Travel

IF TREKKING THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST SCENIC COUNTRY IN AMERICA IS YOUR KIND OF FUN, COME ALONG Text by Philip Varney

Chad finished his Hamlet exam and confidently placed it on my desk. He then strolled to the back of my classroom and began examining a map of “Arizona’s Lost Mines and Ghost Towns” on the bulletin board. As the bell rang, Chad headed toward the door and paused just long enough to ask: “Mr. Varney, if they are ‘lost mines,’ how can they put them on a map?” He smiled at his observation and was out the door before I had a chance for a rejoinder.

One lost mine on that classroom map is the Mine with the Iron Door, and I have been on its trail for much of the last several weeks, exploring the north side of the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson. I’m not really trying to find that famous lost mine but rather to experience the exhilaration, the adventure, that one finds on the back roads chasing a legend. For those of you who seek that kind of “gold,” come with me.

For those of you who actually seek the lost mine, I’ll also tell you where some have looked and where others have claimed they found it.

First, though, a brief history: the most popular version of the legend of the Mine With the Iron Door holds that an assistant to Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino, a certain Padre Juan Bautista Escalante, came to the mission San Xavier del Bac in the early 18th century. Father Escalante’s job, according to the story, was to make the Catholic Church richer by finding mineral wealth in the region of New Spain that was then called Pimeria Alta.

The mine that supposedly resulted from his exploration was extremely productive. When the Jesuits were expelled from the region in 1767 by King Charles III of Spain, the priests were said to have covered the mouth of the mine with an iron door and obliterated evidence of the entrance.

Historical research has done a pretty thorough job of debunking the existence of the mine, but that hasn’t stopped people from searching for it.

Why? One factor might be that the history of the American West almost depends upon legend. As historian Wallace Stegner once wrote, “Myth becomes history as often as history becomes myth.” Another factor might be that a tale is so much more appealing than anything reality can provide.

Are there any among us whose romantic

CHASING A LEGEND

(FOLLOWING PANEL, PAGES 18 AND 19) The Catalina Mountains are the fabled land of the Mine With the Iron Door.

One side is so subdued by sensibility that we don't secretly quest for the undeniably unlikely? We were all behind Edmond Dantes as he entered the cavern on the Isle of Monte Cristo and “picked up handfuls of diamonds, pearls, and rubies” that, when filtered through his fingers, “gave forth the sound of hail beating against the windowpanes.” Even though most of us do not actively search for such hidden treasure, could we turn away if its lure were strong enough? And the continuous retelling of the tale could be enough to make us think that there just might be something to it after all.

Do I believe the Mine with the Iron Door exists? No. Would I like to believe in it? You bet.

The mine’s elusiveness only fuels attempts to find it. Here are a few highlights from the files of The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson.

On May 21, 1887, the newspaper reported that a Yaqui Indian found the mine and brought back nuggets but was chased from the area by an earthquake (which did occur in Arizona in May of that year).

In 1924 an article claimed that an Indian named Lee Turner found the mine near Winkelman.

A report in the December 5, 1932, issue stated that Phoenix resident Charles W. McKee and two others broke through a waste dump and found the lost mine. The story prompted reporter Sherry Bowen to write a series of articles delineating the legend of the mine. (McKee later said that he and his partners had spent more than $40,000, beginning in 1925, in their quest for the Mine with the Iron Door. There is no evidence that he found it.) In August of 1982, the Star told of Ernest M. McCallister, then mayor of Kearny, who requested permission to excavate in Catalina State Park. He said that in 1966 he had found, using divining rods, a 40-foot-long tunnel that he believed could be the storage vault for the famous mine. Permission to dig was denied. In a television documentary aired in 1991, McCallister revisited the site, and his divining rods still indicated to him the presence of the vault.

With the exception of the mine’s “discovery” near Winkelman, all accounts put it on the north-to-northwest side of the Santa Catalina Mountains. The southernmost of the theoretical locations comes from one tale that says you can see the Iron Door glinting in the sun up in a canyon as you head out from Steam Pump Ranch, which still exists about one mile from the entrance of Catalina State Park.

The next “sighting,” a couple of miles northeast, is the purported vault that Mayor McCallister wanted permission to open in Catalina State Park.

The most frequently mentioned location of the lost mine is in the Catalinas high above where a canyon, Cañada del Oro, makes a dramatic turn to the south. Up in those canyons some gold actually was extricated by miners from the 1880s to the 1950s.

Continued from page 16 is through the Little Hill Mines, and owner Dave McGee agreed to take me into the upper reaches of the Cañada del Oro only if I would make it clear that access is closed to the public. For one thing, heavy equipment of his mining operation crisscrosses the road. For another, the area beyond the mines is a maze of turnoffs, dead ends, and washed-out trails. And there's an even more important reason. McGee, who scoffs at the notion of a lost mine with the Iron Door, does have a treasure up in the Cañada del Oro: his privacy. He and his family venture frequently into their backcountry to stay in solitude in miners' cabins that have been in use, off and on, since the 1930s. McGee did, however, agree to share his treasure with me. We passed through his mining operation, drove a wash, climbed up onto a ridge, and eventually descended into the Cañada del Oro, where an old homestead embraced wild walnut trees along with cottonwoods, sycamores, and hackberries. The old Model A Ford coupe in which McGee taught his children to drive stood rusting near a miner's cabin. A magnificent stone arrastre, complete with three now-smooth grinding stones, lay hidden among trees. In this serenity Dave McGee has his treasure without an iron door. We did not, of course, find the mine. But there was a famous account, read by more people than any other version of the legend, in which one man plundered the great riches of the fabulous mine: "All night long Hugh Edwards toiled with his pick, while Natachee sorted the ore, selecting only the richest pieces of quartz for the sacks.. It was a full two hours before daybreak when Natachee announced that they had taken out all that the four burros could carry." Alas, Edwards' escapade is famous because he was the protagonist of a 1923 best-selling novel, Harold Bell Wright's The Mine with the Iron Door (published by D. Appleton, New York). And although Edwards gets to see the inside of the mine and its incredibly rich veins, even he wouldn't have been able to help us find it because he was led there blindfolded by the Indian Natachee, who is the novel's "mystic guardian" of the lost mine. Harold Bell Wright, Tucson's bestknown literary figure in the 1920s, lived in Oracle when he wrote his novel and climbed to favorite vantage points in the Catalinas for inspiration. Today I stand on just such an overlook.

This morning I finished my attempt to track the spirit, if not the body, of the lost mine. I have ridden the back roads by mountain bike, walked a small portion of the Arizona Trail, traversed jeep roads, gone high up into the Cañada del Oro, and, most importantly, relearned how significant the Catalinas should be to southern Arizonans. On this morning, I am camped at 7,800 feet at the overlook at Whitetail Campground, about a mile higher than the city below. Last night I stood on that outcropping and watched the desert beneath as it glistened with the gold, silver, and ruby of a living city a treasure to me. This morning, after finishing Wright's novel, I set up my telescope, found St. Joseph's Hospital, came just a bit north, and there, clearly in view, was the home Harold Bell Wright built at what was then a distant outpost from town. I returned to my campsite, sat for a while, and then packed up to return to the city. The last thing that went into my bag was my copy of Wright's book.

What can you do to get that Mine-withthe-Iron-Door feeling?

CHASING A LEGEND

and turns north shortly afterward. Is there a vault of the lost mine along that stretch of the stream? Whether yes or no, the 5,500-acre park features excellent trails into the Catalinas. Walk the Arizona Trail. Dedicated in May of 1989, this portion of the Arizona Trail begins just south of American Flag Ranch, which stands less than a mile beyond the end of the pavement on the old road that leads from Oracle to Mount Lemmon. The Arizona Trail, when completed, will traverse the state north to south from Utah to Mexico. This trail is recommended for experienced hikers only (Arizona Highways, Oct. '90). You could also take the Dan's Saddle Trail, which begins in the cool pines of Mount Lemmon and is part of the Arizona Trail. Drive or ride the "old" back road up Mount Lemmon. I have never taken this road by four-wheel-drive vehicle, but I have twice ridden it on a mountain bike. Start in Oracle and follow the signs out of town to the southeast. The distance is about 28 miles to Mount Lemmon, and, especially if you're on a bicycle, you'll notice (as I did) it's significantly uphill. I'd recommend taking the "new" paved road from Mount Lemmon back to Tucson rather than returning to Oracle. Go to the Whitetail Campground. This is easy and wonderful. Drive up to Mount Lemmon. Past the Palisades Ranger Station is the Mount Bigelow Road. Keep on the main road, but watch for Whitetail Road, which will turn left shortly afterward. Follow the road to the end, where there's a turnaround near a rock wall. Go up the steps and follow the trail for about five to 10 minutes as it climbs to an overlook with several unimproved campsites. Many have spectacular views of the legendary land of the lost Mine with the Iron Door. I promise that in these places you will find treasure whose value surpasses that of any lost mine.

Philip Varney, chairman of the English Department at Tucson's Rincon High School, has written four books about his adventures while driving and cycling the back roads of the West.