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 Seven 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

“After the McKinseys [the correct spelling is McKenzie] had revived the second prospector, a Frenchman, he decided to share his good fortune with the ranchers.

“In his gratitude for their care he emptied his sack on the table, whereupon Mr. [McKenzie] shouted, ‘Oh, man! You’ve found the Lost Padre!’
“The Frenchman answered, ‘Yes, I’ve found it, and it’s bigger and richer than anyone has ever said. There’s millions of tons of gold ore and…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Larissa McKenzie , as depicted in this illustration by Susan Sjoberg, spies the nearly naked Frenchman hiding in the trees.

This “blazed tree”, marked by letters burned into the bark, is one of many altered around the San Emigdio Canyon area.

To see full stories with photos, please purchase a copy of the newspaper at many locations (click this link for a list) throughout the Mountain Communities.

Or, have your newspaper delivered via mail and include internet access. Just call 661-245-3794. Classified ads are FREE to paid subscribers! See front page at www.mountainenterprise.com for details.

The e-Edition is available now with full photos and stories at The Mountain Enterprise e-Edition. Select the 2023-0721 edition.

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This is part of the July 21, 2023 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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