1600's Spanish Outlaw Pedro Nevarez lost treasure cave in New Mexico

1600's Spanish Outlaw Pedro Nevarez lost treasure cave in New Mexico

Outlaw Pedro Nevarez operated in the mid 1600’s in the Rio Grande River valley when the Spanish were still setting up missions along the Rio Grande River. His gang robbed many pack trains supplying these missions and churches with gold relics. He operated in what is today southern New Mexico. A couple accounts of the treasure details still survive today.

Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

47 Comments

  1. Dorian McLean on September 6, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Great story !

  2. SpeakUp RiseUp on September 6, 2022 at 8:12 am

    Why would he go to all the effort to dig out so much, then file a mine claim, then while he is struggling for money just ignore his "treasure hoard" for 20 years.
    Sounds like nonsense, but the letters are fascinating.

  3. David Lowrie on September 6, 2022 at 8:13 am

    What a tale.

  4. ramesh elkanah on September 6, 2022 at 8:14 am

    Interesting story. Well present in good pronunciation. Thanks. India.

  5. STEPHEN MARTINI on September 6, 2022 at 8:14 am

    There certainly, were no types of guns other than black powder single shots of early Spanish order. And, not many at that.

  6. JR Rael on September 6, 2022 at 8:15 am

    Appreciate the story !!

  7. AV Adams on September 6, 2022 at 8:16 am

    Great that you are sharing this one. Your Lost Adams video was spot-on with one particular account, but this one is a bit mixed/crossed with what I’m familiar with. I lived down there and have been to Ben Brown’s hole, in the Organs, Caballos, etc. The cable Ben Brown used to climb in his hole is still there, attached to the Cedar (it is not cut down). You can see the scrape of his one-man bucket line operation on the lip of the cave. What only locals know is that there were other signs, including "king’s heads" in that same area. There is a very nice spring that had water and frogs even at the end of an 8-year drought one canyon over. The hottest gold mine in the county was actually a couple hills over. Nevarez and his bunch roamed a lot of local mountains. I have waybills for Organs, Caballos, and even into present-day Texas. When you say "mule" you really should be saying "string of mules" – an "atajo" is a whole group. This means the treasures are much larger than you may think. For someone who seems to not have lived down there for decades, you actually did a really good job. It’s just a whole ‘nother world to see some of this stuff yourself – but vids like yours can get the journey of research started! There’s a picture of the main Guadalupe glyph at Ben Brown’s hole in my book, as well as a complete Waybill translation for one of the sites (cut the gold with an axe).

  8. Robert Schumann on September 6, 2022 at 8:19 am

    I’m sorry but it would be very easy to find where Brown’s location was. The legend says he filed a claim on the property. Claims are generally 20 acres in size. It would be nothing to look up his claim and get the coordinates to it. Then finding the 3 peaks should be easy as well. Then it’s just a matter of the 250/100 paces. Or you could simply take a month and go over the entire claim to find the cave. So I believe this legend might have a bit of truth at its foundation but as with most legends I believe over the years there has been quite a bit of embellishment to make it sound real. The fact that there was a claim filed alone without anyone else finding it says it not really. Pedro’s legend is even easier to debunk. He was obviously doing whatever he could to get his jailer to help him escape. I am sure he gave the guy some real clues to a area that existed and wasn’t hard to find. He would want the jailer to find the area quickly and then after the secret location wasn’t found he would help Pedro escape in exchange for being led to the location. Pedro more than likely used a location he visited often for one reason or another because he would want the clues he gave to lead to a real place and be very accurate. You know for sure this legend is made up because he said that the treasure was enough to benefit “many families”. If there was truly enough treasure that many families would benefit then I highly doubt he would be robbing mule trains knowing full well if he was caught he would hang. Why risk hanging when he could simply take the treasure and live the rest of his life in luxury? It’s well known that outlaws of the old west would quickly spend the loot from their robberies and have to full another job quickly. They lived fast and hard knowing more than likely they would meet their end by bullet or noose when they would still be relatively young. So they rarely saved anything unless they had a family to support. There have been loot stashed by Jesse James found in his old haunts but he was the exception to the rule. Highly doubt a band of outlaws would hide all of their loot and look for another target to Rob without living it up for awhile first. Only someone like Billy the Kid with an actual personal grudge against his victims would stash most of their loot for when they finish with whatever vendetta they are on. Pedro’s is the easiest legend to disprove I have heard of in several years.

  9. Born 100 Years Too Late on September 6, 2022 at 8:21 am

    I have spent lots of time all over the Dona Ana’s ,Organ’s, Caballo’s, Redhouse and even over on Ted Turners Armadaris …in the 80’s I treasured hunted for a few years and read everything I could about this and many other treasures ..some well known and some just stories passed down …I still spend more time out and about in the hills then most and although I’m still hunting just not treasure hunting but I always have an eye out and these legends are still on my mind… your video sure brings back good memories and refreshes my interest …thank you

  10. whoa horsey whoa on September 6, 2022 at 8:22 am

    pack trains ? you mean all mule horse and oxen ? right ?

  11. runnik catti on September 6, 2022 at 8:23 am

    White Sands Military Base has swallowed up 90% of the prime locations for the old mines in that area. I regularly hike in from the West moving East not far from Organ pass and have recovered MANY ore samples thick with silver in the tailings from these hard to get to mines.

  12. Howard Day on September 6, 2022 at 8:23 am

    These stories are only a little true. Sounds like the Padre La Rue.

  13. S C on September 6, 2022 at 8:23 am

    It’s time here to remind folks of some proven facts. Facts are nasty problems
    when it comes to treasure legends, but what do you prefer to believe – the
    treasure magazines or your own lyin’ eyes?
    There are many versions of the famous El Chato gallows confession directing
    searchers to the Caballo Mountains where he allegedly hid his bandit loot. I
    don’t know when and by whom this waybill was first cooked up, but all of
    them are fraudulent copies of each other.
    The authentic man, Pedro Navarez ("El Chato"), was was a noted and well-documented
    bandit active in Chihuahua, Mexico, in the early 1800’s, not in
    the 1600’s. Much folklore surrounds his memory as a Robin Hood-type
    character who cached robbery proceeds all over the Satevo-Parral-Delicias
    country south of Chihuahua city. Reports of his death are highly romanticized
    in Mexico, but the waybills to his treasures were apparently disclosed by his
    daughter in the 1840s and consisted mainly of coins buried in clay pots on
    several ranches. There is little reason to believe he was ever in New Mexico,
    where the pickings for roadside bandits were very slim along the Rio Grande,
    especially compared to the riches available in Chihuahua at the time.
    Somebody stole El Chato’s life story and tried to apply it to New Mexico,
    where nobody knew the truth.

    By the way, speaking of facts, the "1650 El Chato waybill" directs one to the
    "Caballo Mountains", north of El Paso on the Rio Grande. But did you know
    that those mountains were named by Zebulon Pike during the winter of
    1806-07? Before that, on an 1804 map, the range was called "Las Peneulas".
    Before that, in 1771, they were known as "Sierra el Perillo." If someone’s
    going to dream up a good treasure story, it’s a good idea for him to check
    the facts before he starts.

  14. George Nelson on September 6, 2022 at 8:26 am

    This video is soaked with a perfect example lost treasure BIG LIE MYTH. The whole story is bunk to fool suckers . I am a 75 yr old Archaeogist with 54 yrs research and my focus has been Spanish Colonial archaeological excavation, survey and reading Spanish archives of New Mexico and Texas. I live near Las Cruses and this whole story is obviously a lie. The claim there was NO MILITARY to convoy a missionary pack train is a huge lie, the gold artifacts are a lie. Mission did not have gold statues etc. we have huge mass of inventory list for each mission, list of yearly supply caravans, which every one had a guard of lancers from the local Presidio ( fort at El Paso del Norte: modern Juarez Mexico across from modern El Paso). The mission system were run by the Very religious Kings of Spain who sponsored these missions , forts and settlements: All archives have show endless caravans always with Presidio soldiers ( with leather vest armor and lances. All this detail paces , shadows from peaks , crosses , big juniper trees are perfect LOST TREASURE STORY elements . The claim of the ANCIENT IRON MINING PICK is cast in Spain by some technical dating process: HOGWASH. Iron picks are hammered out of bar iron , not cast by some special old Spanish way that can be dated. The story of Being unable to read Spanish writing because it was in ‘’Castilian “, HA HA HA ! Clearly this exposes the big lie. Written Spanish is SPANISH, Castilian is the PRONUNCIATION style . There are still the old records of this time and place in Juarez Mexico, Mexico City, Santa Fe , THE STATE ARCHIVES OF NEW MEXICO, THE MISSION ARCHIVES OF EACH MISSION and THE MISSIONARY COLLEGE that each Missionary group were based . Folks, this is a transparent LOST TREASURE &LOST MINE type story . Most of the photos have nothing to do with the story , and the old written documents have nothing to do with this story. If this large of LOST GOLD STATUES, PLATES, GOBLETS , COINS was stolen: there would be many copies of documents referring to all this . These caravans North up the Rio Grande all had carefully inventories: THIS WAS A GOVERNMENT PROJECT . I have read the archives , this Guy just read a LOST TREASURES OF The OLD WEST TYPE bunk tall tail. The Missions of New Mexico and Texas were actually poor , not hauling huge mule trains of GOLD AND SILVER. You should learn CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS: what could be wrong with this story?

  15. Apollo Silverlight on September 6, 2022 at 8:26 am

    I am Pedro Nevares offspring, and therefore, the treasure belongs to me, stay away. The story is told in code, I know how to get to it.

  16. Arminius Tha Great on September 6, 2022 at 8:26 am

    Some call this guy a bandit i believe thosw hoarding all that wealth and sending it to Vatican city are the real bandits!

  17. Alex Hardy on September 6, 2022 at 8:27 am

    I can find that.

  18. Tom Heffernan on September 6, 2022 at 8:30 am

    Has anyone tried to find the old mining claim records?

  19. Brownbear78 on September 6, 2022 at 8:31 am

    Before the illegal gringos show up. Lol Mexican native American praud

  20. Salvador Delgado on September 6, 2022 at 8:34 am

    I thought monks know Kung Fu ? Lol just kidding that would have made an interesting western movie . But the treasure was discovered by some guy named Doc Noss or something like that which he stashed at least some of the gold and then the U.S. military stole the rest of it

  21. Tino Trujillo, The Mountain Ghost on September 6, 2022 at 8:34 am

    If he was apache or another native, he wasn’t Spanish, Spaniards are white European

  22. Meloveu Longtime on September 6, 2022 at 8:35 am

    It was already found and smelted down

  23. Larry Hernandez on September 6, 2022 at 8:37 am

    Sounds like a n inside job?}

  24. WARRIOR QUEEN on September 6, 2022 at 8:39 am

    AWESOME CONTENT BROTHER!!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

  25. M Wing on September 6, 2022 at 8:39 am

    Cool . Nice story and the letters you came up with were awesome. :O)

  26. Tipi Dan on September 6, 2022 at 8:40 am

    Inspiration for the movie "Chato’s Land"?
    Good, appropriate visual images provided synchronously with storyline.  
    Kudos for that… it is rare with informational videos.

  27. John on September 6, 2022 at 8:42 am

    Outlaws always spent their money quickly

  28. The ADVENTURES of MINER X on September 6, 2022 at 8:42 am

    Pronounced : Hornada del Muerta Translation: journey of death. Rich, poor, servant or master your chances of surviving the journey were equal due to the conditions. There are some great books on the subject.

  29. Mark Garin on September 6, 2022 at 8:44 am

    ‘Castilian Spanish’ normally indicates a pronunciation difference, not a difference in actual words, although the words might have changed over the years.

  30. Sergio Bustos on September 6, 2022 at 8:45 am

    It is very evident that Mexicans always get belittled or set aside from being the warriors that we always have been. He is Indian not Mexican okay his name is Spanish & so is his nickname but he is Indian make that make sence duhhh🤣😂😃😉👎

  31. Mike Finn on September 6, 2022 at 8:48 am

    He was not the only "Chato".

  32. EL_CHANO415 on September 6, 2022 at 8:49 am

    Chato more or less translates to pug faced. Dogs like pugs, bull dogs etc are called chato/a a lot. It’s used as a nickname for the most part. Sometimes used in a demeaning manner as well. I wanna say that for the time having those features were deemed unfavorable to this day.

  33. Eddy Coronado on September 6, 2022 at 8:49 am

    😊👍

  34. Kim Hallett on September 6, 2022 at 8:49 am

    seems strange that only 80 years or more after the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs in that area, that there are judges and courts..hangings? never heard this before..sounds 1800’s..but in 1600..

  35. Dealmanautos on September 6, 2022 at 8:53 am

    He Was Of Mexican Decent Yaqui Blood witch is Native Mexican witch Is Mexica native people of the land that’s how the continent got its name from the native people for those of you who don’t know which is the majority Mexico did not start in the late 1600s because the natives already had the Mexican Name please learn North American history before you teach on it!!!💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

  36. R F on September 6, 2022 at 8:54 am

    Chato is used for people with flat and wide nose.

  37. SUE DOWNING on September 6, 2022 at 8:56 am

    the letter is a fantastic story, too good to be true

  38. rnninobrown on September 6, 2022 at 8:59 am

    My last name is Nevarez I wonder if Pedro is related to me

  39. JOHN MUDD on September 6, 2022 at 9:00 am

    It wasn’t a crucifix it was a cross

  40. Menito Garcia on September 6, 2022 at 9:01 am

    What about Manuel garcia and the original zorro inn southern California

  41. Richard Rogerson on September 6, 2022 at 9:02 am

    I thoroughly enjoy reading/hearing about lost treasures. This is a detailed story. Maybe some day these treasures will be found

  42. MERLIN on September 6, 2022 at 9:05 am

    Chato’s Land
    Charles Bronson

  43. Todd Olson on September 6, 2022 at 9:06 am

    As it should be, the TREASURE has become slippery and hid from man, or has it? Reading further down the comments who really knows if it has been found? Man is always in some fashion trying to get rich off of another’s misfortune.

  44. Georgina Mannor on September 6, 2022 at 9:08 am

    I have heard of him, he was Apache.

  45. eliza quinonez on September 6, 2022 at 9:08 am

    Sorry but Mexican or Apache … Mexicans are native Americans just the same. We call each other cousins everyone assumes bcz it’s a Spanish lady name that your Mexican. Smh

  46. King Lex on September 6, 2022 at 9:09 am

    Hey I really enjoyed your video I’m heading to Mexico and I’ll be there for a few months is there a way that you can direct me on how to obtain more of the same information you have shared about this lost loot ide greatly appreciate it and if I happen upon it your the first and only to get a piece of the 🥧

  47. Kenneth Baca on September 6, 2022 at 9:10 am

    The road along the Rio Grande is called Camino Real.

Leave a Comment