1879 Pine Spring AZ Stage Robbery and Buried Treasure
1879 Pine Spring AZ Stage Robbery and Buried Treasure
The story of the 1879 Pine Spring, Arizona Stagecoach robbery and buried treasure lost very closeby.
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If every gold coin was equivalent to a $20 double eagle (1 ounce of gold by weight and an ounce of unminted gold sold for roughly $18.90–plus or minus 5 cents) and there was $225,000 in newly minted coins, the weight of the coins would be 703 pounds which means every outlaw’s horse would have to carry 175 lbs of gold each plus the horse’s rider. Since there is no honor among thieves and since there is no way that they could carry that much weight on horseback, they would have to stash at least a significant portion of the loot and take a small portion of the loot in their saddlebags. They could have stashed it all in order to travel light for their planned get away; but I cannot see these outlaws not taking a small portion of the loot with them to cover future expenses. SInce no gold was reported being recovered, I have no doubt the Sheriff and the Posse took at least some if not all the gold they could get their hands on. Many lawmen back in that day were also outlaws at least some point in their lives. Just because the Sheriff and the Posse members didn’t live beyond their means in the reminder of their lives, doesn’t mean they didn’t get the gold. It just means they were smart enough not to draw suspicious attention to themselves. The outlaws believed that they had plenty of time, so they very well could have spent time at the remote Stage station gloating over their ill-gotten gain and the Sheriff and the Posse got it all.
I have a video where I look around with my metal detector.
https://youtu.be/Tm2GACZ1-10
Great job of telling the story!!
Their could have been a fifth bandit at the camp sight. Then he got away with the gold. Something here doesn’t make sense. Hundreds of people have looked for this loot with metal detectors. The sheriff and his posse are the number one suspects. Then a fifth bandit. my take on it
If you found it, why tell anyone. Somebody still could make claim to it, the Treasury or insurance co. I’d sell them as singles or in a lump sum for bullion weight to someone that could dispose of it. Gold can be sold in a lot of countrys as bullion, remember when you could buy Kruger Rands.
Dont think this is one that i would bother looking for. if this was a secret how did the robbers know about it. well maybe robber # 5 "got away" to get the sheriff not realizing he was so close to town. so # 5 or the sheriff was very well off after the smoke cleared. This is a fishy one. still a good story though.
Occam’s razor
My guess is somebody lied, is there a chain of custody, and why did the outlaws who killed men and robbed the stage remain at the crime scene.
Something does not add up.
What is the simplest explanation.
If this indeed happened (would like to see some supportive evidence in news paper clippings from that period), it is possible that these bandits did hide the treasure in the nearby woods in a place predetermined to hide their loot in case they made a successful robbery. This part of Arizona has a very active volcanic past. There are many lava tubes and lava crags in this area.
It is also possible that they were not in the station at the time the posse was first noticed approaching them. They may have felt the station was a more defendable position then fleeing from a posse of men hot on their trail and that it where they decided to make their stand.
I also agree that these bandits must have had some of the loot in their possession and it is very likely that the Sheriff and company relieved these bandits of that gold. Especially if the other gold was never found giving them a better position to hide their taking of it. At any rate, I don’t believe the Sheriff and posse took the gold for themselves. Too much of a risk I would think to try to get away with. But who knows….
Good story though and thanks for sharing.
Bro,
Just because the Sheriff and his Posse didn’t live beyond their means for rest of their lives, doesn’t mean they didn’t take it! The Sheriff & Posse, knowing that they would have been hung, if they were caught with the gold after the Robbery & Murder’s, may just be motivation enough for them all to keep a pact and keep it silent.
Who’s to say the Suspects didn’t have the coins hidden in the station? Like in a crawlspace, addict or even under something with things piled on top of it. Then, most likely the Sheriff, but could have been one of other the LEO’s found it without any of the other LEO’s seeing it?
Then, that LEO, again, most likely the Sheriff, made sure that he directed the other LEO’s attention somewhere else, for example: “telling the Posse Members to go out and secure the outer perimeter about a mile on all sides to ensure no other Bandits snuck up on them while processing a 6- person death scene!
Then, the Sheriff, and possibly one or two more of the Posse made sure no one would find the gold by hiding it out away from the scene.
Once hidden, and a reasonable amount of time went by, would send for the Posse that was securing the perimeter.
Then, a week later, Sheriff Smart Guy, makes the one or two Guys who knew about the loot, disappear!
That’s because, you can never trust anyone else’s mouth run! Therefore, you end the threat. Sheriff lives modestly for rest of his life!
Now, I would do research on where the Sheriff lived, go there with my GPR and find the gold! The Bandits would never leave a Robbery / Murder Scene and bury $200k worth of gold and return to the scene to methodically loot the place! You’re not being realistic! They just murdered two people while in the commission of a robbery! One Witness got away, their adrenaline was flowing, they were going to get all they could and then leave. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t know the Sheriff was close and were surprised. As I said above, they proposed threw the gold under or hid / piled something on top of it in a rush while fighting w/ Sheriff & Posse.
That’s a more logical theory.
Did Mose do a misdirection and set up the gang
Ok I’m game let’s go look but couple of questions.
1) I will agree maybe there was no digging bc they put it into a cave or rock crevasse but why would they return to the station at all if camp was where their supplies already were?
2) Could this be an insurance scam where bad information was leaked or do we have evidence the gold was actually on the stagecoach?