The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-29

! that city. Masked and armed men had
| seized about $4,000 worth of jewelry
| and about $4,000 in gold coin. A large
| reward was offered for their capture.
The herder was so frightened at the
| position in which he found himself
that he decided the best thing he could
do was to leave the country so he an
nounced to his employer that he had
| decided to return to his old home in
| Mexico. He was a great faVorite with
| his employer, and the latter insisted
| that he remain at least several months
| longer. This Otero consented to do,
and by the time he departed for the
South the incident of the big robbery
had become an old story.
When Otero departed from the dairy
ranch his mule carried in its pack the
treasure from the canon, and eventu-
ally the herder arrived at Los An.
geles. While camped in the Cahuen-
ga Pass the man decided it was safer
to cache the treasure again, and he
did so, placing it under a fresno tree.
zone package jewelry thirty feet due
east; one package thirty feet due west;
the money fifteen feet north of the
fresno tree" This is the accurate de-
scription given by those who think they
hold the key to the secret treasure, and
which description they claim to have
had direct from the man who buried
it,
After Oteros arrival in Los Angeles
he stayed at the hacienda of Jesus
Martinez whose home was on what is
now Washington street. About the first
thing OterO did in this city was to at
tend a lively Spanish fandango, where
he overexerted himself, and the next
day he fell i'll of pneumonia. He remain
ed i'll at the house of his friend Harti-
nez until May, 1867 and in gratitude to
his friend he told him of the buried
treasure in the Cahuenga Pass and
agreed that as soon as he was able
the two should go to the pass and di-
vide the stuff equally between them.
Martinez hesitated about having any
thing to do with the money, as he sha-
red the belief of many that such for
tune was under the baleful influence of
the "evii eye" and that death would
rest its hand upon the holder of the
riches; but desire for gold finally over
came his scruples.
The very day following Otero was
taken with relapse, and he died before
a priest could reach him to hear his
confession and give him the last rites
of the church.
All that Otero could say to Martinez
in his exhausted condition in describing
the place where the treasure was
was: Near where the road crosses
the arroyo on the north side of the pass
under a fresno tree" and giving the
distance as related above.
After the burial of Otero, Martinez
again had qualms about the influence
of the EVIL eye" on such riches, but
he finally plucked up his courage, and
with Joe Correa, then a lad of IA years
he made search. Just before that a
fire had swept through the pass, and
Martinez found his search fruitless. He
determined to continue it, however, but
within a week he, too, was a corpse
having died suddenly from heart
disease.
Joe Correa was in possession Il the
secret but, like the dead man he was
in fear of the death-dealing "evil eve"
and let the treasure alone. As he grew
to manhood. however he made several
lnenectual attempts to locate the cache.
but without success. His confidence in
the herder's story never faltered. and
finally he planned to secure a lease on
all the land in the pass, procure the
largest subsoil plough obtainable and
turn over every possible bit of land
by which method he believed he would
turn up the missing gold. Like MANY
OF his neigbors, Correa was not over
burdened with worldly goods and when
he was seriously hurt in a runaway he
had to be taken to the hospital, and
there he died. BY this time the story
OF the buried treasure had become the
property of many Spanish and Basque
families.
And now comes strange part of
this story. About two years ago a
Basque sheep herder named Jean Bar
tlste Largio. suddenly gave up his
work. came to the city, and after maxi
ing many purchases at the stores, he
visited one OF the banks and secured
drafts on France. He then departed
for his native land, saying he had
money enough. AS he was leaving he
told intimate friends that he had found
money in the Cahuenga Pass through
the digging of lis shepherd dog.
Just what has started the search for
the remainder of the fortune at the
present time does not appear, but the
tact remains that members of the
Basque and French colonies are GER
tain that proper and systematic
search viii turn to light the remain
Ing two packages, said to contain SIC, 900
worth of jewels and gold.
Laurent Etchtpare who was the pro-
prietor of the Six Mile House, was ac-
tive in planning for a search Just be-
fore his death occurred.
Through the medium of Manuel Or
doqui, whose place of business is at the
corner of Also and Alameda streets.
tne services OF man noted for his
Misunderstanding powers" have been
secured and he is now on his way to
Los Angeles from Arizona.
Meanwhile there are old men in the
local French and Basque colonies who
point back to the deaths which have
strewn the course OF those who at
tempted the fortune-fnding business,
and they shake their heads obviously
as they talk of plans that are now ma
turing.
InHrn ~HA- anaD-~