New Voices
Woody Guthrie and the Lost Mines of the Big Bend
by James R. Miller Jr.
T
he history and folklore of the “Old
West” is rife with stories of lost
mines and Spanish silver and gold,
and the Big Bend region of West Texas
differs little in this regard from other lands
west of the Pecos.
The Lost Mine Trail in Big Bend
National Park takes its name from the tale
of a Spanish silver mine that, the story
goes, was worked by Apache Indians,
enslaved by the Spanish. The mine was
supposed to be very rich in silver, but
when the Spanish were ordered back
from the new border with the United
States, the Apaches destroyed the
entrance to the mine, and it was lost, only
to be remembered as a rumor of vast
riches waiting to be found.
Several other tales have been brought
to light in Elton Miles’ Tales Of The Big
Bend, including the “Lost Haystack
Mine,” which is reportedly in the area of
Haystack Mountain, a few miles north-
west of Alpine. Still others suggest that
this mine lies approximately 50 miles to
the south of Alpine, near Santiago Peak.
However, there is one tale that stands
above the rest. For this tale does not end
in the usual unrequited search for riches.
Instead it is the beginning of a career and
life of social conscience the legacy of
which has endured for decades and
enriched many through its songs and
prose.
In the midst of the Great Depression
and years of financial hardship for his
family, the yet-to-be-famous singer and
songwriter Woody Guthrie set out from
Pampa, Texas, in the early 1930s, with
dreams of the riches to be discovered if
only he could find his granddaddy’s
“backbony” vein of silver and gold, high
in the Chisos Mountains.
Rattling along in an old Model T Ford
loaded down with musical instruments,
barrels of gasoline and crates of home-
made liquor, Woody, his dad Charlie, his
Uncle Jeff and older brother Roy ram-
bled off the High Plains down into the
magical Big Bend Country in the hope of
Photo courtesy Wikimedia
1943 photo of Woody Guthrie by New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photogra-
pher Al Aumuller.
rediscovering the rich ore that their pio-
neer forebear, Jerry P. Guthrie, had stum-
bled upon decades earlier while chasing
cows in the steep gulches above Sam
Nail’s Ranch.
This journey would later be the impe-
tus for Guthrie’s semi-fictional novel Seeds
Of Man. It is clear from the novel that
these early years made a deep impression
on Woody, and he would refer to his years
in the Big Bend throughout his life.
Being used to the hardships of the
Great Depression did not prepare Woody
and his family members for the travails of
navigation and survival in the Big Bend of
the 1930s. Goat trails and wagon roads
jostled and shook their Model T to pieces,
and at one point they only had reverse
gear. Moving backwards, they relied on
local Hispanic farmers and miners for
directions to Terlingua, Study Butte, up
Rough Run to Cottonwood Creek and
eventually to Sam Nail’s Ranch high in
the Chisos.
Sometimes pushing, and other times
pulling, they managed to arrive at their
destination. The vast and mysterious
country, sparsely populated by genera-
tions of Mexicans and gringo newcom-
ers, both amazed and enthralled the
troupe of Guthries, but it was playing
music and chasing señoritas along the
way that became the adventure of a life-
time, giving Woody substance for his tale,
as well as the beginnings of the idealism
that would inspire his life’s work.
Apart from Woody’s family, one char-
acter in his tale seemed to have more sub-
stance than the others. An aged Mexican-
Apache guide who was wise beyond his
years, he was named simply “Rio,” like
the river that is the lifeblood of this coun-
try. He was a wealth of information and
assistance, leading the Guthries from
Presidio to Study Butte, and was always
overflowing with advice and mystery.
Healing one of the travelers one minute
and elucidating on socialism the next, Rio
explained how the native population had
become entrenched as laborers for the
newcomers’ business ventures into min-
ing and agriculture and how education
and the ability to vote would raise his peo-
ple from their indigent status.
It is easy to see how a young Woody
Guthrie would have been impressed with
the idealism of the working classes, rein-
forced by his years on the road during the
Dust Bowl and Great Depression.
Old “Rio” also made a prediction that
Woody would not find riches in a hole in
the ground, and who knows – if he had,
we might have been robbed of a great
national treasure.
Cenizo
First Quarter 2012
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