THE MINE WITH THE IRON DOOR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 111, 6 November 1937, Page 27

THE MINE WITH THE IRON DOOR

Nathan Sturdy, mining'engineer and member of the Smithsonian Institution, is ready to leave for Tucson, Arizona, to search for "the mine with the iron door," immortalised in legend arid history, says the "Christian Science Monitor." : • ■ ■ ' •*••■-.■.

■ In^ his office in Pittsburgh's downtown ;"Golden Triangle," Mr. Sturdy declared he not only hopes to find the mine, but also more than £18,000,000 in gold, stored there four centuries ago by Spanish priests, the legends claim.

: In the sixteenth century, so the story goes, Spanish missionaries in the Southwest accumulated great hoards of gold from Indian miners..

The gold was to be shipped to Spain, but Spanish ship captains that could be trusted were rare on the California coast., The priests hid the gold Until "safe" ships arrived, then it was transported from Arizona by pack mule.

The last of these priests was Francist. Before he could ship his store back to Spain, he was recalled., He stored the metal, the tradition is, somewhere behind the "iron door" of the Escalante mine. ■■ • '

Francist took with him maps of the great Mogul fault which cuts through theCatalina mountain. It was- on the maps; that he recorded the amount of his hoard. ';

■ "It was-2.500.000 ounces." Mr. Sturdy said. A great-great-nephew of Francist came over from Spain with his uncle's

maps. He hired a prospector, known only now as "Old Pearson," and together they searched. the hills for months with no success.

A Frenchman, Charleux, spent forty years. looking for the "iron door." His widow, and daughter still have the maps. . .

. The 80 acres, on .which the mine is supposed to foe located, is now valued at ,£BOOO. Mr. Sturdy said. He own? one fourth of it, and the rest is owned by a friend and the Apache Indian Reservation.

Mr. Sturdy's friend,, C. W. McKee, of Phoenix, Arizona, has been searching for the door for 13 years.

"Mckee and I plan," Mr. Sturdy declared, "to remove tons of rock that have tumbled down from the mountain through' the years. All the maps existent lead'to one particular mountain. Under these rocks we'll find the door." Mr. McKee has collected 40 maps, Mr- Sturdy said. ' . ' Recently, Mr. Sturdy stated, he got a letter,from Mr. McKee, which read: "I have found the old mission, and the dump of the mine, I haven't yet found the door, but we will, I am certain." : ' . ■ "If we really find: the treasure," the Pittsburgh engineer said, "we shall contract with an express company to take the metal in armoured cars direct to the United States mint."