Entertainment Magazine: Tucson: The Lost City

The Lost City of the Santa Catalina Mountains– The Nine Mile City– is found!


Treasures of the Santa CatalinasThis information is found in the comprehensive book on the legends and history of the Catalina Mountains– "Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains." Read sample pages and download free PDF.


 

Video: Flint Carter explores the Lost City of the Santa Catalina Mountains - from the original video recorded in 1985. Read more about Flint Carter's experiences in "Canyon of Gold."

Just north of Tucson, Arizona hidden deep within an extremely remote area of the majestic Santa Catalina Mountains, and the inner sanctum of the Cañada del Oro, are ruins that may be linked to the legends of the Mine with the Iron Door and the fabled Lost City of the Santa Catalinas.

Lost City of Tcson Santa Catalina Mountains with Flint Carter

Photo: Local prospector Flint Carter and friend examines the walls of a structure found near Mt. Lemmon, close to Summerhaven in the 1980s. This is the possible site of the Lost City of the Catalinas, according to Carter who has been mining the Catalinas for more than four decades.

The remains of nearly a half dozen stone constructed buildings are scattered in an area that is suspected to be connected with the famous legend of the Iron Door Mine.

At this remote location there is evidence of both human habitation and mining production–scattered stone ruins, some artifacts, mineshafts, and debris. Abandoned mining shafts, tunnels and early human activity has been documented.

In 1978 Tommy Thompson, president of the Oracle Historical Society, along with film producer Thomas Perry, prospector William “Flint” Carter, and six others drove to Catalina Camp west of Oracle Ridge. They proceeded on foot to the Reef of Rock in search of the legendary Lost City. They found evidence of old stoves, possibly from the 1880s, but not the fabled Lost City (Thomas Perry, an actor, played the holy man in the film The Trial of Billy Jack. He later produced Wanda Nevada, (1979), a story of a gold mine in the Grand Canyon starring Brooke Shields and Peter Fonda).

The Lost City site was finally discovered when Carter, with another group, found the ruins near Catalina Camp in 1985. They didn’t think it was much because they only found a few old stone foundations and walls. It was anti-climatic. But, it seemed someone was there earlier with a bulldozer, pushed material over the hill, and destroyed any other evidence of the city.

Nearby was an old mining tunnel. Carter staked a claim and got a permit to open the tunnel. But after four years of extensive digging, it turned out to be just a 30-foot exploratory tunnel from the turn of the century. Drill holes were found at the end of the tunnel. Several additional quests were conducted over the years with varying results.

During another expedition in 1995, one of the members of Carter’s group included George Mroczkowski, author of the “Professional Treasure Hunter,” found an 1812 Mexican coin in front of a caved-in tunnel. Carter staked a claim and got a permit to open the tunnel. But after four years of extensive digging, it turned out to be just a 30-foot exploratory tunnel from the turn of the century. Drill holes were found at the end of the tunnel. Several additional quests were conducted over the years with varying results. A recent expedition in the spring of 2014 with a geologist and crew revealed additional structures and evidence not observed earlier.

A recent expedition in the spring of 2014 with a geologist and crew revealed additional structures and evidence not observed earlier.

Spanish mining interests fueled legends

The legend that is tied to the Lost City, and the nearby mines involves the Spanish missionaries back in the early 1700s.

According to these stories passed down from generation to generation, the Spanish forced the local natives to work the gold mines until the expulsion of the Jesuit missionaries in 1767. The location of the mine and community became lost.

Also called the Nine Mile City of The Santa Catarinas ("Nueva Mia Ciudad"), this site was reportedly rediscovered by two men in an article published in the "Arizona Weekly Star" Tucson newspaper on March 4, 1880.

The prospectors said they came to the area "on January 10, 1880 for the express purpose of exploring the mountains for the NuevaMia Ciudad and the mine with the iron door." Actually, milla is Spanish for mile.

The newspaper article described their journey into the Cañada del Oro in search of the mysterious ruins and lost gold mine of the Spaniards.

"About one hundred years ago the Jesuits held full sway over the population of this territory, and at that time they had large fields under cultivation and many men employed delving in the earth after the precious metals and turquoise stones. At that time the principle gold mines were situated in these mountains and there was a place called Nueva Mia Ciudad, having a minster church with a number of golden bells that were used to summon the laborers from the fields and mines, and a short distance from the city which was situated on a plateau, was a mountain that had a mine of such fabulous riches that the miners used to cut the gold out with a 'hacheta.' At the time of the Franciscans acquiring supremacy the Jesuits fled, leaving the city destitute of population; before their flight they placed an iron door on the mine and secured it in such a manner that it would require a considerable time to unfasten it. There were only two entrances to the city and they also were closed and all traces obliterated." 1

An article in the February 17, 1891 edition of the "Tombstone Prospector" reported a recent "New Discovery." It was one of the earliest mentions of a lost city and a mine with an iron door.

"Early in the present decade a prominent journalist of this city discovered in a "rugged and precipitous defile" of the Santa Catalinas the ruins of a long lost pueblo, adjacent to which were numerous shafts that had been sunk in ages past, for in one of them was a giant sahuara fully 70 feet high, only a small portion of which appeared above the surface." 2

21st Century Expedition to the Lost City

A film documentary is planned with more details of the remnants left behind. The Lost City/Lost Mine expedition is headed by Flint Carter who rediscovered the ruins and lost mine in the 1980s and his continued visits to the site. Carter has held several mining claims in the area for more than forty years.

Carter hopes to establish a link between these structures and the first building of one of the San Xavier Mission stone houses for the missionaries. Carter also wants to compare the structures to a building at the edge of the Catalinas that once served as a stage depot and possible mission in earlier times.

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More history & legends of the Santa Catalina Mountains


Iron Door Mine"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 musician Gary Holdcroft. $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 Flint at 520-289-4566. Mention the Iron Door web site.

Mt. Lemmon jewelry grade silver ore in quartz

Iron Door MineFlint Carter, a Tucson, Arizona miner, has samples of "Cody Stone" mined in the Santa Catalina Mountains of Southern Arizona. This stone is jewelry grade silver and quartz ore, and weighs 8 pounds or more. It also contains scheelite and fluoresces. Valued at $5 a carat. This particular piece is the second largest specimen recovered. Extremely rare. There is a 40 page provenance of the object, including an assay by the University of Arizona and opinions from the Gem Institute of America and other sources. More samples of Cody Stone.


Lost City of the Santa Catalinas Footnotes:

1. "Mine with the Iron Door and the Nine Mile City of the Santa Catalinas," Arizona Weekly Star, May 4, 1880. University of Arizona Library Special Collections, M97Video tour of the Lost City ruins in the Catalinas91 Pam.

2. "Lost Mines of Arizona and Sonora" Arizona Silver Belt, Globe City, Arizona, December 3, 1892, image 1.


"Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains" by Robert Zucker, author and publisher Entertainment Magazine and former instructor and Flint Carter, researcher, local mining operator and prospector.


Treasures of the Santa CatalinasThis information is found in the comprehensive book on the legends and history of the Catalina Mountains– "Treasures of the Santa Catalina Mountains." Read sample pages and download free PDF.


 

Flint Carter Home Page

Iron Door Mine

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