 From
the traffic turnout, a narrow trail leads down the bank towards
the stream. On the very edge of the creek and partially in
the water there is a large block of stone about 10 feet
long. A circular depression 34 inches in diameter has been
cut into the top of the stone.
According to local lore, the first
American miners to enter Bullion Canyon in the 1860's found
rotted sacks of ore against this boulder. Perhaps earlier
miners had milled high grade ore on this device which is called
an arrastra.
Arrastras were first introduced into
the New World by the Spanish in the 1500's. To use the
arrastra, ore was broken into walnut-sized chunks with a sledge
hammer and placed into the circular milling area. Three
drag stones, chained to a post in the center of the milling
area, were rotated by hand or mule. The drag stones
crushed the ore into a fine powder and water was added until a
thick slurry was produced. Mercury (quicksilver) was then
introduced to the mixture which removed and amalgamated any gold
found in the ore.
Does the presence of this arrastra tell
us that Spanish Conquistadors were in this canyon mining gold
two or three hundred years ago? The answer is neither a
simple yes or no because archeologists have no way to
"date" the arrastra.
If we turn to written history for a
clue, we are told that the Spanish were insatiable in their
quest for riches. During the 1600's and 1700's this
appetite had driven them to explore most of what was to become
the southern half of the United States.
Because they had established a nearby
stronghold in New Mexico (1598), it is possible that there were
Conquistadors in Utah and maybe even in Bullion Canyon long
before the first "official" expedition by the Spanish
in 1776.
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