March 19, 2024

TREASURE MAPS



THERE ARE NO “X” MARKS THE SPOT MAPS

But… a little head start showing you areas that might be worthy of checking out can’t hurt!

Check all land status, obey all laws, and have fun. You assume all risk.

More legends and locations of interest are added on a regular basis, so check back soon.






Below the banner and the map app is a list of the treasure area locations in the Map view as of right now:

Lost Ewing Mine TREASURE: Highly-enriched mine of copper.
SYNOPSIS: Somewhere in the Brown’s Hole area, perhaps south of Home Mountain, is where an Englishman named Jessie Ewing made a rich strike of copper, so rich that is assayed up to $5,000 to the ton, which was an incredible amount of money given that he made the strike and built his cabin on the site in 1868. He eventually met his end in an altercation following an argument, and he had not divulged the location of the mine to any known person. For those of certain dispositions, the fact that Jessie’s name is “Jessie” means that this tale may be a coded message – read up on Jessi James, the Knights of the Golden Circle, and all of those things if you want to pursue that line instead of searching for a physical mine, in which case you’d want to find newspaper article on this subject and scour them for possible hidden information tied to this geography – the point of which being to locate a cache of some sort rather than an actual mine.
Herringer, Miner TREASURE: Both a rich gold mine, ore type unspecified, as well as caches of gold, form unspecified.
SYNOPSIS: The secretive Abel Herringer had a gold mine that he worked privately somewhere back along the Comb Ridge area between Bluff and Mexican Hat. Herringer supposedly stumbled on the mine while pursuing a wayward cow. Tight-lipped, he worked the mine in secret, thus avoiding a rush to the area and all of the trouble that might bring. When he did, his secret of the mines went with him, as well as the secret of where he may have cached the majority of his gold. A sack of gold was uncovered by some young men plowing a field adjacent to the Comb Ridge, and the mine is thought to be toward the east up the wash and then to the north. Thinking like a cow may help with finding this one, as Abel located the mine while seeking out a bovine who had fled for greener pastures.
Lost Rhoades Gold Mine TREASURE: An exceedingly rich mine of free-milling gold.
This version of the famous legend says that Rhoades and his son Caleb were shown the mine location by members of the Ute tribe. The mine was developed, and supplied the needs of the early settlers through 1850, at which point the relationship with the Utes had deteriorated throughout the region. An 1854 treaty eventually put the mine location off limits, and through Caleb is said to have drawn up a map before his death, the mine is to this day still lost to history. If you have the Eye, you may still be able to find a hint of the mine if you are in the right area, as an operation that sounds as extensive as the legend says would surely leave a trace, even if it is just ephemera like the faint outline of an old arrastre, small guidestones or marks, water works like ditches or an acequia, or even just the trail in or the camp. The recommended search area is between Rock Creek and Lake Fork Creek in the Southern Uinta Mountains.
Douglas Sand Bar Gold TREASURE: A very rich deposit of placer gold.
SYNOPSIS: A man named Jim Douglas discovered a very rich placer deposit of gold in the San Juan River. His discovery happened during the drought of 1909, and he worked the rich sand bar furiously until the spring runoff forced him out for the season. Year after year, he waited for conditions on the river to be right to work the location again, but after 20 years, likely full of frustration and half-mad with self-doubt, he took his own life by jumping off of a high bridge into the very same river that had previously yielded such a magnificent bonanza. Somewhere near Mexican Hat is where Jim had made his incredible find.
El Chato Nevarez – Caballo Mountains TREASURE: Many mule loads of silver.  A rich gold vein high on the mountain is also mentioned.
SYNOPSIS: El Chato Nevarez aka, Pedro Nevarez, is widely believed to have raided all up and down the Camino Real portion of the Jornada del Muerto.
Wick’s Gulch Gold TREASURE: 2,500 ounces of placer Gold, hidden somewhere near a cabin in Wick’s Gulch in an iron pot.
SYNOPSIS: An early miner in this rich placer and hardrock gold mining district of Hillsboro, New Mexico was murdered for his gold.
Lost DuPont Gold Mine TREASURE: A very rich free-milling Gold mine, which supplied the income for a cache of gold coins buried near the camp in an oak grove.
SYNOPSIS: Two hard-luck miners worked their way from El Paso, Texas, up to the Nacimiento mountains of New Mexico, but a conflict led to murder.
Lost Malpais Cabin Loot TREASURE: Gold coins with face value of $50,000 in about 1880.
SYNOPSIS: Bandits seeking shelter at a hidden cabin deep in the lava badlands (malpais) happen across other bandits that are already there.  As the smoke clears, only one is left alive, and he can only take so much of the loot.
Doubtful Canyon Stagecoach Loot TREASURE: Between $28,000 and $30,000 (much more in today’s dollars!) of company assets in Gold as well as likely other valuables in the strong box.
SYNOPSIS: A stagecoach ambush in Doubtful Canyon one mile West of Steins Station on the New Mexico-Arizona state line.
Lost Padre Silver Mine TREASURE: Church artifacts, loose gold coins, and a remaining vein of Silver so rich that it can be cut off with a chisel.
SYNOPSIS: Stand in the churchyard in Juarez, and look to the mountains.  Follow the mentioned signs to a high bluff and find the cave.  Two sets of landmarks are mentioned.
Treasure Mountain Bullion TREASURE: A cache so large that only a fraction of the 5+ million (old price!) in Gold could be transported from the mines.
SYNOPSIS: In the late 1700’s, a party of Frenchmen ventured deep into the Colorado wilds and worked a rich Gold zone.  Of 300 men, only two survived pass down the old map.
Granite Gap Loot TREASURE: A couple of Gold bars.
SYNOPSIS: On the way to Lordsburg, NM, an outlaw did his partner in, reported by some to be the result of a boastful dare, as supposedly cached a couple of Gold bars from a Tombstone stagecoach holdup.
Reynold\’s Bandit Treasure TREASURE: $75k in Gold, $100k in old currency and diamonds and jewels.
SYNOPSIS: After a string of robberies, the gang was on the run with a posse on their tails.  They holed up West of Schaffer\’s Crossing up Deer Creek.  A walled up old mine marked by a dagger in a tree at treeline holds the loot.
Espejo’s Lost Silver Mine TREASURE: Silver mines discovered and documented by the Spanish Explorer Antonio de Espejo in 1532.
SYNOPSIS: Early records of exploration indicate rich silver mines were discovered in the mountains near Zuni.  Records show it was worked in the early 1700’s.
Clark’s Lost Mine TREASURE: A very rich Silver mine with an actual historical record.
SYNOPSIS: In 1853 John Clark struck a rich lode somewhere near Cerro Colorado, AZ. Ore shipped to St. Lois netted a large sum, but a whole pile of the stuff was left when it was abandoned due to relentless Apache raids.