The excitement of finding the first 'color' in your gold pan is an indescribable experience. Even though I had never seen it in its native state before, when I looked down and saw gold in my pan for the first time, I knew instantly what it was. There was no doubt! I exclaimed, "I'll be darn, so that's gold!" A newspaper reporter asked me, "How did you know, did you have it analyzed?" I said, "No, I just knew!" I remembered all those disappointing times I had found only fool's gold (iron pyrite). How could I have missed the real thing! The excitement of finding my first gold was more earth shaking than finding my first love. I truly had 'Gold Fever.'

Pinos Altos (Tall Pines) is located about six miles north of Silver City on NM Highway 15. The townsite is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,067 feet at the southern end of the Pinos Altos Mountains. Pinos Altos is a very old mining town; it was Grant County's first county seat.