I worked in Del Rio, Texas, in the 1970 and had a secretary named Mrs. Baker. She was family who settled and was raised at what is named Bakers Crossing. I talked with her alot about the history of the area and here family recollections. As a child she remembers playing on what the family called a "church" but was in fact an old Spanish Mission church. All that remained was the parts of what she thought was a wooden floor. That was located close to the family ranch house "back by the hill."
She remembered that as a young child she witnessed a father and son , dead, and layed out on an outside table in the yard. The son had been killed when the father and he were riding up Dead Mans Canyon.....close to the crossing. I think she said their names were White....could be wrong here. When they were up the Canyon they found the remains of some burned wagons and signs of Indians. The father told of a wealth of valuables burried there too. Distraught by his sons injuries, leading to his death, the father brought the son to the bakers ranch. Soon thereafter the father returned to the ranch alone and went up the Canyon to look at the site again. He never made it because, according to Mrs. Baker, he came into the ranch with a terrible fever and died....and placed on the same table his son had been on earlier. She thought the Bakers avoided the Canyon thereafter because of the jinxed recent deaths. I had read some info on Maximillians lost treasures and how they knew most of his wagon trains route. One of the references I remembered was the reference to a Church floor and that it was a few days out of San Felipe Springs (Del Rio.) I think there is a chance that the attached story may be in error...a bit...and that the actual route was up the valley to the crossing where Baker was to settle, to Dead Mans Canyon and that the reported burned wagon train was the missing train. Rembember, the facts I am telling you about came first hand and she had nothing to gain by exagerating. I am not a treasure hunter or writer of fiction. I do like Texas History....lets go check this out. I know the property owners for the most part.
DEAD MANS CANYON. Dead Mans Canyon, a valley with an intermittent stream, begins a mile northeast of Dead Mans Pass on State Highway 163 in central Val Verde County (at 29°49' N, 101°08' W) and runs southwest for seventeen miles to its mouth on the Pecos River, fourteen miles east of Langtry (at 29°47' N, 101°21' W). Faro Canyon joins Dead Mans Canyon two miles southeast of the Continental Ranch headquarters, and Crazy Canyon meets Dead Mans two miles north of the Southern Pacific tracks. The course of Dead Mans Canyon sharply dissects massive limestone that underlies flat to rolling prairies. It is a wide and deep canyon that ends on alluvial deposits of gravel, sand, clay, silt, and organic material. Soils in the area are generally dark, calcareous stony clays and clay loams that support oaks, junipers, grasses, and mesquites. The canyon was named for several skeletons, the remains of apparent victims of Indian attack, that were found there by early settlers about 1870. Dead Mans Canyon is a significant valley in the Pecos River drainage system.
Here's the story, from the July 1978 issue of Lost Treasure:
"Somewhere near Castle Gap in far West Texas, a fortune in silver and gold lies hidden--the treasure of Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, and his mad queen Carlotta.
In 1864 the Austrian prince Ferdinand Maximilian had himself appointed king of Mexico and made it stick with the aid of troops supplied by his cousin, Napoleon III of France.
But three years later, with the soldiers recalled, Maximilian found himself in trouble. The country was up in arms and Maximilian knew his time as king was running out. He decided to salvage what he could. Summoning a loyal Austrian aide, he instructed him to smuggle the royal treasury out of the country.
As the port cities were in rebel hands, the aide realized his only route for removing the treasure lay to the north. He decided to freight the bullion to Chihuahua and thence eastward over the Chihuahua-San Antonio Trail to Texas.
With a group of Mexican teamsters, and accompanied by his young daughter, the Austrian set forth with fifteen wagon-loads of silver and gold in barrels. At Chihuahua, he learned of Indian raids and banditry on the trail ahead. Alarmed, he made a fateful decision. He hired six ex-Confederate soldiers, all Missourians, to serve as guards, explaining that the barrels in his wagons contained flour for the American market.
The group pressed ahead toward the border. But one of the Missourians grew curious as to the wagons' contents. During a late night watch, he broke into one and discovered the truth.
When he told his comrades, they agreed to kill their employers and steal the gold as soon as the train had entered Texas.
A few days later they crossed the Pecos River at Horsehead Crossing and approached the famed pass known as Castle Gap. Long a well-known landmark and feared as the site of countless Indian and bandit ambushes, the steep, narrow defile between Castle and King Mountains was no place to be after dark. The Austrian elected to pitch camp near the Gap and await daylight.
Now the six Missourians decided to act. As sentries they remained awake after the others retired. When all was quiet, they silently cut the throats of one and all--including even the little girl.
But now that the hoard was theirs, the robbers realized that they had no means of disposing of the gold once they got it back to civilization. They decided to hide it and ride to San Antonia where they could arrange to fence the gold through a broker in precious metals.
They buried the treasure, carefully noting details of surrounding hills and rocks, a shallow lake nearby, and other landmarks. Then they piled the wagons, harness and bodies together, and burned them to ashes. The oxen were chased off into the brush.
Among papers found with the Austrian leader's possessions was a document explaining that the treasure was intended to be shipped to Austria from Galveston. There it was to be turned over to the Empress Carlotta. The emperor was to join her later.
Next day the murderers struck out for Fort Concho at present-day San Angelo. The dry desert land took its toll. The men and their mounts suffered severely. At the fort, one of them was taken ill and had to remain behind while the others pushed ahead. When he had recovered sufficiently, he hit the trail for San Antonio. But a day's ride out from the fort, he discovered the scalped and torn bodies of his former companions, victims of a Comanche raiding party.
The lone Missourian realized that he alone knew the secret of Maximilian's gold. But he also realized that he could never recover it by himself. He decided his best course was to return to Missouri and enlist the aid of Jesse James and his gang of outlaws.
Turning north, he rode toward Arkansas. But one night near Denton he shared a campfire with three strangers. At dawn the group found themselves surrounded by a sheriff's posse. The three strangers, it turned out, were horse thieves. Despite his protests the Missourian was hauled off to jail in Denton.
In the cell, he suffered a relapse of the malady that had felled him at Fort Concho. A Denton doctor named Black was summoned and advised the prisoner that he wouldn't last long if he stayed in jail. Dr. Black felt sorry for the sick man and asked a Denton lawyer named O'Connor to see what he could do about getting the prisoner out of jail. O'Connor did what he could, but before the necessary papers could be processed the Missourian took a turn for the worse.
Knowing he was dying, the desperado called Dr. Black and O'Connor to his side. He told them of the vast treasure buried at Castle Gap, and drew a map detailing its location and describing the landmarks by which it might be found.
After the Missourian's death, Black and O'Connor began preparations for an excursion to Castle Gap. Several weeks passed before they could assemble their supplies and gear. When they finally arrived in present-day Upton County, they found the landscape changed. Summer heat had dried up the lake. Sandstorms had obliterated markings and covered up rocks and bushes noted on their map. For days they searched with growing frustration. Finally they were forced to turn away in despair. The only metal they had found was some iron bolts and wagon tires twisted by fire.
She remembered that as a young child she witnessed a father and son , dead, and layed out on an outside table in the yard. The son had been killed when the father and he were riding up Dead Mans Canyon.....close to the crossing. I think she said their names were White....could be wrong here. When they were up the Canyon they found the remains of some burned wagons and signs of Indians. The father told of a wealth of valuables burried there too. Distraught by his sons injuries, leading to his death, the father brought the son to the bakers ranch. Soon thereafter the father returned to the ranch alone and went up the Canyon to look at the site again. He never made it because, according to Mrs. Baker, he came into the ranch with a terrible fever and died....and placed on the same table his son had been on earlier. She thought the Bakers avoided the Canyon thereafter because of the jinxed recent deaths. I had read some info on Maximillians lost treasures and how they knew most of his wagon trains route. One of the references I remembered was the reference to a Church floor and that it was a few days out of San Felipe Springs (Del Rio.) I think there is a chance that the attached story may be in error...a bit...and that the actual route was up the valley to the crossing where Baker was to settle, to Dead Mans Canyon and that the reported burned wagon train was the missing train. Rembember, the facts I am telling you about came first hand and she had nothing to gain by exagerating. I am not a treasure hunter or writer of fiction. I do like Texas History....lets go check this out. I know the property owners for the most part.
DEAD MANS CANYON. Dead Mans Canyon, a valley with an intermittent stream, begins a mile northeast of Dead Mans Pass on State Highway 163 in central Val Verde County (at 29°49' N, 101°08' W) and runs southwest for seventeen miles to its mouth on the Pecos River, fourteen miles east of Langtry (at 29°47' N, 101°21' W). Faro Canyon joins Dead Mans Canyon two miles southeast of the Continental Ranch headquarters, and Crazy Canyon meets Dead Mans two miles north of the Southern Pacific tracks. The course of Dead Mans Canyon sharply dissects massive limestone that underlies flat to rolling prairies. It is a wide and deep canyon that ends on alluvial deposits of gravel, sand, clay, silt, and organic material. Soils in the area are generally dark, calcareous stony clays and clay loams that support oaks, junipers, grasses, and mesquites. The canyon was named for several skeletons, the remains of apparent victims of Indian attack, that were found there by early settlers about 1870. Dead Mans Canyon is a significant valley in the Pecos River drainage system.
Here's the story, from the July 1978 issue of Lost Treasure:
"Somewhere near Castle Gap in far West Texas, a fortune in silver and gold lies hidden--the treasure of Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, and his mad queen Carlotta.
In 1864 the Austrian prince Ferdinand Maximilian had himself appointed king of Mexico and made it stick with the aid of troops supplied by his cousin, Napoleon III of France.
But three years later, with the soldiers recalled, Maximilian found himself in trouble. The country was up in arms and Maximilian knew his time as king was running out. He decided to salvage what he could. Summoning a loyal Austrian aide, he instructed him to smuggle the royal treasury out of the country.
As the port cities were in rebel hands, the aide realized his only route for removing the treasure lay to the north. He decided to freight the bullion to Chihuahua and thence eastward over the Chihuahua-San Antonio Trail to Texas.
With a group of Mexican teamsters, and accompanied by his young daughter, the Austrian set forth with fifteen wagon-loads of silver and gold in barrels. At Chihuahua, he learned of Indian raids and banditry on the trail ahead. Alarmed, he made a fateful decision. He hired six ex-Confederate soldiers, all Missourians, to serve as guards, explaining that the barrels in his wagons contained flour for the American market.
The group pressed ahead toward the border. But one of the Missourians grew curious as to the wagons' contents. During a late night watch, he broke into one and discovered the truth.
When he told his comrades, they agreed to kill their employers and steal the gold as soon as the train had entered Texas.
A few days later they crossed the Pecos River at Horsehead Crossing and approached the famed pass known as Castle Gap. Long a well-known landmark and feared as the site of countless Indian and bandit ambushes, the steep, narrow defile between Castle and King Mountains was no place to be after dark. The Austrian elected to pitch camp near the Gap and await daylight.
Now the six Missourians decided to act. As sentries they remained awake after the others retired. When all was quiet, they silently cut the throats of one and all--including even the little girl.
But now that the hoard was theirs, the robbers realized that they had no means of disposing of the gold once they got it back to civilization. They decided to hide it and ride to San Antonia where they could arrange to fence the gold through a broker in precious metals.
They buried the treasure, carefully noting details of surrounding hills and rocks, a shallow lake nearby, and other landmarks. Then they piled the wagons, harness and bodies together, and burned them to ashes. The oxen were chased off into the brush.
Among papers found with the Austrian leader's possessions was a document explaining that the treasure was intended to be shipped to Austria from Galveston. There it was to be turned over to the Empress Carlotta. The emperor was to join her later.
Next day the murderers struck out for Fort Concho at present-day San Angelo. The dry desert land took its toll. The men and their mounts suffered severely. At the fort, one of them was taken ill and had to remain behind while the others pushed ahead. When he had recovered sufficiently, he hit the trail for San Antonio. But a day's ride out from the fort, he discovered the scalped and torn bodies of his former companions, victims of a Comanche raiding party.
The lone Missourian realized that he alone knew the secret of Maximilian's gold. But he also realized that he could never recover it by himself. He decided his best course was to return to Missouri and enlist the aid of Jesse James and his gang of outlaws.
Turning north, he rode toward Arkansas. But one night near Denton he shared a campfire with three strangers. At dawn the group found themselves surrounded by a sheriff's posse. The three strangers, it turned out, were horse thieves. Despite his protests the Missourian was hauled off to jail in Denton.
In the cell, he suffered a relapse of the malady that had felled him at Fort Concho. A Denton doctor named Black was summoned and advised the prisoner that he wouldn't last long if he stayed in jail. Dr. Black felt sorry for the sick man and asked a Denton lawyer named O'Connor to see what he could do about getting the prisoner out of jail. O'Connor did what he could, but before the necessary papers could be processed the Missourian took a turn for the worse.
Knowing he was dying, the desperado called Dr. Black and O'Connor to his side. He told them of the vast treasure buried at Castle Gap, and drew a map detailing its location and describing the landmarks by which it might be found.
After the Missourian's death, Black and O'Connor began preparations for an excursion to Castle Gap. Several weeks passed before they could assemble their supplies and gear. When they finally arrived in present-day Upton County, they found the landscape changed. Summer heat had dried up the lake. Sandstorms had obliterated markings and covered up rocks and bushes noted on their map. For days they searched with growing frustration. Finally they were forced to turn away in despair. The only metal they had found was some iron bolts and wagon tires twisted by fire.
