Lost Josephine gold mine

I have changed my sign-in name to Sedonan
                                                Part 1
The Josephine de Martinique is supported by tons of historical evidence, as referenced by church and civil archives. The earliest evidence that I have found dates to around 1630?s when Padre Posada was adventuring along the Old Spanish Trail.
The Spanish mentioned that the ?Josephine? was the richest gold mine in the world, even richer than Tayopa. Indian labor was used in the mines, and many died as a result of harsh treatment by their masters.
In 1680, the pueblo revolt ended the Spanish occupation for about twenty years. All mines and their evidence were completely concealed.
Around 1868 a man known as John Burke arrived at the stage station at Desert Springs, and began telling Ben Bowen that he knew where ?the lost Spanish mine of the Henry Mountains was hidden?. Bowen caught gold fever, and decided to join Burke. They went into Marysvale, Utah, and hired a third man named Blackburn to be camp tender and wrangler. They purchased supplies from a rancher at Blue Valley, and were warned against going into the Henrys. Some years before, an Indian who had worked for the rancher told him as they rode in the mountains, ?There is plenty gold up there!?.
The three men crossed the headwaters of Cresent Creek and made camp. Burke and Bowen climbed to an outcropping ledge of gold ore in which a shaft had been made long before. They left Blackburn down below with the stock.
The two men broke enough gold laced quartz from the ledge to fill their pack sacks. When they returned to camp, Blackburn asked where the mine was, and was told, ?You can see it from here?, but no further directions were given.
They left the mountains through Penn-Ellen Pass, heading northwest across an unknown desert. This was a mistake, as they thought the desert was flat, but as they began to cross it they discovered a maze of deep canyons. The men suffered from thirst, and ignoring Blackburn?s warning drank from a stagnant pool. Long story short, both Burke and Bowen died shortly afterwards. Blackburn returned many times, but was unable to locate the mine.
In 1900, Edgar T. Wolverton (who was a mining engineer) began to search for the Burke and Bowen diggings, which he assumed was the Lost Josephine. He lived alone in the Henrys for more than twenty years, and explored every inch of the terrain. He found old smelter sites and piles of slag so old that pine trees with more than 100 year rings were growing in them. He found one pit that he estimated to be 175 years old with pieces of melted gold. He also found the remains of a stone furnace and arrastras. Wolverton was an incredible man when it came to communication. In his daily journal which he kept for nearly 21 years, he wrote ?Location work done, camp put up, trail opened, mill built. Problems make any work except the most necessary very difficult.? It took him 20 years to build that mill!! His last journal entry of July 21st, 1921 reads, ?Found the old Mexican(Spanish) mill today while panning on the hill south of camp. Sack of ore brought down??(illegible)? a very hard day, tired and thirsty?. That was his last entry because he was thrown from his horse and fatally injured.
Bill


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                                                  Part two

In 1900, two men Frank Olgean and Al Hainey found in the church archives in Santa Fe, a waybill to a gold mine. Following the waybill, they were led into the lower Henry mtns. Stone markers were found that led them to a cave where they found on a wall, another waybill to the Josephine. Upon arriving in the Henry?s, Olgean and Hainey found evidence of old mining activity. An old smelter still had slag and Hainey picked up a piece of phonolite which he did not have assayed right away. Finding no sign of the mine, both men left the area with just samples and pretty colored rocks. Later, Al Hainey had the sample of phonolite assayed, and was astounded when the report came back $50,000 to the ton. Hainey returned to the Henry mtns, and spent considerable time searching, but to no avail. The lost Josephine was still lost. The last anyone ever saw of Hainey, he was walking back towards Hanksville muttering to himself.
 In 1993, I was approached by three men from Utah who had been looking for the Lost Josephine for several years. All three had lived in Hanksville and worked in mines nearby. Hanksville is about 40 miles from the search area.
These men had heard that I was a professional and had done research on the Old Spanish Trail in Utah. They came with topo maps and a journal that was absolutely unbelievable.
It seems that they knew someone in Marysvale who knew the Blackburn family, and this journal had been written by the same Blackburn who was the camp tender for Burke and Bowen.
At this time, I knew very little about the Lost Josephine, as I was interested mainly in the Old Spanish Trail. I was shown parts of the journal, and the topos, and given first hand accounts of searches by these men. They seemed very sincere and knowledgeable, and they were familiar with mines and the area. I agreed to spend two weeks camped in the Henry?s with these fellows for a careful search.
We made camp in a piney area at 8,800 ft., and our search area began at over 9,000 ft. The slopes on all sides were nearly vertical, or so it seemed to me. One could not walk without a stick. Quite a bit of the terrain was covered by scrub oak and manzanita. Other areas were very rocky. The flat areas near the creeks were covered with quaky aspens and some very old pines.
I was shown many tree carvings, and Wolvertons mill site, and cabin area, with the mill flume still standing, and the old cabin that had collapsed. His mill had been removed from the area and reconstructed in Hanksville, and the old Spanish arrastras had been removed as well. Still many carvings on the trees could be made out, and plainly indicated an area very near to Wolvertons mill and camp.
more to follow


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                                               Page three
We knew from Wolverton?s daily journal that he had found a mill site and some ore from a mine, somewhere south of his camp. Since we knew where his camp was on Straight Creek, we began our search towards the south. Many trees had carvings, and there were some very, very old tree stumps that had been hand cut in the area. After we had left the area of the creek where the pines and aspens were prolific, we started to climb a rather steep hill towards a ridge. Many rocks and very heavy brush covered the hillside. If a mine had been hidden in this area, one would never find it without special equipment.
The journal that had been written by Blackburn stated that he had made camp on Corral Creek when he accompanied Burke and Bowen. We next turned our attention to the Corral Creek area. Again we found many tree carvings that pointed to the area south of Wolverton?s camp. In Blackburn?s journal, we found that he had returned many times to this area searching for the mine that Burke and Bowen had taken ore from. His last trip was in 1911, when he was accompanied by a man whose name began with ?R?.
Centering our searches around the creek area, I found a homemade snaffle bit for a mule that had been fashioned from baling wire.
Remembering what the two old prospectors told Blackburn, (?You can see it from here?) we started a search up towards the top of Mount Pennell. Oh brother, what terrain that was!!! The four of us had split up to cover more ground. (I searched along the road) Eventually one of the guys hailed us, and said that he had found something on top of a ridge.(groan..) So climb we did.
There at the very end of a ridge point, we found a ?coyote hole?, with quartz gangue lying around. (this would be the only quartz we would find in the entire area) Across the top and along one side of ?the hole?, was hand-hewn logs supporting the opening. I tied a rope around my waist and a tree and climbed down into the mine. Not far down, there had been a cave-in, and the rock above me was very loose, so I did not stay long.
One of the guys had been searching along one side of the ridge point, when he yelled out that there was more digging in that area. We all moved to that side of the mine entrance, and continued to look for ore samples. What was found was absolutely a treasure hunters dream. Half buried in the soft soil was ? a large, badly eroded pewter ladle!!!!! Much older than any modern miner would have carried.
Following are just some of the signs that I remember:


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and another

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A bit uncanny as the picture was an aerial of a hole of an old mine that someone thought was the LJM. There were pictures of guys going down into it just like you mentioned. I snuck online at work as I thought I'd found a related tidbit. I confused a Beckwirth with your Blackburn and, because I was supposed to be working, didn't use your story as a reference before I posted the pix. When I realized my mistake with the names, I deleted the picture. Sue



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