Roy and those who have faith,
It was in the early eighties. We had pulled our tent trailer out into the desert close to Tucson to do some camping/research. We were staying for a week. As usual, I had set up a......comfortable camp. We cooked dinner and were getting droopy eyed sitting close to the fire. The lights of three rigs appeared on the dirt track below our camp, pulled up and stopped. A pleasant looking woman got out and asked if we minded if they camped a few hundred feet away. It was there favorite campsite. Carolyn said we would be glad for the company.
As it turned out, they were staying for a few weeks. Naturally, we ended up sharing our campfire and got to know them pretty well. They were historians and authors and were doing some field research related to Franciscan missions. The lady, Diane, was happy for some female company and she and Carolyn, pretty much, ruled the camp.
One of the men had a dog, and Juno quickly made friends.....unusual for my dog to be friendly with other dogs. It turned out that I had more in common with this fellow than our dogs. He knew quite a bit about the Superstitions and had spent some time in the mountains. As the week progressed, our talks around the fire grew more specific. We would always be exchanging stories long after everyone else had turned in.
He was the one who gave me the history I have related here, and he would know. He had looked for the treasure without luck, even though he had a map. He wouldn't let me see it and in fact made me promise to never mention his name attached to the history or treasure. I am pretty sure that he had a copy of the Stone Maps. Years later, I found out he had been searching on the east side of Bluff Spring Mountain, well trodden ground for Stone Map aficionados.
Since that time, circumstances have proved that the old gentleman had his history and facts straight, but he never started his search from the right place. If he had, I would not be telling this story. To be honest, he was the one who deserves to be telling it.
Now remember, this is just a story and there is little left to tell. I don't know what anyone would be able to do with that cross, even if they could find it, but we left it there for a reason. It is buried in camposanto vecchio, according to our Yaqui friend and partner, Juan Compoy. He told us that when his father first saw the exposed "empty cross", he crossed himself, muttered a quick prayer, took him and rode out of the mountains. His father would never return.
Take care,
Joe
If you care to share it with me, I would love to see it. You have my email address.
That's not really the question.....is it? The real question is: Do you want to hear/read more? 
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
May need that dogsled sooner than I thought.
