The Gold of the Ortiz Mountains: A Story of New Mexico and the West's First Major Gold Rush

From the rear cover of this 154 page book: "Gold.....that elusive and nearly useless metal the first Europeans desired above all else. For almost 300 years in New Mexico the Spanish searched for the gold of 'El Norte' without success, and all the time it was right beneath their feet. The Ortiz gold rush began quietly, almost in secret, but it grew until a tenth of the entire population of the province were digging for gold in these mountains. In time, even the U.S. Congress would do its part, turning less than ten acres into a hundred-square-mile golden gift for some of its own. Inside this book you will read of the Santa Fe Trail, the Santa Fe Ring, the coup of Gold Fields, Ltd., of the forgotten towns of Dolores and San Pedro, and of the boom-and-bust towns of Cerrillos, Madrid, and Golden. Discover Dona Tules, Jose Francisco Ortiz, Jean Baptiste Tournier, Ulysses Grant, Stephen Elkins, and Thomas Edison's great failure. All paths cross that lead to the Gold of the Ortiz Mountains."