From the Pima village northwest of Tucson, they headed northeast up the Gila River. They followed it to its confleunce with the San Carlos River. Here they headed north. They followed the river until it turned east. They continued north into the heavily timbered mountains at this point. After 4 days of travel through the heavy timber, they came to a very tall mountain, possibly Baldy Peak. Adams claimed they had crossed two large streams since leaving the Gila River. From here, they followed one of the rivers and its east fork into the White Mountains for two days. This put them in the area of Mt. Baldy, where the headwaters of this stream were said to be. From a mountain lookout here, they could see many mountain ranges. Gotch Ear pointed to two closely nestled mountain peaks and said the gold filled canyon is close to those mountains. Adams thought those mountains looked to be at least 100 miles away in a northeast direction.
Gotch Ear then followed some old Indian trail northeast. They finally came to a wagon trail. Gotch Ear said to remember it well 'it leads to the fort in the malpais' rocks.' It was probably old Fort Wingate near present day Grants, New Mexico. No one knows which direction the fort was when they crossed the wagon trail. They camped in a box canyon on a high mesa with abandoned irragation ditches and many vines. Adams called the place Pumkin Patch. The next morning they set off up the canyon further. Around midday hey came to a reddish colored solid rock wall 60 or 70 feet tall. Behind a huge boulder at the base of the wall was a hidden portal, almost unnoticeable. It led to a very rough trail in a zigzag canyon that made a perfect "Z." This canyon had walls so close in places, that the men could reach out and touch both walls. The canyon finally opened up and there was some timber and large boulders down there. They continued on upstream to the other end of the canyon. They climbed up a steep trail onto a mesa. From there Gotch Ear pointed out the two mountain peakes they had seen a few days earlier while in the White Mountains. It appeared that they were just a few hours away.
They were led down into a canyon with a stream on the canyon floor. Here they camped for the night. The men started panning for gold here. They found many gold nuggets everywhere they panned. Gotch Ear said that this was not the place he was taking them. He said there was more gold a little ways away. The men didn't want to leave. So they paid Gotch Ear and he left. He told them not to stay long because it was a campsite of the Apaches. The men continued to pan for gold and cut timber to build a cabin. Legend says Gotch Ear was killed by the Apaches shortly after leaving the canyon.
It is said that Chief Nana and 20 of his warriors showed up. The Apaches thought that gold was the tears of the sun and the essence of life. But today, Chief Nana decided to tell the miners not to touch any gold above the rim. Any miner found above the rim would be killed. One morning, a horse got loose up onto the mesa. A miner retrieved him from the rim and found a gold nugget the size of an egg. The big nugget was put under a rock next to a tree stump. To Adams dismay, many of the other miners started wadering above the rim in search of gold. Most of the gold was put into a coffee can beneath a flagstone by the fireplace. The miners are said to amassed 300 pounds of gold.
Their supplies started to run out, so Adams sent John Brewer and some men to find the fort that Gotch Ear had pointed out to get supplies. They didn't know how far the fort was, but figured on 8 days round trip. After eight days, Brewer had not returned. Adams and Jack Davidson rode back up the rough canyon to look for them. At the secret entrance to the canyon, they found dead men, dead horses and flour scattered everywhere. They carefully buried the men in a crevice and covered them with rocks. They headed back toward camp. When they were about a mile away, they heard gunfire. They climbed up the rim to a good vantage point and saw their friends bodies. They knew the Apaches would come for them. So they unsaddled their horses and turned them loose. They hid in a thicket until the sun went down. After dark, they snuck into camp to get the gold. The cabin was on fire. It had colapsed over the fireplace and they could not get to the gold. The only gold they could get was the egg shapped nugget. They made their escape with dawn rapidly approaching.
They wandered in the desert of 13 days before they finally came to a fort. They were dehydrated, malnourished, sunburnt, blistered, exhausted and their clothes bare hung on them. Shortly after arriving, Davidson died. Adams told the doctor about their adventure and showed him the large gold nugget. A couple days later five peaceful Apaches came to the fort. Adams was still confused and delerious from his travels, though he recognized them as being from Chief Nana's warriors. He picked up a rifle and killed two of them. While he waited for his murder trial, he made his escape to Los Angeles.
Many people have searched for the zigzag canyon and the gold laden stream, but none have ever been able to find it again. This area is littered with many mountains and canyons, many of which fit may this description.
