Current environmental and permitting restrictions also have hampered recent production in the New Placers and Jicarilla districts. That while visiting Foss, a man we both knew, E.M. Guthrie, drove in to the station in a late model Ford Thunderbird. After determining the accuracy of the two mens reports, the entire area was placed off-limits until an official investigation could be conducted. Because of this natural concentration, some placers are richer in gold than the original lode deposits. However, with the discovery of gold, the treaty was broken in 1878, and Victorio went on the warpath. Once again, Doc began to descend about 125 feet before the shaft again leveled off into a large natural cavern. [5] During the 1970s, lawyer F. Lee Bailey represented clients who claimed to know where the treasure was located. John Dean, the former lawyer for President Richard M. Nixon, mentioned that Attorney General John Mitchell had been asked to pull strings to allow some searchers to look for the gold. Did they even exist at all? Peering into the darkness, Doc saw an old man-made shaft with a thick, wooden pole attached at one side. Berlett viewed this as substantiation for the theory that Spaniards had been responsible for stashing the gold. The gold, Porters friend stated breathlessly, ran in a tremendous stack along one side of the cavern stretching for approximately 200 yards. They come in a variety of weights, fineness and designs. In November 1937, Doc, Babe, and four others left on a deer hunt into the Hembrillo Basin. Reportedly, he amassed a treasure of gold, silver, and jewels before being ordered back to Mexico City in 1607. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. Doc later brought one of the eerie things out.2. All Rights Reserved. After three years they were given permission to go back to Victoria. Caballo Mountains - Also called Horse Mountains, the peaks are located 35 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. An affidavit dated October 28, 1961, was signed to this effect, also claiming to have seen a military jeep and a weapons carrier on the mountain. Chester Stout, for example, a retired Army sergeant, traced the removal of two large truckloads of gold from Victorio Peak, but later had to move out of New Mexico; his life was threatened because, as he was told, he knew too much.. The Lue Map has very strange symbols. Montgomery, the two went into the mountain to blast out the shaft. The engineer suggested eight sticks of dynamite, to which Noss heatedly disagreed, claiming the mountain was too unstable. Ferdig, adding, The trouble with treasure stories is that there's always a little truth in them.. In 1979, Babe died without ever finding the treasure. Beyond the Hembrillo Basin is a hundred-mile stretch of desert known as the Jornada del Muerto. He also told his wife that there were enough gold and silver coins to load 60 to 80 mules.. However, Terry Delongas stated, Were not accusing the military of stealing the gold, but I do feel that the Department of the Army in the 1960s treated my grandmother unfairly However, weve worked very hard over the years to establish a working relationship with the military, and were certainly not going to jeopardize that by accusing them of theft.. Seeking out the Seven Cities of Gold, Onate was said to have been a cruel man, brutally subjugating the Indians to do his bidding by beating and torturing them. [6][5] By 1992, a grandson of Ova formed the Ova Noss Family Partnership to finance additional searching. When Maxmillian heard of the plot to assassinate him, he moved his gold and treasures out of Mexico. He bolted from the Mescalero reservation in 1879 and camped near Victoria Peak while plundering the countryside and raiding Wells Fargo stagecoaches. Many years later, a man named Milton Ernest Doc Noss spent some time exploring Victorio Peak while on a deer hunt. Noss divorced her, charging desertion. He also asserts that military security officers censored out of his report all references to military searches for the treasure. Doc Noss was extremely paranoid and buried everything he took out of the caves, not even trusting his wife, Babe. If the treasure was real, Noss had poor timing. In 1937, the peak was miles from nowhere. For the next few years, Mr. Noss sought partners to help him find the gold. Los Angeles Times The future economic potential will depend upon the discovery of large-volume, medium-grade deposits that can be mined by bulk-mining methods. A gold bar found in a Mexico City park in 1981 was part of the Aztec treasure looted by Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors 500 years ago, a new study says. After discovering the treasure, Doc and Babe spent every free moment exploring the tunnels inside the mountain, living in a tent at the base of the peak. Even though the military refused any of Babes efforts to work her claim, it did not refuse other military personnel from exploring portions of Victorio Peak. The Victorio Peak treasure (also seen in print as the Treasure of Victorio Peak or Treasure of San Andres) describes a cache of gold reportedly found inside Victorio Peak in 1937 in southern New Mexico . Try as he would, Captain Fiege could not penetrate the opening he had used just three years earlier. Leon Trabuco's Gold A Mexican businessman buries 16 tons of gold in the New Mexico desert and then dies before telling anyone where it is. However, it was a slow process, and in 1955, the White Sands Missile Range unexpectedly expanded their operations to encompass the Hembrillo Basin. The men believed that Porters friend was in a good position to help arrange an official government expedition to claim the gold. The charges concerning LBJs involvement included the following: According to this same source, Victorio Peak was just like a private vault to certain high-ranking people. They would go in periodically and get what they wanted. Passing through the large cavern, he came to a series of smaller caves rooms, he called them. A legal battle and highly publicized search through Victorio Peak ensued but no treasure turned up, leading many to wonder if Noss had made the whole thing up. It is estimated that 662,000 oz of gold have been produced from placer deposits throughout New Mexico from 1828 to 1991. Many Noss family members and friends believe that the military exploited Babes claim and that the treasure is now gone. Fearing Doc was getting a gun, Ryan fired a warning shot in Docs direction, demanding that Noss back away from the vehicle. [5] She later was part of an unsuccessful 1963 search. The skeletons hands were bound behind its back apparently, the person had been deliberately left there to die. The two decided to keep the discovery between themselves and return to inspect the shaft later. There were 110 gold bars moved that night, according to an affidavit obtained by this writer and sworn to by Jolley. He said he often grew angry that his grandmother was ignored or ridiculed for her efforts. Kathy Weiser-Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2021. The world's first atomic bomb was detonated here on July 16, 1945. Attacking wagon trains, settlements, mail coaches, and churches, he took anything from them that they valued. The three men had been on a hunting party when McDonald, who reportedly had imbibed several cans of beer, began talking freely about a huge stash of gold. A new scientific analysis of a large gold bar found decades ago in downtown Mexico City has confirmed it was part of the plunder Spanish conquistadors abandoned as they beat a temporary. In addition, Victorio Peak lay on land owned by the state of New Mexico, and removal of gold without permission of the state violated New Mexico law.4. This writer conducted extensive interviews with Thomas Berlett. That I had known E.M. Guthrie for about three years prior to this meeting and knew him to be the husband of Letha Guthrie, stepdaughter of Milton Ernest Doc Noss. Several sand and gravel operators periodically extract minor quantities of placer gold from their quarries. Another woman, now Mrs. Violet Yancy of Fort Worth, says she married Noss in 1947, that she is his legal widow, and that he gave her 76 per cent interest in the treasure. As Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH . Beyond that there is supposed to be another incline upward at about 30 degrees for some distance (40 feet as I remember it) where entrance is gained to a cave some 2700 feet long which contains many evidences that the cave was occupied as living quarters by a large group of humans for many years., The group evidently had some grisly practices, for the first thing Doc Noss encountered was a row of skeletons, 27 in all. But when the Army; Air Force; the White House; Congressmen; New Mexico's Governor and F. Lee Bailey and dozens of other lawyers get into a single treasure saga, only confusion and rumors remain cheap. With so many options available, APMEX has made it easy to find the right Gold bar for your collection or portfolio. Native gold and electrum occurs with quartz, magnetite, ilmenite, amphiboles, pyroxenes, pyrite, zircon, garnet, rutile, and a variety of other heavy minerals. Doc tried several times to regain entry into his mine, but the shaft was sealed with tons of debris. They dug under it, and Berlett and Fiege moved past it for another 100 to 125 feet, coming eventually to what Berlett described as a small cavern, approximately eight feet wide by 10 or 12 feet long. This time, the military began a full-scale mining operation at the Peak. The soldiers, Airman First Class Thomas Berlett and Captain Leonard V. Fiege said they had found approximately 100 gold bars weighing between 40 and 80 pounds each in a small cavern. Mr. Bailey later dropped the matter. : Did 'Doc' Noss Really Find Caverns of Gold or Did He Pull Off a Hoax That Has Plagued His Kin for Years? They even brought in their own security guards, he added. Letha told Freedom that she herself handled 12 to 15 of the bars, and I even put one up and hid it for four days.. Description: Victorio Peak is surrounded by inhospitable environment near Hot Springs, New Mexico. Victorio used the entire Hembrillo Basin as his stronghold, refusing to live on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona, where the government wanted to banish him. The 1.93-kilogram bar was found by a construction worker during excavations for a new building along the Alameda, a picturesque park in the heart of the Mexican capital. Setting up camp on the desert floor at the base of Victoria Peak, the men headed into the wilderness while their wives stayed at camp. Noss traveled down, passing caverns with Native American designs until he reached a room with hoards of gold, jewels, pouches, documents and 27 skeletons. CNN Almost four decades ago, a gold bar was found on land that used to be Aztec ruins in Mexico. Mr. Bailey claimed that given a helicopter and a half-hour, he could find 292 gold bars. Article content. Forrest Fenn, a New Mexico art collector, created a treasure hunt in 2010. Lost Treasures, Recent Posts. Unable to sell the gold bars on the open market, Noss was stymied but continued to work steadily to remove the treasure. A number of sources also independently named Major General John G. Shinkle, the commander of White Sands Missile Range from June 1960 to July 1962, as knowing about the movement of tons of gold from Victorio Peak. Now, researchers say the bar was. The U.S. Army, which gained control of the area when it was converted to a bombing range during the Second World War, refused her request to bring in an excavation firm and ultimately ordered the Nosses to stay out of the area. 'Like Any Other Client'. Babe then began a regular correspondence with the military requesting permission to work her claim, but she was always denied. The NMBGMR is conducting a research project examining the origin, occurrence, trace element composition, and resource potential of placer gold deposits in the state. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. According to accounts from members of the Noss family, Doc bagged no deer, but he found something that whetted his appetite for the area a shaft near the top of Victorio Peak which led into the bowels of the mountain. The next day, March 5, 1949, Ryan arrived in the area, insisting that they discuss the problem of what happened to the gold. The night before his death, perhaps sensing that a business deal was going sour, Doc enlisted the aid of a cowboy named Tony Jolley to shuffle the locations of various stashes of the bars. The family believes that as much as 100 tons of gold, which would be worth $1.25 billion at today's closing price of $358.90 an ounce on the Commodity Exchange in New York, remains hidden in. Fueled by suspicions that the military was working her claim, Babe Noss hired four men to enter the range secretly. Bill Shriver, before his death, told this writer that he had a copy of a transcribed order from Lyndon Johnson describing in detail how the president wanted a military escort to handle the supply of gold taken out of Victorio Peak and taken to his ranch. The Army, which runs the missile range, required the searchers to put up $150,000 to cover the cost of environmental assessments, as well as increased security forces. Acquitted on grounds of selfdefense, Mr. Ryan testified that Doc had promised him 51 bars of gold in return for his $27,000 investment. Reached for comment in Cocoa Beach, Florida, General Shinkle adamantly denied any knowledge of the gold and refused to comment at all on the story. It has banned treasure hunters from the range since 1963. He carries in his wallet a photograph of gold bars and old coins next to a flashlight he provided. Howard, E.V., 1967, Metalliferous occurrences in New Mexico: Phase 1, state resources development plan: State Planning Office, Santa Fe, 270 p. Johnson, M.G., 1972, Placer gold deposits of New Mexico: U.S. Geological Survey. According to Atkins son, John, Holmes possessed key materials which were being used to press the Army into allowing Atkins and Holmes access to Victorio Peak. What looked to be a piece of iron was a solid gold bar. [3][b], A 1961 search by the U.S. Armythe peak lies within White Sands Missile Rangewas stopped following a request to state officials by Noss's first wife, Ova. Doc returned with a gold bar, presented it to his wife, Babe, and the couple soon dedicated their lives to exploring Victorio Peak, living in a tent at the base of the mountain in search of treasure. The cave was covering a small tunnel, originally thought to be an abandoned mineshaft. Dangerous unexploded 20mm shells from Phantom jet target practice dot the range, the Army insists. It all started in 1937, when Mr. Noss, who practiced as a foot doctor though it was never clear if he had a medical license, returned from a hunting trip at New Mexico's Victorio Peak with startling news: he had glimpsed a hidden trove of riches, 16,000 gold bars. His main source of income cut off, and his marriage to Babe already deteriorated, Noss was desperate to sell his remaining gold bars on the black market. CNN Almost four decades ago, a gold bar was found on land that used to be Aztec ruins in Mexico. This Massive Mine in Utah Has Produced More Gold than Most States! Ryan hinted that if Noss did not reveal the whereabouts of the gold, Doc would not live to enjoy it. some of the gold to Mexico, in light planes. In a four-page confidential report entitled Field Examination of Noss Mining Claims, Hembrillo District, Herkenhoff recorded a description: Dr. All told, he reportedly found 27 human skeletons in the caverns of the mountain. The higher gold values occur near the base of alluvial gravel deposits where the gold is trapped by natural processes such as riffles in the river bottom, fractures within the bedrock, along bedding or foliation planes, and/or structures that are transverse to the river flow. In 1972, F. Lee Bailey became involved in the dispute, representing some 50 clients, including Babe Noss, the Fiege group, Violet Noss Yancy, Expeditions Unlimited (a Florida-based treasure hunting group), and many others. Today, the Armys official position on the whereabouts of the gold remains cautious, maintaining that the burden of proof rests with the accusers. On August 5, Fiege and his party returned to Victorio Peak, accompanied by the commander of the Missile Range, a secret service agent, and 14 military police. However, Noss demanded to see the money before revealing the new hiding place. American and foreign car makers have rented land at the installation to test new air bags. The horde of an Apache chief? In 1963, the Army, consented to another search by a Denver mining company sponsored by the Museum of New Mexico. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. After he got back to the surface, Doc told Ova what he had seen, and almost as an afterthought mentioned the long row of metal bars. Another source confirmed the manner and the circumstances of E.M. Guthries death, noting that it was listed as just a natural death, but hed been worked over with a baseball bat. This source said that he had hired a team of experienced investigators to dig into Guthries death and more than 30 other deaths in connection with a massive, continuing cover-up of the removal of gold from Victorio Peak. It is estimated that 662,000 oz of gold have been produced from placer deposits throughout New Mexico from 1828 to 1991. Instead, it has a "gross receipts tax." This is a tax levied on the business rather than the consumer, like in most states. 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