You really ought to educate yourself on the history of Spanish mining in the New Word, vis-a-vis the laws and customs that the mining contractors worked under during the colonial period, especially on and beyond the northern frontier. I provided a number of links to documents and contemporary reports in a previous TNet thread a year or two ago. I don't have the link to that thread - you'll have to find it on your own if you're interested in the truth. You are doing readers a disservice by continuing to assert that the "King's men" travelled all over the southwest "retrieving" his fifth share. That's not the way he collected it.
While you're at it, try to understand who organized, equipped, paid for, and executed the mining expeditions - paying special attention to the logistics required. You will then realize that the mining contractors had much richer and easier pickings in central and northern Mexico, with no particular reason to venture perhaps a thousand miles beyond any semblance of civilization. There were a handful of genuine "Spanish" operations in North America, yes, but those that were successful certainly did not leave their bullion behind. Why would they? And can you really expect people to believe the King would allow for his share to be left in the wilderness, requiring a dangerous and expensive expedition to retrieve it?
There is treasure to be found in the Southwest, yes, but it didn't belong to the King of Spain.
