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I do not know if the original document still exists.
The map illustration that I posted was copied from a sketch made by Gladwell Richardson from the original map. In 1902, Jose Chavez was picked up by the police in Kansas City only a few days after he arrived from Albuquerque, NM. He stated that he no next of kin. He was taken to a hospital charity ward. Chavez was suffering from severe pneumonia. After only a couple of days he realized that he was dying. He called his nurse who took constant care of him and held out a vellum sheet about nine by eleven inches. He told her, "This map reveals where great wealth in silver bars is hidden in Arizona." He went on to say, "Never could find them, and now there is no manana for me. Perhaps you will be more lucky than I." He then requested a priest for last rites. He was buried in a potter's field.
The middle aged nurse did not consider the map to be valuable and kept it as a souvenir. One day a staff doctor saw the map. The nurse explained how she got it. Among the doctor's friends, he knew a Professor that was a linguist and had knowledge of the Spanish language. He translated what appeared to be a day by day account of a mule train of Padres and Soldiers that were transporting a shipment of silver bars. The train was savagely attacked multiple times by Indians. His English translation of the words on the document:
12 de Julio. Sought refuge in Pass of the Mogollones. Mules overladen with silver bars.
13 de Julio. Savages attacked in great force. 8 guards slain. 2 mules killed. The silver had to be packed on remaining 14.
14 de Julio. Traveled 8 leagues along deep canyon. Mules to weak to proceed. Food supply gone. Encountered friendly Indians at this camp.
15 de Julio. Marched northward 4 leagues where canyon joined another. Friendly Indians led us to water.
16 de Julio. Friendly band departed during the night. Under constant attack. 2 soldier slain.
17 de Julio. Camped in edge of Sierra de St. Francis. Impossible for mules to carry silver longer. This day under hourly assault.
18 de Julio. Crossed Indian farms to this place.Unable to continue bearing silver bars which were buried at base of ledge. Five will attempt escape southwest. Five will go east using mules for travel.
The final entry in the document was in different writing. It said, "Frs. set forth southeast with 3 soldiers praying to reach ......... (unreadible) We remaining five set forth for Santa Fe de San Francisco to decoy Indians from Frs. From my hand D. Silva, soldier of the province.
The rude map was on the back side of the sheet. From the fold it appeared that it had been cut from a journal. The map showed a Spanish "S" and "E". Near a cross had been printed, "96 bars of silver."
No action was taken by the Nurse, Doctor, and Professor to find the cache until 1909. They traveled to Flagstaff and sought local help. Unknown to them at the time was that Spanish armor and a crucifix had been found at the junction of Hennessy Canyon and Young's Canyon. History reveals that in 1538, Antonio de Espekuo's expedition on the return to Mexico from N. Arizona discovered Canyon Diablo. This date was too early to relate to the Spanish armor which was dated to be from the 1700s. Historians changed the name of Hennesssey Canyon to Padre Canyon. Ben Doney was hired as a guide to assist them in searching for the silver. Doney seemed to be taking the group everywhere but to the best locations to search, and they did not trust him. In 1910, a cowboy by the name of Jack Diamond discovered that a bar discovered by a local sheepherder was not iron, but a 64 pound ingot of silver. It was found at the Eagle Rock Nest in Bonito Park. The bar changed hands and was sold to Alf Dickinson, owner of the Pine Hotel in downtown Flagstaff.
The three treasure hunters returned to Flagstaff in 1911 and hired George McCormick to be their guide. McCormick and his son, Melvin, acted as guides until WWI. It is unknown if George retained the map, but much later the McCormicks began their search using a metal detector. They received a tip from a Pot Hunter about relics he found in Chavez Pass, which the McCormicks felt confident was the Pass of Mogollons. Rusted pieces had been found there in a mass grave of eight men.
Doney had spread the word about the silver bar that had been found. Jim Coleman followed the natural trail that had been mapped out by the McCormicks, and located the bashed in skull in the lava beds near Sunset Crater. Along with the skull he found pieces of old garment and a Spanish sword. McCormicks were now sure that they were on the right track. A notation on the corner of the map said, "6 leagues from mountain to burial." A league could vary from two and a half miles to four and a half miles, and this didn't seem to help much. A tree or mushroom shaped object on the map was also a puzzle: what and where was it?
The hope of finding the cache started waning. The McCormicks, using their WWI mine detector, searched the ledges in the lava beds. They excavated all suspected locations, but turned up nothing but two kegs of oxen shoes just off an old Mormon trail. The Professor stayed with the McCormicks for a full summer on his last trip, and returned to Kansas where he died two months later. It is assumed that he left the map, or a copy of the map, with the McCormicks.
Gladwell "Tony" Richardson was born in 1903. He was the son of S.I. Richardson, a well known Trading Post owner. Tony wrote over 300 hundred books in his lifetime, and hundreds of magazine articles as he got older. He wrote history books as well as fiction, but was careful about identifying historical facts from the legends and tales of the old west. He died 14 June 1979 at the Fort Whipple Veterans Hospital in Prescott, Arizona. There is much information about Richardson on the Internet, and even access to some of his books. Here is one reference that gives further information about him:
Gladwell Richardson Collection
The map illustration that I posted was copied from a sketch made by Gladwell Richardson from the original map. In 1902, Jose Chavez was picked up by the police in Kansas City only a few days after he arrived from Albuquerque, NM. He stated that he no next of kin. He was taken to a hospital charity ward. Chavez was suffering from severe pneumonia. After only a couple of days he realized that he was dying. He called his nurse who took constant care of him and held out a vellum sheet about nine by eleven inches. He told her, "This map reveals where great wealth in silver bars is hidden in Arizona." He went on to say, "Never could find them, and now there is no manana for me. Perhaps you will be more lucky than I." He then requested a priest for last rites. He was buried in a potter's field.
The middle aged nurse did not consider the map to be valuable and kept it as a souvenir. One day a staff doctor saw the map. The nurse explained how she got it. Among the doctor's friends, he knew a Professor that was a linguist and had knowledge of the Spanish language. He translated what appeared to be a day by day account of a mule train of Padres and Soldiers that were transporting a shipment of silver bars. The train was savagely attacked multiple times by Indians. His English translation of the words on the document:
12 de Julio. Sought refuge in Pass of the Mogollones. Mules overladen with silver bars.
13 de Julio. Savages attacked in great force. 8 guards slain. 2 mules killed. The silver had to be packed on remaining 14.
14 de Julio. Traveled 8 leagues along deep canyon. Mules to weak to proceed. Food supply gone. Encountered friendly Indians at this camp.
15 de Julio. Marched northward 4 leagues where canyon joined another. Friendly Indians led us to water.
16 de Julio. Friendly band departed during the night. Under constant attack. 2 soldier slain.
17 de Julio. Camped in edge of Sierra de St. Francis. Impossible for mules to carry silver longer. This day under hourly assault.
18 de Julio. Crossed Indian farms to this place.Unable to continue bearing silver bars which were buried at base of ledge. Five will attempt escape southwest. Five will go east using mules for travel.
The final entry in the document was in different writing. It said, "Frs. set forth southeast with 3 soldiers praying to reach ......... (unreadible) We remaining five set forth for Santa Fe de San Francisco to decoy Indians from Frs. From my hand D. Silva, soldier of the province.
The rude map was on the back side of the sheet. From the fold it appeared that it had been cut from a journal. The map showed a Spanish "S" and "E". Near a cross had been printed, "96 bars of silver."
No action was taken by the Nurse, Doctor, and Professor to find the cache until 1909. They traveled to Flagstaff and sought local help. Unknown to them at the time was that Spanish armor and a crucifix had been found at the junction of Hennessy Canyon and Young's Canyon. History reveals that in 1538, Antonio de Espekuo's expedition on the return to Mexico from N. Arizona discovered Canyon Diablo. This date was too early to relate to the Spanish armor which was dated to be from the 1700s. Historians changed the name of Hennesssey Canyon to Padre Canyon. Ben Doney was hired as a guide to assist them in searching for the silver. Doney seemed to be taking the group everywhere but to the best locations to search, and they did not trust him. In 1910, a cowboy by the name of Jack Diamond discovered that a bar discovered by a local sheepherder was not iron, but a 64 pound ingot of silver. It was found at the Eagle Rock Nest in Bonito Park. The bar changed hands and was sold to Alf Dickinson, owner of the Pine Hotel in downtown Flagstaff.
The three treasure hunters returned to Flagstaff in 1911 and hired George McCormick to be their guide. McCormick and his son, Melvin, acted as guides until WWI. It is unknown if George retained the map, but much later the McCormicks began their search using a metal detector. They received a tip from a Pot Hunter about relics he found in Chavez Pass, which the McCormicks felt confident was the Pass of Mogollons. Rusted pieces had been found there in a mass grave of eight men.
Doney had spread the word about the silver bar that had been found. Jim Coleman followed the natural trail that had been mapped out by the McCormicks, and located the bashed in skull in the lava beds near Sunset Crater. Along with the skull he found pieces of old garment and a Spanish sword. McCormicks were now sure that they were on the right track. A notation on the corner of the map said, "6 leagues from mountain to burial." A league could vary from two and a half miles to four and a half miles, and this didn't seem to help much. A tree or mushroom shaped object on the map was also a puzzle: what and where was it?
The hope of finding the cache started waning. The McCormicks, using their WWI mine detector, searched the ledges in the lava beds. They excavated all suspected locations, but turned up nothing but two kegs of oxen shoes just off an old Mormon trail. The Professor stayed with the McCormicks for a full summer on his last trip, and returned to Kansas where he died two months later. It is assumed that he left the map, or a copy of the map, with the McCormicks.
Gladwell "Tony" Richardson was born in 1903. He was the son of S.I. Richardson, a well known Trading Post owner. Tony wrote over 300 hundred books in his lifetime, and hundreds of magazine articles as he got older. He wrote history books as well as fiction, but was careful about identifying historical facts from the legends and tales of the old west. He died 14 June 1979 at the Fort Whipple Veterans Hospital in Prescott, Arizona. There is much information about Richardson on the Internet, and even access to some of his books. Here is one reference that gives further information about him:
Gladwell Richardson Collection
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