First
thing first… I wish to thank a few very generous individuals for their
donation, things are much lighter on my shoulders as a result… May God bless
you and your families…
The
following in part has been posted in the past, however many things have come to
light I can’t help but share with much more added content… I am told by a friend If all goes well we
could have all the equipment we seek such as Lidar, Magnetometer and Thermal
imaging all on drones within just a few months…
On with the story
Enormous Cave of the Aztec, Fact or Fiction
Rumors and the writings of those who sell books have
conjured stories for treasure books for a long time, one such version of a
story which is to follow, seems to have an agenda of convincing the reader of a
fallacy story of Moctezuma instructing his people to haul hordes of silver and
gold back to their ancient homeland…
and it just didn’t happen. However the truth of what happened to me is even
more exciting and compelling than the embellishments… Was there a caravan in
the time of Moctezuma II which brought hoards of silver and gold back to the home of their ancestors? No... Was
there in the time of Moctezuma I in which a great wealth was brought to their
ancient homeland intended as a gift to those whom they left behind? Yes. However
in all probability it never made it to its intended destination. As it would
seem according to the Aztec record many priests were entrusted with the
shipment, when they returned with their made up story claiming to have
delivered it, 9 of the priests did not return, when Moctezuma asked what
happened to them they claimed that the God required their soul in exchange for
turning them into animals in order to transport them more quickly to their
ancient home. Moctezuma did not question it. What happened to them 9 priest and
why wasn’t any of them talking? I think you can figure it out.
Another incident took place at the time the Spaniards
invaded Mexico,
when the Aztec saw the Spanish priests burning their history and records of
their linage, something that was most important to them, they gathered their
remaining records and sent them north to their ancient depositories. There was
one other item that may have been returned to their ancient home, it may have
occurred in its own separate time, or possibly accompanied the previous
mentioned incidents, this item was more important to them than any other
substance they had, and is of ancient origin, the War Box, or their God,
Huitzilopochitli. What was so important about this God of theirs that four men with two poles carried it before themselves when ever they went to war and each time found
themselves victorious.
The War Box
The following sent to me by a friend is a copy of the actual text article about the adventures
of Jake Johnsons which was publish in 1903, years before the embellished (Abridged)
version written for a treasure magazine was published.
Jake Johnson with a well-earned reputation as an
experienced prospector, but not so much of a miner as he preferred to roam the
hills rather than work underground, in a way he was a pocket hunter and with
his two burros with pick shovel gold pan and a few primitive mining tools a
sack of flour and a couple of slabs of side bacon would start for the hills and
would be gone for months to return eventually with a buckskin sack well filled
with placer gold or with a few fine gold nuggets wherewith to purchase a new
grubstake for a new start which generally occurred as soon as he had been on a
spree for a few days which left him penniless before he took to the mountains
again.
On one of these trips, while in the Grand Canyon of
the Colorado,
near the Utah-Arizona line, he had the misfortune to fall from a precipitous
cliff into a box canyon, which in this region are numerous. The fall resulted
in a broken leg, and for a day after the accident he was unable to stir. The
next morning, with slow movement and painful exertion, he was able to crawl a
hundred yards to the bank of a little stream which wound its way to its
confluence with the main river. Here he was able to quench his feverish thirst,
but, being without provision of any kind, he was almost on the verge of
starvation when he was found by an old Indian, who, with his squaw, was
wandering around in this mighty wilderness, subsisting on rabbits and other game,
and upon fish from the river. His wickiup was near at hand, and with great
difficulty Jake was helped by the Indian to his humble abode. Here he was
carefully nursed by the Indian and his squaw, and, within a month was able to
hobble around on improvised crutches, and was soon able to resume his
prospecting; his burros, in the meanwhile having been found by the kindly
Indian and brought, with considerable difficulty, to the little stretch of
grass-grown land bordering on the stream, and the sky-towering cliff near which
Rabbit Tail, for this was the Indians name, had his temporary lodge.
Rabbit Tail in his younger years
During his convalescence Jake won his way to the heart
of Rabbit Tail and his squaw, and many were the weird tales told by the old
redman of exciting adventure, of privations endured, of hunts, battles,
victories and defeats, and once, when in a more communicative mood, he told of
finding nuggets of gold, and hinted of the existence of an old mine, on the
dump of which great trees grew, and in the ancient and abandoned workings of
which there were still left standing great bodies of ore in which native gold
sparkled in the glare of a pitch-pine torch.
Jake, upon hearing this, was all excitement, and
begged the Indian for more information concerning this old treasure vault, but
without avail, as the wily savage became as mum as an oyster upon seeing the
interest the white man had taken in his narrative.
It happened shortly after this, that Jake was able to
rescue Rabbit Tails squaw from the attack of a mountain lion, which so softened
the Indian that he told him that if he would meet him at that place within a
year that he would show him the old mine, but that he could take no more of the
gold than he could carry away with him and that he would be led blindfolded to
and from the old bonanza, which, he said, was located in an almost inaccessible
spot ,near the brink of a yawning precipice, and above which were towering
cliffs which rose perpendicular until their summits were lost in the blue of
the sky.
Jake then started on his way to civilization, but,
before leaving the canyon, had the good fortune to find a rich placer deposit
in one of its tributaries, from which he took about $1500 in the yellow metal.
Marking well the spot, he pulled out for Dandy Crossing, and finally reached
Marysvale, from which point, after putting his burros into pasture, he came to Salt Lake City on the
train. Soon after he left for his old Missouri home, where he soon had his
cousin, Mike Smith, in a fever heat over his placer find and the story told by
the Indian of the existence of the old gold mine. After a week or so of rest,
Jake could stand the monotony of civilization no longer, and started for the
west again, but not before he had drawn a crude map of the Grand Canyon of the
Colorado, and indicated the spot where Mike was to meet him within the next six
months, when they would both work the placer, and meet with the old Indian,
provided the redskin was true to his Word.
This was what brought Mike Smith to Salt Lake City within the next three months,
and this was why he informed all who questioned him that he was a prospector.
Having been enjoined to silence and secrecy by Johnson, he avoided all
intercourse, as much as possible, with everyone, and one day, with a modest
outfit, he left for Marysvale, where he purchased two burros and started on his
lonely and solitary trip for the Colorado River.
It was then that his real troubles began. Unacquainted with the ways west and
totally without experience, he was often without water, and many times he lost
his way. At last, however, ragged and worn, haggard and thin, he reached the
Colorado, and after many days, reached the little camp prepared by Johnson,
where he was heartily welcomed by this grim old prospector, who enjoyed life in
the wilds, alone with nature, more than he did in the busy haunts of men.
For the first few days after the arrival of Mike, the
two worked the placer, and with most satisfactory results. In the evenings,
before rolling up in their blankets for the night, they would smoke their pipes
and wonder if Rabbit Tail would keep his tryst and show them the gold-laden
caverns which had evidently been discovered and worked soon after the
subjugation of the Montezumas. While thus engaged, one evening, the Indian
stood before them, coming as silently as the rising of the morning sun. He was
welcomed, but was surprised that Johnson had brought a companion with him, and
seemed disinclined to fulfill his engagements. After much discussion, however,
and taking a liking to Mike, he expressed his willingness to make him one of
the party, and warned the two white-men to be ready to start at early dawn.
Almost before it was light enough to see their way,
the three were up and afoot. The way was difficult. Sometimes thick brush
hindered their progress. Occasionally a blank wall confronted them, and it was
necessary to climb upon each other’s shoulders to overcome these obstacles; and
creeping, climbing, clinging, to roots and bushes growing in the crevices of
the rocks, they at last reached a point where they were blindfolded by the
Indian. From here they traveled in single file, clinging to a rope held by
their guide. For an hour or more they followed, skinning their shins against
rocks and boulders, and sometimes falling to their knees because of
inequalities in the ground. After what seemed an age, and when tired and
exhausted almost beyond belief, the bandages were removed and they stood in
almost midnight darkness. At a word from Rabbit Tail a light was struck and a
torch lighted. Upon looking around, the two prospectors and fortune-seekers
found that they were in an enormous cavern, the sides of which gave no trace of
mineral. At their feet, however, were masses of rock, which, upon examination,
were found to be rich in native gold, but their source was not apparent.
Elated, and yet disappointed, Mike and Jake turned to the Indian, who motioned
them to a small drift in the cavern that they had not noticed before.
Following the redskin, they got down on their hands
and knees and crawled for a hundred feet or more through a small passage,
coming at last to a narrow shelf of shale which bordered a chasm about five
feet in width. This must have been very deep, for when rocks were dropped down
it the sound coming from the bottom seemed but an echo. The Indian lightly
leaped the gulf and Mike and Jake followed, but not without apprehension, and
found themselves, breathing hard and trembling, on the other side, with but a
narrow shelf for a foothold. Almost creeping along a torturous path, hardly able
to keep their balance at times, they at length arrived at the entrance to a
wide passage, which seemed to cut the chasm at almost right angles. Penetrating
this for several yards and then climbing up an incline upraise for twenty or
thirty feet, they were ushered into a great chamber. The sight that met their
gaze in this chamber rendered the two prospectors speechless. Under the glare
of the torches bottom, sides and top were resplendent with bright, glittering
gold.
In front was a great body of honey-combed quartz, in
which were nuggets of the pure metal as large as walnuts. These were bound to
the quartz by wire gold. The roof of the stope presented a perfect fretwork of
wire and native gold, which seemed to be woven into festoons. On the sides the
gold occurred in hard, white quartz such as beautiful jewelry is made from. On
the floor great chunks of the gold-bearing ore were laying around and, among
them were to be seen mining tools of ancient make, while, in one corner, could
dimly be discerned the skeleton of a man, evidently that of a white miner.
Recovering from their astonishment, Smith and Johnson
fell into each other’s arms, but the Indian stood silent and stolid. A few
minutes later he said, Come, we go out. Then it was that the white men came to
their senses. They plead with Rabbit Tail for an hour, for half an hour in
which to explore, to investigate this place of more than Monte Cristo wealth.
But Rabbit Tail was obdurate and would not yield, and obeying his commands,
they filled their pockets with the biggest nuggets, the finest specimens of
wire gold, and the richest pieces of gold-filled quartz that they could find.
Retracing their steps, but with greater difficulty than when they entered the
treasure vault of the ancients, for they were heavily loaded with gold, they at
last reached the cavern where their eyes had first been uncovered. Here the
bandages were replaced by the Indian, and, led by him as before, they set out
on their journey to their camp, which they reached just as the sun was setting
in the west.
Tired and worn, they devoured the food that had been
left from their morning repast, and were soon in deep slumber. It was long
after daylight before they awoke, and when their eyes were fairly opened they
discovered that during the night their Indian friend had left as quietly and as
suddenly as he had arrived. For two or three days Jake and Mike rested,
gloating over their store of gold. Then they spent several days in an effort to
rediscover the wonderful mine. Time after time they climbed to the spot where
Rabbit Tail had put on the blindfolds, but from there on all was a blank, and
no trace was left of their previous passage. At last they left for Utah’s metropolis,
packing their gold on their burros. Arriving at Salt Lake, they sold their
wealth of gold, and for several days the papers were full of accounts of the
small lot of fabulously rich rock that had been put through the sampling works,
but no one ever found from whence it came, although Smith and Johnson were
shadowed day and night until they left for their Missouri home.
Ever since then, year after year, two prospectors,
with four burros, have been seen haunting the beautiful yet desolate regions of
the Grand Canyon. Smith comes to the city once
in a while, and to all inquiries he says, I am only a prospector. And yet he
does not know the difference between lime and quartzite, slate and shale, nor
is he posted on country rock; but, if he would tell the truth, he does know
something about honey-combed and white quartz. Best of all, down on Shell
Creek, in old Missouri, he has one of the finest arms in Caldwell County, which
he purchased with a portion of the wealth gained by him in the old mine in the
Grand Canyon of the Colorado which was found and lost under the guidance of
Rabbit Tail the redskin.
(The Salt Lake Mining
Review in 1903)
There is an abridged version on the internet but would
be better described as the “Embellished Version” or exaggerated, it also
has an inserted paragraph designed to sell stories… SEE Following paragraph inserted into the original story...
According to Indian tradition, an expedition of
well-organized and warlike men had come from the south escorting a long line of
slaves, dragging boxlike containers shrouded by skins. The party went directly
to the Grand Canyon and descended down from
the south rim. The treasure was placed in a cavern that evidently had been
chosen earlier. The slaves were killed on the spot, while half of the men
remained as a guard and the others returned to the south. It was probably
planned by the Aztecs that they would recover the cargo once the Spaniards had
been driven into the sea, however, months and years went by without word for
the garrison at the cavern. Eventually, they intermarried with the local
Paiutes and told them tales about a great Indian empire in the south with their
emperor, who would return in the future with an army to bring prosperity to the
Paiute tribe. Until then, the treasure must be guarded from discovery by
anyone. It was a responsibility that meant annihilation for the Paiutes should
they permit the hidden cache to be stolen.
To Date, I have not been able to verify the validity
of the above paragraph added to the treasure book tales, it is likely an
embellishment to attract sales. The following description is included in the
embellished version as well.
The glare from the four torches suddenly magnified
several times the magnitude of golden idols, shields, and other objects
reflecting the light in the eerie flickering flashes. Neither of the men had
time to inspect the cave at length, as the Paiutes continually urged them to
take what they could carry and retrace their steps to the surface. It was clear
that they were at the base of the Grand Canyon,
since an opening could be seen in the distance that led onto a sand beach.
However, the men were never sure whether they had come down through the cave
from the rim of the canyon or whether they had been led at some point along the
sheer walls when they had entered the cave.
The part about an opening could be seen in the
distance that led onto a sand beach was no doubt added to tie the
story to the embellish James White story. The original publication of the James
White story, made no mention of a cave with untold riches. Do your research
people, it isn’t worth it chasing after fallacy.
However… the following story which has never been
published but in which I have written about in parts from time to time… has
been verified in many ways and will be given again in a small part, but I
assure you it is original information as received and experienced several years
ago.
The original document and story came from a Mexican
man by the name of Reuben Morales who came from a small town on the inland side
of the Gulf of California. It is believed he
may still be alive and living in Texas and I
am still trying to locate him however it is like trying to find a John Smith in
the whole of America
Sometime in the 1970’s if I recall, Reuben came north in
search of his ancestors mine, cave and cache with the document and verbal
information handed down to him from his presumed possible grandfather Jose
Pedro Salazar. Sylvetre Prado who was the author of the hand written document and which is the topic here in, may also be
an ancestor to Rueben. It is believed Prado’s initials have been found in the
suspect area.
It is believed that Jose Pedro Salazar was occupying
the area in question in the early 1800’s to mid 1800’s, he was according to the
document “an Indian” and it is believed he catered to the Spanish
while they mined in the area or he spied upon them when they were there. Reuben
spent near 10 years searching for his ancestor’s cache.
Not many years ago we had an encounter with one of the
earliest original well-known name land owner in the area, and after he decided
we were not worthy of being shot we talked for some time and the situation
became friendly, we asked him how his family came by the property, and he told
us that when they first entered the land (around
1850’s) with intent to homestead they encountered an old Mexican Indian who
was the owner or possessor of the land, we can only surmise this was by a
Spanish land grant, or that by right of being there for so long he simply
considered it as his territory. He told us that they became friends and
eventually he carved out a substantial piece of land and gave it to them. Was
this Perdo Salazar?
After Reuben had exhausted his efforts to find what
his ancestor left behind, he contacted a known treasure hunter in the area and
asked if he could help him, upon an agreement he shared a copy of the document
and showed him a map and shared the verbal information needed to find the right
location. This treasure hunter eventually in years to come became a friend of
mine, and after sitting in his files for quite a number of years and having
only made a few trips in an effort to find any evidence of truth, he decided to
pass the information to me. At the time I was spending a lot of time in the
general area documenting what I now call, the Aztec Navigation Glyphs, which by the way, have nothing to do with
finding water as supposed by others.
One of near 200 known glyphs
You can read more about these at Aztec Navigation Glyphs
The document was in pretty bad shape when it was
copied but the writing was discernable but very difficult to read due to its
condition and old Spanish words not common today, great effort was taken to
first transcribe the document of which I owe a great deal to my friend Adam,
after which much effort was put into getting a correct translation which can be
very difficult due to the old Spanish and there is still a few words we just
cannot make out, someone experienced in not only Spanish but old Spanish may be
able to recognize the words
A small piece of the old cloth document
The following is some of the excerpts of the more
interesting things found within the document and will clearly show why I have
spent near 18 years working on this project. Our first trip down to the area
resulted in discovery of several things mentioned in the document and today, we
feel we have found the location of the Indian Salazar’s cave, or mine, the
entrance of which has been filled, yet the slide rock from it abounds in ½ inch
chisel marks.
….Enter said (Salazar’s smaller) cave and on the east side (floor) in the
lower part of which is two large flat stones marked (with a 1 and 2)
and below them you will find some oak planks cultivated to the rafter with pins
of the same wood and some cowhides. These pieces are covering a
chest which stores a large quantity of pieces of bars of
silver. Further to the bottom is a cross with wide
edges. Under it is the cover of the same material that contains gold
& silver and a small black ebony box.
The one who finds said small box will be happy,
because inside of it, are the directions/map to the treasures of the Indian
Pedro Jose Salazar who for a long time was the owner of these mountains.
These papers are written in a language that I do not
recognize. They are written with mules blood. Whomever it
is that comes to have this cloth in his hands will come to find out that if he
breaks said box that it contains jewels of gold and silver and paper made from
a berry tree where it is explained where the place is found where the
great treasure of said tribe exists an enormous cave that holds the highest
amounts ever known to man…
Another piece of the old cloth document
The previous is directly from the source. I have been
involved in this project has gone on for near 18 years. It would appear that
Salazar and possibly Prado, knew the location of the enormous cave that the old
Piute Indian, Rabbit Tale, the Redskin knew of.
RECENT UPDATES:
Many years ago, I and my wife took a trip to Southern
Utah and Arizona
with our friends Bonnie and Steve. I recall Steve telling me as we drove
between Kanab and Fredonia, We had been talking about the map rock that was
found by Jacob Hamblin in 1852, Steve pointed at one of the hills off the side of the road and said, a
Navajo told me that on top of one of these hills is a flat stone and when you
turn it over it has a map carved on it. This is very near where Jacob Hamblin
in 1852 found a black slate stone with a map carved on it.
Sketch of the Jacob Hamblin Black Slate
Map
But what does this have to do with the story at hand?
I suspect the same Navajo which Steve had talked to was the same in which I met
just a few years later and he told me that there was a map with many
petroglyphs not far from Kanab, he told me he would take me there. I doubt this map has anything to do with the
Salazar document but maybe it hold clues, My friends Glen and JoDee spent
about 4 hours with me documenting the site meticulously, the objective was to recreate
the image in black and white. 11 years later I finally finished the project,
some of you may see implications.
The area of the subject of this article is in the
lower left of the largest rock, if you see it you will also see the 3 lakes
site north of Kanab and even Johnson’s canyon not the mention the location of
the famed underground BUDDHIST/HINDU city of the Grand
Canyon [NOT EGYPTIAN] Why does this matter?
Now for the shocker…. A friend of mine called me one
day to get instruction on how to find a certain petroglyph panel, having given
him instruction and sending him on his way, I went about my day… later he
called me and was pretty excited and said you are not going to believe what I
just found… well he sent me a picture of which first glance nearly removed me
from my sitting position to the floor. He said while hiking the pertinent
location, he noticed a large flat rock very much out of place, because it was
not native to any rock formations in the area…
With permission to share the photo this is what he had
found face down in sand and gravel.
Confused and excited at the
same time, I thought, “What the hell? This is the same map as was found on the
Jacob Hamblin slate stone found 170 years prior and in the same general area.
My friend was in doubt because of the condition of the writing, I reminded him
that it has been face down in sand and gravel for near 220 years, I had no
problem with its condition. I do wish however we could find the corner piece
broken off.
Reading the text provided another near encounter with
the floor… Although I have not had it translated by someone other than me, not
only does it provide us a clue in the subject story as to what it is and why it
exists, It was written by Antonio Raul PRADO! And it is concerning Pedro Jose Salzar! How could this be I
thought? The date on the stone is from 1804, 96 years prior to the cloth
document and it was found about 50 miles away from the subject site! Why was it
here?
The stone map reads loosely as :
(His) Majesty Carlos Antonio Diego this
____missing____ Order Filming (?) Pedro Jose Salzar Guadalupe (of the) Zuni by
the even leaders of the Yubicaris (tribe) hidden ___missing___ -llados
(decreed?) by the king under death penalty November 14, 1804 sealed this day by
Antonio Raul Prado
The original text on the stone map….
Majestad Carlos Antonio Diego
este <missing word[s]> diezmo ordenido filmente llevado pedro jose
Salazar Gudalupe de zuni por la hasta lidedas de las Yubicaris escondidos <missing word[s]> [dego?]-llados por el rey bajo pena
de muerte 14 Noviembre 1804 este dia selado Antonio Raul Prado
I would really like someone who is very good with
Spanish to look at the original text… perhaps through common sense and
reasoning we can discover the words missing from the stone…
Perhaps a little bit of light
was shed in doing a bit a research on Carlos Antonio Diego or better known as
King Charles IV.
It would seem not only was King Charles trying to undermine
the power of the Church and the aristocracy, he was attempting to steal the
land away from all the nobles who invested in the new world.
From WIKI the Great
“As the
situation with immediate revenue became more fraught, the crown in 1804 imposed
measures in its overseas empire forcing the church to call in immediately the
mortgages it had extended on a long-term by the Catholic Church. Although aimed
at undermining the wealth and power of the church, for the wealthy landowning
elites, they were faced with financial ruin, since they had no way to make full
payment on their mortgaged properties. This ill-considered royal
decree has been seen as a major factor in the independence movement in New
Spain (Mexico). The decree was in abeyance once Charles and
Ferdinand abdicated, but it undermined elite support while in force.”
This map rock was found along the old trail heading
for the crossing of the Fathers. I wonder if Pedro Jose Salazar was able to
make his payment?
I want so much to bring the many untold histories to
public awareness but until we have subdued the foreign enemy who has come upon
this land and currently makes the rules… my memory is fading… ;-)
It is a balmy 27 degrees today, but there is peace and
serenity around the fire, I wish I had a friend or two here today to enjoy it
with… Making the best of the situation… Merry Christmas to all.
