The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1936-01-02
GOLDEN +.
PHANTOMS
Fascinating =.
Tales of sd;,bs L. Watson
Lost Mines .ew.N.u. 49,.
THE FRENCHMEN'S
HIDDEN TREASURE

In SOUTHWESTERN Colorado
L near the summit Of Wolf Greek
pass may be seen a finely shaped
hill known as Treasure mountain.
1t guards a park where gold has
been concealed, and many things
have happened in it's shadow. st.
To begin at the known beginning,
along about 1927 a band Of trap
pers, gold hunters, and adventures,
most of them Frenchmen, left st.
Louis and made their way to this
section. They ranged about, looking
for a place suited to their wants,
and finally settled down. They sent
to Taos for supplies, and stayed on
for several years.
Then, late one summer, they
grew lonesome for the pleasures OF
st. Louis and packed their accumu-
lated gold for trip to that city.
Just as the pack train left camp, a
band of extremely unfriendly Utes
came by, attacked the men, and
killed about half of them. The rest
entrenched themselves to fight, and
at the same time they managed to
bury the gold and make some maps
showing where it was hidden.
At last they managed to get away
from the Utes, when they separat-
ed for greater safety and agreed to
meet at st. Louis. Only two Of
them ever reached the rendezvous.
Some time later, a Frenchman
appeared in q small Mexican set
Element In the region of Treasure
mountain. He said that he was
merely prospecting, but he had
some maps which Chose who caught
a glimpse of them said) looked
queer indeed.
Presently he left the region-at
any rate, he disappeared and never
returned. But the maps came to
light in the possession of some Mex
leans, not those, however, who knew
the Frenchman. is.
What these men did with the
maps is hard to say. Certainly they
kept them well out of sight, but the
story leaked out and the general
location became known. -.........-
A man named Asa Poor heard
Of the strange maps and the marked
cache. He recalled that there was
a park where the trees bore just
such blazes, and he went back to
the place to make certain.
The signs were indeed there, but
where they pointed Poor did not
know. In hopes of getting some in
formation on the general subject,
he then asked the Indian agent for
information from the Utes; the
tribesmen professed to be ignorant.
They had heard of such a happen
ing, they said, but they remembered
nothing.
Poor and a party of friends then
tried to work out the puzzle them
selves. They followed the blazes
one way and another. They looked
all about. At last they discovered
a mound of earth-but on opening
it there was nothing to be found.
Then a visitor came into the park
who claimed that he had seen one
of the maps. 1t had directions writ
ten out, he said, and one that he
remembered read like this: "Stand
on this mound at six o'clock on q
September morning.; where falls
the shadow of the head, there dig
for the buried treasure" Hopefully,
the men did as the visitor sug-
gested, but their hopes died when
no gold resulted.
The next summer a man from
Durango came with a divining rod.
1t showed no indication of gold at
the place where Poor and his
friends had labored so long.
And so the search has gone on
from time to time, as confident
seekers hunt for the Treasure
mountain gold.