Lost Breyfogle Mine

[Badger Bart]

Take, for instance, the case of Jacob Breyfogle, a Nevada blacksmith, who set out in 1864 with a saddle horse and a pack animal. His horse strayed one night and the next morning's search led to more than a missing mount. Breyfogle claimed to have come upon a ledge of red quartz loaded with the yellow metal. But, his luck was mixed. Without his animals, the prospector soon found himself in dire need of food, water and transportation.

Breyfogle was found and rescued by Piute Indians, who had also found his horse. He returned with his life, but died years later without ever again finding the Lost Breyfogle Mine.

 

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[Oroblanco]

Greetings,
A bit late getting to this, but we will see if it goes.

The famous lost Breyfogle gold mine is one of those close to my own heart, and I have to admit having spent some time looking for it. What a bonanza, with ore so rich it assayed something like $13,000 per ton with gold prices at $20.67 per ounce!

The area is spectacular for natural splendor, covering a rather vast area stretching from S. California into Death Valley and even Nevada. The ore is real, the region is HIGHLY mineralized so there is good reason to suspect the ledge is genuine, and sad to have to say this and be the "wet blanket" but unfortunately for us treasure hunters, is all too found.

I would not believe that the mine had been found, as I have run across a great many extraordinary claims of folks who say they found this lost mine or that lost treasure only to discover they indeed had found some lost mine, but only a known and abandoned one, or the treasure was really an old trunk with rotted old clothes in it. So until I actually saw with my own eyes the ore of the "found" Breyfogle, which is known today as the Amargosa mine in California, I did not believe the reports. Again, sad to say but the ore from that mine is identical to the few ore samples that Breyfogle left with various friends in Nevada. As any geologist can tell you, no two gold ores are identical, and an expert geologist who did examine the two ores (Breyfogle and Amargosa) pronounced them to be identical. I later learned that even Breyfogle himself knew this; for he was once spotted wandering about close to the mine and went over to look at it - then left and NEVER went looking for his lost mine again. That alone is a strong indicator that Breyfogle knew his mine had been found and was being mined.

Anyway sorry to be the bearer of bad news for treasure hunters, I generally wish to encourage fellow THers but in this case it would be a very real waste of your time. That being said, there remains a very rich placer associated with the Breyfogle mine, which was found by men searching for Breyfogle's mine in a canyon that eventually connects to the Colorado river. If I knew more details as to the location, I would sure be there but I don't know any more than this. So the location cannot be TOO far from the Colorado river, but how far it is anyone's guess - and it would be in California.

Oroblanco

"I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." --Groucho Marx

 

[Badger Bart]

Good one Oro, was not aware ot that. These found lost mines/ treasures should be referred to as 'The Lost Now Found' mines, but that isn't going to happen. Thanks again.

 

[Oroblanco]

Thanks Badger Bart, I just wish I did NOT have to pass on the bad news, that was one of my personal favorite lost ledges to hunt for and the region is sometimes so beautiful you cannot believe it. I could be wrong too, that the Amargosa mine is not the Breyfogle, or perhaps it is a different outcropping of the same ledge of ore, in which case it could be possible to find something good. Got to go,
Oroblanco

 

[Goldminer]

Gentlemen,
There is an excellent book written by Hoyt Wilhelm entitled Last Rig To Battle Mountain. It was written about a family whose husband and father was a prospector in the early 1900's. He took his family into California, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. While in Nevada, they at one time lived close to or in Austin, Nv. The elder Wilhelm knew Breyfogle well, and stated that everytime that he encountered Breyfogle returning to Austin, he was coming from the north, well away from the area he claimed his lost mine was near. Could be he knew his "red ore" gold mine was already claimed, and he was looking elsewhere closer to his home for another deposit.
Bill

 

[Oroblanco]

Bump, for a rather curious reason, may have to edit my opinion posted earlier!

Maybe I should explain here - for some time I was under the impression that an ore comparison done between Amargosa ore and Breyfogle ore had proved them to be one and the same. Unfortunately the Amargosa ore is a rose quartz with gold sprinkled through it, so it is possible that a mistake was done because I found a rather different description of the Breyfogle ore, as a YELLOW quartz, with plenty of black carbonates and horn silver! NOT a rose quartz at all, and supposedly a specimen was at the museum in Austin Nevada. I am trying to locate a photo. A second issue is in the location of Breyfogle's camp, and the distance to the Amargosa. The camp was located about fifteen miles from Searchlight, Nevada, and he was able to walk to the ledge and back in a day, yet the Amargosa is very much farther than a day hike from that area. This means that it is quite possible that the Breyfogle mine has not been found in the Amargosa mine!

 

[Oroblanco]

Moer to add - a bit of digging turns up that Charles W. Breyfogle was indeed a soldier in the Civil War, but in the Union army where he rose from being a Lieutenant to Captain by his discharge in 1864. In his later years he was a doctor in California, and apparently was a bit befuddled as he applied for a passport and neglected to include the money for the fee. This seems to fit with the stories of his seeming to get "confused" and getting lost etc. Also he was born in Ohio in 1841, not Pennsylvania or Germany as some versions have it.

I did a quick check on the Bullfrog gold mine ore, which mine is located in Nye county Nevada and sometimes proposed as the Breyfogle mine; however it is clearly a gray quartz, not yellow so cannot be the same. One other point but Breyfogle only had to hike three miles to the mine from his camp, so it cannot be either the Amargosa or the Bullfrog as both are much more than three miles from where Breyfogle's camp was located, some fifteen miles from Searchlight Nevada.

Please do continue,

 

[Old Bookaroo]

If I may:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...ost-mines-desert-part-vi-lost-breyfoggle.html

In Miners’ Mirage-Land, Idah Meacham Strobridge (1904) is a charming volume with several interesting contemporary stories of mines found and lost in the desert. Lady in Boomtown; Miners and Manners on the Nevada Frontier, Mrs. Hugh Brown (1968) recounts how quickly the Lost Breyfogle entered the lore of Death Valley. The Shadow of the Arrow, Dr. Margaret Long (1950) is a classic Death Valley work with some useful information on lost mines.


Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Tanneyhill]

Excluding Spanish and Jesuit explorations from centuries earlier I find it fascinating that the 1800s and early 1900s saw a good deal of prospecting and exploration with many lost placer and ledge stories from all around the world. Yet, in my adult lifetime which began in the late 90s you don't hear much of any individual explorations happening. Everyone just too comfortable behind computer screens to get out there and explore? There has to be way more undiscovered placers and ledges waiting to be found all over the world and right in our backyard in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, etc

The Breyfogle is a fascinating story. If its still out there I am sure there are many more incredibly rich veins just like it waiting to be discovered. Let's go find them!

 

[sdcfia]

Excluding Spanish and Jesuit explorations from centuries earlier I find it fascinating that the 1800s and early 1900s saw a good deal of prospecting and exploration with many lost placer and ledge stories from all around the world. Yet, in my adult lifetime which began in the late 90s you don't hear much of any individual explorations happening. Everyone just too comfortable behind computer screens to get out there and explore? There has to be way more undiscovered placers and ledges waiting to be found all over the world and right in our backyard in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, etc

The Breyfogle is a fascinating story. If its still out there I am sure there are many more incredibly rich veins just like it waiting to be discovered. Let's go find them!

Check out the Ask Jeff Williams YouTube videos, particularly the field prospecting ones.

 

[Tanneyhill]

Thanks sdcfia, I have watched some of Jeff's videos in the past. Thanks for reminding me. He is a great resource and quite entertaining.