Jack Hamilton
Full Member
I found this story in a book I am reading.
The desert town of Sage is located on State 79 between Radec and Hemet, in southwestern Riverside County. Juan Chavez, a lieutenant of the bandit Juan Murrieta, made a camp here one night while en route to Mexico with a pack of mules carrying an estimated $200,000 stolen from the northern California mines. During the evening, while most of the men were engaged in gambling, the man assigned to guard the pack mules led them up a canyon, still carrying their packs. Quickly removing the gold from the packs, he buried it at the foot of a tree and started back with the mules. Before he reached camp, however, the mules were missed and a party went out in search of them. When they were found, Chaves killed the disloyal guard, unaware that he had removed and hidden the gold. Not until Chavez and his party had traveled many miles to the south was it discovered that the gold was missing, and by this time none of the party could retrace their steps to the camp site and make a search for the buried gold. Presumably, the treasure is still there at the base of a tree marked with a cross.
This would be a fun one to hunt for =) I am only 30 minutes or so from this town.
The desert town of Sage is located on State 79 between Radec and Hemet, in southwestern Riverside County. Juan Chavez, a lieutenant of the bandit Juan Murrieta, made a camp here one night while en route to Mexico with a pack of mules carrying an estimated $200,000 stolen from the northern California mines. During the evening, while most of the men were engaged in gambling, the man assigned to guard the pack mules led them up a canyon, still carrying their packs. Quickly removing the gold from the packs, he buried it at the foot of a tree and started back with the mules. Before he reached camp, however, the mules were missed and a party went out in search of them. When they were found, Chaves killed the disloyal guard, unaware that he had removed and hidden the gold. Not until Chavez and his party had traveled many miles to the south was it discovered that the gold was missing, and by this time none of the party could retrace their steps to the camp site and make a search for the buried gold. Presumably, the treasure is still there at the base of a tree marked with a cross.
This would be a fun one to hunt for =) I am only 30 minutes or so from this town.