Curated by Kaylin Paschall, TME

The locations of gold discoveries in our local mountains are not settled history. Among many legends, none may hold as much allure as that of the lucrative Lost Padres Mine.

We resume the hunt from last week with Part Three of “Deep Dives Into The Archives: Are We Sitting On A Gold Mine”, a ten-part series where we republish the legend as told by Joyce Campbell, historian and regular columnist for The Mountain Enterprise during the 1960s and 70s.

By Joyce Campbell

“The San Emigdio Indians, their Yokut brothers and the two remaining padres took the third padre’s body from the battleground to the San Emigdio village to prepare him for burial.

“They found the village a smoking ruin and all the supplies burned; however, they stayed long enough to hold a Mass for the dead padre and bury him beside the graves of other padres who had died in the past.

Custumal Vengeance

“Then they prepared to wreak vengeance on the three Piute prisoners according to their custom…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

In a drawing by Susan Sjoberg for Bonnie Ketterl Kane’s first volume of A View From The Ridge Route, the San Emigdiano and Yokut Indians are depicted carrying the body of one padre that passed away shortly after the Battle of San Emidgio. The padre and two others were reputedly buried somewhere near the San Emigdiano village at the base of San Emigdio Canyon. The south end of San Emigdio Cyn. is in PMC.

The padres’ old adobe ruins as seen at the bottom of San Emigdio Canyon in the early 1900’s. The south end of San Emigdio Canyon is in today’s Pine Mountain Club.

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The e-Edition is available now with full photos and stories at The Mountain Enterprise e-Edition. Select the 2023-0623 edition.

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This is part of the June 23, 2023 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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