Cortes ordered the king's fifth and his own fifth loaded onto horses and Tlaxcalan porters and told the others to take what they wanted. So where in the desert is this fabulous treasure horde? This great city of the Aztecs is mostly buried under the buildings and streets of Mexico City today. He had photos of petroglyphs from Mexico that to him indicated that the treasure was located there in some caves found in the area. The Spanish offered to ally themselves with these disgruntled vassals, who agreed and often gave them gifts of gold, feathers, and cotton cloth. At that point, it is estimated that the Spanish had amassed some eight thousand pounds of gold and silver, not to mention plenty of feathers, cotton, jewels and more. Later emissaries brought back a Spanish helmet which had been sent to Montezuma; the generous ruler had filled the helm with gold dust as the Spanish had requested. All rights reserved. Guests to Cortes' home reported seeing many bars of gold in Cortes' possession. 89 above Kanab he spent time scuba diving and it was said that his divers found a man made cavern. Cortes bought them off by sending them on further expeditions which he promised would bring in more gold and expeditions were soon on their way to the lands of the Maya in the south. As they commenced excavation of the tunnels, the group allegedly found multiple chambers and side passages within the cliffs; some blocked off with stone and mortar, just like the tunnel entrance had been. Some say they were told to take the wealth and head South to hide it. Copyright © 2016 WildernessUSA. In his absence from Tenochtitlan, his hotheaded lieutenant Pedro de Alvarado ordered the massacre of thousands of unarmed Aztec nobles attending the festival of Toxcatl. It’s strangely circular, and nearly perfectly vertical. Several local people have also said this is not true and in fact they never found a cavern at all. They would make elaborate cloaks and headdresses out of these feathers and it was a conspicuous display of wealth to wear one. Thick clouds gathered from the south and light raindrops spattered quietly across the dry soil. It was said that they found a skelton and few artifacts (not verified) and some strange markings on the rocks near and in the caves. The lake is unlikely as parts of it have been dug up and nothing was found. Now the area where this cave is supposed to be located is very near the junction of two rivers, the Colorado and the Virgin River. Thomas, Hugh. These locations are based on the unsubstantiated beliefs of 2 men. In 1867 James White ended up in the Mormon settlement of Rioville (now called Junction) after drifting down through the Grand Canyon. After setting aside the king's fifth and his own fifth, he began making suspiciously large payments to his closest cronies for weapons, services, etc. Thus began the plunder of the great city. More info on Montezuma can be found HERE. Required fields are marked *. Of course you can make up your own mind. Cortes immediately sent his men to those places to investigate. I searched for signs of foreign rock or mortar inside and outside the tunnels–any kind of evidence that would corroborate that bit of folklore. This in all probability leaves us with a cave that is now under the waters of Lake Mead. That night, the Spanish were spotted as they tried to flee the city: the enraged Mexica warriors attacked, slaughtering hundreds of Spaniards on the Tacuba causeway out of the city. I’m just north of that house, separated by an alfalfa field, by the older, now barely standing tiny wood house. $10,000,000 worth of gold bars, shields, plates and pendants lined with emeralds and rubies. Location Map for the above ---Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon plays a role in Montezuma's treasure too. Office Hours: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Mon-Fri Mailing address: 140 W. Main Street Suite 2 Cortez, Colorado 81321 Phone number: 970-565-7550 Fax number: Version: 2020.2.14 The first emissaries gave the Spanish some rich clothes, an obsidian mirror, a tray and jar of gold, some fans and a shield made from mother-of-pearl. He did this because he had been made to believe that the Spanish suffered from an illness which could only be cured by gold. Detailed as this list is, it appears that Cortes and his lieutenants held much back: it is likely that the king received only one-tenth of the treasure taken thus far. Home                   Animals                   Desert Map                     Photography                What's New? In July of 1519, Cortes decided to send some of this treasure to the King of Spain, in part because the king was entitled to a fifth of any treasure found and in part because Cortes needed the king's support for his venture, which was on questionable legal ground. The Grand Canyon plays a role in Montezuma's treasure too. Back to It … The Spanish regrouped and were able to re-take Tenochtitlan a few months later, this time for good. Many stories are passed around on how and where the treasure is hidden. The ranch house stood, as I remember, on Johnson Canyon, with an older, smaller, one built with petrified wood closer to the creek side where apple trees grew. At one time the BLM threatened to close the caves, citing them as dangerous. Crystal and his newly gathered posse of Kanabites pitched their shelters at the base of the White Cliffs near Cottonwood and Skutumpah Canyons. That is where I fell in love with this scenery of the Southwest. There we turned back. The people of central Mexico were great merchants who engaged in trade, generally bartering goods with one another, but cacao beans were also used as a currency of sorts. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Return to Tenochtitlan and Division of Spoils, Important Events in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Conquistadors vs. Aztecs: the Battle of Otumba, 8 Important Figures in the Conquest of the Aztec Empire, Timeline of Hernan Cortes' Conquest of the Aztecs, Biography of Hernán Cortés, Ruthless Conquistador, massacre of thousands of unarmed Aztec nobles. He told Robison the tale of the infamous treasure. Did the original explorers really find human remains and artifacts somewhere in these caves? According to stories, the treasure hunters had found something like a Native American burial chamber: it contained a few artifacts and human remains, but no Aztec gold. He was escaping from an Indian attack on the upper Colorado River. and was allowed by the Indian to bring some of the gold artifacts out of the cave.The story goes that he made at least $15,000 for this new found wealth. One day, the Spanish discovered a vast treasure behind one of the walls: gold, jewels, idols, jade, feathers and more. London, Penguin Books, 1963. ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. I wondered if they had, in fact, been designed by human hands to foil would-be treasure-hunters. I live right next to where you’re talking about. Accessing the inner tunnels involved mucking through narrow sandy passages and fending off hordes of long-legged harvestmen arachnids. J.M. It didn’’t take long to spot two sets of moqui steps notched into the canyon wall. Before he vanished from Kanab, Crystal theorized that the tunnels in Johnson Canyon had served as a temporary cache for Montezuma’s gold. Later in the late 1980's, Grandt Child came up with another location that he believed was the real location of the treasure. For the Mexica and their allies, it was more complicated.   More detail on one of the stories can be found  HERE, Junction of the Colorado River and the Virgin River today (yellow X). Other conquistadors were given encomiendas: these were grants of vast lands with native villages or town on them. Most of the great treasures of Montezuma were irrevocably lost that night. If there were any artifacts here in the first place, visitors would have picked them up as souvenirs long ago. During this time Cortez was temporarily run out of Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs. In 1914, a man named Freddie Crystal walked down Main Street in Kanab clutching a treasure map. On the right side of the unpaved road that took you to the ranch house, stood a kiva with sipapu, blending into the scenery, so you would not see it if you did not know it was there. Although they found some of their lost loot (and were able to squeeze some more out of the defeated Mexica) they never found all of it, despite torturing the new emperor, Cuauhtémoc. Crystal spent several years scouring the area, until he ran across some moqui steps carved into a canyon wall. . Foolish conquistadors loaded themselves down with gold: smart ones only took a handful of jewels. He spent several more years in the canyons surrounding Kanab, searching for new clues. The third was larger than the others. Many great treasures of gold, silver jewels and featherwork were laid at the feet of the invaders. A deep vertical pit drops off to the side of a passage in the Johnson Canyon Tunnels. An entrance to one of the sandstone caves in Johnson Canyon. The Aztecs prized other things far above gold: they loved brightly colored feathers, preferably from quetzals or hummingbirds. The ranch hhouse you’re talking about must be the the mostly red stone house with the basement? In reality, it was officially sanctioned enslavement and led to some unspeakable abuses. Since the time this happened the Hoover dam was built. They used gold and silver but primarily for ornaments, decorations, plates, and jewelry. They only attack if they feel you are going to attack them. Montezuma's treasure is a legendary buried treasure said to be located in the Casa Grande ruins or elsewhere in the southwest United States and Mexico. in Thomas). I’ve really loved living in this spot! Along the way, Cortes and his men collected thousands of pounds of gold, silver, jewels and priceless pieces of Aztec art.

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