Base of Lake Mountain Mine

Caleb Rhoades himself may have offered an important clue when, in speaking of his mines, he indicated an area of the reservation which was construed "of many dips, spurs and angles." There are two such areas as this along the boundaries of the original reservation; one along its eastern boundary at the southern base of Lake Mountain and one along its western boundary near the head of Rhoades Canyon and Lightning Ridge. If he was referring to the sacred mine, then he was referring to the dips, spurs and angles of the reservation's eastern boundary or, to be more specific, to the foothills along the southern slope of Lake Mountain.

Mary Reed Harris, daughter of Jimmie Reed and a member of the Ute tribe, said of her father; "I remember many times when my father and Caleb Rhoades would leave together and go prospecting up on the mountain. My father supplied the mules all the time, even when Caleb Rhoades went up alone.... My father knew where these mines were, I know, but he wouldn't tell anybody, even us. We tried to pry it out of him lots of times, and he would tell us kids all kinds of stories about it, but he would say 'You know more than you should right now,' and he wouldn't tell anymore....

"David Copperfield (an Indian) used to know lots about those mines. He told me once that the mine which the Indians called the sacred one was above Whiterocks and he said we could see it from our ranch if we looked, but we never knew where for sure. He told us not to go there or the spirits would kill us and scatter our parts all over the mountain. "

"Carre-Shin-Ob, which is what the Utes call the forbidden mines, was within sight of our house (they lived at Whiterocks), but nobody ever found it and the Indians won't go there. They believe it is haunted. My father told me he had seen Carne-Shin-Ob once, and that inside the entrance to the cavern or the tunnel was dead bodies or bones, piled up, and bags of gold ore. The trees all around had strange signs marked on them, but whether they were put there by the Spaniards or the Indians, I don't know. I don't think the Utes ever made marks.... You would waste your time to hunt for it. My father said when he saw it, that you could ride next to it and miss it. And they have covered it up pretty much, too....Jim Muse (an Indian) told me once that every ounce of gold in that mine was mined with somebody's blood. I don't think it's worth the bother. "

It is of particular interest that Mary Reed Harris should have brought up those "strange signs" on the trees near the sacred mine. She was talking about Spanish mine and treasure symbols, of course, which are extremely prevalent throughout the pines and Quakenasps on Mosby Mountain, Middle Mountain, and Lake Mountain, at least that was so before the Forest Service issued timber-cutting permits in that area. Today, many of the major or markings have been destroyed...--Lost Gold of the Uintah, pg. 47

About two and one-half miles (one league) to the east of this old Spanish camp on Mosby Mountain by way of the old Spanish trail, there is located another Lost Rhoades Mine. Aaron G. Daniels, in his journal of 1895, described the location of this mine as follows:

"The mine marked # 2 on the map (See Map #023) is located on a flat depression in the base of Lake Mountain which I found when Cale Rhoades told me about a grove of trees containing Spanish marks that were similar to those that I first saw near the Sacred Indian Mine. Cale never told me where the shaft was to this place but I found it by exploration and knowledge of the lay of veins which I learned in many years of prospecting. Map #030 shows the area of the Spanish symbols.

"The mine lays in a very hard place to find which could be walked over and not seen without careful observation. At the base of Lake Mountain, maybe two or two and one-half miles east and a little north of the Spanish markings on Mosby Table there is a draw or gully which runs back into the base of the mountain and there are tailings which have been dragged out of the mountain. Behind these tailings near the end of the gully is the open shaft, but it cannot be seen unless a person moves the cover. There the entrance has two cross bars and two pillars like I have seen depicted for Greek and Roman Temples, but these are wood posts.

"I have seen the Gold in this shaft and I have taken samples from it and it is very rich. At one time, Jim Reed, Pete Dillman, Cale Rhoades and myself went partners to develop this vein, but it never got off the ground. I think, had I not got so old so soon, that I could have made this one of the biggest producers in the Western Region.

"Senator Kearns and Richard Chambers both offered money to me once to show them this place, but Pick Murdock told me about how they cheated him out of the Silver King Mine (at Park City, Utah) and I never followed the lead.

"In order to reach the mine you will need to go up to the first branch of Whiterocks Creek (Red Pine Canyon) and take this first right canyon and climb to the top of Mosby Table. Here you will find a place where the Spanish have marked the trees with signs (Ice Cave), and there are a lot of them, but ignore all the signs except the crosses. These crosses lead in a straight line through the trees to a point on the hill which, across a low canyon (Mosby Creek), you can see the base of Lake Mountain. Travel in a straight line across the canyon and climb the slope of Lake Mountain to a place where it levels off, and there you will see the gully and at the end of it, the shaft.

"Be careful not to overlook it though, because you won't see it until you move some rock and timber behind a bushy low growth of scrub oak. Remember, I covered it and left it much as I first found it.

"On top of the hill, in which the shaft is dug, there is a large pine with the initials C.B.R. carved about six inches high, and if I recall correctly, an arrow pointing down the slope leading to the shaft.

"If you have trouble finding the Spanish trees, locate the two old workings farther down the mountain, then go up the mountain from there in a direction northeast, keeping a line with Lake Mountain."--Lost Gold of the Uintah, pg. 150

Many old Spanish mines have' been found on both sides of the Dry Fork ridge east of Lake Mountain. Aaron Daniels left a waybill and map to one of them before he died. (See Map V)

Near Mosby Mountain there is a place where Spanish miners marked large pine trees with strange signs. There are many different ones, but ignore all except the Catholic Crosses. They lead in a straight line to the edge of the ridge, where you can look across the valley to a canyon at the base of Lake Mountain. That canyon is about two or three miles north-east of those Spanish signs. A small draw or gulch runs back into the mountain, where there are other trees which have the same markings on them as I saw at Carre-Shin-Ob. On the mountain front above, there is a giant pine with an arrow carved on its bark, which points right at the mine. That mine lays in a very hard to find place, and you can walk right by it if you don't watch closely. You can see where the tailings which came from the mine were strewn across the mountainside. I have seen gold from that mine, and I still have some pieces of it. It is very rich ore. Senator Tom Kearns wanted me to show him the location, but Pick Murdock told me that Kearns had cheated him out of a mine, so I never followed the lead. I could have made it one of the best mines in the western country.--Faded Footprints, pg. 168