By Flint Carter
(Note: Read Flint Carter's new Book, "Canyon of Gold," about his experiences in the Santa Catalina Mountas for the past four decades)
Little do most people know that the atrocities that have occurred in search of the elusive yellow metal.
Our Canyon of Gold is a good example of the things people will do for gold.
By reading the novel, "Mine with the Iron
Door," you will remember Sonora Jack's style of the "old fire on the
chest" to find the location of the gold. Spaniards were rumored to burn
the slaves eyes out with red hot pokers to stop escape; and because
eyesight was not required in the lightless tunnels, "Odie Faulk's
Arizona, a short history states Indians killed over 100 people and
retired toward the Santa Catalinas, north of Tucson.
Natachee, the mystic guardian and native
of the Canyon of Gold, with the White Man's influx, was not even
permitted to hunt for food by law
Geronimo went on the war path because of
the gold and silver deposits being stolen from his people. Buffalo Bill
was reported to be bled white in attempts to develop a 10 inch gold vein
at Campo Bonito.
Four full-length motion pictures have
portrayed the mighty canyons' colorful paths in a fictional way, calling
it a "romantic fiction."
While staying at the Linda Vista,
Arizona's first guest ranch, author Harold Bell Wright penned "the
legend" and brought the movie industry to Oracle in 1923 to film the
first motion picture.
The first movie brought an onslaught of
pilgrims searching for a new future, many uneducated and unequipped only
found color and disillusionment with the legend.
The 1936 "Mine with the Iron Door" told of 200 ghost guarding the lost mine and Spanish treasure of the mission.
In 1955, the movie was redone as "The Secrets of Treasure Mountain" with Old Iron Sides himself, Raymond Burr.
"McKenna's Gold," the 1968 version hints
towards another of Tucson's historical characters, Frontier Fremont, kin
of the McKenna's. The Indian attack may be part of the Kennedy Israel
Massacre that took place at the Canyon of Gold. The entire story will
never be known, but will include some of this countries' most prominent
and historical names.
One of Wright's sons later would be
writer for Bambi, Fantasia and the Wonderful World of Disney. Buffalo
Bill's Goldmine would be found to contain 25% tungsten in the dump and
the United States largest underground gold producing mine would end up
in sight (and smell) of the same. Buffalo Bill himself would catch
phenomena at an orphans Christmas benefit and would die on his trip
North.
The Indians that lived in Canada were
probably better than the farmers of today. With only stone tools they
lived using nature's precious waters in one of the most elaborate
channel and canal systems that I have ever seen.
The secret knowledge is part of this
great legacy which is part of your local heritage. Please learn from it
and preserve it, for it is "truly golden."
The ancients knew nature and lived in
harmony without making their environment as we are doing. The Real
"Gold" and "Treasure" for all to share from this legend may very well be
the "Iron" itself, for it can be used to heat and cool our dwellings
and more,
Continue reading:
Exclusively from Southern Arizona
Cody Stone is from Southern Arizona, USA
and designed as jewelry grade gold and silver in quartz. Cody stone
specimens and hand made items are on display at the Oracle Inn
Steakhouse & Saloon in Oracle, Arizona. Call Flint at 520-289-4566
or email [email protected]. Mention the Iron Door web site.
See more Southwestern Jewelry Grade Gold and Silver in Quartz by Flint Carter.

"Ballads of the Santa Catalina Mountains" CD
Listen to songs
and ballads on CD about the Iron Door Mine, the Santa Catalina
Mountains, the Old West by Arizona historian Flint Carter. $9.95. Call
520-289-4566 for more information and to purchase directly. Mention the
Iron Door web site.
Iron Door Mine Legend Tour and Artifacts
Explore displays
of over 1,000 Old West artifacts and specimens from the surrounding area
with Flint Carter. Learn about Western legends. Call Fint at
520-289-4566. Mention the Iron Door web site.
"MacKenna's Gold" (1969)
Starring Gregory Peck and Omar Sherif
Attempting to do for Westerns
what his Guns of Navarone had done for World War II action epics,
director J. Lee Thompson crafted Mackenna's Gold as a lavish, absurdly
ambitious variation on Erich Von Stroheim's Greed, resulting in a
last-gasp Western so eager to encompass the genre's traditions that it
turns into a big, silly, wildly entertaining mess. Gregory Peck surely
had more serious intentions when he signed on, and he brings prestigious
gravitas to his glum role as Marshall Mackenna, who gets shanghaied
into searching for the gold-filled canyon of an elusive Apache legend.
The rest of the 1969 film labors to undermine Peck's respectable
demeanor; how else to explain Omar Sharif as a Mexican villain, Julie
Newmar as a hot-blooded Apache temptress (with underwater nude scenes
that were celebrated in Playboy magazine), and a jaw-dropping finale
that's so ridiculous it's impressive in spite of itself? --Jeff Shannon,
Amazon.com
DVD edition of MacKenna's Gold
. Studio: Sony Pictures. DVD format. Release Date: July 11, 2000. Run Time: 128 minutes.
Poster from Mackenna's Gold - Movie Poster -
11 x 17. This poster measures approx. 11 x 17. Rolled and shipped in a
sturdy tube. This poster is from the movie Mackenna's Gold (1969).
Printed book edition of Mackenna's Gold
A Five-time Spur Award-winning Author. Somewhere in 100,000 square
miles of wilderness was the fabled Lost Canyon of Gold. With his dying
breath, an ancient Apache warrior entrusted Glen Mackenna with the
location of the lode that would make any man - or woman - rich beyond
their wildest dreams. Halfbreed renegade and captive girl, mercenary
soldier and thieving scout - brave or beaten, innocent or evil, they'd
sell their very souls to possess Mackenna's gold. --This text refers to
the Hardcover edition. Avon Books (Mm) (June 1988).
Watch video on-demand from Amazon.com of MacKenna's Gold
.
The Mine with the Iron Door: A Romance (1936)
Movie Poster from the 1936 film The Mine with the Iron Door - Movie Poster - 11 x 17
Poster for the Mine with the Iron Door movie. Stars Richard Arlen,
Ceclia Parker and Henry B. Walthall. Poster measures approx. 11 x 17.
Rolled and shipped in a sturdy tube. This poster is from The Mine with
the Iron Door (1936).
Printed Edition of The Mine with the Iron Door.
(The Collected Works of Harold Bell Wright - 18 Volumes) (Library
Binding) Library Binding: 338 pages. Publisher: Classic Publishers,
Language: English. ISBN: 158201891X.
Digital CD Edition of Mine with the Iron Door: A Romance, The (CD-ROM Edition)
. The CD-ROM contains 338 pages. Publisher: Classic Books; 1923 edition (December 15, 2007).
William Thomas Carter,
"Flint" to his friends, is an artist and author born in 1947 in
Danville, Illinois. After attending Danville High School, he served in
Panama during the Vietnam conflict at the Latin American Headquarters
Post. He received the National Defense and Good Conduct medals.
Returning home, Flint attended Danville
Junior College and later Southern Illinois University. Special interest
in the design department, headed by Buckminster Fuller, inspired the
building of Arizona's first solar heated and cooled museum. For more information contact Flint at 520-289-4566 or email [email protected]. Mention the Iron Door web site. Read more about Flint Carter, Celebrity Stones, art and jewelry and the Iron Door Mine.