I would respectfully disagree with you on this one point, for I am convinced that our mutual amigo Real de Tayopa has already discovered the original Tayopa, the one discovered in 1602 and first apparently owned and worked by Franciscans later replaced by Jesuits, and eventually losing the site entirely due to Indian troubles.
On the other hand, there are in fact several different sites named Tayopa, Taiope, Tayope, Tyopa, Tiopa. Teopa and Teopi and various other obvious European attempts to try to put into spelling a native Amerindian name, located in several different sites in Mexico and not at all close to each other. Heck there is even a story of a lost 'Tayope' mine in the Superstitions, though I have only found a single source that referred to it. Plus, Durango has its own rich crop of long lost silver and even a few gold mines, of which only one that I have ever seen mentioned as being found again and that was apparently lost again by the 1920s. So I can readily believe that you have found a long-lost Spanish or Jesuit or Franciscan or Dominican mine in Durango, though I would be forced to doubt that it is the same Tayopa found by Joseph Curry which has a number of points in favor of its identity - namely and not limited to:
It is three days toward the sunset from the Mesa of the Bell Maker
It is right on the border country of the two states of Chihuahua and Sonora, though in 1602 this would have been technically in neither one as the state lines have shifted several times;
There are at least seventeen hard rock mines in a ring around the site of the church and little settlement
There is a gold placer at one end of the district
among the list of points to check off.
I also have to admit that I did not immediately believe that Joseph Curry had indeed found the famous Tayopa, when I first encountered him online I gave him rather a hard time and pushed him to provide evidences in support of the contention. I have known two other fellows whom both have claimed to have found "the" Tayopa, and am convinced that they did not have the original Tayopa on several grounds. One of these two has the second Tayopa (IMHO) as it has only two silver - lead mines, quite rich and with ruins of a small church including a small bell with the name Tayopa inscribed, which however does not prove that bell was actually cast at the site as the Tayopa silver bells were very famous in their day for the sweet and rich tones. In fact the Russian churches in Alaska and in Northern California were trading with the Spaniards to obtain these bells for their own churchs, and supposedly one of those Tayopa bells was still in the Russian Orthodox church in the former Russian capital of Sitka, Alaska at least until a fire burned the building down some time ago.
Anyway I still hope you will post some of your photos of your site, if you can remove anything that might give away the exact location as I have no desire to cause you grief with a claimjumper.
Coffee?
Maybe one day I'll get off of my couch and try to return to the area...
