Note 9 — THE LEGEND OF THE SAN SABA OR BOWIE MINE

But with the evidence at hand it would be idle to go further into the history of the mines. All that I myself know is what I have read in and of Miranda’s reports; and these reports were the propaganda of an ambitious promotion seeker, made before, not after, practical exploitation. The mines may have been worked consistently for a while. They may have paid. According to one report in the Miranda documents, the ore assayed eleven ounces to the pound.9 Hunter says that a report made in 1812 by Don Ignacio Obregon, who signed himself “Inspector Real de las Minas,” announced an analysis of $1680 to the ton;10 but this Don Ignacio’s reports of assays have been only a little less ubiquitous than peddled charts.11 According to a recent United States Government report, the Llano country shows no evidence of gold or silver in paying quantities.12