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Trent «??d /acft climb hill below Vslit
of Revelation Mine. Right: Only
from this perspective can both the
arch and slit be seen.
Mendevil claim was surveyed for
patent in 1887—if, indeed, this were
the Mendevil. It was at this stage of
speculation that "Revelation" struck
us.
"Look!" Jack pointed to the top
of a mountain wedged into a gully
directly south of the first hill we'd
climbed. At its base were shallow
diggings similar to ones we'd just
examined, but at its peak was a prominent
split. A jumble of rocks
spilled down its face from the Vshaped
crevice.
As we climbed the winding road,
it gradually faded behind the mountain
we ascended. This, we were
confident, was Mr. Jackson's broken
arch and the negligible diggings below
it, the Revelation Mine.' The
more extensive trenches on the second
mountain belonged to the Mendevil.
The split was not apparent from
18 / Desert Magazine / January, 1965
*K * >
its base on the side where our car was
parked, nor even from the peak of
the first incline which sheltered it.
Whether the formation was due to
erosion or the result of early prospecting
we couldn't ascertain from a
distance. The Clip and other mines
in the district were worked for leadsilver
at a time when this metal was
more coveted than gold, so Mr. Jackson's
suggestion that gold had been
overlooked in favor of silver could
be true, but whether or not this formation
once formed an arch is questionable.
When bridged, if ever it
was, I believe it would have more
closely resembled a needle's eye.
It is understandable that Mr. Jackson
would have used this distinctive
formation to identify the Revelation
Mine. But that Mr. Fish of the Lost
Arch Mine legend would have identified
his golden outcropping with
a landmark so unobtrusive and dubious
an arch when a perfectly good
one visible from great distances towered
beside it, is unlikely. He might
have confided to his partner that
the gold lay in the vent of a needle's
eye, but then the legend would concern
a lost needle instead of a lost
arch.
I'm afraid we're going to have to
pass on this one. Like its California
neighbors, Arizona's Trigo Mountains
are overly endowed with arches.
As far as we Peppers are concerned,
the Lost Arch stays lost in the Turtles!
///