Southern San Juan Mnts--near TA (Tierra AnnMaria )

[Barton]

I have been out in the field again. Sorry about the lack of sun / shadow signs
their was lightning to the north, and it was just beginning to rain--so the sky
was really overcast.

Any gold or silver caches here?

Thank you for examining the photos.

Barton

 

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[Barton]

Southern San Juans--near TA--Carson National Forest

Any Celtic, Spanish or outlaw caches?

 

[Barton]

Southern San Juan Mnts

Same meadow--at a 90 degree angle looking North

 

[aarthrj3811]

If you are working in areas where there has been a lot of prospecting be very careful. Many of the old mines have been covered with wood. Years ago I was over in Utah. I was walking along and took a step. It did not feel right so I backed off. It was an old covered pocket mine and was about 30 feet deep. A friend of mine was riding his trail bike and fell through and into one of these mine shafts. He was lucky with only a few broken bones..

 

[aarthrj3811]

Please check the red area for silver...

 

[Barton]

Hello Arthur,

I try to be careful and take someone with me in case I get hurt. When seriously working in Colorado I purchase
the Search and Rescue Insurance at the camping stores.

I like your high grade gold ore specimen's--two burro loads ( 100 pounds per burro ) looks like they would provide
a prospector with a good years income.

Probably If I had any common sense, I would get you to dowse a map of the San Juan Mountains of Colorado for
a gold or silver deposit mineral deposit that i could work. Certainly your skill as a dowser is impressive to me.

Before my prospecting partner, Dan Died, he urged me to spend a week in Oklahoma--learning to, work with, ride and pack burros--
I went--and it was one of the best weeks of my life. If I had had the money and the pasture to keep them--I would have instantly,
purchased "Farley" and brought him home with me. I loved working with and riding "Farley"--he was the nicest, most friendly burro
I have ever met.

 

[aarthrj3811]

You have the right idea about burros. You don’t want to put too much weight on them. That’s what makes them stubborn.

 

[Barton]

To an old prospector who used to prospect and suction gold dredge up in Alaska,
that jar with the green lid sure looks like placer gold to me.

Burros can really just about go any where a prospector can walk--and some times
they have more common sense than the prospector leading them.

In desert environment's--where water is essential for life, burros can "smell"
water from a great distance.

Your correct about never over loading a burro--a hundred pounds is a good
load and certainly more than I can carry now days. i am slowing down a
little as I get older and the mountains seem to be growing taller as it takes
me a lot longer now days to climb up them.

And speaking of digging--I still have a prospecting hole yet to dig--it's
either been too hot, two wet or this July 4 weekend too crowded. I was up
in the mountains yesterday and in the evening After it cooled down with rain
--I got out and started to walk and mud started coming over the top of my
white tennis shoes. So my trip got cut short--the first two steps off the road.
I was walking the path first checking it before I took my truck--as I did not
want to bury my truck in mud.

 

[aarthrj3811]

Something you may want to check is where the section lines maybe. If the bars were put there by the KGC they maybe just markers. When you dig look for 2 ½ pound bars until you are sure that they are the big bars or the small ones..Art

 

[Barton]

I do not understand what you are trying to tell me Arthur----are you saying the metal bars may be buried in a straight line
or the metal bars could point to other metal bars or is there a pattern in the manner they are buried in I need to understand?

What is the difference between the 2 1/2 pound bars and the big bars--do they have a meaning?

 

[aarthrj3811]

I have found buried markers along the Section Lines in the form of a V. It was made from 2 ½ pound bars. They are easy to miss when you are digging. Bars can be different sizes but most are 8 pound or better. I don’t know why they used them but it may have been that it was cheaper to do it that way

 

[Barton]

Arthur,

When you found the cache along the section lines, how deep was the silver buried?

 

[aarthrj3811]

When you found the cache along the section lines, how deep was the silver buried?

They were under a foot deep. You have to remember that when they were buried there was not many tools to re-find them with

 

[Barton]

Thank you for the information.