Another Memphis resident, Judge John R. Flippin sheds a little more light on the subject of Lupton's travels in Mexico. Flippin was the author of "Sketches from the Mountains of Mexico," published in l889, a collection of Flippin's letters and observations made from Guadalupe y Calvo. Flippin lived in Guadalupe y Calvo the sum total of five years in the late l870's through 1885. In his picturesque descriptions of the surrounding mountains, Flippin mentions the "mountain trout" that is found in the Sierra Madre, which "live in none other than the coldest waters fed by the melting snows."
In his book, Flippin mentions Professor Lupton and his journey over the mountains, unequivocally placing Lupton in the heart of trout country in the vicinity of Guadalupe y Calvo. Though Flippin neglects to mention the year of Lupton's journey, we believe the reference is probably to l883 or l884:
"Some years since, Prof. Lupton, of Vanderbilt University, in coming over the mountains, spread his blankets upon the ground, as is customary, for the night, but when removing them next morning found a rattlesnake during the night had crawled in and warmly ensconced himself from the chilly mountain air. It is said politics make strange bedfellows; who knows but in this way his snakeship was testifying his approval of the learned professor's views upon our home or foreign policy."
Flippin was the former mayor of Memphis (1876-1879) and may have left the city for Mexico to avoid the yellow fever epidemics, or perhaps in response to a malfeasance scandal that dogged his municipal government. We are certain that Judge Flippin is referenced in the book "Mines of Chihuahua," written by Jorge Griggs and published in l907. Griggs writes about the Rosario Mine of Guadalupe y Calvo [an effort which we are certain contains a typographer's or transcriber's error] on page 225:
"In l883, Judge Flipper [we believe this to be Judge Flippin], representing the Guadalupe M. and M. Co. organized at Memphis, Tennessee, secured the property under an agreement with the Ochoa family, ...this company operated the mine until 1887."
Joseph Buckner Killebrew
Nashville resident Joseph Buckner Killebrew, educator and Tennessee State Agricultural Commissioner, had considerable interest in Mexican mines. In 1883, Killebrew was elected manager of the Refugio Mining Company, and subsequently visited a number of mines in southwest Chihuahua near Guadalupe y Calvo and Copalquin, Durango in l883. The Refugio Mining Company was to employ Professor Lupton the following year in his capacity as a geological chemist. The Company was most interested in the Polk Mines in southeast Sonora and the Refugio Mine which were in and around the Copalquin Valley in northwestern Durango, some 35 miles south of Guadalupe y Calvo. In his unpublished autobiography, "Recollections of My Life," Killebrew gives an interesting account of his 1883 journey on muleback from Parral to Guadalupe y Calvo, Copalquin, and Culiacan. On June 5th, 1883 the Nashville Daily American published an article by Killebrew which states that the Polk Mines are 40 miles to the southwest of Guadalupe y Calvo in the El Cuervo Mining District. Killebrew then traveled to San Dario, Durango, "about 4 days ride," and another 2 days ride brought him to "Limon" in the Copalquin Valley. Killebrew evidently was following a circuitous route in an effort to visit as many mines as possible; but the time spent on muleback between the various mines vividly illustrates the difficulty of traveling in the Sierra Madre. Of particular interest is Killebrew's mention of Professor Lupton:
"Light began to break on the dark night of my troubled life on the fourth of June [1884] when the Directors of the Refugio Gold and Silver Company agreed to send Prof. Lupton of the Vanderbilt University to Mexico to examine and report on the condition and prospects of the mines. Young Jo [sic] Guild accompanies him and was to take charge of the mines until other arrangements could be perfected. The fact is W.S. Jones, Henry Jones and Major Warren had left the mines and a man was put in charge to whom $10 per day was to be paid. The commissary store was left to him and there was no security whatever for anything. Warren met Lupton and Guild at Parral and returned with them.
"Prof. Lupton returned with Major Warren the last of August and presented a report in which he said the mines were good property but the work done on them had been mostly thrown away."
In his confidential report to stockholders, "Refugio, or Copalquin, Gold and Silver Mines," Killebrew wrote:
"In obedience to your instructions I set out from the city of Nashville on the 20th day of March, 1883, and proceeded to mexico for the purpose of examining the mines in the Copalquin district. It took me nearly six weeks to arrive at my point of destination, examining, however, other mines on the route with a view of comparison.
"The Copalquin mines are located in the northwestern corner of the State of Durango, Mexico, in the very heart of the Sierra Madre Mountains, about one hundred and fifty miles east of Culiacan, the nearest railroad station, and about two hundred miles southwest of Parral."
Killebrew goes on to describe the precise location of the Refugio Mine: "the whole distance from the village of Copalquin is about two and a half miles." It is evident from Killebrew's report that he did not proceed directly to Copalquin from Parral because he wanted to examine other mines near Guadalupe y Calvo. Undoubtedly a shorter route existed between Parral and Copalquin.Next