(Victorio, Apache Chief and the Peak's namesake.)Possibility of KGC Treasure
If you read my series of posts concerning new information on New Mexico’s Victorio Peak treasure, you know I’ve been in communication with “Mr. M,” a former treasure hunter who participated in the final treasure searches into the Hembrillo Basin in the early to mid 1990s. “Mr. M’s” direct experiences on the Peak, his intimate associations with many of this treasure legend’s key players, and his depth and breadth of knowledge about Victorio Peak are truly “golden” to any treasure hunter or researcher worth his or her salt, myself included.
Treasure Hunting
Wolverine Boots
Recently, I asked “Mr. M” for his thoughts on the possibility of the Victorio Peak trove being a major Jesse James/Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) treasure repository since many of the items and artifacts contained in the Peak were ostensibly from widely diverse time periods and cultures. Here is part of “Mr. M’s” response:
"No Evidence or Documentation"
"J.R., I do have some familiarity with KGC treasure stories, but I am by no means an expert. I'm aware that some of Jesse James’ ancestors apparently believed that some KGC gold was buried under Victorio Peak. Personally, neither myself nor anyone who worked at the Peak put much credence in that, because there was simply no evidence or documentation whatsoever to support this theory."
(Victorio Peak.)
"I can say with certainty, however, that if any of the gold in Victorio Peak was put there by the KGC, that it is only a small part of the overall gold content of the Peak, and that it IN NO WAY constitutes the entire treasure trove. I must confess that it's been many years since I formulated my own theory as to the history of the Peak and the origin of the gold, so I think it best to quote directly from my own manuscript, which was written in the mid 90s when my knowledge was much fresher."
"An Ancient Civilization"
"Here's what I wrote: 'My own belief is that Victorio Peak began as an ancient civilization, perhaps of Aztec or Olmec Indians, or perhaps a civilization of whom there is no knowledge in recorded history. These original people mined a vein of gold and lived in the network of tunnels and caverns beneath the Peak.'"
"'They flourished with the wild game and running water which was abundant in the Hembrillo Basin. This was likely more than 1,000 years ago. The ancient language of Ogam, more than a thousand years old, has been found scrawled on rocks within the confines of the Hembrillo Basin.'"
Mining Equipment
"'After the extinction of these original inhabitants, whoever they were, the site was lost to the world for perhaps many centuries. But legends of such an imaginary place, an El Dorado, or City of Gold, were handed down by word of mouth, and the search for it never ceased.'"
"Fabled Cities of Gold"
'"In the 15th and 16th centuries, after Spain had conquered Mexico, the Spanish sent expeditions north from Mexico into the land which is now New Mexico. They were searching for the fabled cities of gold, hoping to claim great wealth for Spain, the motherland.'"
(Over and above all else, the early Spanish explorers were driven by dreams of riches in the New World.)
"'Virtually all the expeditions would have returned empty-handed, worn and weary, only able to report to Spain that the territory of New Mexico was nothing but barren desert, forbidding arid wastelands dotted by nearly impenetrable mountain ranges. But at least one expedition of Spanish explorers rediscovered Victorio Peak, most likely in the 16th Century.'"
So there you have it, in “Mr. M’s” own words. A new perspective about a treasure legend that takes on new life as each day passes.
If you’d like to contact “Mr. M” and ask him questions or hear about his experiences with the Noss Family and the search for treasure on Victorio Peak, he can be reached at the following e-mail address:
Good hunting to each and every one of you out there.
If you liked this post, you may want to read: “New Information on the Victorio Peak Treasure (Part 5)”
© Jim Rocha (J.R.) 2012
Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com
