Treasure in the Arizona Mountains
Treasure in the Arizona Mountains
This video was made after hunting for a treasure from a story that was told to me by an old guy named John, who I mention in my book Random Tangents.
We will take you up on the Mogollon Rim, above Payson, Arizona, and tell the story and discuss where I have searched and where I still think the treasure could be.
The story takes place at the end of the civil war when two confederate soldiers stole a wagon and loaded 16 kegs of gold coins from a cache that was buried by the Confederate Army. Making their way across Arizona to join up with some Confederate sympathizers in California they were attacked by an Indian war party.
They headed into the mountains and buried the 16 kegs of coins before being killed by the Indians.
Years later, in 1935, two Mexican fellows hunting close to the Mogollon Rim Road happened to find the kegs only taking a few of the coins before covering them over again. Unfortunate circumstances kept them from ever coming back but one of them finally told the story 35 years later. Follow along with me as I attempt to find the treasure.
For more treasure stories you may enjoy my book, “Random Tangents: Embracing Adventures in Life”: https://www.desertroamerpress.com/
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I bet a man named Bill Carson had something to do with that wagon load of confederate gold
Actually it was the payroll for Fort Apache not confederate but Cavalry. Lieutenant Summerhayes was leading the first resupply mission on "Crooks Trail" from Camp Verde to Fort Apache. The year was 1874 and a wagon was lost over the cliffs when two mules separated from a team of six leaving four mules and a wagon to plummet over a cliff several hundred feet and not retrievable. This is documented in a book by Margaret Summerhayes called "Vanishing Arizona". Seems Margaret was fond of the mules a was saddened to hear four had perished along with a wagon. Not knowing at the time what was in the wagon she found it to be the wagon that held her fine china and silverware she had brought from New England. The wagon also carried the $3,000 plus payroll in $20 Gold Pieces and Silver Coins it also had a cargo of Winchester Repeater rifles.
I’m calling bullshit on this one ..
Miller is directly related to Jesse.
Sadly our stories will end and become obscure. Hopefully the new generation will rise and continue the lore of all our pasts.
Unique thing to me is that if this was the Confederate Army that buried those coins, then the coins are of gold that most likely was mined in North Carolina and Georgia. Both states were the prime producers of gold for the South at that time. The coins probably include coins minted by the only private mint that ever existed in the US, that being the Christopher Bechtlor coins. He was an immigrant from Baden, Germany and he brought with him his knowledge of goldsmith and metal working. So much gold was being found around the area that he decided to make gold coins for people who wanted to have a reliable exchange of value for their gold. He minted coins with set values that could be exchanged in lieu of weighing out and bartering. The US government came in and set up their own mints in Charlotte, NC and Dahlonega, Georgia thus putting an end to the Bechtlor coins. Surely, this confederate treasure would contain some of these rare and valuable coins. They would be worth a fortune today.
I was once working an old building in Missouri removing some bricks from an old chimney and I found a 1914 Indian head nickel and then I was able to retire
thanks again
I grew up in strawberry wow I didn’t know there was any gold out there
Still out there ! 💰💰💰
Already found. They have just kept their mouths shut!! I don’t blame them! 👍👍👍
I know this story. I lost my Dad, to la oro del diablo in 93.
What’s that smell…. O 🐂♉ bullshit
Why is all of the treasure lost in Arizona? Can’t some be lost in my backyard!!
Mr. Hawk…. Im hoping you carry a side iron on your excursions. You never know what wildlife or wild humans you may come across in dem der hills.
Great story and not a disbeliever but if 16 barrels of gold were transported and hidden buy two people that would have to been a pretty monumentous feet right !
Excellent Story! Thanks.
I love this story! Seems to have alot of credibility from my research. If I’m not up there in the area in the spring and fall hunting mushrooms, them I’m metal detecting old homesites in this area. Thanks for all the great videos you have provided to light the spirit of exploration that’s in our DNA. On with the hunt!!!??
Lmao the reason it will never be found is because it never existed gold fever is supported now by a wise story / tale
My stomping grounds
The confederate treasury went missing in Wilkes County Georgia at the end of the war. It has never been found.
A good tale well told! You had me running the math on the volume of Civil War-era powder kegs, the weight of gold coins, and how much a typical wagon could haul with the team you described. Thanks for the mental workout and the added excitement of the prospect of treasure to be found.
Greg, My family established "Miller" County, Missouri. True
recently came upon your channel im loving these stories
Love the area! I found numerous mines around that area!
Soo have you guys found anything? Whats an update on your searching. The Validity of the Gold Coins being there is what I really question bc if you truthfully think about it even if your talking about a lot of gold coins being there in existence you’d think that if they are gone you’d think that some were left over due to the size of the kegs and loseing some over the rim of the kegs when they were poured out to touch and look at. I’m just really in denial if they existed at all bc of finding none over the years. Even if you found one GD you could make something of it but nobody has found none since the story was told. Soo the genius of this story is the Kegs are buried and if they can be found. Do you think he got his directions mixed up with where he was when he found the Kegs of Gold? I just think they are in a different place from where he stated he was at.
ANy update since 2020? I’ve been there numerous times. Crawfish out at Potato Lake. Interested if you hvae anything else on this treasure. I know better than to ask if you found it. 😉
I still got the case when gpa went hunting in the 80s
Nobody hasn’t found John Mosby’s lost Confederate treasure here in Virginia either. Time to get my metal detector out and plane ticket to Flagstaff. Good story.
their horses probaly all died and they had to bury the gold==because they were mean to those horses back in those days
Hey kinfolk lol. We may be related . People have asked me a long time am I related to Tony hawk 😂🤣😂🤣
Logically because there was so many kegs the place these are buried are in fact near a wagon trail or a road nowadays. People bury things near springs cause manual labor works up a sweat. It makes perfect sense that the spring is near a road. People camped at springs years ago and still do.
My great grandfather found Union Army treasure at Fort Lowell Tucson AZ back in the early 1900’s when the fort was still standing. My great grandfather found a 1865 Springfield 50-70 trapdoor rifle that was hidden up in the rafters. I still have it, it’s been in our family for over 100 years. It was missing the cleaning or ram rod and the bayonet. I located these original items and put them on the rifle up on the wall in my great room with a 1864 Ames wrist breaker sword.
There seems to be all kinds of lost gold in Arizona
Sergio Leon wrote this story
Good LUCK U ALL Happy Gold in Az..!!??!!
Any soldier would went for the high ground, look for the highest peak that gave them the best protection and view of their surrounding area.
man I miss living in strawberry and going up to Woods Canyon
More money making up stories about treasure then the treasure itself. Good fairy tale
Interesting
Arizona is fun.
another Knights of the Golden Circle lost treasure story? Albert Pikes bankroll to resurrect the confederacy? Fascinating story in "Silent Sentinel" with the Cochoran coke ovens, Picket Post Mt., the Circle Stones in the east Supers. and the Peralta stone maps.
Lost Dutchman of the Mogollon…
If the hoard is ever found, does the finder have legal right to the treasure?
Really nice story, if only I could find this outcrop!!!
Old News Bud ! Treasure was found and Sold to a Team in Germany for a Very Large Sum Of CASH! True Story
Nice areas, that’s a huge area to search for some lost barrels of gold.
We already found the coins amigo
Only one thing baffles me. Why only take 20 coins? Why not take as much as you can carry? Doesn’t make sense to me. Also wouldn’t there be records of a missing confederate shipment of gold? Just based on those two things I think he was just telling a good story.