Red River Area?

[Shaw]

I snowboard every year there and seems the town has some history.

Anyone ever checked out the area? I love that little town, I need to make a summer run sometime.

Thanks,
Jason

[lastleg]

Lots of fascinating history around Red River. Used to fish in that area and learned
about the mining areas. Check out Lucien Maxwell who for a time owned a
million or more acres from RR to Cimarron. If you can locate the book "Philmont
a history of New Mexico's Cimarron Country" it will save researching time. Cheers,
Lastleg

[Shaw]

Thanks for the input lastleg -

[EARTHLING]

Check out wild rivers area... it is a park that you hike down these scary steel stair cases from the parking lot down on to a canyon floor about 300 ft down and you hike to a primitive camping area where the Red River and the Rio Grande come together.... WATCH OUT because i cant remember if it is part of the state park system or not.......

[wildrider]

Check out wild rivers area... it is a park that you hike down these scary steel stair cases from the parking lot down on to a canyon floor about 300 ft down and you hike to a primitive camping area where the Red River and the Rio Grande come together.... WATCH OUT because i cant remember if it is part of the state park system or not.......

Steel staircases? Really?
I went down in the early to mid 70's (in my early teens) and you just had switchback trails all the way to the bottom (seem like about 1.5 miles back and forth down the side of a hill).
Use to be a real pretty spot. Fisherman loved it so I remember.

I don't remember much being down there as far as detecting goes.

w

[EARTHLING]

yes...... up on top were the huge parking area is they start almost in the middle.... it may be more than just 300 ft straight down but when i lived in ALB. i went down there about 20 times in the 5 -6 yrs i lived there...... scary but very much fun

[wildrider]

yes...... up on top were the huge parking area is they start almost in the middle.... it may be more than just 300 ft straight down but when i lived in ALB. i went down there about 20 times in the 5 -6 yrs i lived there...... scary but very much fun

They gotta make everything nice a tourist stop.
There was a nice canyon near Roy New Mexico that used to have a primitive road (had to have a tall pickup or you would high center). Now they smoothed it out and you can take a car down to it.
Chalk 1000 times more garbage and other pollution up to folks to lazy to pack it in and out. I don't understand what's wrong with walking.

[Shaw]

Thanks for the info, We are headed out Jan.7th this year.

My body can only take about 3 days of boarding or skiing so I have 5 more to kill. Also going to try and catch a few rainbows one day.

Jason

[lastleg]

I made some nice finds at the bottom of the ski lift in the 90's. The mining areas
to the North used to be accessible in the 80's but the road was blocked. You gotta
get there using other methods. On the trail to Goose Lake are a few shallow diggings. Have a good friend, Bob Prunty, who owns the Store with the former
tourists cabins in back. He knows the area like no one else. Knows a fella who got
into a good nature gunfight with Taos tribe at Blue Lake. Off limits to white eyes.
Here's a tip: collect some gravel from corrugated drainage pipes to take home to
pan. lastleg

[Shaw]

There are many road crossings that I am sure have corrugated pipe in the area. May just have to kill a day playing in the pipes.

Thanks lastleg

[lastleg]

You are very welcome.

[Shaw]

Do you guys know of anywhere that we can go exploring and maybe a little panning or something.

Just looking to have a couple of days of cruising around the area and trying to find something else to get into while I am there.

[lastleg]

Were it me I'd sasshay up the Goose Lake road and try some streams
off the beaten track. Gold was found in the old days up there. You
will pass right by an old prospector's camp near a small waterfall. You
will have to get off the road a ways to find where he was getting his
gold. In town still lives a man who many years ago got good gold out
of blue clay north of town. He showed me the gold and I know his word
is good. The old mining areas up Bitterroot Canyon has sadly been fenced
off. On the road west to Questa past the molybdenun mines are several
steep canyons to the north. In one of these Spanish mail and artifacts
have been found. I've never panned in the Red river but I have heard
of gold being found in the headwaters. Baldy mtn produced most of the
gold in the territory. Ute Creek has placer gold. Willow is off limits, so
is Etown. Near there years ago I got some Baldy highgrade that someone
hid in an brass lantern inside two brass cans. The cabin I was detecting
had burned in the last century and the gold was partly melted in the flattened
brass I dug. A nice nugget fell out after I prized it open at home and the
lamp and cans had a gold coating with melted lumps stuck to it.
One of the unforgettable sights I saw was driving towards Eagle Nest was
stopping to watch hundreds of mother elk and their young flying across
the road, the little ones hitting the fence, bouncing back before getting
through with the mothers urging them on. Enjoy the Moreno vista while
you still can and visit the E'town Museum and put a little in the pot. Bennie
could use it, she's the expert in those parts. Don't bother to ask to pan as
her Pa frowns on it. lastleg

[Shaw]

Thanks again for the info lastleg,

Time is getting closer.

[Shaw]

Looking better....

[Shaw]

Just wanted to thank you New Mexicans (not sure if thats what you go by) for all the hospitality and putting up with a few Texans for a week.

I had a few setbacks on the trip and didnt get to do any gold searching but had a great vacation. Red River is always great for the history.

The "safety corridor" kicked my azz again. That piece of the drive gets longer every year I swear.

Jason

[lastleg]

Hey Turtle: If possible ask your gmother if she knew any Medina's at
Etown. Ten years back a lady by that name was trying to find her
homesite explaining that her husband buried a bucket of highgrade
he smuggled out of one of the Mt Baldy mines. Actually she didn't
admit the highgrading but a lot of the miners padded their pay by
hiding raw gold somewhere in their clothes, hats, shoes or outside
the mine where they could retreive later. She only gave one clue
which I'm keeping for later use.
E'town has a museum run by the ranch owner's daughter. I think
they have rebuilt the old school since I was there. The old town is
off-limits to treasure hunting including gold prospecting according
to the owner. Moreno Valley is being occupied at an alarming rate.
One area we used to have access to is closed also. lastleg

[lastleg]

Turtle: You are the first, besides Medina, that I have found with bonafide
roots to the greatest gold camp in New Mexico. If and when you get time
to go back talk to Bennie Muntz at the museum about your folks who lived
in E'Town. Maybe her Dad has a record of the early inhabitants. Bennie
has devoted her life to keeping the Moreno Valley history alive. She has
lots of pictures of the old town. My good friend John lived at Red River
in the 80's and 90's and became friends with her Dad and her. They let
him detect but warned him not to prospect. When I visited John, Bennie
let me hunt too if I was with John. One day we were taking a lunch
break sitting on the porch of the old store and Bennie drove by going
to town. She asked me if I found anything pretty and I pulled out a
handful of red buttons I had just found. Without a word she grabbed
the buttons and drove off. I have to chuckle every time if remember it.
lastleg

[lastleg]

Gee Turtle, you have a very interesting heritage. If Highmountain is ON
he might have some good background regarding your ancestors. The
Archuleta family was, I believe, very prominent in the Spanish influence
in New Mexico. That friend at Mora, I would keep a good rapport with.
I would stick with researching all I could before your trip. lastleg

[lastleg]

Hey Turtle: I can see the mule clearly. It carries a lantern for travel in
one of the mines on Baldy Peak, 12,441' elevation. The miner's lived
mostly at E'Town and somehow got to the mines climbing 3,000' before
hitting a lick. Bet that mule concealed lots of highgrade after coming
out of the mine to drink and eat. I was lucky enough to find over an oz
of highgrade nearby. That got me started hunting for gold. Did you
know about the big dredge Elenor? It was the big monster that ate up
the remaing gold in the Moreno River. It is still buried in the river
bottom S. of E'Town. The metal above water was reclaimed during
WWII. I couldn't drag your picture over to see your Gramps. lastleg