(DOMINICAN REPUBLIC) Waldmayer Francis J Report of a mining

Sale 2486 - Lot 432

Price Realized: $ 3,750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

(DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.) Waldmayer, Francis J. Report of a mining agent seeking gold and a massive exclusive contract. 34 manuscript pages, 9 3/4 x 7 3/4 inches, bound only with a single pin; folds, minor foxing and wear. Np, 1861 (with a later note reading "1865")

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Francis Joseph Waldmayer (circa 1830-1884) was a Swiss immigrant to the United States who settled in Philadelphia. He took this journey at a delicate moment in the history of the Dominican Republic, which had just reverted to Spanish colonial control in March 1861 and was already experiencing pockets of resistance. Waldmayer was drawn by reports of productive gold mines in the northern part of the island which had flourished in the very early Spanish colonial period and been abandoned by 1519.
The narrative begins on 10 July 1861 in the northern coastal town of Puerto Plata, with the author departing south into the mountains with a party of 8 local guides and laborers, passing through the villages of Llano de Perez, Alta Mira, and Navarrete (Bisonó) as well as "an imposing primitive mahogany forest." Several miles southwest of Navarrete they began prospecting along the banks of the Yaque River, then moving west and crossing the rivers Amina and Mao and toward the Haitian border. Waldmeyer offers substantial detail on the natural resources and people of countryside. In a couple of locations he tries prospecting on the site of the old abandoned Spanish mines, with amazement at the primitive work they had done: "Some traces of heavy work as dams and ditches are yet to be seen, also several ruined houses. The gold is found even in the refuse of the old Spanish washing" (page 7). Later he notes that "the Indians, either because they were slaves and ill-treated by the Spaniards, willfully never performed their work well, or their masters did not care anything about smaller grains, because now after more than a century and a half we could find a considerable quantity of fine gold in the old ditches even as heavy as 1 1/2 pennyweight" (page 26).
The last date mentioned is 25 August in page 28, followed by extensive negotiations: "I left the place and went to Santiago, where I negotiated with the government for a concession to work their mines mineral & metal, & guano islands, cut down their woods, navigate rivers and build railways. In short, I had bought the whole island for a period of twenty-one years, and the negotiation had passed the 2d reading in the Senate, when the unfortunate rebellion broke out on both sides. So the whole affair lays in status quo, ready to go on and to be consummated as soon as you can furnish the money." Waldmayer was apparently acting as an agent for a deep-pocketed investor. The docketing reads "F.J. Waldmayer's Report," he signs on page 32 "Respectfully submitted, Fr. J. Waldmayer," and on page 30 he asks "Then what say you? Will you take this matter in hand now and consummate it, or will you give the benefit of your money, work, travells & experience to somebody else?" The last two pages are devoted to a summary of the proposed contract.
Waldmayer does not seem to have left a ripple, and we do not know the identity of his financier. As far as we can tell, nothing came of this massive deal, which would have altered the history of the Dominican Republic. The gold was real, though. Not far from this area, the gold mine at Pueblo Viejo is today one of the largest in the world.