Get your shovels ...

[cchoc]

http://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/arc.../#.VHzfSouUB1N

[Iceaxe]

That picture is the ponds on the west side of highway 89 just north of kanab. That's long been the rumored hiding place, similar to the legend of pirate treasure on oak island.



I'm willing to bet any amount they don't find any Montezuma gold in those ponds.... and I'll give you 2 to 1 odds... any takers?

[Byron]

How old are those ponds? I've driven by them dozens of times...aren't there man made dams, if I recall?

If they're natural, and have been there for centuries, at least...then they might find some good stuff. If they're only like, 50 years old, then it's likely to contain junk. I bet they'll find at least a couple guns.

On Navajo land, there's a huge mesa that once held a very large population of Anasazi. There is only one permanent water hole up there, a pothole that's about 8 feet around and 15 feet deep when full, and it is always full or close to full, even in the drought years. It drains a large area and is very close to the rim, so it doesn't flush out.

I've fantasized about bringing a water hose to siphon it out and see if there are goodies down there. Of course I'd never bother doing such a thing, but the possibility certainly exists.

[Iceaxe]

The theory goes Montezuma built the dams to create the ponds to protect the gold.... err.... something like that. There are supposed to be caves under the water that go back into the sandstone cliffs.

And if I recall some extremely rare snail or something lives in the ponds so the SPA won't let them drain the ponds... all this is from memory but that's the jist of the story I heard.

[Scott P]

And if I recall some extremely rare snail or something lives in the ponds so the SPA won't let them drain the ponds... all this is from memory but that's the jist of the story I heard.

That's the story I recall as well.

================================================== ==============================

Anyway, there are supposed lost Montezuma treasures/mines or lost Spanish conquistadors treasures/mines all over the place down there. Thus far nothing has ever been found and the basis of the legends seem to hold no real credibility.

There are "lost Spanish mines" or lost Montezuma Treasures all over Arizona, from the Superstition Mountains to the Arizona Strip to Navajo Mountain. Legends in Utah include lost mines and treasures in Kanab, the Henry Mountains, and the Uinta Basin, to name a few. One mustn't forget about Butch Cassidy's stash hidden in the Wind River Mountains, Browns Park, or near Baggs Wyoming either.

I think someone has a much bigger chance of winning the lottery than finding any of these treasures. In fact it is doubtful if any of these even existed.

Also, the Montezuma of the SW United States is a god, not a historical person. It seems that whoever is chasing the story might be confusing the god Montezuma of the SW Native American Tribes with the Montezuma of the Aztecs who was killed by Cortez.

[rockgremlin]

I want to believe...stranger things have happened...that lost cache of gold coins recovered in California for example.

[Scott P]

I want to believe...stranger things have happened...that lost cache of gold coins recovered in California for example.

The main difference between the two is that the California gold/land rush and the San Francisco Mint actually existed.

There is no evidence of gold being brought into the area or mined until the 1700's. There may be (and probably are) buried treasures out there somewhere, but if they are gold, they almost surely are from sources later than the 1700's.

It is known however, that at least some Aztecs did trade with some of the native American tribes of the SW US. There have been found macaw and parrot feathers and skeletons in Anasazi/Ancestral Pueblo ruins so it is very likely that they came from trade with the Aztecs.

Also, contrary to Hollywood and legends, the Aztecs never did have much gold. It was actually the civilizations in South America that had gold, namely those in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. Despite decades of excavation, all the Aztec gold found thus far could fit in the palm of your hand.

Still, even if the Aztecs did have more gold than is known, the original legend for Montezuma's gold in the SW US says it was from the god Montezuma, rather that the Aztec Emperor Montezuma, which are completely different entities. The current legend being chased seems to to combine the Aztec legends with the divine one? If the Aztecs really did have more gold than is known, it seems strange that they would stash it all in Utah and also seems strange that other large gold reserves or gold mines haven't been discovered in the areas which the Aztecs inhabited.

Of course Utah isn't the only place with legends of stashed Aztec treasures.

One well known example:

http://www.bc-alter.net/dfriesen/mextreasure.html

And of course the seven cities of gold legends in the SW:

http://www.southernnewmexico.com/Art...iesofGold.html

[rockgremlin]

For me, the most glaring thing that deems this legend implausible is the fact that whoever hid it would had to have crossed the grand canyon. Wouldn't there have been a million other perhaps better places to hid this supposed cache without having to travel so far through such treacherous terrain?

[cchoc]

Outside of Chaco I expect pretty much every Ancestral Puebloan was primarily occupied with food gathering and not acquiring prestige goods like gold. In Chaco and some of the outliers there were probably storehouses of 'riches' but I've not read much about gold being a part of it.

[Scott P]

For me, the most glaring thing that deems this legend implausible is the fact that whoever hid it would had to have crossed the grand canyon

It depends on which version of the legend you want to go with.

If you want to go with the legend of the god Montezuma, he either came out of the Santa Rosa Mountains of Southern Arizona or the area of Toas New Mexico:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezuma_%28mythology%29

If he came from Toas, he wouldn't have to cross the Grand Canyon.

If you want the version of the legend that the Emperor Montezuma of the Aztecs stashed it, then they might have crossed the Grand Canyon. Other than the treasure, this part is plausible. The Grand Canyon at the time was actually populated and several trails crossed it.

[Iceaxe]

If you are looking for valuable lost treasures I think your efforts would be better spent looking for a Hemi Cuda or Shelby Cobra in a barn.

[Scott P]

If you are looking for valuable lost treasures I think your efforts would be better spent looking for a Hemi Cuda or Shelby Cobra in a barn.

Maybe the Pontiac Aztec is the true Aztec treasure.