Here is a lost silver mine in Arkansas which has not been found. It is a recorded fact that the Spanish had several silver mines during the early 1700s in what is now the state of Arkansas. One such mine was near the present community of Batavia in Boone County.
The Spanish worked the mine for several years but, due to Indian trouble, decided to conceal and abandon it. They planned to return when the area was more settled. Due to wars and the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, none of the descendants of the original Spanish miners ever attempted to relocate the silver mine.
In 1880, an old man who appeared to be Indian and Spanish, stopped at the general store near Batavia. Showing John Rea, the store’s owner, an old weathered map, the man described the local terrain and told Rea that he believed the old Spanish silver mine was located on “Pilot Knob,” a local landmark. If this was the location, there should be a stream one hundred yards southwest of the large rock on top of the mountain. Rea assured the old man that his description was correct.
The next day, Rea, his son and the old man went to Pilot Knob. After pacing off 200 yards north of the spring that formed the stream, the old man told Rea and his sons to dig. About six feet down the diggers came upon a cavity with a skeleton which had apparently been walled up in the cave.
Rea and his son staked mining claims on all of Pilot Knob. When, after several weeks of mining and tunneling was done, and no silver had been found, Rea and his son gave up the search and went back to their store. The aged Indian left, still convinced that Pilot Knob was the right area.
Today, very few people know of this location. But with the current price of silver, it could be worthwhile for someone to try to locate this lost silver mine.