Treasure Mountain, CO - Lost Frenchmens Gold

[solomon grundy]

someone at work here was trimming down their stuff and had some books for which I said sure I would take. like out of a movie one day moving these books one fell open to a map of treasure stories. living in Del Norte CO I found the closest one called Lost Frenchmen Gold. so I jumped in...

my first doubt comes from where. i am fully vested in the notion that 200/300 men and 300/400 horses came into colorado as early as around 1790. I don't want to talk gold. i want to talk about the trace of this very large group in Co. That many people is a huge party for the period. just imagine the support needed for that adventure. reading here that they brought mercury with them. so from metallurgists to doctors to chefs... all of this has to have left trash and history where they camped. read some say they hung around as long as 3 years. well that is a stationary camp., a semi perma settlement. imagine the stables to house 300+ horses. i read they would escape the cold winters and head to Taos for the winter (this is conjecture as I would say that trip alone is harsh from Gunnison to Taos by horse). anyway where did this massive group stay and why for example is that camp site not a historical monument? "Here in 1789 the French..." should be on a plaque. i cannot fathom that it has not been found, evidenced, and made historic. Pike's Stockade is just some made up location, not even archeologists can find anything on that... but the largest party to ever enter western US pre1800 is just legend?

imho find the trail of human footprints first and foremost. i have found zero evidence of any french presence near wolf creek and what is called treasure mountain and treasure falls near me. not a single horse shoe or button. impossible to have that many europeans in theater and not leave a single iota of an artifact. jump over to Crested Butte farther north. Yule and other history very much implies a french presence in that area. no where in any local museum is a section reserved for "French Finds". no traces anywhere. again nothing to do with the gold, just want to find where the french camped at. I post here because I cannot find any historical items found in colorado near the San Luis Valley. this writing is more of a thought dump but also read I think a Yule found what the believe is french housing near Treasury Mt. That makes a lot more sense than around here...

finally, I am amused by this notion of hiding gold in someone else's back yard. its egotistical. the Ute knew every corner of this area so the idea europeans could hide something, like in a cave is ludicrous. altho not into gold, anywhere the french went would immediately be investigated. so you cant bury and hide anything in indian country is what I am saying. imagine me trying to bury something in your yard, I don't care how clever I think I am. "Hey why is this giant boulder now in front of this cave?". the treasure map and that lore is something I am avoiding. so much conjecture and lies apply to that side. skip that, so where the hell did the hundreds of french camp?

tldr: any and all searches on french lost treasure need to focus around the Gunnison areas and not the San Luis Valley versions. where did the French camp?

 

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[Crow]

someone at work here was trimming down their stuff and had some books for which I said sure I would take. like out of a movie one day moving these books one fell open to a map of treasure stories. living in Del Norte CO I found the closest one called Lost Frenchmen Gold. so I jumped in...

my first doubt comes from where. i am fully vested in the notion that 200/300 men and 300/400 horses came into colorado as early as around 1790. I don't want to talk gold. i want to talk about the trace of this very large group in Co. That many people is a huge party for the period. just imagine the support needed for that adventure. reading here that they brought mercury with them. so from metallurgists to doctors to chefs... all of this has to have left trash and history where they camped. read some say they hung around as long as 3 years. well that is a stationary camp., a semi perma settlement. imagine the stables to house 300+ horses. i read they would escape the cold winters and head to Taos for the winter (this is conjecture as I would say that trip alone is harsh from Gunnison to Taos by horse). anyway where did this massive group stay and why for example is that camp site not a historical monument? "Here in 1789 the French..." should be on a plaque. i cannot fathom that it has not been found, evidenced, and made historic. Pike's Stockade is just some made up location, not even archeologists can find anything on that... but the largest party to ever enter western US pre1800 is just legend?

imho find the trail of human footprints first and foremost. i have found zero evidence of any french presence near wolf creek and what is called treasure mountain and treasure falls near me. not a single horse shoe or button. impossible to have that many europeans in theater and not leave a single iota of an artifact. jump over to Crested Butte farther north. Yule and other history very much implies a french presence in that area. no where in any local museum is a section reserved for "French Finds". no traces anywhere. again nothing to do with the gold, just want to find where the french camped at. I post here because I cannot find any historical items found in colorado near the San Luis Valley. this writing is more of a thought dump but also read I think a Yule found what the believe is french housing near Treasury Mt. That makes a lot more sense than around here...

finally, I am amused by this notion of hiding gold in someone else's back yard. its egotistical. the Ute knew every corner of this area so the idea europeans could hide something, like in a cave is ludicrous. altho not into gold, anywhere the french went would immediately be investigated. so you cant bury and hide anything in indian country is what I am saying. imagine me trying to bury something in your yard, I don't care how clever I think I am. "Hey why is this giant boulder now in front of this cave?". the treasure map and that lore is something I am avoiding. so much conjecture and lies apply to that side. skip that, so where the hell did the hundreds of french camp?

tldr: any and all searches on french lost treasure need to focus around the Gunnison areas and not the San Luis Valley versions. where did the French camp?

The Salida Record, Volume XXXI, Number 13, July 25, 1913 IIIF issue link — HUNT HIDDEN MILLIONS [ARTICLE]

So perhaps the whole story of french men evolved from this 1913 story that used Spanish fleeing Mexico? inspired by a dream non the less.

Crow

 

[Crow]

By 1919 it had evolved into Frenchman story. The Rocky Mountain News (Daily), Volume 60, Number 131, May 11, 1919 IIIF issue link — Archuleta Co. Boasts Treasure Mountain Where Fickle Senorita Buried French Gold [ARTICLE]

Crow

 

[Crow]

Montrose Daily Press, Volume XIII, Number 75, September 29, 1921 IIIF issue link — LAKE CITY RANCHERS TO SEEK $33,000,000 FORTUNE BURIED IN TREASURE PEAK PAGOSASPGS. [ARTICLE

Merges the Spanish version and French version and now its a hidden mine.

Crow

 

[sdcfia]

These old newspaper stories about lost gold are hilarious. Unfortunately, most people use them as source information for their research, especially when they are locked onto the well known and famous treasure tales. You can assume that by 100 or 200 years after the fact, any information that comes from the public domain is completely irrelevant.

That said, if you are curious about this particular topic (lost Frenchman’s gold), then you should take the time to read contemporary source information from French sources, a lot of which was posted earlier in this thread by mdog. “Something is happening but we don’t know what it is, do we, Mr. Jones?

solomon gundy is exactly on target when he asks where the hell was the French camp? The logistics involved for early large forays into terra obscura were enormous. Lots of evidence would have been left behind. Even though there would likely be considerable degradation of artifacts and structures at high elevations in southern Colorado - say, compared with the 16th century journeys by Spanish in AZ and NM - nonetheless, there should be plenty to find. My conclusion: for the most part, searchers have not been looking in the correct places due to misinformation of the details. Possibly, early French artifacts (metal, most likely) have actually been found in places that didn’t “match the stories” and were misidentified.

 

[markmar]

I agree with what sdcfia stated, how the most times people are looking in the wrong place due the misinformation.
IMO, the French party has not been so large as books and other articles wrote. I would say there were about 60-70 men. The camp should be made, close to a permanent water source with plenty of wood around and close as possible to the mine.
As I wrote in a previous post in this thread, from my research ( by reading the LeBlanc map ), i came to the conclusion the French cache it's not in the Treasure Mountain but somewhere else close to the south end of Sheep Mountain. So, the proper place to set camp close to that region, would been the small valley north of the junction of the San Juan river with Wolf Creek.

 

[solomon grundy]

this is my single favorite and most liked article regarding Lost Frenchie Gold: https://web.archive.org/web/20120814001208/http://www.coloradovacation.com/history/treasuremtn.html and this the last paragraphs are SUPER important imho:

"
Now most folks would think that this was just a great story... in fact ky Uncle Lee Osborn spent many summers looking for the lost "Spanish Gold". He was a dowser and had a real knack for tracking down ore of various kinds. That is where I first heard the tale. Many years later I worked with a master electrician while building the new International Airport in Denver. Maynard Cornet Adams, the great great grandson of one of the surviving members of the French expedition.

Maynard wrote a book called Treasure Mountain, in his book this story is laid out in magnificent detail. He too has looked for many years trying to find the artifacts associated with the story. One day he brought to work some pictures of trees with a blaze cut into them. Several years prior to that project I worked as a surveyor for a man who was nearly 80 years old. He explained the use of bearing trees to me and told me a long time ago there were two types of markings used. One had stemmed from French Masonry and the other from English masons. The French masons had used a classic marking that I recognized.

I told Maynard how to interpret the signs and Maynard the next summer went right to the original French campsite. There he found the stone corral they kept their horses and mules in, a stone hearth and the smelter they refined the gold in. Last I knew he still hadn't found the gold but several artifacts did surface. Coins, buttons and belt buckles that sort of thing.

Maynard retired several years ago and I believe he and his wife live in Fort Lupton Colorado about 30 miles north of Denver. I haven't seen him in all that time but if you find him he'd be the expert. He researched the story with the French archives in Paris and the Spanish archives in Madrid." [end quote]

if you google Le Blanc Expedition it says there is no historical proof yet above I find a very compelling likelihood that this mission did exist. there are artifacts but I cannot find any submitted to any museum etc.

 

[markmar]

Here is another GE image of the spot I have found by decoding the Le Blanc map. The first image I posted is in the previous page of this thread.

 

[Ryano]

I can’t imagine how difficult it was to seriously research these tales and legends before microfiche newspaper archives became widespread in public libraries in the 1950’s.

 

[solomon grundy]

under this Lost Frenchie thing is a possible America that never existed. i love talking What If History around the campfire. Imagine if Spain and France had put a more serious effort into ownership of lets just call it The Rockies. France knew north and Spain knew south so they had an incentive along the front range to link Forts and Trading Posts in the areas of Colorado and Nebraska. it was the shit back in Europe that would twist relationships apart in America. If France kept the Louisiana Purchase, or hell Spain kept it, think of the reality twist. Everything west of the Mississippi would be rewritten.

also in my research everything revolves around Santa Fe if you are talking 18th century western America. i find it much more likely a corrupt Spanish governor put together his own party perhaps pretending to be French to look for gold in his Indian partner's lands. France had no spine for this stuff, they wanted old Europe and not new World.

all we need to continue this tale is some tangible physical evidence of anything French in southern Colorado. if anyone has this tho it would probably be someone Ute.

 

[mdog]

under this Lost Frenchie thing is a possible America that never existed. i love talking What If History around the campfire. Imagine if Spain and France had put a more serious effort into ownership of lets just call it The Rockies. France knew north and Spain knew south so they had an incentive along the front range to link Forts and Trading Posts in the areas of Colorado and Nebraska. it was the shit back in Europe that would twist relationships apart in America. If France kept the Louisiana Purchase, or hell Spain kept it, think of the reality twist. Everything west of the Mississippi would be rewritten.

also in my research everything revolves around Santa Fe if you are talking 18th century western America. i find it much more likely a corrupt Spanish governor put together his own party perhaps pretending to be French to look for gold in his Indian partner's lands. France had no spine for this stuff, they wanted old Europe and not new World.

all we need to continue this tale is some tangible physical evidence of anything French in southern Colorado. if anyone has this tho it would probably be someone Ute.

What do you know about Nebraska?

 

[Crow]

Here is a french map dating back to 1687

Crow

 

[mdog]

Here is a french map dating back to 1687

View attachment 2179486
Crow

To give the map a little context, if you start at the 41 deg. latitude on the west border and go east to the Mississippi River, you will see Isles Aux Canots. If you go south from the letter S in the word Canots, at the Mississippi River you will be at latitude 41 deg 27' 33". The next river west from there, is the Iowa River than the Des Moines River. Then there is the Missouri River and the mouth of the Platte River.

 

[Crow]

Perhaps Le Blanc was not part of the expedition at all?

The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur. Pawnee and Otoe Indians attacked the expedition in Nebraska, killing 36 of the 40 Spaniards, 10 of their Indian allies, and a French guide. The survivors retreated to their base in New Mexico.

What is interesting enough.

Antonio Valverde y Cosío, governor of the Spanish colony of Nuevo México based in Santa Fe, ordered Villasur to capture French traders on the plains. Spanish authorities hoped to gather intelligence about French ambitions in the region.

Villasur had no experience with Indians, but he left Santa Fe on June 16, 1720, leading an expedition which included about 40 soldiers of a mounted frontier corps known as cuera or leather soldiers 60 to 70 Pueblo allies, a priest, a Spanish trader, and approximately 12 Apache guides, who were tribal enemies of the Pawnee.

Scout leader José Naranjo was of African-Hopi parentage, and he might have previously reached the South Platte River area.

The expedition made its way northeast through Colorado, (Did they pass through treasure mountain bury gold they found because that was not the mission they was on?) Kansas, and Nebraska. In August, they made contact with the Pawnee and Otoe along the Platte and Loup rivers. Villasur made several attempts to negotiate with Indians in the area, using Francisco Sistaca, a Pawnee held as a slave, to translate.

On August 13, Sistaca disappeared from camp. Villasur camped that night just south of the Loup–Platte confluence near present-day Columbus, Nebraska, nervous about the possibility of attack and the increasing number and belligerence of the Pawnee and Otoe Indians.

The Pawnees and Otoes attacked at dawn on August 14, shooting with muskets and unleashing flights of arrows, then charging into combat clad only in body paint, headbands, moccasins, and short leggings. Some survivors reported that Frenchmen had been among the attackers, and men in European dress are shown in a surviving painting of the battle below.

( Was Le Blanc actually one of the these french men that killed the Spanish? )

The Spanish were mostly asleep at this hour; possibly Sistaca had told the Pawnees the best time to attack. In a brief battle, they killed 36 Spaniards, including Villasur and Naranjo, 10 Pueblo scouts, and Jean L'Archevêque, a Frenchman who had been brought as an interpreter. ( Hypothesis: Perhaps the Spanish part traveling through Cloarado actually found the gold and made maps rough buffalo hide. but did not take gold with them as they was on a mission from Antonio Valverde y Cosío, governor of the Spanish colony of Nuevo México based in Santa Fe, ordered Villasur to capture French traders on the plains. )

The Pueblo allies of the Spanish force were encamped nearby, but separately, and were not the first targets of the attack; most of them escaped. The few Cuera soldiers who escaped were those holding and riding horses, who were able to break loose while their comrades attempted to form a defensive cluster.

( This might explain by 1900 two versions of the story Spanish and French? )

Le blanc was actually part of a group pf Pawnee Indians that had killed the Spanish and discovered from the bodies of Villasur and Jean L'Archevêque a map pertaining the gold they found in colarado?

Later le Blanc told the story that he was part of expedition to cover the fact he taken part in the murder of Spaniards?

The few Cuera soldiers who escaped had buffalo hide clothing.

Philipp Anton Segesser von Brunegg was born on 1 September 1689 in Lucerne, Switzerland. He attended the Jesuit College in Lucerne. On 15 October 1708 he ended his academic education, and probably moved to the Jesuit school in Landsberg am Lech for his novitiate. He took his four vows as a Jesuit missionary in 1710. He worked as a teacher in the Jesuit province of Upper Germany. In 1717 he moved to the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt for continued theological studies and was officially accepted into the Society of Jesus.

Segesser completed his studies in 1721, and celebrated his first mass as a priest on 8 June 1721. He became a teacher at Altötting on 16 September 1721, and in 1722 was transferred to a teaching post in Straubing. In 1726 he took his final vows in Neuburg an der Donau, making a lifetime commitment to the Jesuits. In 1727 he became a missionary near Dillingen.

After the death of Eusebio Kino in 1711 a growing number of German-speaking Jesuit missionaries were sent to the Sonora region. Segesser learned in April 1729 that he had been accepted for a mission in New Spain. After a long and difficult journey with several lengthy delays, traveling via Genoa, Cádiz, Seville, Santo Domingo and Havana, he finally reached Veracruz on 19 April 1731. He traveled north, reached Sonora early in October and on 7–8 May 1732 reached the final destination of the Mission San Xavier del Bac in present-day Arizona.

( Question did Segesser come across a surviving priest of the attack or Cuera solders that survived?)

Segesser sent his brother in Switzerland "three colored skins in 1758", or hide paintings. They depict Spaniards, Frenchmen, Oto, Pawnee, Apache and Pueblo Indians. They provide important information on the dress and weapons of Plains Indian fighters.

The paintings appear to depict the 1720 battle near the Loup River between the Villasur expedition and a force of Pawnees and Otoes. Segesser gave no indication of how he had acquired the paintings or of their significance, simply calling them "curiosities".Over the years the buffalo hide paintings were moved from one Swiss castle to another, and were cut so they could fit the available space. By 1988 the connection to the battle was posited, and the hides moved to the Museum of New Mexico

(So could the Le Blanc treasure story was convenient version of the above events and on how he obtained the map? But in reality the map was obtained from body of dead Spanish commander about gold discovery perhaps burying there gold on treasure mountain? )

(Please note I am not saying it for a fact as its only hypothesis. But it would explain why there is no records of the this French expedition and why two versions was pumped around in 1900?)

Crow

 

[mdog]

Perhaps Le Blanc was not part of the expedition at all?

The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur. Pawnee and Otoe Indians attacked the expedition in Nebraska, killing 36 of the 40 Spaniards, 10 of their Indian allies, and a French guide. The survivors retreated to their base in New Mexico.

What is interesting enough.

Antonio Valverde y Cosío, governor of the Spanish colony of Nuevo México based in Santa Fe, ordered Villasur to capture French traders on the plains. Spanish authorities hoped to gather intelligence about French ambitions in the region.

Villasur had no experience with Indians, but he left Santa Fe on June 16, 1720, leading an expedition which included about 40 soldiers of a mounted frontier corps known as cuera or leather soldiers 60 to 70 Pueblo allies, a priest, a Spanish trader, and approximately 12 Apache guides, who were tribal enemies of the Pawnee.

Scout leader José Naranjo was of African-Hopi parentage, and he might have previously reached the South Platte River area.

The expedition made its way northeast through Colorado, (Did they pass through treasure mountain bury gold they found because that was not the mission they was on?) Kansas, and Nebraska. In August, they made contact with the Pawnee and Otoe along the Platte and Loup rivers. Villasur made several attempts to negotiate with Indians in the area, using Francisco Sistaca, a Pawnee held as a slave, to translate.

On August 13, Sistaca disappeared from camp. Villasur camped that night just south of the Loup–Platte confluence near present-day Columbus, Nebraska, nervous about the possibility of attack and the increasing number and belligerence of the Pawnee and Otoe Indians.

The Pawnees and Otoes attacked at dawn on August 14, shooting with muskets and unleashing flights of arrows, then charging into combat clad only in body paint, headbands, moccasins, and short leggings. Some survivors reported that Frenchmen had been among the attackers, and men in European dress are shown in a surviving painting of the battle below.

( Was Le Blanc actually one of the these french men that killed the Spanish? )

View attachment 2179490

The Spanish were mostly asleep at this hour; possibly Sistaca had told the Pawnees the best time to attack. In a brief battle, they killed 36 Spaniards, including Villasur and Naranjo, 10 Pueblo scouts, and Jean L'Archevêque, a Frenchman who had been brought as an interpreter. ( Hypothesis: Perhaps the Spanish part traveling through Cloarado actually found the gold and made maps rough buffalo hide. but did not take gold with them as they was on a mission from Antonio Valverde y Cosío, governor of the Spanish colony of Nuevo México based in Santa Fe, ordered Villasur to capture French traders on the plains. )

The Pueblo allies of the Spanish force were encamped nearby, but separately, and were not the first targets of the attack; most of them escaped. The few Cuera soldiers who escaped were those holding and riding horses, who were able to break loose while their comrades attempted to form a defensive cluster.

( This might explain by 1900 two versions of the story Spanish and French? )

Le blanc was actually part of a group pf Pawnee Indians that had killed the Spanish and discovered from the bodies of Villasur and Jean L'Archevêque a map pertaining the gold they found in colarado?

Later le Blanc told the story that he was part of expedition to cover the fact he taken part in the murder of Spaniards?

The few Cuera soldiers who escaped had buffalo hide clothing.

View attachment 2179491

Philipp Anton Segesser von Brunegg was born on 1 September 1689 in Lucerne, Switzerland. He attended the Jesuit College in Lucerne. On 15 October 1708 he ended his academic education, and probably moved to the Jesuit school in Landsberg am Lech for his novitiate. He took his four vows as a Jesuit missionary in 1710. He worked as a teacher in the Jesuit province of Upper Germany. In 1717 he moved to the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt for continued theological studies and was officially accepted into the Society of Jesus.

Segesser completed his studies in 1721, and celebrated his first mass as a priest on 8 June 1721. He became a teacher at Altötting on 16 September 1721, and in 1722 was transferred to a teaching post in Straubing. In 1726 he took his final vows in Neuburg an der Donau, making a lifetime commitment to the Jesuits. In 1727 he became a missionary near Dillingen.

After the death of Eusebio Kino in 1711 a growing number of German-speaking Jesuit missionaries were sent to the Sonora region. Segesser learned in April 1729 that he had been accepted for a mission in New Spain. After a long and difficult journey with several lengthy delays, traveling via Genoa, Cádiz, Seville, Santo Domingo and Havana, he finally reached Veracruz on 19 April 1731. He traveled north, reached Sonora early in October and on 7–8 May 1732 reached the final destination of the Mission San Xavier del Bac in present-day Arizona.

( Question did Segesser come across a surviving priest of the attack or Cuera solders that survived?)

Segesser sent his brother in Switzerland "three colored skins in 1758", or hide paintings. They depict Spaniards, Frenchmen, Oto, Pawnee, Apache and Pueblo Indians. They provide important information on the dress and weapons of Plains Indian fighters.

View attachment 2179492

The paintings appear to depict the 1720 battle near the Loup River between the Villasur expedition and a force of Pawnees and Otoes. Segesser gave no indication of how he had acquired the paintings or of their significance, simply calling them "curiosities".Over the years the buffalo hide paintings were moved from one Swiss castle to another, and were cut so they could fit the available space. By 1988 the connection to the battle was posited, and the hides moved to the Museum of New Mexico

(So could the Le Blanc treasure story was convenient version of the above events and on how he obtained the map? But in reality the map was obtained from body of dead Spanish commander about gold discovery perhaps burying there gold on treasure mountain? )

(Please note I am not saying it for a fact as its only hypothesis. But it would explain why there is no records of the this French expedition and why two versions was pumped around in 1900?)

Crow

Good post, Crow.

Here's a link that I couldn't copy and paste, but in the footnotes at the bottom of page 158, a map that was recovered from the Villasur massacre is mentioned.

The Memoir of Lieutenant Dumont, 1715–1747

In 1719, Jean-Francois-Benjamin Dumont de Montigny, son of a Paris lawyer, set sail for Louisiana with a commission as a lieutenant after a year in Quebec. During his peregrinations over the next eighteen years, Dumont came to challenge corrupt officials, found himself in jail, eked out a living...

www.google.com

 

[Crow]

Good post, Crow.

Here's a link that I couldn't copy and paste, but in the footnotes at the bottom of page 158, a map that was recovered from the Villasur massacre is mentioned.

The Memoir of Lieutenant Dumont, 1715–1747

In 1719, Jean-Francois-Benjamin Dumont de Montigny, son of a Paris lawyer, set sail for Louisiana with a commission as a lieutenant after a year in Quebec. During his peregrinations over the next eighteen years, Dumont came to challenge corrupt officials, found himself in jail, eked out a living...

www.google.com

Interesting. Definitely worth following up on to understand the context of statement.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is 1927 story

We have a name Antonio Leblanc was he descendant of Frenchman in the treasure legend?

He was real person I found him living as were the 1927 newspaper stated. living a Capulin new Mexico.

He died in 1929. He was 1845 New Mexico, USA Death 1 Nov 1929 (aged 83–84) Capulin, Conejos County, Colorado, US

Del Norte Prospector dated Nov. 8, 1929

Antonio LeBlanc, one of the oldest settlers of Del Norte and pioneer of the San Luis Valley, passed away in Capulin, Colorado, Nov. 1, 1929. He built some of the first buildings in Del Norte, one being the place where the Donnen’s Pharmacy now stands. He was also one of the parties of the first prospectors in this section. In the old days he hauled freight from Denver to Del Norte and to Lake City. He was well known by old timers and respected by all who knew him. He was also a carpenter by trade until the last few years when he started farming. It was since one year ago that he was confined to his bed until his death.
He leaves to mourn his passing two sisters, a grandson, being Frank A. Silva of Del Norte, and wife, two great grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Funeral services were held at Capulin, Colorado at the Catholic Church.

~Courtesy of Rosalind Weaver

Antonio Leblanc father was allegedly given the map (According to the above newspaper story?) And he lost the map? perhaps one of two?

Maybe some thing will shake loose?


its late Old crow has too roost!

Crow

 

[Crow]

Interesting to note

Antonio Leblanc was living in Colorado in 1880 working as a teamster.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here is face of Antonio Lebranc . I do not now the date perhaps 1870s- 1880s

I have a name of his father tentatively? A French Canadian by the name of William Leblanc born around 1812. in 1860 he was Indian trader as occupation. He had a big family. see below at a place some of you will find interesting called Taos.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Here William Leblanc below is 1860 census

If this the correct father of Antonio Lebranc. He was born around 1812 a good 92 years after the events of 1720. There can be many hypothesis to come from this.

1: Leblanc the father obtained a map through trade as Indian in dealer in Colorado. And newspapers later added Leblanc as one of French men in the story?

2: The map got passed down from father to son from 1720?

Here is another census of William Leblanc 1850 newly married a farmer.

Crow