Bronco Canyon , Arizona

[Cachefinder]

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone had any info on this.......

Around 1890 two miners were in Bronco Canyon , 30 miles north/west of Ft. McDowell and for some reason or another, they hid about $20,000(at that time) worth of gold nuggets under a toadstool shaped rock next to a spring. When they returned , they were unable to locate there gold.

Thanks in advance for all the help,

Cachefinder

[Old Bookaroo]

Howdy!

Thomas Probert's Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the West (Berkeley, California: 1977) includes "The Lost Pick Mine" - Near Broncho Canyon, east of Bumblebee, in Maricopa County, Arizona. This might be the same story.

Most of Probert's references are either John D. Mitchell or are based on Mr. Mitchell's writings. Generally I do not think it is a good sign when a treasure story is, in essence, "single-sourced" (as they say in the newspaper trade).

For example, Probert lists Eugene Controtto's Lost Desert Bonanzas (Palm Desert, California: 1963) as a source. This is a very interesting book with 91 wonderful Norton Allen maps. It has been reprinted by Dover Publications (Lost Gold and Silver Mines of the Southwest). It is a collection of stories from Desert Magazine - and I'm sure one or more of John D. Mitchell's articles was the source for Controtto's chapter.

Probert also lists a magazine article by Lieut Harry E. Rieseberg - worthless, in my opinion, as a source - but I'll bet a dollar he took his information from Mr. Mitchell. Then there's a pair of brief Thomas Penfield references - again, we can rest assured the author simply borrowed his story from Mr. Mitchell.

There is a Kearney Egerton article from the Arizona Republic. These were collected into the wonderfully named book Somewhere Out There; Arizona's Lost Mines and Vanished Treasures (Glendale, Arizona: 1974). While this includes some neat sketch maps it doesn't have any sources - so I suspect we are back where we started with Mr. Mitchell.

Sorry I can't be more encouraging. Please keep in mind this was a cursory reference check - and The Lost Pick Mine yarn may well not be the two prospectors story you asked about - "The Toadstool Rock Gold Nugget Plant?"

Where did you learn about this tale? If you're willing to share that it would aid further research.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

[Cachefinder]

Old Bookaroo,

Thank you for your insight. I was told this story many years ago from my late-grandfather.
I have only wrote --what was also in a book i have seen by Robert Marx. Buried treasures you can find.
in this book there is only 3 lines about this. I do have more to the story
but i am waiting to see if there is any more literature on this first.

The lost pick mine is out in this area also but is not the intent of my search (still would not pass up
finding it ) but i am most interested in the 2 prospectors and the hidding of the gold under a
toadstool shaped rock by a small stream.

I have been out in the Canyon and there are many signs of old springs/rivers. Just dont know which one
was the SMALL SPRING
I think that it the small spring would be relatively close to the "lost pick mine" or their source of the gold.

Cachefinder-

[Old Bookaroo]

Cachefinder:

Bob Marx is a very successful sunken treasure hunter, writer about wet treasure, and in my personal opinion an all-around nice guy.

He is not, however, an expert on buried (land) treasures. And while his book is comprehensive I would place in the research category of Thomas Penfield, Michael Paul Henson, and several other authors of a similar nature.

I'd bet you a dollar Bob got your story from a treasure magazine article or similar source. He compiled that book - he didn't write it.

I certainly understand you wanting to keep your sources confidential - no arguement here about that!

Hope this one works out for you!

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

[desertgoldman]

Hi,all. I know a bit about this legend. The toadstool shaped rock I have to believe is part of a different legend than the Lost Pick Mine.

I have a mineral claim at the area I believe the legend of the lost pick mine occurred. I have quit searching for the treasure and just dig gold on the claim. There is a good flow of water there most of the year round.

As most of you do,undoubtedly, I have copies of Thomas Terry's state treasure atlases (which mentions the toadstool shaped rock story) and also a copy of Mitchell's book wherein the Lost Pick Mine story is related. The book indicates a search area 4 miles east of bumblebee in Bronco Canyon. The reason for this is that a shepherd saw an arrastra and a pick still stuck in a rock at some point after the events of the story were told, in that area, but the shepherd himself was unaware of the story at the time he found it.

There IS a canyon there, but it isn't Bronco Canyon. The only canyon that it could be in that area is Baby Canyon ( google it) and I have hiked baby canyon. Saw no arrastra, which was part of the story Mitchell related.

People who are interested in treasure stories but have no experience in the field share a common misconception that if they can get to the area where the story occurred/treasure is buried they could find it. It plays out well in our imaginations, but when you actually get your feet on the ground in the subject area, most times finding the treasure is going to verge on the impossible/improbable for many reasons.The landscape has changed during those hundreds of years - the landmarks are indefinite - the area has been trashed by mindless idjits throwing beer cans and other trash down in the area, making metal detecting impossible - the story has been corrupted by being confused with other similar stories (like in the old "telephone game we probly all played in grade school where a message is whispered in an ear at one end of class and comes out comletely different at the other end as it is passed from mouth to ear - remember?), embellishments to the story by individuals who wish for some reason to impress the listener/reader with their knowledge of history/geology/whatever etc. These embellishments are definitely part of the story Mitchell relates in his book, imho, because if you read all of the stories in his book, you see common embellishments in many of the stories.

I did find AN arrastra in the same area as verbally described in Mitchell's story in the book - " approx. 50 miles N of Phx. and 25 miles NW of Ft. McDowell" -but it's not in the area shown in his map of the search area. If anyone is interested, I'll try to post a picture of the arrastra as it looked before the area was ravaged in 2005 by a major fire and several flash floods. It has since been partially destroyed by those floods, but there is still enough there to tell it is an arrastra.

Hope I haven't gotten off the subject line of your thread here, as I believe these are two different legends, but if anyone is interested in this Lost Pick legend - which is one of the more famous in Arizona - I believe I may well be the current expert on it. Google Lost Pick Mine and see if you can learn enough with what you find to tell if your "toadstool shaped rock" story is not a different legend. I believe it is mentioned in Terry's treasure atlas (going by memory).

Good hunting!

[Cachefinder]

desertgoldman

Hey thanks for the info and the interest in my post---- I was not and am not looking for the lost pick mine-- I am looking for stashed gold nuggets that was placed under a toad stool shaped rock.
in Bronco Canyon-late 1890's--

PM me if you have any info on this and we can talk

Cachefinder-

[desertgoldman]

I've checked my treasure atlas, amigo, under Yavapai county, but find no mention of the "toadstool" there. Yet that sounds very familiar. Will check further in my library of treasure stories and report if I find anything that might help you in your quest.

Regards

[auferret]

Is this the same story? No mention of the shape of the rock but everything else looks the same.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/AZ-Treasures10.html

[Cachefinder]

Is this the same story? No mention of the shape of the rock but everything else looks the same.
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/AZ-Treasures10.html

Thanks I have seen these before but.....

The 2 men in the story i was told/ and am researching were not killed off- they just could never find the spring -and therefor could not find the rock (toadstool shaped) that there nuggets were under.
--the area out there is very dry and there could have been hundreds of stream/springs running
all over the place- google maps- Bronco Canyon Arizona- and u will see the terrain that i am talking
about.
Thanks for the help so far

Cachefinder-

[jrf30]

desertgoldman - I've love to go with you for a day or two when you are out on your claim. I'd like to learn a little more about panning and learn from you. I wouldn't be a competitor (one day would probably be enough, as I have lots of unfortunate obligations at home) and I'd let you keep anything I found since it is on your claim. Call it "free labor" from me. Any interest of a volunteer to work with you for a day or two? :-) gomeljohn9 at yahoo dot com