Lost Arch???

[BudP]

Anyone have a slant on the 'Lost Arch' of the Mohave? I've heard two different versions (same area). One about two miners coming from the Colorado River placers to San Bernardino and found gold under a natural arch; familiar scenario, find gold-get lost-creep into civilization with gold and major sunstroke. Another another story was about a group of Mexicans who found gold and built a cabin with an arch over the portal(where anyone could find building materials in the Mohave, I do not have a clue).

Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason author) searched for the 'Arch' for many years. I have a book that has photos of his beginning searches with a Model A sand-buggy and his last searches from a helicopter. He believed in the 'natural arch' and so do I. I have never heard of anyone who has seen a natural arch in this area....besides myself.

Bud

 

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[aussco999]

Hey Bud:

Maybe this is what you were looking for;

http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/199910/feature/

Post some photos if you see the arch.

Good luck,

John

 

[BudP]

Aussco,

Love to. Problem is, I'm in Oregon and the arches (3) are in S. Cal.. May get to it next Spring. I'm a tad busy with....things at the moment. Thanks for the site.

Bud

 

[BudP]

Hey John,

I read the story you recommended. It was interesting but....problemmatical. I was raised in the Arizona desert and spent ten years in and around the Mohave before I moved to Oregon (rather bleed than sweat). The man was correct about not camping on low ground but I don't know anyone who would use the terms 'wet season' and ;Mohave Desert' in the same sentence.

When it does rain, it is a gulley-washer. The next day you would not know it had rained in twenty years; soaks into the sandy soil very fast. My Old Man always said 'The Mohave Desert is the only place on earth you can be butt deep in mud one day and have sand blow in your eyes the next'. The only place you will find a standing pool is a hard-rock tinaja (natural rock basin). Awful handy for him (the writer) to have a 'pool' of water at camp and a 'group' of Mexicans with horses to have enough to drink, build an adobe(mud/stick) hut AND wash enough gravel to come in with many thousands of dollars worth of $18-$20 gold......Must be a different Mohave......or maybe writers license.

Anyhow, thanks for the thread. I really do appreciate it. Just wish he hadn't said 'wet season'.

Bud

 

[aussco999]

Hey Bud:

I know what you mean about the unusual weather conditions in NW Ariz. I worked for 2 years on a mining project in the Cerbat Mountain area just north of Kingman, and when it rained, it flooded, when it snowed it was impassable, and then there was always that wonderful dry heat. Yep, it’s an interesting area.

I didn’t have much free time from the mining project to do any real exploring, but over a period of time I did walk about a 5 mile radius around the mine site, just to get a feel for the land. That mountain area is heavily mineralized and there was always a lot of interesting stuff to see, and it’s a rock hounds paradise. I picked up a 5 lbs. native silver ore sample that still serves as a paper weight on my desk, and I’ve also got two 5 gallon buckets of galena and gold ore from a couple of the nearby mines.

But, I never saw any arches, natural or not. I read that report by Roy Decker awhile back and thought it might just be the information you were looking for. I don’t know if it’s worth your time to contact him or not. Some people are real touchy about given out to much of their secret stash info. I’m one of those people. But, if you do find the arches, keep the location to yourself and just post some more photos.

Take care and good luck,

John

 

[Oroblanco]

Bud wrote:

Just wish he hadn't said 'wet season'.

Greetings and sorry you did not like my article, in my own view we really had a "wet season" several years that left the roads as long shallow ponds, along with extremely dry seasons without even a sprinkle of rain for months at a time. It is a land of extremes, and if you have not done some prospecting there go prepared for about any kind of weather and you can be sure you will have some! Winds can be surprisingly strong and nasty, shredded up several tents there over the years including one that was supposed to be rated for 80 mph winds so just be aware it can get nasty at times.

As you already know, we went on the alternate version of the tale, which had the gold near a NATURAL arch, and had some very good luck. I never did find the idea of a party of prospectors going to the trouble of building arches to connect the rooms as a believable thing, as constructing arches of adobe takes up some lumber, skill and time to do.

All that said, if you should decide to try to locate the same mine we did, I can tell you that the mine is not concealed by any kind of human effort but is covered with thick brush; the arch however is NOT concealed in any way whatsover - just if you don't come at it in the right direction you cannot see that it IS a natural arch, from a distance it just looks like a large boulder outcropping. If you can find the arch, you will find the mine as it is within sight of the arch and has a thick batch of brush hiding the entrance.

Good luck and good hunting to you, hope you find the treasures that you seek.

Roy A. Decker, Oroblanco on T-net and many other online sites.