| From
the Mohave County Miner - March 3, 1885
THE LOST
BASIN
NEW DISCOVERIES OF OLD WORKINGS
In the Lost Basin district many and strange discoveries have been
made during the past three or four weeks which prove conclusively
that in years gone by mining was conducted on a large scale in
this portion, the gold region, of Mohave county. How many men
were engaged in the undertaking will probably never be known as
it is evident from the recent discoveries that many of them met
their death from the hands of the Indians while prosecuting their
search for gold, and of those who escaped if any, nothing has
ever been heard.
There are many of our readers who have heard of the 'Lost Shaft'
in the Lost Basin district, and probably some of them have visited
it. It lies about six miles northwest of Patterson's wells, and
many a hardy prospector has come across it in the last five years
and probably speculated on the fate of those who had the temerity
to mine it. There is a tradition among the miners here that the
work was done by a party of Mormons on their way to Utah, some
of whom took the gold fever and left the main part to prosecute
their search for gold and most likely forfeited their lives in
so doing. As the old main-traveled Mormon road runs within a few
miles of the place, this story is probably correct. A Few weeks
ago, we are told, a lady visited Fred Nobmann's house at Hackberry
siding, and stated that many years ago her husband, who is now
dead, was in this portion of Arizona engaged in mining, but was
driven out by the Indians and many of his companions killed. He
had given her a good description of the locality and told her
if, as then appeared very unlikely, she should ever visit Arizona
to make some inquiries about the mines.
From her description of
the locality, Mr. Nobmann, who is an old prospector in this county
and knows the whole country, readily recognized the neighborhood
of the Lost Shaft. Her inquiries, and what little information
she was able to impart concerning the richness of her husband's
discoveries induced Mr. Nobmann to make another visit to the Lost
Shaft.Taking with him John Tilman, one of the oldest settlers
in the county and who is an experienced gold miner, and another
man whose name our informant had forgotten, Mr. Nobmann left Hackberry
about three weeks ago, and immediately upon his arrival at the
shaft commenced the work of cleaning it out.
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