Spanish Gold Mines in the Sandia Mountains

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Legend says that there are 5 lost Spanish gold mines in the Sandia Mountains. In this video, Paul and Tobe from Sandia Mountain Natural History Center are trying to figure out if that's possible.

 

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[sdcfia]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.

 

[achanceforgold]

Legend says that there are 5 lost Spanish gold mines in the Sandia Mountains. In this video, Paul and Tobe from Sandia Mountain Natural History Center are trying to figure out if that's possible.

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.

 

[sdcfia]

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.
View attachment 2204359

Those mining sites are located in the Ortiz, San Pedro and Manzano Mountains and in the old Placitas district at the far northern foothills of the Sandias. The gold sites were placer operations. The Sandia Range, strictly speaking, lies north of I-40 and doesn't have a precious metals mining history, although some legends allege that cache sites exist somewhere in the general area dating back to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

 

[mtdoramike]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.
View attachment 2204314

Yep, two hub caps stuck together and suspended with fishing line between two trees.

 

[KYgotGOLD]

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.
View attachment 2204359

Achanceforgold you round up a lot of info fast for people. Good work.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Someone needs a panning lesson.

Also, newsflash - everything on Earth is from space.

Interesting enough to watch.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.
View attachment 2204314

Interesting. I'm curious, is there a particular reason you, who from all appearances considers himself an Authority on Mining in New Mexico, would deflect from the subject with tales of flying saucers in your first post on this thread? 🤔

 

[sdcfia]

Interesting. I'm curious, is there a particular reason you, who from all appearances considers himself an Authority on Mining in New Mexico, would deflect from the subject with tales of flying saucers in your first post on this thread? 🤔

Sure. Your original post linked to a video that had an interesting title, but nothing much relating to your thread topic. I lived in ABQ in the late 80s and heard occasional vague lost Spanish mine stories, but as I pointed out in Post #4, those rumors didn't point to the Sandia range per se (that is, directly above the city), but to the known mining districts to the NE, north and south. The Sandias themselves is crazy rugged terrain in many places and would be a great location for caches, but not mines. I posted the UFO story because it was the only alleged cache story I heard that referred directly to the Sandias.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Sure. Your original post linked to a video that had an interesting title, but nothing much relating to your thread topic. I lived in ABQ in the late 80s and heard occasional vague lost Spanish mine stories, but as I pointed out in Post #4, those rumors didn't point to the Sandia range per se (that is, directly above the city), but to the known mining districts to the NE, north and south. The Sandias themselves is crazy rugged terrain in many places and would be a great location for caches, but not mines. I posted the UFO story because it was the only alleged cache story I heard that referred directly to the Sandias.

The thread title clearly states Spanish Mines. Nowhere in the post or video does it mention “Caches”. The video was attempting to explore if the legends of Spanish gold Mines could even be possible, ie, is there gold to be mined in the Sandias in the first place. No mention of caches at all.

I just found it a little strange that you prefaced your post by saying “ I don't know of any mines in the Sandias “ …but here’s a totally unrelated story about caches and UFOs in the Sandias.

Couldn’t decide if it was your intention to distract from the subject, or you just wanted the attention. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

 

[sdcfia]

Puff, this one is not a bonanza, but it fits your bill and is at least a start. The iron and copper are encouraging.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Puff, this one is not a bonanza, but it fits your bill and is at least a start. The iron and copper are encouraging.

Is this your grandson? I didn’t see any indication of Spanish origin but thanks for turning me on to his YouTube Channel. I see we’ve hiked some of the same territory.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

I seem to have a hard time with pics on this site, sorry about that. Fixed it now.

 

[sdcfia]

Is this your grandson? I didn’t see any indication of Spanish origin but thanks for turning me on to his YouTube Channel. I see we’ve hiked some of the same territory.

Never heard of this guy - his video just showed up unexpectedly on my YT feed. It's hard to find unmitigated old workings in NM. The one in his video was pretty much just a prospect and doesn't present any danger to the public, so it was apparently ignored by the state. I was in ABQ for seven long years and found some good hiking spots in the area, but very sparse interesting mining stuff. Very sparse - just not significantly mineralized. Gotta go further away.

Your old 2x4 un-notched ladder certainly wasn't even made by miners, let alone Spanish or even early Anglos, but it's always fun to find a hole in the ground and wonder why it was dug.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Never heard of this guy - his video just showed up unexpectedly on my YT feed. It's hard to find unmitigated old workings in NM. The one in his video was pretty much just a prospect and doesn't present any danger to the public, so it was apparently ignored by the state. I was in ABQ for seven long years and found some good hiking spots in the area, but very sparse interesting mining stuff. Very sparse - just not significantly mineralized. Gotta go further away.

Your old 2x4 un-notched ladder certainly wasn't even made by miners, let alone Spanish or even early Anglos, but it's always fun to find a hole in the ground and wonder why it was dug.

Lol, a nod to your passive aggressive come back. 🤣 Not my ladder, not my hole in the ground, just an acknowledgement to the videographer that we share some footsteps.

Want to share some of your own, since we’re apparently making this thread about you instead of Spanish Mines in the Sandias?

 

[sdcfia]

Lol, a nod to your passive aggressive come back. 🤣 Not my ladder, not my hole in the ground, just an acknowledgement to the videographer that we share some footsteps.

Want to share some of your own, since we’re apparently making this thread about you instead of Spanish Mines in the Sandias?

Nah, I'm out. Good luck with your research. Hope someone can post some good stuff.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Nah, I'm out. Good luck with your research. Hope someone can post some good stuff.

Yeah, I think I’ll just let this one fade out. Anyone who may have contributed has probably moved on by this point. I’ll just save it for another day.

But thanks for the good wishes.