Year: 1876

among the legends that have com
; down to us from the early days of Lo
Angeles, when it was a Mexican pueblo


there is one which dates back thirt,


years or more and recounts the circum
stances of a buried treasure on the Ar
; rOyo SecO. We heard it the other day


in conversation with Don Mateo Keller
1lburciO Tapia was a Spanish Don
who had arisen to considerable afllu


ence in those times, and, besides being
the proprietor of the Cucamongo ranch


conducted q small store somewhere


above the Catholic church in what i;


now called " Sonora" As to the exact


location of this store or its character


tradition sayeth not, but il is sufficient
that it stood in the center of the pueblo


and we may reasonably conjecture that


Don Tiburcio sold saddles, flour and


Gguddte'ate to the natives, besides sup


plying them with the other necessities


of life. So great was the Don's traffic


that 1t is said he kept an express line OF


oX-carts plying between the town and


this Cucamongo ranch, and, when ex-
peditiOn was required, the trip of sixty


miles was made inside of a week. In


all matters that went to make men rich
in those days, Don Tiburcio had
abundance-herds of cattle and horses,


bands of sheep, many square leagues


of land, and money.


The golden ounces as they accumu-
lated in the hands of the old Don were all
carefully husbanded against a rainy
day. Not that there were money banks
in those days with ponderous vaults and
defaulting cashiers; oh, no! but Don
TiburciO deposited his golden coin in
the bank of mother earth where he knew
that his sight drafts would always be hon
ored. 1t was his custom, when he wish
ed to secure his money in this way, to
q! take his son, Ramon, with him and hide
it under ground in some secluded spot.


Thus it happened that when Castro
was securing the State with his maraud-
ing band and Threatening an attackupOn
Los Angeles, Don Tiburcio was overcome


with solicitude concerning his wealth
in money and goods, and taking his son
with him one dark night he went up the
banks of the Arroyo Seco, and there the
two dug a hole in the sand and within
it they concealed the treasure. There
were two wooden boxes, it may be the
width of span and twice as long and
Ieep. They were irOn-bOund and filled
with Spanish doubloons, each piece
weighing an ounce and valued at SIG
Our legend says that the Don had $780,
| 600 in his two irOn-bound boxes which
he placed in the sand and covered
carefully over. And Don Tiburcio
marked the spot so that he might
come back again in time of safety and
reclaim his deposit. Near by, he plant
ed little cross in such a way that it
would he concealed from a strangers
view but easily recognizable by his son
or himself. One arm of the cross point
ed to the Buried treasure. Then the
two led their horses several times across
the spot to obliterate the marks of their
work and departed with feeling of Sc
curity.


His money safely hid from the grasp
of Castro and his band, Don Tiburcio
next busted himself in securing the
goods of his store. These he carefully
packed in boxes preparatory to sending
them away, but first resorted to a
stratagem worthy of the shrewd old
Spanish stock. He said to his son:
"Ramon, will place a quantity of lead
in the bottom of these boxes, and when
they are filled with goods 90 you and
call in some of the neighbOring ranch
eros to assist us in loading them upon
the carts. They will perceive the great
weight of the boxes and will say that
Don Tiburcio has sent away all of his
money by the OX-teams."


So the goods were dispatched to Don
Tiburcio's Cucamongo ranch in charge
of his son Ramon, and the inhabitants
of the town whispered it about that the
Don had sent away all of his gold.


Now while the steady going ox-teams
are slowly toiling up the valley of San
Jose, bearing their freightage of goods
to a place of security, Don Tiburcio
rests himself easy at home, in the full
belief that he has outwitted the rascal
Castro and his band. But alas, what
an uncertain thing is human life! Ra-
mon has hardly been gone three days
with the teams when Don Tiburcio is
stricken with paralysis and laid at the
door of death. \ messenger is dis
patched in haste for the absent son. As
soon as the distance can be overcome
by the fieetest horse Ramon returns, but
only in time to witness the dying breath
of his father. With a struggle Don
Tiburcio gasped, "Ramon, Ramon"
and departed this life.


There were few to mourn the death
of Don 1iburcio, and in due time the
priests performed the last rites of the
church over his body and he was gath
cred to his fathers. But nowwhen COM
parative safety is again assured to the
town, Ramon repairs to the bank of the
Arroyo SecO to unearth his fathers
gold. The cross is there with its arm
pointing to the hidden treasure, but
when the sand is turned up there are
no iron-bound boxes. The gold has
been taken away. When Ramon dug
up the cross he found beneath it three
ounces which had dropped unnoticed
into the hole on that eventful night, but
this was all he recovered. Then the
truth flashed upon the son; his
father had removed the boxes to
secrete more money in them or to
take some out for his use. As it
was never his custom to secrete his
treasures the second time in one place,
he had buried them elsewhere.
But where? The secret had died on
Don Tiburcio's lips as he gasped,
Ramon!" and his utterance was
stopped by the hand of the grim
messenger.


The inhabitants of the town searched
up and down the stream, blowing many
a furrow in its banks in hopes to dis
cover the secreted fortune But their
efforts were bootless, and to this day the
iron-bound money boxes of Don Thur
clio, with fifty thousand dollars in Span
is doubloons, lie securely hidden some
where on the banks of the Arroyo
Seco.


THE novel contrivance known as the
hill-climbing engine continues to excite
much interest in France. This engine,
as described, has no wheels, and cOnse-
quently does not roll, but in place of
them it is furnished with what are
termed legs, upon which it accom-
plishes the purpose in view. 1t is like
and ordinary engine in most respects,