The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1910-09-09
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, Mexican jour-
nalist, who recently passed through
this city on his way to Washington.
there are no hidden Montezuma treas
ures.
mo doubt the stories circulated
about the hidden treasures of the Az
tee emperors have their origin in the
sadly exaggerated accounts OF old
Spanish historians-men who swal-
lowed the yarns of the conquerors OF
Mexico and whose judgment had been
upset by the few shipments of gold
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 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 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 1t means no more
than that heavy shipments of these
took place.
"The accounts of the Montezuma
treasure is merely counterpart Of
similar extravagances found on many
pages of history We read of the
fabulous wealth of the people of the
Euphrates valley, of the ancient Egyp-
tians, of India and other parts and so
far have never found trace Of 1t. In
their day, no 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 or were used only in
q very limited way. Rulers paid and
received tributes in the form of gold
and as a rule coverted 1t into articles
Of practical value or objects OF art.
The old records show this down to a
very late date. The tribute collected
by the kings of Egypt, for example,
were gold and silver vases, statuettes
and the like. We see. Rameses reward
the services Of his generals by hang.
Ing a golden chain around their necks
and so on.
Conditions in Mexico when the con.
quistadores got there were the same
Metals did not figure to any extent as
money or its equivalent. In the pal.
ace of the emperor gold and silver
were found In the shape of cooking
utensils. toilet articles and wall Gov
erings. Perhaps small store of gold
and silver ingots was also discovered
and so, no doubt, was a small quantity
Of precious stones.
"The socalled Aztec codices telling
Of the whereabouts of hidden treas
ure are all spurious and are sold tC
unsuspecting foreigners for fancy
prices. 1t is an industry somewha
analogous to the making Of antiqu,
furniture and Jewels. or course onl,
the most credulous are taken in ant
usually one experience sufices to tel