Good morning my friends: Oro, you say 3 days from Tayopa, hmm in that country it means nothing unless you know which trail is followed. Many times you can have a hard days travel and only end up perhaps 500 meters horizontally from where you started. Any rumors of whether it is north or south, critical.
Example, from Yecora in the rainy season road, it is two days. In the dry season you can leave Yecora and return in one HARD day. Some where on this lower trail it passes near a cave that has many many Gold bars, covered with moss. The Indian that found it only cut off a few pieces of Gold, sold them to the operating mine in the area, then disappeared. To date he hasn't reappeared.
From the Vainopa mine?
South of Tayopa, perhaps two days or less, is another mine. called the mine of the siete muras, "the mine of the seven walls". It was apparently discovered in the 1700's.(?) It is on the crest, in a huge chamber / cave open to the North East.
The original Spanish miners entered the open chamber by rope. Inside they found a vein of gold which was very rich, so they built several houses inside of the chamber and commenced to work it.. Since it was too difficult to enter and leave, plus bring in supplies, they opened a tunnel to the outside. When they were forced to leave the mine, they closed up the tunnel with 7 walls and hid it.
A Guayajiro Indian found a closed tunnel. He opened it and entered. Shortly he found another wall which he opened also, then another wall. By this time he was thoroughly spooked and abandoned it. Later he told my friend, now deceased last year, about it and agreed to show us the tunnel but refused to ever enter it again, long story here.
So, is this the lost tunnel to the fantastic Gold deposit and the houses which are still basically intact being under the overhang, according to another Indian that saw them from across the Barranca ??
Is this the lost Vainopa mine?
Further down the rio Mayo, on the western side on a curve is a wooden door with a completely rusted padlock of Spanish origin. The river had changed course and now was flowing against the door. My contact found it and saw that the entry was eroded and open below the door, so he and a friend dove under the door in the water and found a tunnel extending into the interior. Since they had no light, they didn't go any further. Is this the lost Vainopa mine?
Continuing down the barranca de Tayopa, but for only one day, are the ruins of a small Capilla. My friend who was raised in the Tayopa area, said that his father, who was a prospector, was working the area living with the local Guayajiros, finally ran out of supplies and decided to return to Obregon to work for more.
When he told his local Indian friends this, the jefe (chief) was sad and told him to follow him. He led him inside of the Mission and lifted a floor block exposing a series of steps . The Indian told him to go down and take all that he could carry, but that only this time would he be allowed to remove anything.
He did and found sacks of rich gold ore. He then returned to Obregon where he lived well for a year or so, then he decided to return for more with a friend of his.. When they reached the Mission he greeted the Chief and said that he needed more of the "rocks". The chief flatly told him, "NO", and reminded him of the original agreement. Rather than fight with his friends, they left and returned to Oregon where he later died. Is THIS from the lost Vainopa mine
I have several more stories from the Tayopa zone, that may be the lost Vainopa mine, but will post them on another day.
Have fun Oro.
I will have to get the E-version at the moment, and I can't understand why they won't allow downloads to Mex? Mexico has copyright laws, as I understand it they are not much different from our own so..? 
