General

There is nothing like looking for lost treasure to get one's blood flowing. Over the centuries stories of vast treasures have been told by many different people. These stories never seem to die, they just get passed down from one person to another. For those of you out there that have ever played the child's game called telephone, you know how stories can change from one person to another. Telephone is a child's game where several children participate. The first child is told a short story and asked to repeat it to the next. By the time the last child relays the story, it is never the same. This is also what happens to tales about lost treasures. Everyone that has repeated the story has probably changed something about it. I am not saying that it was done intentionally, far from it, it is just human nature to make mistakes in these things. Even my wife and I sometimes can not agree on something that we both heard at the same time. This means that even if a story was correct in the first telling, it almost certainly was not by the last.

There is a story that states that a valuable treasure exists to the north of Guadalajara in Mexico. There is supposed to be an abandoned mine that is full of silver bars. The story states that in 1934 a couple of the bars were taken from the mine by a treasure hunter. So why hasn't anyone gone to the mine to remove the rest of the silver? Supposedly the mine was blown shut by a treasure hunter to hide it. He had the intention of going back to the mine at a later date to get the silver. He never made it back and the location of the mine remains hidden, maybe forever. What happened to this treasure hunter? No one knows. It does seem that he died, or he should have made it back. It could have also been that he hid it too well and couldn't find it again.

Speaking about Mexico, another famous treasure is also missing. This treasure belonged to Emperor Maximilian. There came a time in Mexican history when the French left Mexico and it was this French army that propped up the emperor. He could see that the end was in sight for his reign. The story states that he gathered up all his riches, which were composed of gold coins from several different countries including the U.S., along with gold and silver and other precious items. The legend says that he filled many wagons with this treasure and told the drivers to take his treasure to San Antonio, Texas and then Galveston, Texas for shipment to Austria. It is said that a group of ex Confederate soldiers met the wagons on the trail and offered aid. The people hauling the treasure had been given orders to say that they were transporting flour. Supposedly the ex Confederates got suspicious since a guard was posted every night over the wagons. The story goes on to state that the ex Confederates killed all in the party and took the wagons. It is said that the treasure was so vast that some of it had to be buried, because there was too much for the men on horseback to carry. The idea was that they too would return later and get it. They never did and the treasure is supposedly laying out there somewhere today, just waiting to be found.

Old Mine
Photo Source: Stock.xching

Captain Jack was an experienced miner. He had gone to Utah and been digging around when he hit the mother load. Apparently he did not trust anyone and therefore didn't tell anyone about his find. The place where the gold vein was found was in an area of Utah known as Bullion Canyon. The find took place in 1896. Captain Jack decided, for whatever reason to leave the mine and come back at a later time. Unlike some of the other lost mines, he laid out a trail, a trail that only he could decipher. Yes you guessed it, he never returned and no one else was ever able to figure out the clues to find the secret trail. Here is the odd part of the story, if he never told anyone, how did we find out about it? What is known for sure is that Captain Jack lived in Marysvale. There is an organized treasure hunt that one can go on in the area for $25.00. Perhaps that is where the real treasure comes from.

Left: Schahorie New York
Graphic Source: Public Domain
Right:American Indian Totem Pole
Photo Source: Stock.xching

When you think of lost treasure, hardly anyone thinks of New York State, but New York has its lost treasure stories too. One such story concern the Indians that used to inhabit the Blenheim Mountain area of Schoharie County in the state. It seems the Indians used to raid the homesteaders. They would steal their precious items after they wiped them out and the legends say they would go up to a certain spot in the Blemheim Mountains and hide their loot. With more and more raids, more valuable items were brought to the mountain hiding place. As the Indians were eventually defeated and driven away, the treasure was never recovered. It is said that this treasure is still sitting up in the mountains somewhere, just waiting to be found. New York has also had its share of lost mine legends. Most of these mines were said to be silver mines, but there are also stories about a lost gold mine or two.

One of the most famous of all the lost treasure stories, is the lost city of the Incas, that is supposed to contain gold buildings and riches beyond imagination. Many gold items have been found from the Inca civilization that have served to only make this legend more famous. There have been finds/ such as life sized ears of corn cast in gold, along with various masks, idols, charms and such. It is also said that a treasure exists from the Incas that is composed of precious gems and all sorts of golden objects and is yet to be found. Peru has forbidden anyone from taking Inca artifacts out of the country, but this has not stopped the smuggling trade and one can see Inca artifacts in almost every museum in the world. It has to make one wonder how many of them are counterfeit?

I have avoided talking about pirate treasure, since I have discussed this in the past. As a matter of fact, that is why I have not discussed sunken treasure either. There are so many lost treasure stories that you could fill many books with them and people have. One could spend their entire lives looking for different lost treasures and never come up with one piece of gold. Having said that, it is an exciting thought, isn't it?