Treasure Mountain, CO - Lost Frenchmens Gold

[UncleMatt]

Consider this though: If you choose another location away from the mine to process your ore and refine it into bars for shipment out of the area, you must then choose still another third location to actually hide it. If the smoke attracts attention to the processing location, then hiding the dore bars there would not be wise.

Also, if the hiding place you create involves a lot of labor intensive activity, such as a deep shaft lined with planks, then you would also raise attention to that hiding place. Men working on such a site would need fire to cook, would need to hunt, would need to have a camp. Logistical realities would be involved that would also attract attention. It would be far wiser to choose a pre-existing cave that required little such effort to create, and where the hoard could be quickly hidden with little fanfare.

 

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[UncleMatt]

There was another article by Ward, about the Frenchmen's treasure, during the month of Sep. 1911. I'm still reading Citadel Mountain III and Maynard Adams writes about it in his story and his notes. According to Adams, Ward spent several weeks, in the autumn of 1911, interviewing people about the search for the treasure. The story was published in the magazine section of the Sunday Post throughout September. Here is note 17 from chapter 8 in Citadel Mountain III.

17. After leaving Pagosa Springs, Ward returned to Denver and interviewed Asa Poor's widow, Della E. Poor. In 1921, long after the original search ended, she used him to get another story printed in the paper. This story told about an important discovery being made, which was connected with the treasure and that the search was on again.

From the beginning, this was a total scam orchestrated by her and two partners from Lake City. After selling thousands of dollars in shares, the search was dropped.

In recent years, people have lost investments in Treasure Mountain gold scams. Treasure Mountain, beware folks! There's no treasure on Treasure Mountain. It was NEVER there.

Mdog here. Anyway, I haven't heard from the library about the rest of the 1921 story, but I'll send a message tonight and ask for that and the series from 1911.

This is by far the most likely scenario! I doubt there was ever a treasure to find on Treasure Mountain. This probably applies to almost every treasure tale where people sold "shares" as a way to fund an expedition to find it.

 

[mdog]

Maynard Adams leaves a lot of notes in his three Citadel Mountain books, which makes it easier, but time consuming, to confirm his research and, maybe, discover new information. What I've seen so far is that Adams follows the 1921 Ward articles so closely that you could get the general idea of his three books just by reading the Ward article, and this is the story that he says was created to scam investors. I hope I can get the 1911 articles so we can compare them to the 1921 story.

I sent a message to the libary and hope for an answer soon.

 

[mdog]

This is by far the most likely scenario! I doubt there was ever a treasure to find on Treasure Mountain. This probably applies to almost every treasure tale where people sold "shares" as a way to fund an expedition to find it.

UncleMatt, I think what Adams meant, maybe, was that the cache buried by the first expedition was recovered by the second expedition, except for 1000 pounds that had to be hidden on the east side of the Sangre de Cristo range because some of the pack animals were killed in a battle. Where did he get this information? From descendants of the second expedition. How did he find them? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

 

[sdcfia]

This is by far the most likely scenario! I doubt there was ever a treasure to find on Treasure Mountain. This probably applies to almost every treasure tale where people sold "shares" as a way to fund an expedition to find it.

This is why all well-known treasure tales are likely to yield absolutely nothing for later searchers. If you read about it in any book, magazine or newspaper - assuming that there was such an historical incident that the story was based on - the salient facts have been completely corrupted. In the TM case, the only information worth having would be the original French report (if there was such a report). All else is essentially an historical novel. The lesser-known stories are the only ones worth investing time in if you are seeking their underlying truth.

TM Scenario 2. French agents received Napoleon's lost treasure in New Orleans and cached it somewhere way up the Arkansas River or one of its tributary's headwater regions. Information from their mission report was later used by persons unknown to recover and relocate the cache. The TM story was cooked up to divert attention away from the new cache site.

 

[sdcfia]

UncleMatt, I think what Adams meant, maybe, was that the cache buried by the first expedition was recovered by the second expedition, except for 1000 pounds that had to be hidden on the east side of the Sangre de Cristo range because some of the pack animals were killed in a battle. Where did he get this information? From descendants of the second expedition. How did he find them? I don't know, but I'd like to find out.

I agree. The second expedition is what needs to be focused on.

 

[Randy Bradford]

Another reason I've found this story interesting is its connection to Ft. Leavenworth, as I am a life long Leavenworth resident. Seems to me there was a big to do a number of years back about some local historians/archaeologists discovering the location of an old French settlement/trading post (not sure which) that was near Ft. Leavenworth. Point being, there may be something on my end that gives further credence ot the story though I doubt it would offer much in the way of aid in uncovering the source or outcome of the gold.

 

[sdcfia]

Another reason I've found this story interesting is its connection to Ft. Leavenworth, as I am a life long Leavenworth resident. Seems to me there was a big to do a number of years back about some local historians/archaeologists discovering the location of an old French settlement/trading post (not sure which) that was near Ft. Leavenworth. Point being, there may be something on my end that gives further credence ot the story though I doubt it would offer much in the way of aid in uncovering the source or outcome of the gold.

The French had also mapped parts of the Kansas River where it runs into the Missouri River in the early 1700s (the area that used to be known as Westport Landing, several miles downriver from Leavenworth). Out in the middle of Kansas, the Kansas and Arkansas Rivers aren't too far separated, giving the French options when moving easterly from Colorado: follow the Arkansas towards New Orleans, or the Kansas towards St. Louis.

 

[mdog]

This excerpt is from Randy's post #9, Carson's Treasure Mountain story.

"The ink was scarcely dry on the Post series before the gold of Treasure Mountain began making headlines. Two Colorado ranchers claimed to have reached the threshold of the treasure with the discovery of a second shaft, about 200 feet from the original one.

The pair claimed to have found a "stone tablet" at the bottom of the second shaft which gave a complete description of the treasure's location. Etched in Spanish, the tablet stated that three tunnels and two walls would have to be pierced before the treasure could be found, the men said.

The tablet also included the information that, because of a rock slide, the treasure would be found 202 feet below the original location, which was given as many feet under the ground. According to the two men, the tablet further warned of "death traps" to be encountered.

Location of the second shaft which the men claimed to have found was given as 200 feet northwest of the original shaft."

This was part of the 1921 scam story according to Maynard Adams. It ran in the Denver Post on September 27, 1921. It wasn't something related to a different treasure legend.

 

[mdog]

This map shows some of the discoveries of the French explorer Bernard de la Harpe. On the left side, at about 39 deg latitude, are the villages of the Paduca Noir (Black Paducas). This label also mentions Spanish gold caravans. I hope it loads.

Carte nouvelle de la partie de l'Ouest de la province de la Louisiane sur les observations et découvertes du Sieur Benard de la Harpe... / dressé par le Sr de Beauvilliers...

From the latitude of Santa Fe, it seems like the locations on the French map are a degree too high. It looks like the villages might be between the Cimarron and the Arkansas Rivers at about 39 deg latitude on the French map and probably closer to an actual latitude of 38 deg. That would put the villages close to the same latitude as Music Pass. If the French knew that the Spanish were mining gold in that area during the early 1700's, then Villemont's 1795 report about gold on the Arkansas River would have been old news.

 

[mdog]

 

[mdog]

 

[mdog]

 

[mdog]

 

[Randy Bradford]

Looks like I might have a transcription project on my hands...

 

[UncleMatt]

An obvious question would be, why would a tablet written in Spanish be found connected with a French treasure?

 

[mdog]

Here's some information about Josiah M. Ward, the writer of the Treasure Mountain articles that I posted. It seems that Ward worked for William Hearst's San Francisco Examiner before he worked for the Denver Post. It seems that he was also involved in a very brutal blackmailing scheme that resulted in the death of the blackmailer. Here are the links. The first link shows Ward worked for the Examiner, and the others report on the Garness murder trial and Ward's involvement.

https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/cgi-bin/colorado?a=d&d=THD19020119-01.2.3#

Daily Alta California 1 February 1890 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection

Daily Alta California 16 May 1890 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection

Daily Alta California 17 May 1890 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection

Daily Alta California 24 May 1890 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection

Daily Alta California 8 August 1890 ? California Digital Newspaper Collection

 

[mdog]

If these reports are accurate, I don't know if I'd believe anything this guy wrote.

 

[mdog]

Another reason I've found this story interesting is its connection to Ft. Leavenworth, as I am a life long Leavenworth resident. Seems to me there was a big to do a number of years back about some local historians/archaeologists discovering the location of an old French settlement/trading post (not sure which) that was near Ft. Leavenworth. Point being, there may be something on my end that gives further credence ot the story though I doubt it would offer much in the way of aid in uncovering the source or outcome of the gold.

Is this the French post you mentioned in your post?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_de_Cavagnial

Sdcfia mentioned the Kansas River not being far from the Arkansas River, about 50 miles at the closest point. This post is on a trail that I wrote about in one of your threads. It runs from the Detroit area to New Mexico and beyond. The stretch from Des Moines, Iowa to Fort Leavenworth is called the Dragoon Trace. Traders could follow the Kansas River to the Smoky Hill River and the follow that river to a pueblo in Kansas called El Quartelejo, where the French were reported trading in the early 1700's, and, from there, south to the Arkansas and then west to the Colorado Rockies. They would be entering the Rockies right around the place where the Spanish miners were trading with the Paducas, as described by Bernard de La Harpe, about 1720.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Quartelejo_Ruins

 

[mdog]

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia about William Randolph Hearst, who owned the San Francisco Examiner when Ward worked there.

"William Randolph Hearst (/hɜːrst/;[SUP][1][/SUP] April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher who built the nation's largest newspaper chain and whose methods profoundly influenced American journalism.[SUP][2][/SUP] Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father. Moving to New York City, he acquired The New York Journal and engaged in a bitter circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer's New York World that led to the creation of yellow journalism—sensationalized stories of dubious veracity. Acquiring more newspapers, Hearst created a chain that numbered nearly 30 papers in major American cities at its peak. He later expanded to magazines, creating the largest newspaper and magazine business in the world."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Randolph_Hearst

Here's a link about Yellow Journalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_journalism