The High jacked Mule Train, From Gold Mine to Denver Mint.
Around the 1890's three young men came out west to New Mexico to make a new life. However after a while they weren't to lucky at finding a job, so they started small time high jacking and robbing stage coaches. In their idle time they tossed gold coins into the spring at their camp.
One day they heard of a mule train loaded with gold bars headed to the Denver mint. They decided their odds were pretty good to take the guards by surprise. They ambushed the group and in fact did kill all the guards and also lost one of their own and one was wounded. The two then took the mule train back to their camp and unloaded the gold bars into an old prospectors dig at their camp. They took the mules several miles away and shot them.
Now the wounded one died and the lone survivor buried him at the camp. He became scared of the idea of being alone and likely the object of a manhunt for him, so he took off and went back east, where he settled down, married and had at least one son.
Never having told anyone of his exploits he finally broke the silence on his death bed and told his son the story.
In the mid 1950's the son came out to New Mexico and hired a pilot to fly him over the area his father told him about. It was early spring and there was still snow on the ground. The son must have decided give up the idea of finding his father's old camp and went back home.
Now the pilot, having heard this story, didn't forget about it and he and my dad drove several times to the area and confirmed several points of the story. My dad also told an old friend of this and the friend told when he had worked with the CCC crews in the '40's and while improving the springs in that area, had found a spring with old gold coins in it.
However after about 60 years the snow melt can wash a lot of soil down and, while the area has been found, it will likely take a deep penetrating metal detector to locate the gold bars. I spent several weeks at the site the summer of 1961 and we found clues that this was the site, but lacked the equipment to complete any deep searches. We had dug one hole 17' deep at one point and there was not a single rock in the dirt. Also at that depth found chunks of horse manure. Later we started a trench about 6' deep from the hole and ran into a lot of rocks from fist size to 3' dia. This area of the hole fits the description of the location in the story.
It will take a good metal detectors to find this. It is on National forest land.
The best option would be a ground penetrating radar.
If I can get a backer to help with this project, I can take a crew to the spot.
I can be reached at e-mail [email protected] for more information.
Around the 1890's three young men came out west to New Mexico to make a new life. However after a while they weren't to lucky at finding a job, so they started small time high jacking and robbing stage coaches. In their idle time they tossed gold coins into the spring at their camp.
One day they heard of a mule train loaded with gold bars headed to the Denver mint. They decided their odds were pretty good to take the guards by surprise. They ambushed the group and in fact did kill all the guards and also lost one of their own and one was wounded. The two then took the mule train back to their camp and unloaded the gold bars into an old prospectors dig at their camp. They took the mules several miles away and shot them.
Now the wounded one died and the lone survivor buried him at the camp. He became scared of the idea of being alone and likely the object of a manhunt for him, so he took off and went back east, where he settled down, married and had at least one son.
Never having told anyone of his exploits he finally broke the silence on his death bed and told his son the story.
In the mid 1950's the son came out to New Mexico and hired a pilot to fly him over the area his father told him about. It was early spring and there was still snow on the ground. The son must have decided give up the idea of finding his father's old camp and went back home.
Now the pilot, having heard this story, didn't forget about it and he and my dad drove several times to the area and confirmed several points of the story. My dad also told an old friend of this and the friend told when he had worked with the CCC crews in the '40's and while improving the springs in that area, had found a spring with old gold coins in it.
However after about 60 years the snow melt can wash a lot of soil down and, while the area has been found, it will likely take a deep penetrating metal detector to locate the gold bars. I spent several weeks at the site the summer of 1961 and we found clues that this was the site, but lacked the equipment to complete any deep searches. We had dug one hole 17' deep at one point and there was not a single rock in the dirt. Also at that depth found chunks of horse manure. Later we started a trench about 6' deep from the hole and ran into a lot of rocks from fist size to 3' dia. This area of the hole fits the description of the location in the story.
It will take a good metal detectors to find this. It is on National forest land.
The best option would be a ground penetrating radar.
If I can get a backer to help with this project, I can take a crew to the spot.
I can be reached at e-mail [email protected] for more information.
