A Serious Adventure, For A Serious Prospector

[TheNewCatfish]

Headed for Arizona beginning of March. For a small canyon off the Blue River. The gold there is said to be contained in a layer of black sand running along one of the canyon walls not far from the river. More details pinpointing the precise location will be made available once you've joined the expedition at base camp located approx. 40 miles away at Fort Thomas. Transportation by pickup truck to the Blue River Recreational Site on the San Francisco River already arranged. Party will travel from there on foot approximately 3-4 miles up the Blue River. Be prepared to spend several months camping and prospecting. A Long Tom Sluice will have to be constructed and expect to process 70 to 100 five gallon buckets of dirt per day. I have not seen the site yet myself, so i don't know if it will be possible to rig a wire zip line down to the river to move the dirt more efficiently. Hopefully we'll be able to rig a zip line and crank. You will be responsible for bringing all your own tools, panning equipment and camp gear.

How do i know any gold is there if i haven't been there ? Good question. A geologist employed with the nearby Morensey Mine located the site for a family member and helped him dig there for a few weekends until his prospector/relative fell ill and could no longer make trips to the river. This site is located in the Apache Sit Greaves Natl. Forest and thick with mountain lions. So bring a gun.

Yes. This falls in the category of chasing down a gold "legend". I don't know anything for a fact, except the story sounds plausible. If you are interested in making the trip, contact me by PM.

[ncclaymaker]

Before heading out and selling the farm for an adventure... check the area out using Google Earth with minecache software attached. The only data revealed in the area that you described is
Site Name : Elmer Claims
State : Arizona
County : Gila
Latitude : 33.33413
Longitude : -110.4375

Site Name : Tribal Claims
State : Arizona
County : Graham
Latitude : 33.20998
Longitude : -110.08944
Year Discovered : 1920
Operation Type : Unknown
Deposit Type : Vein

Caveate emptor going somewhere in a remote region anywhere unless you really, really know the party. I'd have a gun for the two legged predators, and an air horn for the four legged ones.


Not trying to spill cold water on the dream. Just suggesting that you put all of the parts together before going out in the back country.

[TheNewCatfish]

The location isn't going to be listed anywhere, because it was never FILED as a claim by the guys who discovered it. I have been within 3 miles of the Blue River and spent 47 days travelling and camping on the adjacent San Francisco River. So i know the area pretty well. Never saw another human being the entire 47 days. The area is EXTREMELY remote. I never saw so much as a thrown away beer can beyond Mule Creek. The Martinez Ranch is nearby, but only one ranchhand works there and he rarely leaves the ranch. Matter of fact, he looked pretty astonished when i marched up to the gate and only gave me about a 50/50 chance of reaching the highway on foot some twelve miles away. The terrain was rough. A sign at the highway warns drivers not to attempt using the road unless they are travelling in a convoy of two or more vehicles. The month and a half i was there, i did see two big mountain lions and one big black bear.

As for the gold. The Morency Mine guy said two of them were digging one ounce of gold out of the canyon wall every three days. THAT'S ALOT OF GOLD. So, i'm at least going there to have a look see. The right canyon to look for has a large marker at the mouth of the canyon. Locating it should be easy.

[tapoutking]

Sounds like fun, good luck.

[TerryC]

Catfish, I just read your post and did some looking for you. The Blue (only blue) River in AZ is in the NE part. It is up on the Colorado Plateau. I cannot find ANY written occurances of gold in the northern third of AZ. If you draw a line across the state going through Flagstaff and the Grand canyon, that whole third of the state is up on those sedimentary deposits... meaning no gold. If others here can give you more positive finds, I will apologize but BEWARE that your story is in fact a LEGEND, as you say. Prove me wrong but please check out your adventure plans a little more. TTC

[TerryC]

Ok, here is my APOLOGY. there ARE two Blues in AZ. Dang. Forgot to take the radius out of the search. My greatest pardons to anyone that may have doubted Catfishes adventure plans. I have never hunted down there at the SE portion of AZ. Good luck. TTC

[ckd315]

Sounds like a fun couple of months...

Only problem for me is I doubt my eleven year old daughter would be up for it...

[kalbs]

This sounds like great fun! Going to remote places is a reward in itself. Before organizing an expedition, I would respectfully suggest doing a ground recon. I would not want to trek to a remote location with a mob of pissed-off prospectors at my back! If you can't locate the site, or if it's a dry -hole, mountain lions and bears will NOT be the biggest threat!!
You are to be commended for offering to share this adventure w/this community. Go and locate the site w/one or two others. The information you get will be INVALUABLE for planning how (and If) to continue. If I were in the S/W, I'd be there.
Heartfelt best wishes.

[homefires]

You think your going to just waltz into a National Forest and Dig that much dirt?

Good Luck.