‘There’s Still Gold In Them Hills!’ Lost Treasures Yet To Be Discovered

(Kitco News) -In case you missed the first half of this series, or you’re still not wildly rich from a monumental discovery, there are still some substantial treasures that remain undiscovered in the world.

The Fenn Treasure – Rocky Mountains

Not only is there a bronze chest somewhere in the Rockies, filled with gold, rare jewelry, gems and coins, but the guy who stashed it legitimately wants you to find it. Forrest Fenn, came up with the idea in 1988 when he was diagnosed with cancer. He beat the sickness and waited until his later years to hide the chest in the Rockies.

Fenn was kind enough to provide clues to where he put it. Among those clues are that it’s in the Rockies, north of Santa Fe and 5,000 feet above sea level, it’s not buried under any old structures, it’s not in a graveyard and it’s wet. He even provided a pull out map of the area surrounding the treasure in his book Too Far to Walk. Happy hunting.

The Lost Treasure Of The Alamo – San Antonio, Texas

If you haven’t heard of the Alamo, you haven’t paid attention to anything. Ever. The site of one of America’s most famous battles may hold more than a rich, albeit bloody, history. Legend has it there’s a vast gold and silver treasure buried somewhere on site, known as the San Saba treasure. According to the legend, it was supposed to fund the war for years. The location is set, but you try going to Texas and desecrating the Alamo.

Victorio Peak Treasure – Southern New Mexico

Shortly before WW2, a man named Doc Noss stumbled onto a tunnel inside Victorio Peak, and found a treasure of 200 gold bars. He pulled out what he could and hid it in several places – because gold ownership, aside from jewelry, was illegal then. In more bad newsthe tunnel collapsed before he could get all of it out. Noss was killed shortly after and his heirs could never the treasure. There have been reports of people finding gold bars around the peak, but that could be hearsay.

Montezuma’s Treasure – Utah

This one may already have been discovered, or proven wrong, but there may by an Aztec fortune somewhere in Utah. The story goes, following Aztec leader Montezuma’s death, his followers hid his vast treasure from Cortez and incoming Spaniard forces. Fast-forward to 1914, a prospector named Freddy Crystal found some etchings on a cliff, had them deciphered by a Montezuma descendant and discovered a tunnel and cave system that was heavily booby trapped. The problem was the systems were empty, which lead to speculation that the Aztecs likely moved their treasure again. Or someone in Utah found it and had the right frame of mine to not say a word about it.

Little Bighorn Treasure - Montana

Are the shores of the Bighorn River lined in gold? Maybe. The site for a legendary battle between General Custer and Cheyenne and Apacho Native forces may have laid way to gold bars being buried along the shores. Apparently, a captain of Custer’s was making his way up river to meet the general, but before reaching the battle, he heard of Custer’s defeat. The need to transport the injured and dead on the ship forced him to ditch the goods and bury them along the shores of the river. There’s debate as to whether the captain went back to get them or not.

Sunken Galleon Treasure – Coast of Key West

According to historians, in 1622, the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha got clipped by a hurricane off the coast of Key West and dropped $700 million of gold, silver and gems into the water. But, no. There isn’t $700 million near Key West waiting to be scooped up. Most of that already happened in the mid-80’s about 100 miles off the coast. But there is an estimated $200 million in a variety of gold, silver coins, jewels and emeralds still up for grabs if you’re looking for vacation down to the Keys that might pay itself.

By Alex Létourneau of Kitco News aletourneau@kitco.com
Follow Alex Letourneau @alex_letourneau