Even the origin of its name is in dispute. Was it named because its twin peaks look like a packsaddle, or did early settlers find a packsaddle there and named the mountain for that? Accounts differ.
Also, what's the real story about the mine that was supposedly there? Was it the silver mine that Jim Bowie spent so much time looking for? Did the Spanish work it until they were attacked by Indians or was it the Indians' mine until the Spanish attacked them? Again, accounts differ.
One story has it that the Los Almagres gold and silver mine was located atop the mountain after Don Bernardo de Mirango found a rich vein in 1757. The mine was worked for the better part of two decades until a large group of Indians attacked the mine. Realizing they were about to be killed, the miners filled in the mine so the Indians wouldn't have access to it.
Or maybe the Indians worked the mines until the Spanish launched an unsuccessful assault. The Spanish attackers were all killed in the process and the Indians, fearing a larger and more successful assault from a Spanish settlement at present-day Menard on the San Saba River, filled in the mine and landscaped the area to make it indistinguishable from the rest of the mountain.
Either way, the top of the mountain was littered with human bones for many years afterwards, attesting to the fact that something of a violent nature took place there.
Packsaddle Mountain was the site of more violence in August of 1873. A group of hostiles, most likely Apaches, set up camp on top of the mountain and used it as a launching point for attacks on ranches in the valley below. The historic Moss Ranch was one of those ranches. When one of the Moss cows showed up decorated with an arrow, eight men rode out in search of the decorators. They found one of them on their way up Packsaddle Mountain and, chasing him, found 20 or so more who were processing a cow that hadn't made it back to the ranch.
Armed as they were with Colt six shooters and Spencer carbines -- the automatic rifles of their day -- the cowboys liked their odds enough to attack, but the battle did not get off to a good start for the cowboys. Four of them were wounded during a mad dash to separate the Apaches from their horses. The Apaches mounted an attack aimed at regaining their steeds, but the cowboys' firepower was too much for them and they dropped back to regroup behind some brush, out of sight. When the Texans came out to attend to the wounded, the Apaches attacked but were again repelled.
A young chief, long on courage, but perhaps short on judgment, urged his warriors to attack again but they held back, reluctant to face the withering volleys of the cowboys' Spencers. Maybe to show his braves what an easy thing he was asking of them, or maybe as an honorable act of suicide, the chief began advancing on the cowboys, solo, pausing every few feet to fire a Winchester rifle in their general direction. The chief continued doing this until the cowboys fired back and he dropped dead.
The remaining Apaches left the chief and two other dead warriors where they had fallen and left the mountain on foot. The Moss Ranch cowboys didn't follow. Instead, they gathered their wounded along with Apache horses, weapons, blankets, saddles and other accoutrements. All four of the wounded cowboys recovered. It was the last Indian battle in Llano County, but not the last time Packsaddle Mountain would be in the news.
In 1924, two men from Austin claimed to have found the old mine and proclaimed that Texas was about to become the richest mining state in the country. It never happened, just as numerous other attempts to locate the mine over the years came to nothing.
While it's easy to understand the disappointment of people who invested money and part of their lives in locating the mine, the rest of us can be glad that no one ever found a mine on top of Packsaddle Mountain. While no one will ever list it as one of American's grandest peaks, it's still a pretty piece of country. No one who has ever seen it in daylight's first or twilight's last gleaming is likely to forget it.
In today's world, that's a true treasure.
