Famous Treasure Legends

1. The Lost Dutchman Mine

Arguably the “great grand daddy” of all lost mine and lost treasure legends, the search for Arizona’s Lost Dutchman Mine continues unabated by both groups and individuals. As the story goes, a prospector and miner named Jacob Waltz made a rich gold strike somewhere within or near the Superstition Mountains.

On his death bed he alluded to the riches contained therein and things have never been the same since. People have actually died or been murdered searching for this one, so be forewarned. Oh, by the way, according to 2 or 3 fortunate souls out there, the Lost Dutchman Mine has already been found….Hmmmmmm, right.

2. The Lost Adams Diggings

In this famous treasure yarn a miner named Adams and his friends discover rich placer gold ground in a hidden canyon in New Mexico (although Arizona factors heavily in this tale as well) and then are attacked by hostile Indians.

Only Adams himself lives to tell the tale. For many years afterwards Adams and others try to relocate this natural treasure trove wthout luck, and the search for the Lost Adams Diggings continues today. Once again, at least one individual online claims to have found the Diggings, but he has not proffered up any of Adams’ lost gold nuggets as proof yet.

3. The Mystery of Oak Island’s “Money Pit”

This famous treasure legend takes us to Oak Island in Nova Scotia where the search continues for what is assumed to be an elaborately “booby trapped” pirate’s cache. Over the years various individuals and enterprises have drilled down into the cache area, known as the “Money Pit,” without much success.

Over the years some interesting artifacts and other bits and pieces of the Oak Island treasure mystery have been recovered, but unfortunately, lives have been lost in the process.

4. The Victorio Peak Treasure

The in-depth true story of one family’s legendary brush with riches. In 1937, con man and chiropodist Doc Noss ventured inside a New Mexico mountain named after the Apache chief Victorio. He discovered a cavern of incredible riches – statues of saints, swords, a crown, a chest of jewelry, twenty-seven skeletons, and roughly 16,000 gold bars of varying types.

5. The Lost Rhodes Mine

It all began in the mid-1800s when Ute chief Walkara bagged up sixty pounds of raw gold for Mormon bishop Isaac Morley. He took it to Brigham Young, who later assigned Thomas Rhoades—under a blood oath of secrecy—to fetch more of the sacred metal for minting coins and decorating temples.

The gold came from the sacred Ute mines in the Uintah Mountains that were once worked by the Aztecs. In 1520 the Aztecs told Hernando Cortez that their vast hoards of gold came from seven mines far to the north—the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola—leading to Spanish exploration throughout the Uintah Mountains. But the Spaniards had little luck, and the treasure still awaits.