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

 

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[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

 

[Tracker_7]

I reckon as good as the tale is for Bronco Canyon, the only really unfortunate tidbit as far as locating it would be everything points to it being at the same general location as Richinbar, SE of Sunset Point rest area. The distance from Bumble Bee, etc, would put it squarely at or beside the Richinbar, which was active a few years after the discovery and loss by the original prospectors. The water that runs through Bronco Canyon as well as the Agua Fria river runs brutally hard and fast during flood stage. Between that, and the fact that miners were camping atop the area for several years after the routing of Apaches makes it seem unlikely they would have missed a spot to dig, or failed to have cleaned it out.

 

[g-olden years]

ADVICE TO ANY NEWBIES READING THIS THREAD: Before taking up metal detecting hobby here in coastal California, I lived & rock-hunted in central & southern Arizona for a few years, and my advice to any newbies there is to keep your eyes way ahead of your feet! i.e., watch where you step. Not just rattlesnakes & gila monsters either. One day exploring in remote canyon with my hubby and heading downhill after coming to the end of a steep uphill path, I ducked behind some wide bushes to take a leak. I was moving fast and not paying attention, as we were in elated mood having seen up close our first Gila Monster just half an hour earlier. Due to my distracted mood and hurry, I came within three feet of falling into an open mine shaft! Jumped back, then tossed in some pebbles at an angle to hear how far down they ricocheted -- at least 40 feet straight down. Close call. There's hundreds of abandoned, unseen mine shafts in Arizona outback. A whole jeep actually fell into one in the flatlands. That said, I certainly enjoyed reading this thread, despite just noticing that most of it was posted 3 years ago! Happy & safe hunting to all! Andi

 

[ole gator]

Hey desertgoldman was wondering if I could a exact location of what is left of the arrista of the lost pick mine as I have been all over the badger springs canyon area and also the seven springs area and I am depressed now as I am not finding anything. Any help would be appreciated

 

[maui]

any up dates? sounds interesting.
thanksw

 

[boldzie]

Been To The Area...Found An Arrastre

any up dates? sounds interesting.
thanksw

Came across this post after doing some browsing for a book on lost Arizona treasures. Funny story of mine that I've never really relayed to hardly anybody - mostly because it almost sounds like a fib and contributes to what I've always thought of as amusing folklore.

In the spring of about 2004 I was approached by the spouse of a co-worker to help find the "Lost Pick Mine" of Bronco Canyon. This guy had done a TON of research on it and even had a series of maps laid out in his garage. He asked me to help for the simple reason that I was in shape to actually explore the area he had identified. We discussed the viability of the story and the location. He had concluded that an account of a Yavapai native at the time traveling in a day all the way from Fort McDowell to a canyon near Bumble Bee would not be that realistic in the terrain – he thought the canyon, the Arrastra, and the mine had to be much closer to Ft. McDowell. For some reason he had some other markers to look for as well - a spring called “Rackensack” and a couple of other rock formations. He concluded a date for us to go look for it. So, at the “buttcrack of dawn” on a spring day in 2004, I met this guy and about 6 other adventurers with the idea of just having a fun weekend looking for lost treasure North of Cave Creek somewhere. Most of the people went along to pan for gold as the small streams were flowing with water at that point.

Long story short, we got into the area of Bronco (or Baby) Canyon and hiked for a couple of hours. The guys in the group were not in the best of hiking shape, so they tuckered out at the confluence of 2 small streams. I went on ahead looking for “Rackensack” spring and to my surprise I found it. It was tucked within a narrow canyon that was peppered with a bunch of deep hole mines. Upon heading back to tell the group, I came upon a nice grassy area that was to the West of the canyon and thought it would be a good camp spot for the night. While I was nosing around for a place to put my tent, I noticed an unusual rock formation…one that looked to be man-made to me. Upon clearing the brush, I uncovered an old Arrastre, plain as day. I ran down to tell the others and they all scrambled back to the area. After hours of panning and running over the area with a metal detector, we didn’t really uncover much of anything else, least of all any gold treasure, but it was easy to conclude that some of the elements he was looking for were there. And we all concluded that the legend of the Lost Pick Mine could, in fact, be real and somewhere in this area.

I took pictures of everything and was inclined to let someone know about it. My co-worker asked me not to tell anybody because her husband wanted to file a claim in the area. I don’t know how it all concluded as I moved on from the company and lost touch with those people.

I’ve always been amused by the whole thing and one day in about 2008 took my (now) wife to the area for a fun day trip. Some of you might be aware that a devastating wildfire, the Cave Creek Complex Fire, destroyed much of the area in 2005 and the monsoon floods that year took out quite a bit more. When we got to the Arrastra area I was amazed to see how much was gone. The Arrastra was wiped out and the whole canyon was completely different. We had a good time hiking, though. Perhaps the legend of the mine is still alive somehow, huh?

 

[davin]

boldzie, i know this is an older post but just wonder if you ever went back to bronco canyou to look around more ?

davin

 

[Curtis]

desertgoldman and boldzie..sure would like to see the pictures you mentioned of the Arrastra !

 

[davin]

i agree with curtis.

 

[davin]

any updates on this ?