades the Zuni MountainsZuni Mountains
The Zuni Mountains are a mountain range in Cibola County of northwestern New Mexico. The range is located largely in the Cibola National Forest, lying south of Interstate 40 from southeast of Gallup to southwest of Grants. The range is about sixty miles long and forty miles wide...
were considered the most plausible location of the diggings. Thousands of prospectors, ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
-hands, and men-of-fortune searched this area and the rest of southwestern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
prior to WWII, as the Adams diggings became the most sought-for gold in the country. Only Frank Dobie's 1939 book Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver adequately describes how renowned the Adams legend had become. The combination of the depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the deregulation of the gold market prompted the most unlikely people to search for the diggings. Between 1895 and 1930 several large logging communities flourished in the Zuni Mountains
Zuni Mountains
The Zuni Mountains are a mountain range in Cibola County of northwestern New Mexico. The range is located largely in the Cibola National Forest, lying south of Interstate 40 from southeast of Gallup to southwest of Grants. The range is about sixty miles long and forty miles wide...
, several with schools and post offices; wide-gauge railroads crisscrossed the mountains. The loggers were well aware of the Adams legend, as it had become a nationally known story. Between running logs nothing was more common than prospecting except for drinking. Rumors of gold in the Zunis had become so common that the U.S. government ordered several geological expeditions in the years between WWI and WWII to verify whether this claim could be supported. The geologists found nothing. In the 1950s the area was thoroughly re-explored for uranium during the uranium boom around Grants, New Mexico
Grants, New Mexico
Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 9,182 at the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Cibola County....
. Eventually the obsession with the Zuni Mountains as a host for the Adams diggings faded. It was also around the mid-century that the popularity of the Adams legend began to diminish and the Lost Dutchman Mine became America's most sought-for lost gold mine
Lost mines
Lost mines are a popular form of lost treasure legend. The mine involved is usually of a high-value commodity such as gold, silver or diamonds. Often there is a map purportedly showing the location of the mine...
. The Adams diggings were beginning to seem a hoax or a mine unlikely to ever be found.
Geologically, the Adams diggings could only be in the southwestern quadrant of the state. Adams himself spent most of the remainder of his life searching the areas in and around Reserve, New Mexico
Reserve, New Mexico
Reserve is a village in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 387 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Catron County. Currently the village has several stores, a bar, and a health clinic...
. This area was the largest gold producing area in the state, and hosted several small mining booms, including the rich strikes at Silver City
Silver City, New Mexico
Silver City is a town in Grant County, New Mexico, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 10,545. It is the county seat of Grant County. The city is the home of Western New Mexico University.-History:...
and Pinos Altos
Pinos Altos, New Mexico
Pinos Altos, in Grant County, New Mexico, was a mining town, formed in 1860 following the discovery of gold in the nearby Pinos Altos Mountains. The town site is located about five to ten miles north of the present day Silver City, New Mexico...
. The areas that could conceivably host the diggings in this region (containing several large mountain ranges that remain sparsely inhabited) are numerous, as minerals and evidence of previous mining can be found throughout the area. Local folklore will tell you that the gold is at the headwaters of either the Black River, the Gila River, or the Prieto River. Spanish Lore will tell you to look to the Blue Mountains. Dozens of mining camps in this region of New Mexico were thought to be the Adams diggings for brief periods, until each proved itself to be less rich than at first indicated: egregious hopes followed by rapid disappointment. That seems to be the story of gold in the desert southwest.
The Datils and Gallinas Mountains and the basins to the north of these mountains were considered possible locations for the diggings that increased in popularity as the other locations lost appeal. Dick French, in his book Four Days from Fort Wingate, places the diggings in this area. It has become known as "Dick French’s area," although his location was known to have been found by others in the 1950s, if not earlier. No gold has been found there.
A similar but geographically less plausible location was found in eastern Arizona by Don Fangado (name?) near Clifton
Clifton, Arizona
Clifton is a town in and the county seat of Greenlee County, Arizona, United States, along the San Francisco River. The population of the town was 3,311 at the 2010 census. It was a site of the Arizona Copper Mine Strike of 1983....
. The site contains features described by Adams much like the area favored by Dick French; however, again, the gold remained undiscovered.
In some minds the gold was to be found on either the Zuni or Navajo
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
reservations, but the laws preventing the acquisition of mineral rights in these regions have discouraged searching.
There are other sites, but the leading candidates in the popular imagination are mentioned above. If it really exists, its traditional location remains within "Apacheria" or the southwest quadrant of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and bordering areas in Arizona. The complexity of the story is detailed in Jack Purcell's definitive book on the subject, The Lost Adams Diggings: Myth, Mystery, and Madness. This work, unlike its predecessors, is a serious attempt to give historical perspective supported by cited
Citation
Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source . More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated...
research. Purcell believes that the gold exists and is perhaps somewhere in the mountains just south of Quemado, New Mexico
Quemado, New Mexico
Quemado is an unincorporated community in Catron County, New Mexico, United States. Walter De Maria's 1977 art installation, The Lightning Field, is between Quemado and Pie Town, New Mexico....
. Perhaps gold will be found someday, but in the minds of most, the legend is fading away among the other items in the forgotten annals of American lore.
Legacy
The many stories arising or deriving from the lost diggings have inspired many to search for lost Apache gold ever since. Its legend has supplied many folk tales, stories and books with ample fuel for fantasies of lost treasures, hidden canyons, Apache secrets and gold, "somewhere out there" in the wilds. Another supposed Indian name for the mine was "Sno-Ta-Hay," which supposedly means, "there it lies" i.e. the gold is on the ground and can be picked up or panned as a placer mine. Chief Nana supposedly called it that when he first warned the Adams party before the attack. As previously mentioned J. Frank DobieJ. Frank Dobie
James Frank Dobie was an American folklorist, writer, and newspaper columnist best known for many books depicting the richness and traditions of life in rural Texas during the days of the open range...
devoted half of his book, "Apache Gold and Yaqui Silver" -now in its ninth printing - to the story of the Lost Adams Diggings, and considered it to be the greatest, "lost mine" story of US history. The amount of mail being sent to western New Mexico during the 1930s prompted the government to create a new post office in the area affectionately named, "Lost Adams Diggings, NM;" the post office has since closed.
The 1963 novel MacKenna's Gold by Heck Allen is loosely based on the Adams legend. The novel was made into a film in 1969 with the title, Mackenna's Gold
Mackenna's Gold
Mackenna's Gold is a 1969 western film directed by J. Lee Thompson, starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif, Telly Savalas, Camilla Sparv, and Julie Newmar...
. Numerous other books about, or based on the diggings, have been written.
Sources
- Richard French, " Four Days From Fort Wingate". Caldwell, Idaho. 1994
- J. Frank Dobie, Apache Gold & Yaqui Silver. Boston: Little, Brown. 1939.
- Dick French, Four Days from Fort Wingate.
- Jack Purcell, The Lost Adams Diggings: Myth, Mystery, and Madness. Nine Lives, 2003.