ISO folks who have searched for Maria Barcelo's treasure - NM

[NomadNora]

Hi Folks,

I'm doing research for a project (I'm not a treasure hunter myself) and am looking for folks who have either researched Maria Barcelo's lost buckskin bags of gold coins OR have searched for them.

Would love to ask a few questions if this is you.

Many thanks!

Nora

 

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[Old Bookaroo]

Welcome to TN!

You probably already have this information:

New Mexico Office of the State Historian | people

The tale is new to me and this was a good summary of her life.

Be careful where you found the story of her missing gold coins. This sounds like it might be a "Thomas Penfield yarn" to me.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[NomadNora]

Thanks, Old Bookaroo! Yes, doesn't seem to be much documentation on this treasure!

 

[hvacker]

I have seen a report in a book. New Mexico Treasure Tales by W.C.Jameson, Caxton Press 2010
I studied the story. The mule pack headed north and might have been going to Cimarron by way of Taos but were
attacked by bandits and held off for a long time. Cortez, who was leading the pack train buried two of his
members who had been shot bt the bandits and placed the bags of gold with them, built a campfire on top to
hide the hole. Cortez was captured but made a dramatic escape. He died shortly after telling his story
and the gold was never found. Another story has Maria Barcelo being a madam of a bordello in Santa Fe.
I tried to reason how far a mule train could travel loaded down. The stories seemed to tell the group
decided to camp for the night and were aware of being followed by a group of 10 men probably Mexican.
So, how far could the group have traveled before camping and what trail were they on. The ultimate
destination was New Orleans. There are 2 direct roads today that go to Taos but one is more mountainous.
The other follows the Rio Grande and is more likely because of water.

 

[NomadNora]

Thanks for this, hvacker! Yes, the question does seem to be how far the pack train may have gotten before they were attacked.

 

[T-Rex333]

I have seen a report in a book. New Mexico Treasure Tales by W.C.Jameson, Caxton Press 2010
I studied the story. The mule pack headed north and might have been going to Cimarron by way of Taos but were
attacked by bandits and held off for a long time. Cortez, who was leading the pack train buried two of his
members who had been shot bt the bandits and placed the bags of gold with them, built a campfire on top to
hide the hole. Cortez was captured but made a dramatic escape. He died shortly after telling his story
and the gold was never found. Another story has Maria Barcelo being a madam of a bordello in Santa Fe.
I tried to reason how far a mule train could travel loaded down. The stories seemed to tell the group
decided to camp for the night and were aware of being followed by a group of 10 men probably Mexican.
So, how far could the group have traveled before camping and what trail were they on. The ultimate
destination was New Orleans. There are 2 direct roads today that go to Taos but one is more mountainous.
The other follows the Rio Grande and is more likely because of water.

I PMed Jameson on FB re this story (source, etc) but he didn't respond.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

I PMed Jameson on FB re this story (source, etc) but he didn't respond.

T-Rex333 - Unfortunately, not only is Mr. Jameson not a reliable source, so much of what he has written is pure fiction that you will know less after reading his work than you did before you started.

For example - he states the amount of money hidden that is an estimate of the market value of the coins made by an earlier author. If you read the article I linked to, you'll learn that $10,000 was a great deal of specie in those days.

Jameson is in the long tradition of F.L. Coffman and Lieut. Harry E. Rieseberg, and others before them. There are four primary categories of treasure hunting literature: Fact, Folklore, Fantasy and Fiction. All three of these writers belong in the third - Fantasy. They pretend to be successful treasure hunters - with no evidence to buttress their claims.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[T-Rex333]

T-Rex333 - Unfortunately, not only is Mr. Jameson not a reliable source, so much of what he has written is pure fiction that you will know less after reading his work than you did before you started.

For example - he states the amount of money hidden that is an estimate of the market value of the coins made by an earlier author. If you read the article I linked to, you'll learn that $10,000 was a great deal of specie in those days.

Jameson is in the long tradition of F.L. Coffman and Lieut. Harry E. Rieseberg, and others before them. There are four primary categories of treasure hunting literature: Fact, Folklore, Fantasy and Fiction. All three of these writers belong in the third - Fantasy. They pretend to be successful treasure hunters - with no evidence to buttress their claims.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Yes, her estate at death was 10,000 which altho a lot for those days was small compared to what she supposedly shipped off for safe keeping. She probably could have recouped the money over the years before death. The second red flag is that the tale takes place 10 years before a newspaper was in Santa Fe so there is no way to collaborate the story with the archived newspaper stories. How convenient.