Lost Saber Mine
Region: Yavapai County near Prescott
Story: In the fall of 1876, a successful business man from Georgia named John Saber, arrived in Prescott Arizona to try his luck in gold mining. John Saber purchased numerous mining claims along Lynx Creek but he didn't care much for how crowded the place was, and he wanted to find a place that might produce better gold than Lynx Creek.
By the Spring of 1877, Saber set off alone from Prescott into the dangerous Bradshaw Mountains with only his horse and a pack mule with few supplies and a bulk of mining equipment. Within a month he returned in town with two saddle bag's full of beautiful quartz laced with gold. He purchased two more pack animals and loaded them with as much supplies as he could and even more mining equipment.
A Captain stationed at Ft Whipple asked to escort the prospector with his detachment to as far as Rose Peak (Now Antelope Peak) as the Apache were recently active in the mountains nearby.
Saber agreed and stated that his recent discovery was just a days ride from Rose Peak. Once at the peak and having camped for two days, the military escort continued their patrol and Saber returned to his mine. This was the last time the citizens of Prescott ever seen John Saber alive.
During the late summer, a Chinese laborer collecting firewood from one of the many mining camps came upon a dead man sitting upright against a Ponderosa Pine, his horse and a pack animal hobbled nearby and heavily dehydrated. When others arrived they noticed that this was the man's camp and that there was no sign of foul play. While going through the dead man's clothes, they found documents, a book and a pocket watch identifying the man as John Saber.
Upon closer inspection they could see the cause of death, Saber was bitten by a Rattlesnake and had a slow, agonizing death.
In one of Saber's pack's was 100 lbs of crushed rich gold ore which was ready for smelting. Obviously he was making his way into town to have his discovery properly assayed and possibly even file a legitimate claim, but sadly never made it.
No attempt was made to find his mine during that time as the Bradshaw's were so active with the Apache raiding the mining camps and local ranches.
Acknowledgement: Shared by Charles Tomlin
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