Treasure in the San Luis Valley: The golden horde, part II
November 21, 1997
By Christopher O'Brien
The French expedition of 1790
Journeying down from the northern Rockies, exploratory French forays
into the rarefied air of the Sangre de Cristos are said to have
produced gold. A little-known story researched by Crestone
author Jack Harlan concerns an ill-fated French-Canadian expedition
into the southern Colorado Rockies, and is centered around a very
identifiable northern San Luis Valley landmark.
"While leaving the San Luis Valley by way of Poncha Pass, Round
Mountain is skirted on the left. Here on Round Mountain an
undetermined amount of gold nuggets [is] supposedly buried. There are
several versions of the story. The most popular one is about a French
Canadian trapper whose name has become lost through the years. . . ."
A party of Canadians were trapping on the Snake River when they were
discovered by American trappers, who attacked. In their hasty
retreat, the Frenchmen lost their furs and traps to the Americans.
Traveling south into western Colorado, one of the four found a gold
nugget in the headwaters of the Gunnison River. Here they spent the
next month successfully panning the gravel bars. Ute Indians
discovered the Frenchmen and attacked them. In the running battle
which lasted several days, three Frenchmen were killed. The fourth
managed to escape over Cochetopa Pass (just west of Saguache).
Sensing that his pursuers were closing in, he buried the gold on Round
Mountain with the hopes of later returning for it. The Indians caught
and killed the lone French-Canadian near the summit of Poncha Pass."
Starvation and bitter conditions
killed off three
of the men,
who may have been eaten by
the surviving two members.
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The treasure was never found, but the story endures, hundreds of
years later. I travel on U.S. 285, which winds within feet
of this little mountain, and on every trip north out of the San Luis Valley, I
wonder ,,,
One of Colorado's most fabulous treasure legends is centered around a
sizeable French expedition that journeyed to our area in the late
1700s. Setting out from a small French outpost near present-day
Leavenworth, Kan., 300 men and 450 horses began the long trek toward the Rockies. The guides, officers, miners and laborers, following the course of the Platte River,
explored and prospected several areas before reaching southern
Colorado, and it is believed by some that the huge expedition may
have superficially prospected unsuccessfully at Cripple Creek and
other mining regions that later produced fabulous gold fields.
Working their way south, they finally ended up near present-day
Summitville, Colo. They made camp several miles east of Wolf
Creek Pass and began prospecting the many creeks that flowed down the
San Juan Mountains, just west of the San Luis Valley, hoping to find
the elusive malleable metal. They allegedly struck the motherlode
and buried the gold on what is now called Treasure Mountain.
Most sources estimated the value at some $5 million,
although one source estimated the cache as worth $33 million
dollars. According to later reports, the gold was cached in
three places, only known to the top officers of the expedition. A key
chart was made of the entire area and kept by the officer in command.
At first, upon their arrival at the Summitville area, the Native
Indians seemed friendly. However, for some reason not presently
known, the Indians became angry with the French. Perhaps the
knowledge that the French were leaving with gold from their lands
prompted them to attack the expedition as the French set out. In any
event, an attack was mounted, and during the pitched battle, the gold
was reburied and the French made new maps detailing where the buried
gold was hidden. Very few French survived the
battle. Estimates range from 17 to 35, but it is
known the some of them did survive the Indian onslaught. To make
matters worse, they were attacked again out on the Front Range, and
only five men survived to continue the journey back to the French
outpost in Kansas. Starvation and bitter conditions killed off three
of the men, who may have been eaten by the surviving two members.
The two men, more dead than alive, stumbled into the outpost and one
of them died.
The sole survivor, the expedition's historian named "Le Blanc,"
eventually traveled back to France with two copies of the treasure
map. One was given to the French government, the other, naturally,
he kept.
Several maps have
appeared
claiming to lead to
the re-buried treasure.
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There is much confusion at this part of the story. One
version has the historian's family mounting an expedition and
returning to find the buried treasure. Another version has the
French government mounting an expedition led by a relative of the
historian. In any event, the second expedition, which numbered
around 50 men, headed west to recover the gold. Stopping in Taos,
N.M., they obtained the services of a guide who led them to the
Summitville area. Allegedly, they searched the entire area for three
years with no apparent luck. Then, the guide returned to Taos alone,
claiming the entire expedition had again been wiped out by the
Indians. The locals were suspicious of him because he was the sole
survivor. He was tried for murder, but was acquitted.
It is said that his trial was the last Mexican trial held in United
States territory. Some theorists claim the whole story was contrived
by the French who secretly found the gold and returned to France with
it. The guide was paid to be a "patsy" and promised a fortune to
return to Taos with the untrue story of a massacre. This scenario
seems unlikely, although later, French equipment was found among the
Indians.
Another version has the guide spending years trying in vain to
locate the lost treasure of Treasure Mountain. Several maps have
appeared claiming to lead to the re-buried treasure.
A man named William Yule claimed he had a copy of the original and
searched the entire western side of the valley - all the way north to
Saguache, with no apparent success. Another colorful prospector
named Asa Poor obtained the map from Yule, and with two partners, was
able to locate several landmarks leading to the caches, but was not
able to finally locate the hidden French gold. One of Poor's
partners, named Montroy, retained possession of the map, but it
disappeared several years later.
Eureka?
After much digging, and a bit of luck, I've located and talked with
several knowledgeable "treasure hunters." I began hearing stories of
"treasure maps." Then, in 1993, I was introduced to a amiable man
I'll call Tomas Ortiz (not his real name). Tomas' wife is the daughter of the patriarch of the
treasure-hunting family. At one point in our initial conversation, he
casually told me that his brother-in-law has an authentic "treasure
map written in French," and his family are "direct descendents of Le
Blanc." He told me, "for three generations" they have been quietly
searching for the fabled lost French gold. Their claim is backed up
with, what appears to be, a genuine map, drawn by the harried second
expedition before they unsuccessfully tried to escape with their
lives. Could this actually be the real Le Blanc map? Their map and
story are impressive.
After searching for decades, family members have slowly and
painstakingly located seven out of eight landmarks and clues carved in
rock that are mentioned in the map. The most important eighth and
final clue has eluded their efforts for years. Then, in 1993, their
lucked turned. Or did it?
As Ortiz placed the last candle
at the far end of the tunnel,
a
"large rattlesnake" lunged
out of the gloom
and narrowly missed
striking him.
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Thirty-year-old Tomas happened to be hunting elk, in the mountains
southeast of Del Norte, Colo., on an overcast late fall morning in
1993. The clouds loomed threatening, and a cold hard rain began to
spit. The pale pre-dawn gloom cast faint detail to the surrounding
vegetation, and Ortiz looked around for shelter from the rain. He
spotted a small 3-foot opening in the ground, hidden by some
underbrush, and after removing some loose rocks, he squeezed through
the opening and peered into the darkness. He clicked on his flashlight and was surprised to find he
had entered a 5-foot-high, 4-foot-wide tunnel, obviously
man-made. Ortiz cautiously explored down the gentle-sloping narrow
passageway, and after wriggling about 20 feet into the hillside, his
way was blocked by an apparent underground landslide. Shining his
light around the dim narrow passageway, he spied a carving on the
rock wall next to the cave-in. Quite aware of his in-law's long
quest, he was thrilled by what he saw. It was the long-lost eighth
clue that according to the treasure map indicated the hidden location
of the fabled French treasure. Completely forgetting the wily elk
herd he had been stalking, he excitedly rushed back to town to tell
the family of his fortuitous find.
The following day, Tomas led an expedition back to the tunnel.
Members of the party, consisting of 20 family members, began
eagerly excavating the cave-in, and after several grueling hours of
hard work, they extended the tunnel an additional 12 feet into
the mountainside. Thirty-two feet in, they encountered a large
boulder that appeared to have been purposely rolled into place
to seal the rest of the passageway. By this time, the sun had set
and the elated group gathered at the entrance and took a break as
twilight approached from the east. Undaunted by the approaching
night, Tomas lined the length of the passageway with a dozen equally
spaced unlit candles. The ensuing events allegedly occurred "in a
matter of minutes."
As Ortiz placed the last candle at the far end of the tunnel, a
"large rattlesnake" lunged out of the gloom and narrowly missed
striking him. He frantically scrambled breathlessly back out to the
entrance followed by a boiling "swarm of bats" that began pouring out
of the hillside. Uncharacteristically, the small mammals began squeaking and diving aggressively at the surprised party. What they claim happened seconds later quickly
erased the elation and excitement of the expedition. According to
Tomas, as he knelt down to light the first candle at the entrance to
the tunnel, the "candle at the far end" of the passageway
inexplicably flared on by itself! The stunned group knowing no one
was in the tunnel stared at each other in horror. "At that instant,"
out of the gloom, a "huge owl" dive-bombed the shocked party within
inches of their heads. That was the last straw. As if chased by the
devil himself, the terrified group grabbed their children, raced down the
hillside, piled into their cars and, as Tomas put it, they "got the
hell outta there!"
Further research has uncovered information that suggests the Ute
Indians may have acquired some of the French gold during the running
battle, and hid it down near the mouth of the Rio Grande Canyon. As
of this writing, the family has obtained the Colorado state treasure
rights to legally enter the cave and claim whatever treasure is
located there. I have been invited along to document the event.
Dead Man's Cave
Another fascinating account is one of the few that have actually
produced verified gold to bolster the lucky finder's claims.
However, this is one of those that got away. It's probably still out
there. The Fairplay Flume, in 1880, and The Denver
Post have both published articles about this story told by three
prospectors - E.J. Oliver, S.J. Harkman and H.A. Melton. In 1880, the
three men had been prospecting 2 miles north of what become known
as Dead Man Camp, (about 8 miles south of where I live) The sky
threatened, and before long the three men found themselves caught in
a furious blizzard. Knowing travel is difficult, at best, in the
rugged Sangres under ideal weather conditions, they found shelter
underneath a convenient ledge near the mouth of a canyon.
Looking across the canyon, one of the men noticed what appeared to be
a small opening in the shear rock wall. They made their way to the
opening and made several crude torches. The opening was very narrow
and less than 4-feet high and extended into the cliff about
10 feet, before it opened up into a large 20-foot-long vault.
Shining their torches around, Oliver found the first of five
skeletons scattered around the dusty, dark cavern. After exploring
the cavern, they found several tight passageways extending into the
gloom of the mountain. They chose one to explore. It led into the
mountain and opened up into a larger vault-like chamber. Near the
far end, Melton noticed what appeared to be shelves carved into the
side of the western wall. He lit the area and saw some
peculiar-looking stones stacked on the shelf. He picked one up;
surprised at its heavy weight, and brought it back to his partners to
look at. Imagine their delight when the "stones" turned out to be
crude bars of gold! In their excitement, thinking the opening would
be easy to mark and find again, the men gathered up only five of the
bars, and headed over the pass to Silver Cliff, in the Wet Mountain
Valley. The bars proved to be worth $900 apiece, and
the men became instant celebrities. Although asked by many, the men
steadfastly refused to divulge the actual location and secretly made
plans to return to Dead Man's Cave.
Search these vast
areas hard and deep
enough and you may be
surprised at what you'll
find, but I suggest
you tread lightly . . .
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"The men slipped off in the spring. But they never found the Dead Man
Cave. Thought had thought it would be easy, but on their return they
found so many places that looked like the area in which the caves were
found. In fact, practically the entire area seemed strange to them.
They went back frequently. Many others went back frequently. Nobody
found anything." (The Fairplay Flume)
Colorado has an interesting series of "treasure rights," which can be
obtained for the right to look, find and keep treasure found in
specific deeded locations. I couldn't help but wonder, who owned the
treasure rights for the area around the Dead Man's Treasure?
A simple listing of the San Luis Valley and Huerfano area's lost mines and
treasures is, to say the least, impressive. The following is a
sampling of south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico
legends and accounts from the seminal works, "Lost Mines and Buried
Treasures of the West," by Thomas Probert (the University of
California Press, 1977); "Treasure of the Sangre De Cristos," by Arthur
Campa, (The University of Oklahoma Press, 1963); the voluminous
"Directory of Buried or Sunken Treasures and Lost Mines of the United
States" (True Treasure Publications, 1971); the compelling "Treasure
Tales of the Rockies," by Thomas Penfield (Sage Books, 1961); the
northern San Luis Valley's "Post Marks and Places," by Jack Harlan (Golden Bell
Press); "Colorado's Lost Mines and Buried Treasure," by Caroline
Bancroft (Bancroft Booklets, 1961), and various other sources.
From the Huerfano/Spanish Peaks region:
- Alex Cobsky's Lost Mine near Silver Mountain, northeast of La Veta
Pass
- The Arapaho Princess Treasure, near the Spanish Peaks
- Caverna del Oro, on Marble Mountain
- George
Skinner's Lost Mine, on Horn Peak Mountain
- The Green Lost Mine, west of the town of Red Wing, Colo.
- The Lost Mine of the Greenhorn Mountains, just east of the Wet Mountain Valley
- Henry
Sefton's Treasure, on the east side of the Sangres
- The fabled
Huajatolla Gold, on the Spanish Peaks
- Jack Simpson's Lost Mine, on
Silver Mountain, east of La Veta, Colo.
- The Jasper Lost Mine,
near Red Wing
- Juan Carlos' Lost Gold, on the Blanca Massif
- The
Lost Pick Mine of Veta Creek, north of La Veta Creek in the Huerfano
- The Lost Veta Mine, north of La Veta Creek in the Huerfano
- The
Treasure of the Spanish Fort, 25 miles west of Walsenburg
From the southern, New Mexican part of the San Luis Valley, we could
find:
- Cannady's Murder Money, in Taos Canyon
- The Chavez Lost
Copper Mine, north of El Rito, N.M.
- The Grinning Skull
Treasure, in the Sanges east of Taos
- Gus Lawson's Lost Mine, on
Taos Mountain
- Juan Gallule's and Techato Martinez' Lost Mine, on
Jicarita Peak
- Madame Barcelo's Lost Treasure, 40 miles east of
Taos
- Padre Mora's Treasure, Kit Carson State Park, southeast of
Taos
- Rio Grande Gold, on the Rio Grande, north of Taos;
- Simeon
Turley's Lost Mine and Treasure, about twelve-miles northwest of Taos;
- The Treasure of Tres Piedras, west of Tres Piedras, N.M.
- White's Lost Mine, near the town of Amalia, N.M.
From the central and northern San Luis Valley, where I live, we might
even find the following:
- The Spanish Treasure of Blanca Peak, on
Blanca Peak, north of Ft. Garland, Colo.
- The Lost Mine of Embargo
Creek, east of Creede, Colo.
- The Paymaster's Treasure of Ft.
Garland, on Trincera Creek, south of Ft. Garland
- The Lost Mine of
Hidden Valley, near La Jara Creek, west of Capulin
- The Josh Thomas
Treasure, on Conejos Creek, west of Antonito, Colo.
- Manuel
Torres Lost Mine, on Culebra Peak, southeast of San Luis, Colo.
-
Mark Bidell's Lost Lode, near Saguache Creek, northwest of Del Norte,
Colo.
- The Phantom Mine, Davis Gulch, 6 miles south of
Crestone
- The Lost Brother Mine, north of San Isabelle Creek
- The
Lost Sidney Brother Mine, Burnt Gulch, just east of Crestone
- The
Disappearing Sand Dunes Wagon, Great Sands Dunes National Monument
-
The Lost Mine of Mogate Peak, east of Creede, Colorado
- The Buried
Treasure of Round Hill, just south of Poncha Pass
- The Lost Mine in
the Sangres, near Cottonwood Creek, 5 miles south of Crestone
-
The Missouri Bank Robbery Treasure, between Music and Mosca Pass
-
The Center (Colorado) Bank Heist Loot, north of Moffat, Colo. at
the Grey Ranch
- The Lost Treasure of Treasure Mountain, east of
Pagosa Springs and from near the Taylor Ranch
- White's Lost Cement
Mine, on Culebra Peak in Costilla County
There may be additional secrets buried beneath south-central
Colorado. Hidden away from prying eyes and the light of discovery,
it is said, the mountain's inner depths contain man-made mysteries
perhaps more compelling than gold and treasure. Search these vast
areas hard and deep enough and you may be surprised at what you'll
find, but I suggest you tread lightly . . .
For information about Christopher O'Brien's first book, "The Mysterious Valley," click here.
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