Arizona republican., 1914-05-14
HIDDEN GOLD
 IN 0lD CAMP
Three Mysterious Strangers Reported to Have RecOv- cred $60,000 Concealed at La Paz More Than Gen eration Ago

Last week three strangers, two of them Portuguese and one Spaniard. came into Blythe in an automobile They remained here for day and the next morning after arriving in Blythe they crossed the river at En- renberg ferry.
 Since that time however there comes report that these three men went from here direct to the old town of La Paz, ten miles northeast on the opposite side of the Colorado the ruins of an old adobe building, succeeded in uncovering and carry ing away gold to the amount of something like s6O000
 That the party went to La PaZ and did considerable excavation there in side the ruins of certain old adobe buildings, is certainty, but the fact of their finding any treasures is not fully verified But we are told by certain individuals that the trio did claim to have unearthed the sum above named.
 What gives credence to the report is the fact that where these men did the eXcavating was in the ruins of an old building that in the early and balmy days of La Paz, was the prfn- cipal store and saloon of the place. This place was owned and conducted by one Francisco Rabana, a Porte guese.
 Rabana, in addition to conducting general store and saloon. was the principal buyer of gold dust in La Paz, gold dust being the common me those days.
 Rabana was also the discoverer and owner of the famous Goodman mine, which was producing gold in large quantities.
 One day while at the Goodman mine. Rabana received serious in- juries from which shesnevcr recover ed and in a few days. died
 Rabana had no family, his wife having died previously, nor any very intomate friends. It was generally known that he had much gold dust stored about the place, as that was the only way he had to keep it, there being no banks and transportation vas slow. People had seen this gold in Rabana's possession, which he kept in sacks, dishes, cans, etc
 However when Rabana died the only thing found on his person or about the premises was deposit check in a foreign bank for a small amount of money. No cash or gold dust of any considerable amount could be found
 The fact that no gold could be found on the Rabana premises, led to numerous efforts on the part of many to search for this supposedly lost treasure.
 Like all things of this nature, the fever became courageous, and men have spent months, some have spent years, looking and digging for Ra- was never found.
 After the government had declared La Paz to be located on an Indian re- servation and the inhabitants were forced to move off, many man re- turned and dug in the old town look ing for lost treasure, and in this way the earth about the old Rabana house has been turned over many times.
 About two years ago flood came down from the nearby mountains and overflowed the old La Paz townsite.
 The mud houses affected by the water. crumbled and fell. leaving naught but a mass of crushed adobes to mark the walls of the houses which were at one time the habita- tions of three thousand people who made up the population of a flourish ing mining camp.
 The very last building to go down from the effects of this flood was large adobe structure which at one time served as the first court house and jail of Yuma county, Arizona, La Paz being it's first county seat Since the flood has played havoc with the buildings in La Paz. where the old Rabana building stood has been covered with three or four feet of debris, and not much excavating has taken place since it occurred, un- til the other day, when the three strangers mentioned dug a number of holes inside the ruins of the old 1 house.
 One hole eXcavated by the last party was dug to a depth of about twelve feet, where water was en- countered. An old resident of La Paz tells us that Rabana had well ] at that point to furnish water for the store and saloon.
 Gold was first discovered in La Paz wash in the fifties. Government and private records show that more than two millions of dollars were talk en out during the life of the camp. The gold came principally from plac- CTS and nuggets were frequently found valued at more than one hundr ed dollars each.
 Since the government drove the lh- habitants of La PaZ from the Cobra do River Indian reservation, on when the town was located, the place has been uninhabited by anyone. The houses are all destroyed, the streets have grown up to mesquite brush,