The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1912-03-23

guarded this paper for 20 years He
left 1t to his family as part OF his es-
tate. the rest of which consisted OF
two mules and a hypotenuse Of non
arabic land.
The sheet of paper was of the old
blue kind used during the Civil war.
1t was dated June IA. 1868: and
1t described the hiding place OF ten
burro-loads OF gold and silver coin
valued at 100000. Old Rundle-grand-
father of his grandson, Sam-was
given the information by a Spanish
priest who was in on the treasure
burying. and who died many years
before-no afterward-in old Rundles
house. Old Rundle wrote 1t down
from dictation.
Why didn't your father look this
| up?" ! asked young Rundle.
He went blind before he could do
So" he replied.
Why didn't you hunt for It your
self?" | asked.
Well" said he. I've only known
about the paper for ten years First
there was the spring plowin' to do.
and then chopin the weeds out OF
the corn; and then come takin' fod.
der; and mighty soon winter was on
us. 1t seemed to run along that way
year after year"
That sounded perfectly reasonable
to me. SO ! took IT up with young Lee
Rundle at once
The directions on the paper we're
simple. The whole burro cayalcade
laden with the treasure started from
an old Spanish mission In Dolores
county They travelled due south by the
compass until they reached the Ala
mito river. They forded this, and
buried the treasure on the top of
little mountain shaped like a pack
saddle standing in row between two
higher ones. A heap of stones
marked the place of the buried treas
ure. All the party except the Span
fsh priest were killed by Indians a few
days later. The secret was a monop
oily, 1t looked good to me.
Lee Rundle suggested that we rig
out camping outfit, hire a surveyor
to run out the line from the Spanish
mission. and then spend the 100000
seeing the sights in Forth Worth. But
without being highly educated. knew
way to save time and expense.
We went to the state land office,
and had a practical. what they call
working" sketch made of all the
surveys Of land from the old mission
to the Alamito river. On this map
| drew a line due southwark to the
river. The length of lines of each sur
vey and section of land was accur-
ately given on the sketch BY these
we found the point on the river and
had connection" made with IT, and
an important wel-identified corner OF
the Los Animos fve-league survey-a
grant made by King Philip OF Spain.
BY doing this we did not need to
have the line run out by a surveyor
1t was great saving OF expense and
time.
So. Lee Rundle and l fitted out
twohorse wagon team with all the
accessories, and drove a hundred and
forty nine miles to Chico. the near
est town to the point we wished to
reach. There We picked up a depu-
ty county surveyor He found the
corner OF the Los Animos survey for
US, ran out the five thousand seven
hundred and twenty varas west that
our sketch called for. laid stone on
the spot. had coffee and bacon, and
caught the mail-stage back to Chico.
] was pretty sure We would get that
100000. Lee Rundle's was to be only
one-third because ! was paying all the
expenses. With that 100000 | knew
could find May Martha Mangum II
she was on earth. And with it could
tiutter the butterflies in old man Man
gums dove-cot. too II could find
that treasure!
But Lee and l established camp.
Across the river were a dozen little
mountains densely covered by cedar
brakes, but not one shaped like a
pack saddle That did not deter US.
Appearances are deceptive. A pack
saddle. like beauty, may exist only In
the eye OF the beholder.
| and the grandson OF the treasure
examined those cedar-covered hills
with the care Of lady hunting for
wicked flea We explored every side.
top, circumference. mean elevation.
angle, slope and concavity OF every
one for two miles up and down the
river We spent four days doing so.
Then we hitched up the roam and the
dun, and hauled the remains Of the
coffee and bacon the 149 miles back to
Concho City.
AS shortly as could be after our
empty return Goodloe Banks and I
foregathered in the back room OF Sny.
ders saloon to play dominoes and fish
for information. told Goodloe about
my expedition after the buried treas
ure.
If could have found that three
hundred thousand dollars" | said to
him. Il could have secured and sifted
the face of the earth to find May Mar
tha Mangum."
She Is meant for higher things"