The Mexican War of Independence began on September 16, 1810, and it continued until September 27, 1821. In the beginning, a Spanish mission in Mexico became the target of native Mexican attacks. A secret which unfortunately raises its ugly head too often, the top priest turned out to be less godly than local folks thought. With little regard to the parishioners, he salivated for gold, silver, and wealth of all sorts. To top that, he was in possession of a mine in the north. The 'NORTH" in this case meant Utah. Mexican miners were savagely put to work in the mines digging for the precious metals. Conditions were deplorable. You take your pick of the conditions that were there. No safety resulting in accidents, cheated of their pay, and all of the products went into the priest's pocket. As soon as the revolution started, there was no indecision about whom to the native Mexicans wanted to be rid of first.
Unlike many cheats and scoundrels, the priest did not save nuggets. He had it melted down and formed it into religious artifacts. One example was a huge three-foot tall cross made of solid gold. Countless smaller objects existed in gold and silver form. The priest was obviously smitten with lust.
With 40 burros, the priest commanded his underlings to load up all that glittered and head north. He hoped to reach Santa Fe, New Mexico where there was a safe Spanish mission. Gold and silver are heavy, imagine the burden for the burros travelling that far, so progress was slow.
With attackers not that far away (the priest and party were near Kaiparowits Plateau), the priest and his laborers decided the better part of wisdom would be to hide the gold and continue to Santa Fe at a faster pace. Finding a small cave, they buried the treasure inside. But where was the cave?
Of course, that is the question. Along the Escalante River between Escalante and Boulder is the best guess. A treasure hunter named Llewellyn Harris, in 1870 is reputed to have gotten a Zuni map that showed the trail to the hidden treasure. Having reached the destination, he supposedly found no treasure, only bones of burros. Perhaps the Zunis took the treasure? Maybe another treasure hunter found it? Then again, the whole story may have been made up. Such is the story of many treasure tales - many that have been discovered! Someday, a treasure seeker may discover religious objects worth millions.
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