KGCnewbieseeker
Sr. Member
Shrouded in mystery and legend, the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado are home to some of America's most famous lost mines. These include the fabulous Lost Ventana Mine near Ute Creek, the Clubfoot Mine on Parrot Mountain, the Lost Sheepherder Mine near the head of Lime Creek, and the richest of all, the Lost Crazy Swede Mine on Bear Creek. Another of the great lost treasures of the San Juan country is the famous placer deposit discovered by R. E. Stewart during the summer of 1852. Known as the Lost Stewart Placer, this fabulous deposit of placer gold has been called the "Lost Adams Diggings" of southwestern Colorado.
The Lost Stewart Placer is located in one of the most unlikely places in the entire San Juan region. Situated high up along the Continental Divide, the Lost Stewart Placer lies in an area largely underlain by sterile andesites and silicic ash-flow tuffs. Adding further to the mystery, placer deposits of gold generally occur at much lower elevations where stream action has a chance to sort out the lighter fragments from the heavier gold. And finally, the volcanic history of this part of the San Juans seems to lack any periods of significant mineralization.
During the summer of 1852, Captain R.E. Stewart was in command of a detachment of soldiers bound for northern California from the Spanish settlements in New Mexico. Stewart's party followed the Old Spanish Trail from Abiquiu until they reached the hot springs on the San Juan River, near present-day Pagosa Springs. Here they
deviated from the trail to avoid the Ute Indians camped nearby. Stewart's party traveled north-northwest for one day until they found a "well-hidden place near the foot of the high mountains." Here, they set up camp.
The next day, Stewart's party headed west into the mountains. Climbing above timberline, they crossed the Continental Divide and entered a small valley enclosed by the surrounding mountain slopes. The lower end of the valley was bounded by a series of "low, timbered ridges". A small stream flowed through the valley.
It was in this valley that Stewart made his discovery. The small mountain stream was filled with fine gold and small nuggets mixed with black sand. Stewart filled his pouch with a sample of the sand and later had it assayed in Sacramento, California. The next day, shortly after leaving the little valley, Stewart was forced to re-shoe his horse. Only after his arrival in California did he realize that he had left his shoeing tools back in the San Juans.
It wasn't until 30 years later that Stewart was able to return to the San Juans to look for the placer. He spent many years searching for it. On one of his prospecting trips into the mountains, Stewart and a companion named Dave Mueller found the rusted remains of a shoeing hammer, rasp, and clenching iron just below the Continental Divide, near the headwaters of the Pine River. But the rich placer forever eluded him. The fabulous Stewart Placer still lies hidden somewhere in the heart of the rugged San Juan Mountains.
The Lost Stewart Placer is located in one of the most unlikely places in the entire San Juan region. Situated high up along the Continental Divide, the Lost Stewart Placer lies in an area largely underlain by sterile andesites and silicic ash-flow tuffs. Adding further to the mystery, placer deposits of gold generally occur at much lower elevations where stream action has a chance to sort out the lighter fragments from the heavier gold. And finally, the volcanic history of this part of the San Juans seems to lack any periods of significant mineralization.
During the summer of 1852, Captain R.E. Stewart was in command of a detachment of soldiers bound for northern California from the Spanish settlements in New Mexico. Stewart's party followed the Old Spanish Trail from Abiquiu until they reached the hot springs on the San Juan River, near present-day Pagosa Springs. Here they
deviated from the trail to avoid the Ute Indians camped nearby. Stewart's party traveled north-northwest for one day until they found a "well-hidden place near the foot of the high mountains." Here, they set up camp.
The next day, Stewart's party headed west into the mountains. Climbing above timberline, they crossed the Continental Divide and entered a small valley enclosed by the surrounding mountain slopes. The lower end of the valley was bounded by a series of "low, timbered ridges". A small stream flowed through the valley.
It was in this valley that Stewart made his discovery. The small mountain stream was filled with fine gold and small nuggets mixed with black sand. Stewart filled his pouch with a sample of the sand and later had it assayed in Sacramento, California. The next day, shortly after leaving the little valley, Stewart was forced to re-shoe his horse. Only after his arrival in California did he realize that he had left his shoeing tools back in the San Juans.
It wasn't until 30 years later that Stewart was able to return to the San Juans to look for the placer. He spent many years searching for it. On one of his prospecting trips into the mountains, Stewart and a companion named Dave Mueller found the rusted remains of a shoeing hammer, rasp, and clenching iron just below the Continental Divide, near the headwaters of the Pine River. But the rich placer forever eluded him. The fabulous Stewart Placer still lies hidden somewhere in the heart of the rugged San Juan Mountains.
