LostCauses is exactly right. Thats why I AM writing a book, lack only a few chapters. But until it's published, I can add supporting info. You can never hear too much, you never know when something little might make a big deal....
I know those Caballo well too. Walked em many a day. Spent many, many nights up in there. Me and my Dad. Been on top, been in the bottoms. Most of the time I just shake my head at the stupidity I see happened.. or maybe carelessness is a better word choice. If they didn't understand it they blew it up with dynamite. maybe it's different up there now... lol
That stuff was there in 1929. Still? Who knows. The main thing probably isn't, but alot of lessor places probably are. The last guy there in the 30's blew over the entrance & blew up the markers. Why? To hide an empty Cave? To hide stuff still inside? To hide bad deeds...??
Noss had some... but he had it after Doughit & Ward did. I don't really know if Noss found it on Vicky Peak or put it there from somewhere else. You can get into those arguments LC was talking about on that one. I personally don't care about Noss's deal or Vicky. But those two boys had it, and probably lost it to crooks. Ever wonder who the crooks were? They lived thereabouts too. Local citizens they probably were. Doughit thought he recognized one as a local peace officer.
There were 2 openings to the main cave (big & natural) in the Caballo's back in 1660. There was also at least one small unconnected cave used to store Silver, Lead, and other stuff. The Priest shot the main one in with black powder and rigged it with death traps in about 1668. He concealed the other smaller entrance by building an adobe like wall across it and then shot rocks over it. He made maps from every direction on the compass, and erected certain like monuments, and inscribed rocks with cryptic messages.(It's a belly crawl size down for 30-40 feet) His name was Not Larue. Larue was much later like 1790's. Larue was a scholar and very educated, he had studied astronomy, was a seaman and was a master in topography, map making, mining. He honored the 1st Priest's legacy and kept the Mines in his namesake. (I found his name sake in the Caballo's) It's his information Larue came over from Europe to search for a hundred years later. (Look up Jesuits on the web and see how they differed from Franciscans back then)
Anyway I believe Doughit and Ward probably got into the 2nd entrance, and all their trouble began.....
G7