Patricio "Paddy" Martinez (1881– August 26, 1969)"Deaths elsewhere— Man who sparked rush for uranium", ''Miami News'', August 26, 1969, p2 was an American

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

and

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

who discovered

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

at Haystack Mesa in the

San Juan Basin The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah a ...

near

Grants, New Mexico Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about west of Albuquerque. The population was 9,163 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Cibola County. Grants is located along the Trails of the Ancients Byw ...

, in 1950. This was the first discovery in the Grants Uranium District, and led to a uranium boom that lasted almost 30 years. The San Juan Basin yielded 60% of the uranium in the United States, valued at over $25 billion.

Discovery of uranium in New Mexico

Martinez's discovery, in 1950 on

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and S ...

land, was developed into the Haystack mine. He was hired by the railroad and

Anaconda Mining Company The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, known as the Amalgamated Copper Company between 1899 to 1915, was an American mining company headquartered in Butte, Montana. It was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century and one of the largest min ...

as a uranium scout for $400 per month, a good salary then. Following the discovery, the town of Grants became a

yellowcake boomtown A yellowcake boomtown also known as a uranium boomtown, is a town or community that rapidly increases in population and economics due to the discovery of uranium ore-bearing minerals, and the development of uranium mining, milling or enrichmen ...

; its population grew from 2,200 to 50,000 within a few months. The mining boom lasted for decades, until the 1980s when it collapsed. The Santa Fe Railroad continued to pay Martinez $250 per month until the day he died. After his first discovery, in 1950 of

carnotite Carnotite is a potassium uranium vanadate radioactive mineral with chemical formula K2( U O2)2( VO4)2·3 H2O. The water content can vary and small amounts of calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, and sodium are often present. Occurrence Carnotite i ...

, a low-grade uranium-bearing ore, he staked a claim on . After that he explored Haystack Mountain where he made the discovery of high-grade ore. He became nationally known for his discovery.

Personal life

Martinez was born in the village of

Pinedale, New Mexico Pinedale (also spelled Pine Dale) ( nv, ) is an unincorporated community in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. Paddy Martinez, the Navajo American man who discovered high grade uranium ore that initiated the Grants, New Mexico uranium ...

. He and his wife Mary had 14 children. Martinez, a

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

of Mexican descent, and a native New Mexican, became famous for his discovery. He was the subject of feature articles in ''Time'', ''Life'', ''True West'' and ''Reader's Digest'' magazines. Martinez was fluent in the

, Laguna (

Keresan Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of each ...

), Spanish and English languages. He was a

medicine man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...

and a leader in his community. Martinez also worked as a law officer on the

Navajo reservation The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...

, ran a mountain sheep camp and worked as a labor recruiter for carrot farms. His tombstone at Grants Memorial Cemetery simply reads, "Paddy Martinez 1881 - 1969 Uranium Pioneer." His grave is nearby Paddy Martinez Park, where children play.

Legacy

Martinez was inducted into the

National Mining Hall of Fame The National Mining Hall of Fame is a museum located in Leadville, Colorado, United States, dedicated to commemorating the work of miners and people who work with natural resources. The museum also participates in efforts to inform the public ab ...

in 1992.

References

National Mining Hall of Fame inductee bio of Martinez

External links

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, Paddy 1881 births 1969 deaths American miners Uranium mining in the United States American prospectors People from Grants, New Mexico Navajo people American people of Mexican descent Shepherds Folk healers 20th-century Native Americans