Did you find what you were looking for prospector?
The deserts of the American southwest have long been the discussion of lost mines and buried treasures. For hundreds of years, man has scoured the desert floor searching for any signs of the countless tales of lost riches. Some have claimed to have found the elusive treasures but only to be lost again, while others grew old or died trying. None the less, the legends live on as they are passed down from generation to generation. Maybe you will be the lucky one...
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Stage Bandit Bucks
By Michael Paul Henson
From page 36 of the September 1986 issue of Lost Treasure
magazine.
Copyright ©1986, 1998 Lost Treasure, Inc.
There are two buried treasure stories connected with the
old Vallecito stage station in San Diego County.
In June of 1868, a group of Mexican bandits carrying $70,000
in gold they had taken in raids were on their way to Mexico. They stopped
at the stage station to spend the night. The leader of the group told
the others, "I'll take the gold and bury it in that little canyon we saw
north of here. We can get it before we leave tomorrow."
Later that night a posse raided the station. During the
fighting the leader and severai other bandits were killed. The rest fled
to Mexico. The gold is believed to still be buried in the small canyon.
In 1873, two bandits held up the stage coach a few miles
west of the Vallecito station and made off with an estimated $60,000.
One of the bandits suggested, after the robbery, "Let's ride on ahead
to the station and buy a few drinks. That way no one will think we robbed
the stage."
Unfortunately for them, when the stage arrived a passenger
recognized one of the bandits and a fight started in which both outlaws
were killed. The gold was not on their horses and is believed to have
been hidden within a 15-minute ride of the station, as the robbery occurred
such a short distance away.
These two locations could pay a treasure hunter to check
out.
-- Michael Paul Henson