The Lost Gold Mine of Juan Mondragon: A Legend from New Mexico Performed by Melaquias Romero (PUBLICATIONS OF THE AMERICAN FOLKLORE SOCIETY NEW SERIES) - Hardcover

"From the rich heritage of northern New Mexico comes this tale of a gold mine lost off and on over the centuries. Told in Spanish by one of the mine's indomitable, present-day seekers, and offered in a bilingual edition, the intricate story delights in itself. Yet thoroughly annotated and analyzed by its editors, the legend also becomes a treasure of insights into the tale's cultural context."--Booklist "A true feast for linguist, folklorist, ethnohistorian, and treasure hunter alike."--New Mexico Historical Review "The work is well researched, informative, well written and nicely presented, and both the documented performance and its scholarly analysis are readable and interesting."--Folklore Society Library "This illustrated edition is a welcome contribution to legend study and to the folklore and ethnography of Hispanic northern New Mexico."--Journal of Linguistic Anthropology

One of the most fascinating folktales of New Mexico concerns a gold mine believed to lie near Truchas Peaks north of Santa Fe. Initially discovered by Spanish explorers, the mine is said to have been worked by three secretive German immigrants, who took its location to their graves. Some years later, so the story goes, the mine was rediscovered by a poor herder named Juan Mondragon, who died at the hand of his adulterous wife before he could make its location known.