Tramp,
If you haven't seen any Spanish Sign in the Sheepholes, you aint lookin! HAHAHA
I have a bunch more, but they are associated with two projects I have been working for several years. You have to remember that the whole area from The Bullions to the Calumets were actually the Southernmost part of The Old Spanish Trail (went West through about Amboy). Easy to cut between ranges heading South and West towards the coast.
Like I say on the front page of my website:
YES! There really is Treasure that has remained hidden for all these many years. Don't tie yourself down to only looking for one type of treasure. There are many sources of hidden wealth, and if you tie yourself down to just one or two, you may just step right over something big! Here are some of those sources to research:
- Spanish Mining (1500s - 1780s)
- Spanish Conquistadors (1500s - 1780s)
- Jesuit Mining (1640s - 1767)
- Mexican Mining (1810s - 1930s)
- American Mining (1820s - Today)
- Hidden Caches (All Years)
- Bandit Loot (All Years)
- Prospecting Gold and Silver
- Valuable gems and minerals
- Fossils
I promise you, that if you spend enough time doing research, and wearing out shoe leather, you WILL come across some of the above. What you need to learn are: the basics of Geology, Archaeology (History), Prospecting, Researching Skills, Hiking Skills, and what could save your life...Desert Survival.
On the West Side of the Sheepholes, if you go South from the Radio Towers, then hang a Louie and head up that deep sandy wash to the cement water catch, you will see an old trail heading into the mountains. There are a string of old mines that were digging along a Gold in Sulphides Vein. The thin remnants of that vein are still there. I have hunted all through the North Ends of the Sheepholes, The Calumets, and The Pintos looking for Hermit John's Lost Mine. Check out my website for pics of the area of the mines:
SHEEPHOLE MINES
If you have spent much time in the Sheepholes, you probably have already been around the spot. A TNetter told me he had spotted an arrastra on Google Earth, that I should check out. Here is his arrastra:
When I saw that, I laughed and poked around, but didn't find a whole lot that day.
I did find a neat little nugget trap in that dry wash:
(it is NOT Spanish. They used Caliche not cement! HAHAHA)
If you've been up this canyon, you'd remember it because of the Ford Model A Frame that someone used to either winch up supplies or crush ore:
A bit further South of the spot in the pic are a couple of Spanish Trail Markers (The eye is one). It points (looks at) to where the old trail into the mountains begins. That trail leads to a set of beautiful monuments that hid several old mines. Most of them had been found and reworked several times. The only way to know they were originally Spanish was from the markers and the very small rathole-like entrances (easy to hide for off-season):
Now, every one had been reworked once in the late 1800s and again during the Depression (based on garbage found in and around the site, as well as machine cut timbers inside the mines):
The Spanish couldn't work mines that far North year round. When it started hitting 120 degrees, and the water retreats to deep underground, they sealed their mines (that is why the entrances were very small), took apart the arrastras and smelters, and left signs for relocating their mines. In this case every mine was located by gunsight markers. I started at the entrances, and worked backwards. Every exposed mine had a gunsight aiming directly at the entrance. Not too hard when you already know where the mine is. I don't know if there are any more mines there, but the area was badly disturbed by all the later work.
The only side of the Sheepholes that are still pretty pristine is the East and NorthEast Side. Because of the Wilderness, you can't drive in from the 62. You have to head North from the "PINCH", and take wiiiiiiide Northern Arc to bypass all the dry washes that finger out from the mountains:
I haven't spent a ton of time on the East Side Proper. I have been all over the North and Northeast Side though.
Neat place!
Mike
for those cold mornings before it starts warming up -- that time of the year.
What's a few thousand stings to the glorious life of hard rock mining ? Course a lil coffee helps 
