The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1910-09-29
Stories of Hidden Gold Of Aztecs
Inventions Of Historians.
Greatest Store Of Precious Metal Was
Found In imperial Palace and
Promptly Shipped to Spain BY
cortez-Amount Is Small.

San Antonio, Tex.-According to
Jose Ramon Palafox. a Mexican jour
nalist. who recently passed through
this city on his way to Washington.
there are no hidden Montezuma treas
ures.
NO doubt the stories circulated
about the hidden treasures Of the Az
tee emperors have their origin in the
sadly exaggerated accounts OF old
Spanish hlstorians-men who swal-
lowed the yarns Of the conquerors Of
Mexico and whose judgment had been
upset by the few shipments Of gole
and silver made to Spain shortly after
the taking Of the Aztec capital" said
Senior Palafox
The amount Of gold and silver in
the possession Of the Aztecs at any
time was comparatively small and In
the case Of the people consisting Of
little more than a few personal orna-
ments. The greatest store OF these
precious metals was found By the
spaniards in the imperial palace and
this was promptly shipped to Spain By
Cortez. Compared with the wealth Of
today even this was a mere drop IN
the bucket The statement made By
historians that fernando Cortez sent
ship loads Of gold and silver to his
king should not be taken literally. for
in all probability It means no more
than that heavy shipments OF these
took place.
The accounts Of the Montezuma 4
treasure Is merely a counterpart Of ]
similar extravagances found on many
pages Of history. We read Of the
fabulous wealth Of the people Of the
E=Dhrales valley. Of the ancient Egyp-
tians. Of India and other parts and 50
far have never found a trace Of #. In
their day. DO doubt. these people had
certain amount Of gold and silver,
but they never had enough to cause
US moderns to call them rich. Dis
persed among them in the form Of
currency. as Is the case today. their
wealth IN precious metals would have
made very poor showing. Gold and
silver, then, as IN the case Of the
Aztecs, were not used at all as medi-
ums Of exchange OF were used only IN q
very limited way. Rulers paid and
received tributes IN the form OF gold 9
and as a rule coverted It into articles n
Of practical value or objects OF ART. q
The old records show this down 70 q o
very late date. The tribute collected
BY the kings Of Egypt. for example. Il
were gold and silver vases, statuetfes Al
md the like. We see Rameses reward Il
he services Of bis generals By hang. b,
ng a golden chain around their necks Ii
md 50 on az
Conditions in Mexico when the con IL
iuistadores got there we're the same re
Metals did not figure to any extent AZ be
money or rs equivalent In the pal te
zee Of the emperor gold and silver
we're found IN the shape OF cooking IA
Utensils, toilet articles and wall COW al
rings. Perhaps a small store Of RoId no
md silver lngots was also discovered 10
nd 50, no doubt was a small quantity ha
4 precious stones. -
The so-cafled Aztec codfcea telling ~,
4 the whereabouts OF hidden trear.
re are all. spurious ana are sold n or
nsuspeciing foreigners FOR fancy an
rices. Il Is an Industry somewhas ~
nalogous to the making Of anfIo,,e -
arnitnre and jewels. OF course onlv ~,
DO most credulous are taken n and ~
anaiiv one experiences sufloes 70 toIl ~