i beleive there could be as many as a few dozen groups of spainish mine threw out the US south west and mexico <snip>


Oroblanco said:HOLA amigos,
Blindbowman wrote:
i beleive there could be as many as a few dozen groups of spainish mine threw out the US south west and mexico <snip>
I can't address how many old Spanish mines in the USA would fit with the Tayopa complex, but a researcher who investigated Spanish mining activities in what is today the USA claimed there were (about) 210 in Arizona, about 140 in NM, at least a dozen in Colorado, no more than a dozen in what is today CA, and a smattering scattered over several other states (Texas, Utah, even a lead mine in MO. There was even a little activity in nearby Wyoming, a site called 'Spanish Diggings' today, a dry placer that is not rich enough to make it worth mining commercially). However many of these mines were very small affairs, and some operated for a few years or even less than one year. At the time I read his article, I was impressed by those numbers - however - by comparison, after the Anglos got Arizona in 1846-48, by 1880 there were over 9000 mines in Arizona alone. So yes those Spanish were active, BUT......
Oroblanco
Old Dog said:Pronghorn,
I cannot speak for my good friend Oro,
But I can say with absolute surety that the Spanish explored as far North as Manitoba.
their signs and artifacts have been recovered in many Northern states from Oregon to Main.
Thom
Can you tell me how far north the Spanish came into North America, as far as can
be confirmed anyway?
I live approximately 200 miles straight north of you and there
is a story around here that a spanish helmet was found in a cave near here many
years ago.
) I would not be the least surprised that Spanish artifacts should be found in your area or farther north - especially military equipment. The Spanish launched numerous punitive expeditions against Amerindian tribes, fighting Comanches in Texas and Oklahoma, even tangling with Sioux and Cheyennes. A helmet might have been dropped by a soldier, or captured by a warrior - either way it is fair evidence of Spanish presence in the region, though LONG ago. The artifacts found in Wyoming all seem to date to the 1700s. It is documented that Spain sent expeditions that included French and Scottish mercenaries up the Missouri river to make treaties with the Arikaras in the 1790s.