Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1891 — Ohl Aztec Mines. [ARTICLE]

Ohl Aztec Mines.

A gHAip of old Spanish or Aztec mines have recently been discovered at Las Placitas of this county, about twenty miles from this city, says an Albuquerque (New Mexico) correspondent of the St. Louis Republic. So many years have elapsed since these mines were worked that all trace of their history has been lost and the present inhabitants of the country knew absolutely nothing aboiit them. Prospectors recently got on to the trail of what they thought was something good, and by pushing their investigation came upon unmistakable evidences of what were undoubtedly once rich workings. A very extensive system of underground work has been brought to light. The mineral discovered, while not of the highest grade, Is rich enough to pay handsomely, and runs generally from SSO to S6O to the ton. The remains have been found in several places of what were once furnaces for smelting the ore. There are also large quantities of slag, and in several instances have been found what are clearly remains of implements used by the workmen. But what will still be more interesting to the general reader is that these explorations have developed unmistakable evidences of the fact that the woi*k on these mines which was performed nobody knows how many centuries ago, was brought to a summary conclusion by an earthquake or general upheaval of some sort, for not only are the mine workings, smelters, furnaces, etc., buried under some fifteen feet of earth, but there have been found on the same level the ruins of what was once an aqueduct for bringing water to the camp from a source about ten miles distant. The camp of Las Placitas, referred to, is on the eastern slope of the Sandia Mountains, about twenty miles from Albuquerque, and promises to become one of the most interesting fields of archseological research yet discovered in this country.