The Hidden Treasures of Nueva España PART 4

Treasure Fantasy

Many treasure hunters have come and gone, and many varieties exist today, some skilled in the things they have experience but of the Spanish Treasure hunters of the past and present I have found, have formed their opinions based on distorted information, and passed it down to those who have been unsuspecting, of these I will say no more. It has been portrayed the romance of the mystery in books, articles and even the movies as to the simplicity of chasing the legends, treasure hunting is so much more entailed than flying along in your helicopter, spotting a cave, landing and walking 20 feet from where you land and just a few yards into the cave, lies a dead Spaniard in his armor, and his arm draped over a large treasure chest. Nicoles Cage never had it so easy... I wish it were that easy...

With this I will also elaborate upon another fallacy. Many today believe that once you have found the treasure site, the work is done; they often comment, “well dig it up!” as if you can just drive to the nearest town, grab a track hoe and a large truck take it back to the site and load the fruits of your labors! I got news for ya… Once you have found the treasure site, the fun is over, the thrill of the hunt is gone, the mystery resolved, and now the real work begins at least for me. Unless you stumbled upon a saddle bag long forgotten, containing some gold or silver coins or a few bars, and you can keep your mouth shut, then there is no work, enjoy your find.

Recently I heard the words uttered by a student of treasure hunting books, a story I heard many years ago and even in a very small way, a part of... and because of the time that has past, gaining more and more of the information and knowledge of others, I had learned the truth of the matter… the words expressed with amazement from this inexperienced yet excited young man was, “Someone found 500 Gold Bars!” Now although this may be true in that at some time, in some place someone may have done this but the story he was repeating it from, originally was supposed two saddle bags, and the story grew from there and there is much more to that story... 

Monty’s Gold

Countless stories have been written by the many who have come and gone, writers of treasure with the flair of the pen creating fantasy, or exaggerated truths. If the typical treasure writer would do the homework required they would have no need to take such liberties with the pen, a true researcher would find the evidences of the story before they write about it, rather than create their own story line, but then, where is the books sales in that? Stories such as Moctezuma’s Treasure, Freddy Crystals caves, and the Lost Dutchman, mixed in with the Peralta stones, some have even managed to tie them all together in their vivid imagination, in effort to sell books, because they know, the typical reader will buy most anything, and I do mean "fall for anything"

Truth be known, and I challenge anyone to do the research behind it, is there a Moctezuma Treasure? Surprising to some the answer is Yes there is… However a serious student of the history of the Aztec, will find at least 3 accounts of the Aztec written by qualified individuals and they were not Treasure Writers and at least one was not a Spaniard yet the 3 records corroborate each other. The treasure of Moctezuma is mentioned in all 3 records, however it is made clear that the treasure is handed down from one Emperor of the Aztec to the next, and that it was ALL accumulated IN Mexico. It is also made clear in the records that after the first attempt of the Spanish to raid the treasure of which they were mostly unsuccessful, the treasure was taken by he Aztecs to one of the MANY cenotes and thrown in, no where in the 3 records that I recall were they instructed by Moctezuma to do so, nor did I find any instruction from Moctezuma, for the people to take he wealth “Back” to a place it did not come from… I will not attempt to explain where the false story of Moctezuma’s treasure being brought back to the North came from. Is there what would be considered treasure and even that of the Aztec here in the North? If I said yes, would you believe?

The Dutchman Mine and the Peralta Stones

Now... I'm not going to tell you the story of the Dutchman isn’t real, why? Because I don’t know, and I don’t care, I’m not a miner… I am a researcher. Then along the way comes what is presumed to be, the "Peralta" Stones, The stones I do indeed believe in the authenticity of them, however, how one managed to mix them in with the Dutchman story I will never understand. As for the Peralta Stones, the story has become so twisted; added upon and altered it is difficult for the casual reader to discover the real story and to top that off, some of those so called professionals of Academia who believe knowledge comes from a paycheck, have deemed the stones as fake with no compelling evidence as if this somehow makes it a fact. In addition how the stones received the name of the Peralta family which without a doubt existed, I am left wondering. It is very plausible that the stones were at one time property of the Peralta family, and lets just say they were. We then go to the original place reported as to where the stones were found at a location east of Florence Junction which is not hard to discover if you just do a little metaphorical digging. My first question would be, why would a searcher of the past drop the stones where the trail begins? In fact, why would the stones be dropped where the trail ends? But let’s look at some common sense here, anyone who takes the time to highlight the 3 rivers in the area suspect of the stone map, can clearly see, that the rivers or drainage's presumably portrayed on the map, is not the Salt River, supposed Upper River, and Queens Creek, supposed Lower river, inscribed on the presumed authentic stone maps. If it is as many have supposed, the map would no doubt be pertaining to the Superstition mountains and “May” tie in with the Dutchman story… however…

Let’s take a common sense look and give the author of the stones some credibility as to accuracy, even though they had obvious aerial view disadvantages. Below are the 2 rivers in question in addition to a 3^rd proposed intended river, each is a general tracing from a 30 Minute USGS map (left). Compare to the stone map (right) showing what everyone seems to agree is a rendition of rivers, the stone map below is also a digital copy of the original.

I dunno… You tell me which rivers were intended…

If my analysis is correct then the Peralta stone map has nothing to do with the Superstition Mountains, and if you follow the instructions of the map and applied to the new found area, you will find your self at the center of the heart, at the James DeNoon Reymert Silver mines. Mr. Reymert with an interesting background, you will find was a lawyer among other things, why would this lawyer suddenly after moving the Chili for several years for health puposes, where in the Peralta Family was known to have lived for centuries, return to Arizona and suddenly turn to mining and miraculously strike it rich on a whim in his first venture? There is so much more to the story, but this will have to suffice, or is it possible there is still some things you don't know about these stones, and the Peralta Land Grants?

Useless Maps

I hear occasionally of those who have gleaned some information from Spain, or the archives of Mexico, managing to sneak some photos of a map or a document and these people spend years searching, chasing their tail because they do not realize, it is one thing to have a map, and even a charted course, but… IF YOU DO NOT KNOW… how to read the signs and symbols left behind, carved into the rocks, encoded into the rock monuments or the quickly decreasing number of trees bearing AUTHENTIC signs, designed to assist the searcher in finishing the quest to relocate what was meticulously hidden, you may as well shred that map and go home. I can’t count the times I have been told, I found a mine dump! Great… I always think. If you have found a mine dump, you have found one of two likely things you have found a mine of the late 1800’ to early 1900’s, or.. a Spanish mine which has been mined out long before and left for anyone who wants it. I suppose a third possibility exist in that that you may have found a mine which while mining, the party had been intercepted and slaughtered by Indians, however if this were the case, the Indians would have concealed it unless the working were to extensive, unfortunately for them, some mine dumps are impossible to hide due to the size.

The point being to this section, don’t believe everything you hear, just because the individual telling you claims to be an expert or the book you read says so. Use your common sense, don’t be a sucker, question everything, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Part 5

The Hidden Treasures of Nueva España PART 3

The Spanish Expeditions of the North

The cache sites in the north are not the same as the Banditos sites, unfortunately the depositories of the Spanish were not documented with meticulous instructions on how to find them as in many cases of the Banditos’ cache sites, but they were meticulously mapped and marked using a formula of triangulation that had escaped us and has taken us years to discover its existence and many months to understand the application of it at the many cache depositories of the many mining districts. Had it not been for arising circumstances in field documentation and the efforts of one mans ability to think outside the box, and another’s ability to apply it in the field, we may still be unaware of its existence.

Since the days of the Spanish Explorations, driving further and further into the North, looking for the famed 7 Golden cities of Cibola (Si-Bol-La, Si as in eye) legends have grown, legends of which date back further than any might think, yet many names have been attributed to this place which in some legends is considered as 7 cities surrounding a vast lake called Copalla, stemming from the Copal tree or the smaller variety Copalchi and yet deriving from the Nahuatl word Copalli meaning incense. Yet and in more ancient legends this mythical place is always pertaining to an Island in the middle of a vast lake or sea, and even in few less legends, associated with a place of the Heron and others a place of turtles or Turtle Island. Some in Academia would while on one hand trying to convince us man came from a monkey, would set this whole thing down as ridiculous, yet not a one of them can explain how these legends and surprisingly accurate draughts existed long before the Europeans were ever thought to have come here.

The Spanish mining expeditions into the North have been underway since the 1500’s and more so in the following century. Despite what history has taught in the institutions of programing, the evidences show that Father Escalante, was following a very old trail.

The Royal funded Spanish expeditions had a lot to loose; their operations were subject to looting or hostile take over by, Privateering Spaniards, French expeditions or other and also the Indigenous. I cannot prove it by any means, but I am certain one day you will find it to be true, but a true Spanish mine, with something of value left behind, you will not find it open, as any mine of value was to be backfilled 10 varas or 30 feet and made to look as natural as when they arrived. It would also be interesting to note, that should the Indians up rise and over throw those who would enslave them, all remnant of the site, the slaughter, including the mine itself, would be hidden away, and if it had great importance, a particular family within the tribe is given the commission to keep the mine covered and all concealed, a practice that continued at least into the 1970’s a little Ute woman who faithfully carried out her commission her entire life.

For many of the reasons given previously, the Spanish relied upon a system, principle or rule in which to ensure they could return to the exact spot. Triangulation has always been the most effective method by which to mark an exact spot by using the principles of Geometry and or Trigonometry. However, if you were not familiar with the signs or symbols which were left behind, you could in no wise located the intended cache location if you were fortunate enough to have received an authentic map. If those signs or symbols were in some way destroyed, only the memory of one who had been there before would aid in relocation.

There are many who wish to be a treasure hunter, there are many who claim to be a treasure hunter and even some who advertise that they are a professional treasure hunter.

There are many forms of treasure hunting, metal detecting, chasing the old stage coach robberies, bank robberies and the like, KGC cache hunters, lost treasures of the ancients, sunken Spanish Treasure, Spanish cache stories, Bandito’s cache stories and unique stories of all kinds and from all over the world. Each and every form of treasure hunting there is, requires certain skills that if you do not posses them, you can at least enjoy the thrill of the hunt. But the skills needed are more common than one might think, in fact, those who seem to be most lacking are the self proclaimed treasure hunters, they are not hard to find, look for those who have been there done that and they remind you often, beat their own chest, they create false situations of evidence which they think you can’t see, and should you show them something new, they already knew it and seen it 20 years ago. 

Continued ...

Part 4

The Hidden Treasures of Nueva España PART 2

Bandeleros Continued...

The Banditos are often portrayed as thoughtless, ruthless and uncaring men, although not to be contended with, these native born Mexican Indians and some times Mexican born Spanish began to form organizations of men dedicated to the cause of cutting off the supply of wealth to Spain and accumulating the wealth in order to someday fund and rise up in a civil war against their oppressor. These men were of humble origins and of good character, they were artisans and mechanics of which membership of the growing organization was handed down from father to son, a membership viewed as a mark of honor and distinction. These men were bound by strict oaths of allegiance and secrecy, and if required they were prepared to lay down their lives for the cause. By the time of the end of the 17^th century, these bands of men were equally established and distributed, having been assigned to the many places throughout New Spain and along the many Caminos Real or Royal roads established in the land and leading to the many ports of export.

By the 17^th century, the primary secret headquarters of the organization of Banditos was located in San Luis Potosi which may have been known at that time as San Luis de Mezquitique. Many a mule train loaded with gold and silver passed through this community on its way to Mexico which were made up of shipments from both Royal expeditions and private expeditions funded by Nobles of Spain. Shipments by way of caravan came for nearly 300 years from as far North as Garazona, El Alto, San Dimas and Topia and many other places such as El Pilar, Gavilanes, Tal yal ta, El Naran jal, Metalitos, the great mines of Sonora and Tahuaheto all on their way along the Royal roads heading for Mexico or some port for export. The objective of the organized Banditos was to intercept as many of the shipments as possible and wherever possible, to cut off the supplies to Spain and to accumulate the wealth needed in order to fund a civil war. The Banditos lived off of their own trade as other citizens of the states and were allowed to take of the smaller wealth of coins carried by many of the soldiers they killed. The Banditos did not live off of the spoils of vast treasure in lavish comfort as thought by so many.

The Banditos were in a bit of a conflict which at times upset their plans; majorities of the Banditos were for several generations converted Catholics and as a result they tried to avoid shipments intended as tithing. One of their final robberies in the late 1780s after the slaughter of 85 men, the Captain of the Banditos band discovered that a large part of the shipment was for the purpose of tithing. From that day on, they thought that they had been cursed and within the next 20 to 30 years, the majority of the Banditos had been captured and executed while only a few escaped. The efforts of the Count of Branciforte, owner of many shipments robbed and General Barron de Villamoco, Lord and owner of the great mines of Sonora, Baja California, and Tamazula, made much effort to eliminate the existence of these Banditos once and for all. Each of the Captains at some time before their death seem to have written their account of robberies, passing this information of wealth down and remaining within the families. At times in the past, these thought to be non existent documents, occasionally make their way to private hands. One of the last of these surviving captains had written such an account in September of 1839 describing the activities that had taken place since the early 1600's.

The paths robbed were many during the 300 years of Spanish pilferage, Royal roads from the famous mines of the North including Nayarit, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Jalisco and Zacatecas. Shipments from these places often were sent to Mexico and then to the port of Veracruz. At other times, they were sent through Tepic and down to San Blas. Due to the many bands of Banditos which were established along the many roads, there became numerous primary cache sites because of the vast treasures which were accumulated for these 300 years. These caches developed fame and rumor of their existence: a fame that drives many treasure hunters of all walks today to search for these places. Many of the treasure stories in Mexico are primarily of these many robberies of the Banditos whereas here in the north it is primarily Spanish Cache sites, sites in which the Spanish cached their surplus that could not be shipped for some restrictive reason, this is not to say however that there is not many sites where in the Native tribes of the north did not rob and kill those of the many expeditions, and dispose of it in some unknown location.

There are many Bandito hoards along the many roads worthy of mention, cache sites such as the Caves of Picacho, which had been contributed to since as early as 1605, the cache sites at Mesa Dinero, Trigo, Remudadero, Magos, Blanco Cuevecillas, El Durazno, and Falso, but none had the level of fame of the gold and silver that had been accumulated at Majoma. So great was the accumulation of treasure at Majoma that it is said that it exceeded all the others combined. It is rumored that it resides in a natural cavern in which the earliest of the Captains of the Banditos vowed to fill it with the spoils from the Spanish shipments and with Gold only, the Silver was to be placed elsewhere nearby: a goal that was finally realized in about 1780 in which the overflow had to be located in shallow trenches nearby. Many cache sites described by the Bandito Captains in their final words have been handed down to the descendants of those who wrote those words. Many never sought after the hordes which were left behind largely because of the belief of a curse, and the knowledge of many of the place names were eventually lost and forgotten... 

To be continued.... in

Part 3

The Hidden Treasures of Nueva España PART 1

The Hidden Treasures of Nueva España

It is estimated that billions of dollars in sunken treasure remain at the bottom of the sea as a result of the Spanish invasion of the Americas which lasted for nearly 300 years. It seems that never is it much considered that there is billions that remain hidden upon the land that never made it to the ports. There are many treasures that remain not only in the northern regions of the west but in Mexico and South America. The following will only give a small accounting of what remains hidden on the land we call America.

Since the days of the last wave of when the Europeans began to swarm the eastern coastlines of this continent referred to as the Americas, as a result of countless rumors of the past which in and of itself is suppressed even today, the indigenous of this continent’s history has gone untold from their perspective. Only recently we are beginning to hear the other side of the story of a time frame which has lasted for over 500 years and also much that they had to tell from thousands of years prior to that. This includes the stories of their origins, beliefs, and wars. If only we had listened. Among the untold histories of the oppression's, the genocide, destruction's of families, tribes and extermination of entire nations of people, and their patriotic acts against the oppression's brought upon them by a so-called superior civilized race. Today the evidences show that greed has always been the motto of Spanish and Gold was their God. Since their arrival, they have systematically destroyed the once mythical paradise and place of legendary riches which brought them here to begin with.

Fortunately a few took the time to listen to the indigenous peoples and documented the things that they had to tell, much of which is preserved in selective writings of the past. Many of these earliest authors date back to the 1500’s and some were even earlier. Today, these honorable men who lent their ear to the many indigenous tribes of the American continent are thanked by the Academic world today by condemning them as hoaxers, forgers, and nothing more than fictional writers, a practice that continues to this day. When the once highly regarded author was alive and well and gave honest evaluation and documentations of what he had found and experienced by his personal efforts to learn of these people who were found upon the last arrival of the Europeans. These recorders of history even lived with them. They were respected and quoted often, even by those who would later turn against them after they had passed on, in order to keep their good standing with the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and their seeming place of worship, the house of Smithsonian.

Any compassion shown towards the indigenous in helping them through the oppressions, catering to their needs as a result were considered as a sacrilegious act as these indigenous were considered as nothing but savages, barbarians with no more status than a dog; an attitude that continues secretly even to this day. A religious system forced upon them with bloodshed, torture, the killing of women and children, forcing them into submission, systematically dismantling their religious beliefs and their way of life; none of which was a threat to anyone. Even the mighty and once highly talented Aztec has been portrayed as nothing more than blood thirsty head hunters and human sacrifice driven people. This is a gross exaggeration of the truth. All the while the Catholic driven Europeans never saw, that they were the manifestation of Satan by forcing their religious ideals upon the people under the threat of death, seen in this manner by not only to the indigenous of the time, but by us who can now clearly look back and see with eyes to see. Of course the indigenous were portrayed and documented in the histories written by the victors as a blood thirsty head hunting sacrificing barbarian, as it was and is the only way to hide from the people the embarrassing truth of the victor’s evil demonic acts of which if the truth were known… dwarfed the supposed acts of the Aztec Indians.

The Bandoleros

The purpose of the forgoing paragraphs is to give the reader a better understanding and more accurate perspective on the subject which has never been accurately portrayed. Like the Patriots of the war against the tyranny in 1776, when the British Crown attempted the same similar practices against their own, we the people rose up seeking independence against those oppression's. Mexico in 1810, in their war for independence, was facing the same problems against the oppression's of Spain: atrocities which cannot even be compared to the pretended whoredom's of the Aztec. At this time Spain in addition to their self justified deeds against the indigenous had been raping and pillaging the people and the land all in the name of their God ever since their arrival and conquest of 1521, that God being Gold. In the latter part of the 16^th century, the Mexican patriots began to organize. You will read about these highly honored men of the Mexican people as Banditos or Bandoleros in many of the writings of the Spanish authors of the past who wrote the one sided histories. These Banditos were only considered as such by the Spaniard.

(edited in part by Ron Guilfoyle)

For those of you who wish to continue reading ahead.... See LINK below, Part two, as well as part three, four and five at the end of each part, as well as a two part ditty concerning the elusive Lake Copalla. 

Part Two

In Search of the Seven Grottoes of the Aztec Conclusion

Another presumed cave location according to the old petroglyph map mentioned earlier herein is not many miles North of the very Cave the Aztec came from having lived in it for 300 years. Nothing is known of its size or exact location and the entrance of it could very well be beneath Lake Powel.

Some years ago a very interesting document came my way. A local treasure hunter was contacted by a Mexican by the name of Ruben. Ruben was the descendant of an old Mexican by the name of Silvestre Prado and who had been looking for the treasure of his ancestor. He carried with him an old cloth written by his ancestor.

 The old cloth written in 1900, told the story of an old Mexican Indian named Pedro Jose Salazar who at one time was the possessor of the mountains in the mysterious place named in the old document as Las Murayas. Ruben carried with him the secret of where Las Murayas is handed down for generations. According to Ruben he had spent the last 15 years looking for the old coral where Salazar had once lived as he catered to the Spaniards on the many expeditions to the area in the past. The coral is used in the old document as a key point in finding the treasure left behind by Salazar but more importantly, the treasure of the Indigenous described in the old document as “an enormous cave that holds the highest amounts ever known to any man”

This cave location is shown on the old petroglyph map mentioned earlier herein and is in the same location shown on the old Latin Maps as the ancient city of Abacus Nuc Granada. This according to the traditions of the natives, who encountered the Spaniards of the past, was once the Capitol City of the Ancients the question arises however… Who were these ancients? To this day, you can still see the large array of presumed ancient irrigation canals and water collection system mixed in with the garden areas, how large? 600 acres of garden area, obvious signs of a civilization and yet there are no ruins any where nearby.

 The gardens or Chinampas (Floating Gardens) of Mexico City that existed when Cortez conquered the city are comparable to the gardens at the suspect Granada site. Mexico City at the time of the conquest is estimated at a population of 20,000 on the low side and 40,000 on the high but the gardens of Mexico also supplied up to 7 other nearby cities.

What ever it was that caused the Aztec, and the six other tribes or families to leave their paradise home of Aztlan and move into the long abandoned caves of the most ancient, we may never know. Leaving Aztlan in humility or the reason of it, I have my suspicions but it would be speculation… Is there a correlation in the names and or legends of Aztlan, Avalon, Atlan-tis? All of them are associated with an island in the middle of a sea… Where was or is this Island? Does it still exist or did it sink as in the legends of Atlan-tis, or does the Island still exist but it is the sea that has dispersed? Who were the people who built these cities in the mist of large natural caverns, carving their own tunnels and rooms from solid sandstone? Do they exist… these underground cities? 

You can delve deeper into this.... Hypothesis, in the following books...