Hachita Turquoise: Field Guide to New Mexico's Ancient Little Hatchet Mine
The Little Hatchet Mountains of Hidalgo and Grant Counties, New Mexico hold one of the region's oldest documented turquoise workings. Hachita stone runs from dark sky blue to pale blue and greenish blue, with harder matrix than many neighboring New Mexico deposits.
From the Library: Pogue on the Hachita district (1915)
1915 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1915, not today.
Pogue (1915) on the modern rediscovery:
“In modern times the deposits were worked between 1885 and 1888, at first for gold. The rediscovery of turquois during that period, however, led to their purchase by eastern capital.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 57
Writing in 1915, Pogue dated the district's real start:
“It was not until 1908 that the region was considerably developed, and in 1909 mining was actively prosecuted.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 57
Of the Azure claim on top of Turquois Mountain, Pogue wrote in 1915:
“The principal yield has been high-grade matrix including some good cameo material. The second locality has produced a little hard turquois, with a fine pure-blue color.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 57
At the Aztec claim, Pogue (1915) warned:
“Much of the product is rather soft and pale, and some fades on exposure.”
— Pogue (1915), p. 57
From the Library: Chambless & Ryan, Turquoise in America, Part One (2021)
2021 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2021, not today.
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 45), the American Turquoise Company, in which Charles Lewis Tiffany was a bondholder and stockholder, owned a Tiffany claim at Hachita that it did not develop; neither Tiffany nor his company ever owned a claim or operated a mine. [2]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 103), Hachita is the Spanish word for "little hatchet"; the Little Hatchet Mountains lie about 7 miles southwest of the town of Hachita and about 80 miles south of Silver City, the Spanish had reported old turquoise diggings there, and the Eureka Mining District was established in 1877. [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 103) date the first modern development of the turquoise deposits to the later 1880s, when Con Ryan and Sterling Burwell reopened ancient workings they believed to be Aztec or Spanish metal mines. [2]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 104), the mineralogist W.E. Hidden spent several weeks at Hachita in 1892 opening prehistoric diggings, then gave up, citing the isolation, the scarcity of water and the rarity of fine turquoise. [2]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 104), on May 2, 1893 the American Turquoise Company of New York, then operating the Muñiz (Tiffany) mine at Cerrillos, bought Herbert Thomas and Harry Wood's five Hachita claims (the Woodbert, Herbert, Tiffany, Montezuma and Aztec) for $20,000 plus 7 percent of the gross proceeds from all the mines the company owned. [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 105) judge that the value of the turquoise the company mined at Hachita would have covered only the purchase price of the five claims. [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) print a January 1896 letter from the company's agent Doty, written at Hachita, on how slow the work was:
“They are doing a lot of work and then the stones have to be picked out of the solid rock one at a time.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 106 [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) sum up where that left the district:
“By 1897 it had become clear that neither the quantity nor quality of Hachita turquoise was going to warrant serious investment of time and money.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 107 [2]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 108), M.W. Porterfield and his partner George W. Robinson of Pueblo, Colorado made some of the last claims before the boom ended; their Aztec claim, located June 4, 1908 about one and a half miles south of Turquoise Mountain on the northeastern slope of Howell's Ridge, relocated the American Turquoise Company's abandoned Aztec claim, and what turquoise Porterfield found was generally poor quality. [2]
According to Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 109), the Aztec turquoise filled joints and formed nuggets, the nuggets generally better than the vein material; overall the stone tended to be softer and paler than turquoise from more northern areas, and some that showed good color when first mined soon faded as it dried, in line with Pogue's 1915 warning above. [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021, p. 109) report that D.B. Sterrett's account in the 1909 Mineral Resources of the United States described a tunnel of about 160 feet, dug by Robinson on the Azure claim of Turquoise Mountain, connecting with an open cut, and Azure matrix that was harder and formed matrix gems from dark sky blue to pale blue and greenish blue. [2]
Chambless & Ryan (2021) on Hachita and the Jarillas after the rush:
“Since then only sporadic production has taken place and the turquoise has never been of the highest quality from either area.”
— Chambless & Ryan (2021), p. 184 [2]
From the Library: Lowry, Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010)
2010 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2010, not today.
According to Lowry (2010, p. 245), the Hachita district spans several hillside deposits along the Little Hatchet Mountains in Hidalgo and Grant counties, with most production from Turquoise Mountain and Howell's Ridge (Gunsight Ridge), and its turquoise was marketed under names including Azure, Cameo, Aztec, Robinson-Porterfield and High Lonesome. [3]
As of 2010, Lowry (2010, p. 245) reported the High Lonesome and Gunsight Ridge areas actively mined, with John Huntress, Philip Chambless and partners working Gunsight Ridge. [3]
From the Library: Ryan & Chambless, Turquoise in America Part Two: 1910–1990 (2020)
2020 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 2020, not today.
According to the mine glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 345), the Hachita turquoise in the Little Hatchet Mountains falls in two districts: Eureka in Grant County and the Sylvanite sub-district in Hidalgo County, New Mexico, with prehistoric Indian diggings. [4]
The mine glossary in Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 344) also lists the Chamberlain Mine and the M.M. Crocker claims in the Hachita District. [4]
Field Notes by Mateo James
Philip Chambless, co-author of the primary historical account, notes that "the mines at Hachita were never more than marginally developed and only the Herbert would ever produce any quantity of turquoise." That honest assessment matters when you're evaluating pieces sold as Hachita: the mine has operated in a limited, small-scale fashion across multiple eras, but it never became a commercial powerhouse. The stone itself earned a qualified endorsement — an American Turquoise Company manager named Doty reported he "never expected to find as good stone here as we get at Cerrillos," placing Hachita firmly in the secondary tier behind New Mexico's benchmark deposit.
The Hachita claims passed from the American Turquoise Company, which held them from 1893, to Robinson and Porterfield in 1908 (Chambless & Ryan 2021, pp. 104, 108–109); Pogue (1915) likewise listed the Azure, Cameo, Galilee and Aztec as the Robinson and Porterfield mines.[2] Chambless himself notes in his foreword that he continues to work mining claims "in obscure and ancient locations such as Hachita, New Mexico," confirming small-scale activity as of the book's publication.
Collector's Handbook
What to look for: Color ranges from dark sky blue to pale blue and greenish blue. The matrix forms "beautiful matrix gems" per Chambless's description, and tends to be harder than typical NM stone.
Recognition tells: Hachita never had the volume output of top-tier Nevada or Arizona mines. Pieces marketed as Hachita stone from the early-twentieth-century rush era are plausible; heavy commercial production claims should prompt skepticism.
Honest mine-status hedge: The mine has operated continuously in a small-scale capacity as of Chambless's publication, but it was never a major commercial producer. Assess stone character on its merits rather than relying heavily on mine provenance claims for this one.
Related mine guides: Pages for Bisbee, Sleeping Beauty, Number Eight, Cerrillos, Royston, Kingman, Lander Blue, and Morenci mines are coming soon to this field guide.
An earlier version of this page credited the Himalaya Mining Company and a "Julius Tannenbaum" with the Little Hatchet claims, but Chambless & Ryan (2021, pp. 104, 108-109) trace the Hachita claims from the American Turquoise Company in 1893 to Robinson and Porterfield in 1908, and Pogue (1915) likewise lists the Azure, Cameo, Galilee and Aztec as the Robinson and Porterfield mines. The Tannenbaum in Chambless & Ryan's account is Lippman Tannenbaum, whose turquoise ventures they place at Jarilla and Courtland. The two books also differ on location: Pogue put the deposits about 6 miles west of Hachita, Chambless & Ryan about 7 miles southwest of the town, and I tend to side with Chambless & Ryan.
I notice Lowry (2010, p. 245) credits Hachita's largest production to the Himalaya Mining Company under Julius Tannenbaum, while Chambless & Ryan trace the claims from the American Turquoise Company in 1893 to Robinson and Porterfield in 1908, with no Himalaya control. I tend to side with Chambless & Ryan.
We strive for accuracy. This field guide entry is compiled from the published references cited below and is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. See something inaccurate, or hold documentation on this mine? Get in touch — corrections are welcomed and credited.
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References
- Chambless, Philip. The History of the American Turquoise Industry, Ch. 4; foreword.
- Lowry, Joe Dan. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone (2010).
- Pogue, Joseph E. The Turquois: A Study of Its History, Mineralogy, Geology, Ethnology, Archaeology, Mythology, Folklore, and Technology. Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. XII, Part II, Third Memoir. Washington, 1915. Public domain. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1915.
- Chambless, Philip, and Mike Ryan II. Turquoise in America, Part One: The Great American Turquoise Rush, 1890–1910. Revised first edition. Callais Press, 2021. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2021.
- Lowry, Joe Dan, and Joe P. Lowry. Turquoise: The World Story of a Fascinating Gemstone. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2010. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2010.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
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