Why didn't the spanish mine more gold in California?

[firebird]

Wikipedia says that there were some spanish gold discoveries in the 1700s but how could they have missed the rich placer deposits?

 

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[Clay Diggins]

They remained free until 1692, when New Mexico was reconquered by Gov. Pedro de Vargas."

I disagree with the last statement. When Spain returned to New Mexico they had banned native slavery and the King Granted Lands Patent to each native tribe to encompass all their traditional lands. The natives were treated as free men under the new Spanish law. Those land grants still exist today unchanged and encompass a large part of the State of New Mexico. The Spanish and the natives took the grants seriously, the land was respected by Spanish soldiers and The King supported the village and communal customs of the natives with goods and protection.

Many of the second period New Mexico missions were just fortifications of native villages. Fortified villages like Pecos helped stabilize and protect the local population while the Apache and Comanches battled each other. Raids from the warring eastern tribes were common in the eastern pueblo culture as the Americans pushed west and put pressure on the plains tribes. In many cases the fortified villages saved the lives of the native population as well as the Spaniards.

 

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[nagant]

"When Spain returned to New Mexico they had banned native slavery and the King Granted Lands Patent to each native tribe to encompass all their traditional lands." I'm sure your way ahead of me on this subject but if they were free why would they need land grants or king decree's?

 

[Tanneyhill]

The Catholic Church knew about the gold they were trying to keep it hush hush

Any documentation that would indicate that they secretively mined it?

 

[russau]

It was obvious that they couldn't get there from here 1

 

[Hard Prospector]

The main reason the Spanish (and later the Mexican people) had little interest in prospecting for gold was because more money and a secure future could be had in ranching commodities. If a rich surface pocket happened to be found then it surely was worked out for the easy stuff then typically abandoned.

One other thing to remember; history is simply a record of the past and it's not fair to judge this past based upon today's "acceptable standards". The good and ugly side of humanity was part of this record just as it still exists with us today.