D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February 2010
Lost History of Pinos Altos
Page: 3Bear Creek: This name has remained unchanged. It is the creek that runs through the Pinos Altos town-site. Bear Creek rises on the southeastern slope of Pinos Altos Mountain and runs roughly northwards to converge with Cherry Creek. Ultimately it empties into the Gila River at a point just south of the town of Gila, NM. Neal names seven of the companies in operation on Bear Creek.
Burch's Gulch: Neal lists 15 companies with claims on Burch's Gulch, among them Burch, Langston & Co., who were averaging $50/90 per day, and Snively & Co., averaging $30/50 per day. He also mentions that several of the claims here had shafts on them: Jackson & Co. "have a rich gold quartz lead upon which they have sunk a shaft 30 feet deep" "Read & Co. have a silver mine called the "Pino Alto" lead. A shaft has also been sunk upon this lead at each end of it." The lead of Dr. Cotton and Mr. Dwenger was also in the process of having a shaft sunk on it. This mention of shafts provides further evidence that the reported December 1860 discovery of the first quartz lode by Mastin cannot be true.
But where exactly was Burch's Gulch? Historians have puzzled over its location for many years. The name Burch's Gulch is no longer in use; it cannot be found on any modern-day map, nor could we find it on any 19th century map. Here we enter into some degree of conjecture, employing the scant evidence that does exist.
Let us suppose that Burchville was situated on Burch's Gulch. We now know that Burchville and Pino Alto were at two different locations; we also know that Burchville was not the commercial center of the gold mines. That was Pino Alto, where the major businesses were located. Carleton, if he is correct on this point, states that the population had established Pinos Altos "at a point central to the scene of their labors." This would be the logical thing to do. In all probability, Burchville was a satellite mining camp, one of several located near to the town-site and known collectively as "The Pino Alto Gold Mines." Burchville was most probably the first of these camps to be established.
The 1860 census enumerated the "Pino Alto Gold Mines"; from Neal's letter we can safely assume that this must have included those persons located on both Bear Creek and Burch's Gulch and, therefore, Burchville. We know that Burchville was still in existence in the fall of 1861 as per the Mastin resolutions. After the very early 1860s, as far as we have been able to determine, the names Burchville and Burch's Gulch fell into disuse. Why this happened is an unknown. We do know that this, and the changing of a settlement's name, was a common occurrence at this time, when so many mining camps boomed and died over short spans of time.
Carleton's 1867 report states that the first discoveries were made "near the present site of the town of Pinos Altos in what is known as Rich Gulch." This is the first mention of Rich Gulch. There is today an arroyo called Arroyo Rico, which translates as Rich Arroyo or, possibly, Rich Gulch. Arroyo Rico rises on the northern slope of Pinos Altos Mountain, runs west into Webb Gulch, and then north to join Bear Creek. However, as we shall see, this cannot be Carleton's Rich Gulch.
Allen's 1899 article refers to the site of the first discoveries as being "just above the junction of Little Cherry Creek with the Bear." This is the location most often cited today. Initially, Allen's use of the word "above" might lead one to assume that he is referring to a location somewhere north of the junction of these two creeks. Taking into account the fact that Bear Creek runs from a higher elevation in the south to a lower elevation at its northern extreme, at its junction with Cherry Creek, "above" in this context should be interpreted to mean that the first discoveries were made south of the junction of Little Cherry and Bear Creeks. (See map.)
Our fourth, and perhaps most definitive, piece of evidence is to be found in the 1897 edition of The Compiled Laws of New Mexico. This edition was printed and published at Santa Fe pursuant to an act passed by the 32nd Territorial Legislature "to provide for the compilation, publication, and distribution of the Laws of The Territory of New Mexico," which was approved on March 16, 1897. The Compiled Laws contains everything from the Kearny Code of 1846, through to laws that had been enacted since the previous edition was published in 1884. Most relevant here is the section which deals with the organization and boundaries of the various counties of the territory, in particular paragraphs 546 to 549 that relate to Grant County.
Paragraph 548 describes the Grant County electoral precincts that were created on Jan. 30, 1868, in conjunction with the organization of the county itself. There were four of them: Precinct 1 was centered at Central City, Precinct 2 at Pinos Altos and Precinct 4 at the Town of Rio Mimbres. There is of course one more — Precinct 3, that precinct centered on the settlement of Eureka, which lay "at the junction of Rich Gulch and Bear Creek."
The Compiled Laws describe Precinct 3:
"(from the) top of Pinos Altos Mountain thence northeastwardly down the dividing ridge between Rich Gulch and Bear creeks, midway between the Town of Pinos Altos and the junction of Bear Creek and Rich Gulch, thence northeastwardly to the northern boundary of the county, shall be included in precinct number two: and the remainder of the territory of the county to-wit: That part of the county lying west of last described line, shall be included in precinct number three."
The creation of a new precinct also meant the appointment of a justice of the peace and a constable to serve that precinct. Records of later dates found at the Grant County Clerk's Office seem to suggest that a minimum population of 50 was a necessary prerequisite for the formation of a new precinct. The actual population of Eureka in 1868, however, is unknown.
From the above description of the precinct boundaries, and by referring to the map, we see that the northeast line, which began at the summit of Pinos Altos Mountain, ran midway between Pinos Altos town-site and the settlement of Eureka — Eureka itself being located at the junction of Bear Creek and Rich Gulch.
Where was the junction of Bear Creek and Rich Gulch? There is only one arroyo that runs into Bear Creek at the described location. It is unnamed on the current USGS map relevant to this section — the 7.5 minute Series Topographic Map for the Twin Sisters Quadrangle. It runs roughly northeast, rising on the northeast slope of Pinos Altos Mountain. The junction between it and Bear Creek is at a point 1.46 miles north-northwest of the intersection of present-day Bear Creek Road and Main Street in Pinos Altos; 0.34 miles northwest of the historic arrastra site. This junction lies at a latitude 32 53' 8.0" N, longitude 108 13' 43.8" W.
To answer the mystery of Burch's Gulch, then, we know:
- Burchville was one of the earliest mining camps established; therefore it must have been located at or very near to the earliest discoveries.
- The earliest discoveries seem to have been centered on the Burch's Gulch/Bear Creek junction, as per Neal's 1860 letter.
- By 1867 both the names Burch's Gulch and Burchville had fallen into disuse.
- In 1867, Carleton states that the first discoveries were made on what
was by then known as Rich Gulch, and the 1897 Compiled Laws refer
to a junction of Rich Gulch and Bear Creek.
It is therefore highly probable that Carleton's Rich Gulch and Neal's Burch's Gulch were one and the same arroyo, and that it was here that Burchville was located.
In all probability Burch's Gulch had acquired the new name of Rich Gulch when the area was repopulated by a largely fresh influx of people when mining and prospecting recommenced towards the close of the Civil War. Similarly, it was probably also around this time, and for the same reasons, that the old mining camp of Burchville also acquired the new name of Eureka.
How long the settlement of Eureka existed we do not know. Precinct 3, the Eureka precinct, would last for only four years. An act approved by the Territorial Legislature on Dec. 29, 1871, stated:
"That the precinct of the county of Grant known as Eureka, number three, be and the same is hereby abolished, and that the territory embraced therein be and the same is hereby attached to and embraced within the limits of precinct number two known as Pinos Altos precinct."
In all likelihood, and with the supporting evidence of similar examples found in Grant County records, the precinct of Eureka was abolished because its population, centered on the settlement of Eureka, had fallen below some required minimum. This is also supported by the fact that Eureka is not listed on the 1870 census.
The act that had abolished Eureka precinct also created a new precinct, also numbered Precinct 3, centered at Silver City. It also established Silver City as the new county seat, taking away that distinction from Pinos Altos.
The gold-mining boomtown would never regain its former glory, and its history would begin to mingle with myth and folklore. We can't make Pinos Altos a boomtown again, but we can at least try to get its history right.
Jim and Erica Parson live in Silver City. Jim was born in Silver City, and grew up in the area. His family settled in Grant County in the late 1870s, having been in the Southwest since the early 1830s. Erica was born and raised in South Wales, and lived there until 2004 when she came to New Mexico. Over the past four years, they have been engaged almost full time in researching the history of southwestern New Mexico.