Spanish Gold Mines in the Sandia Mountains

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

Legend says that there are 5 lost Spanish gold mines in the Sandia Mountains. In this video, Paul and Tobe from Sandia Mountain Natural History Center are trying to figure out if that's possible.

 

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[sdcfia]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.

 

[achanceforgold]

Legend says that there are 5 lost Spanish gold mines in the Sandia Mountains. In this video, Paul and Tobe from Sandia Mountain Natural History Center are trying to figure out if that's possible.

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.

 

[sdcfia]

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.
View attachment 2204359

Those mining sites are located in the Ortiz, San Pedro and Manzano Mountains and in the old Placitas district at the far northern foothills of the Sandias. The gold sites were placer operations. The Sandia Range, strictly speaking, lies north of I-40 and doesn't have a precious metals mining history, although some legends allege that cache sites exist somewhere in the general area dating back to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

 

[mtdoramike]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.
View attachment 2204314

Yep, two hub caps stuck together and suspended with fishing line between two trees.

 

[KYgotGOLD]

yep.
here are the known gold mines in the Sandia Mountains.
5, 10, 15 more are easily possible.
View attachment 2204359

Achanceforgold you round up a lot of info fast for people. Good work.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Someone needs a panning lesson.

Also, newsflash - everything on Earth is from space.

Interesting enough to watch.

 

[Puff the Tragic Wagon]

I don't know of any mines in the Sandias, but in about 1985 I heard a young woman in a restaurant tell a story about a cache located high in the Sandias on the west side above Albuquerque. It was in an empty 10 ft by 10 ft square hole, 10 ft deep, carved in solid rock. There were gold bars stacked on the floor.

The young woman said she was told this story by her grandfather when she was a little girl. Grandpa got the information from a man in a UFO that landed in a wooded area with big trees nearby who said the owners of the gold would return for it later and use it for the benefit of Native Americans.

Ordinarily I would pay little attention to a story like this. However, the young women showed me an old dog-eared Polaroid print she had in her purse. She said it was taken by Grandpa and given to her. Later I found out Grandpa was a well known UFO contactee named Paul Villa. I found a UFO photo online years later that was attributed to Paul Villa. It was the same UFO on the Polaroid the young woman showed me.
View attachment 2204314

Interesting. I'm curious, is there a particular reason you, who from all appearances considers himself an Authority on Mining in New Mexico, would deflect from the subject with tales of flying saucers in your first post on this thread? 🤔

 

[sdcfia]

Interesting. I'm curious, is there a particular reason you, who from all appearances considers himself an Authority on Mining in New Mexico, would deflect from the subject with tales of flying saucers in your first post on this thread? 🤔

Sure. Your original post linked to a video that had an interesting title, but nothing much relating to your thread topic. I lived in ABQ in the late 80s and heard occasional vague lost Spanish mine stories, but as I pointed out in Post #4, those rumors didn't point to the Sandia range per se (that is, directly above the city), but to the known mining districts to the NE, north and south. The Sandias themselves is crazy rugged terrain in many places and would be a great location for caches, but not mines. I posted the UFO story because it was the only alleged cache story I heard that referred directly to the Sandias.