Ray Carter wrote this article. His author page and a link to purchase his book on this subject and others click here
In January of 1886 The Bandera Enterprise reported with great excitement that the rumor of the discovery of gold was “No hoax” and “The mines have developed good”! The letter sent by Thomas Cunningham of Leakey, Texas, to Charles Montague of Bandera, was considered a reliable confirmation of the rumored gold and silver discovery. Note: this part of Edwards County is today’s Real County.
The last Lipan Apache murder raid took place on April 19, 1881, when Mrs. Kate McLauren and her son, Allen, were savagely murdered at Buzzard’s Roost. After this the country opened up to prospectors and the more adventurous explorers. The gold rush started at the headwaters of Kent Creek. This is the same area where this author’s grandfather’s grandfather, John Whitley, and uncle Bill Rowland hunted for the Apache Silver vein in 1876. Incidentally, I have a copy of the map redrawn by my grandfather (the original was destroyed in my grandparents house fire in March of 1938) giving the general location of that Apache silver mine. These two locations are pretty durn close to each other.
This Edwards County gold and silver rush got to a hot and heavy start. Six mining claims were made in February of 1886. Kent Creek is a tributary of the Rio Frio. The extent of one of the mines was described as 300 by 1,500 feet, of which the corners of the claim were marked by distinct-stone markers. This was a description of the Cox claim. In July the prospecting frenzy continued about six miles northwest of the town of Leakey when the Frio Kaolin and Silver Mining Company filed its claim. More claims came in December and bled over into 1887. In June and July of 1887, more than twenty claims were filed.
These claims became extremely valuable and were sold as soon as they were filed. Wigginton, Bell, Greenville and Spencer sold their mining claims to George Barnett for $3,000.00. The Barnetts sold their mining claims to George Barnett for $600. Barnett also bought Reeves mining claim for $100.
Who says there were no gold rushes in Texas? There may have been very little gold found, but there were plenty of gold rushes. For detailed information on the mining claims and the men who claimed them, read my book, Texas Gold Rushes-450 Years of Prospecting and Mining in the Texas Hill Country.
Article Copyright by Ray Carter, 2022
Ray Carter wrote this article. His author page and a link to purchase his book on this subject and others click here