I now continue with young Palmer Ashley's account of what transpired on his search for a rich ledge of galena ore in Morgan City Wash, Arizona:
"A Sign of Mineralization"
"It took me a few minutes to shake the cobwebs out of my head. I had taken a pretty hard spill while coming down that ridge. So I sat there for a bit and looked around and right off the bat I noticed a bunch of quartz pieces
laying around about 20 yards away."Treasure Hunting
"I stood up and dusted myself off and went over to have a look at that quartz, which was basic white colored up with reddish orange and green. Working my dad's claim had taught me to examine such quartz closely because these colors were a sign of mineralization
.""Me and My Dad Were Rich!"
"I stooped and picked up a fist-sized chunk of that quartz
and right away I could see it carried gold...lots of gold. I felt my mouth go dry and my hands get clammy. This was rich ore.""I shoved that big chunk of quartz into the pocket of my overalls and ran around picking up other pieces of ore that were colored the same way. Every piece I examined carried lots of free-milling gold."
"To top things off, just a few feet away was a ledge of the same material exposed above ground for, I'd say, maybe 15 -20 feet. It was a gold miner's dream
come true and all I could think of was that me and my dad were rich!""He Couldn't Stop Grinning"
Well I tell you, I high tailed it down Morgan City Wash as fast as my legs could carry me. I knew my dad wouldn't be back from Phoenix until late but I was so excited I couldn't sit still. By the time dad got home late that evening a big thunderstorm had cut loose and we had lots of flash flooding in the area."
"My dad wasn't too excitable in general but when I showed him that chunk of ore I'd carried down and told him what I'd seen he couldn't stop grinning. Next morning we gathered up a few tools and headed up Morgan City Wash."
A Cruel Trick
"Well, we headed up the wash and right away I could see that the flooding from the storm had been severe. So much earth had been carved away and big boulders flung about that I couldn't recognize any of the landmarks I had seen the day before."
"Though dad and I searched high and low for that rich ledge all day long we never came across it. Same story the next day. And the next. I was confused, very disappointed, and downright mad at Mother Nature for playing this cruel trick on us."
"Even long after dad had passed on I continued to go back to Morgan City Wash to search for that rich ledge of orange and green quartz. I never found it again and that's the God's truth."
So there you have it. Somewhere in or near Morgan City Wash a rich ledge of reddish-orange and green colored quartz still rests, awaiting discovery by someone.
Maybe that someone is you...
(Note: In recent years Morgan City Wash has been a haven for hikers, off roaders, and even paintball gun enthusiasts, so don't expect to prowl the area unnoticed. Also, I heard recently that at least one large section of Morgan City Wash has been posted with "No Trespassing" signs, an indicator of private property. J.R.)
If you liked this post, you may want to read: "James Boys Treasure Signs and Symbols: Important Reader Information"
http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2011/01/charles-kenworthys-treasure-signs.html
(c) J.R. 2011
Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com
