William H. Smith September 15, 1998

1204 Christmas Tree Lane about 865 words

Pearce, Az. 85625

303-36-7671

(520) 826-1029

The Vaquero's Treasure

By

William H. Smith

In early 1950s the Arivaca cattle ranch located near Arivaca, Arizona held an annually fall round up. One of the Vaqueros drew the job of pushing cattle out of the canyons in the "Hells Gate" area located in the Peck Canyon wash, and the canyons on the northwest side of Atacosa Peak.

This is the strange story the Vaquero told that night around the campfire, of his uncommon find, "I was riding out of Peck Canyon wash on the west side of a canyon, and on an old trail toward Atacosa Peak. I came to the end of the canyon, and rode around the end that is when I noticed what looked like an iron door with a large padlock securing it. I didn’t try to enter the door because there were some dirt and rocks in front of it, and the day would soon

turn into night, and I wished to respect any Saints that were guarding the door. When I left I rode away from the door toward the top of a saddle and looked to the east across a very large mesa.

As the Vaquero told his story that night around the campfire his companions laughed and made fun of him He said nothing more of his discovery, and after the round up he left for

California to live with relatives. He probably didn't try to open the iron door to see what was behind it.

Nothing was heard of the vaquero until the early 1960s, when car with California license

plates arrived in Arivaca. The occupants of the car claimed to be relatives of the vaquero, and they asked several residents around Arivaca, Arizona about the area the vaquero was in while rounding-up cattle during the 1950s. Those who knew the vaquero's story were now wondering if maybe the story was more than just a vaquero's tale.

Looking back more than two hundred years before the Vaquero's story, the story has

some merit. The Franciscan Priests placed in Southern Arizona at the Tumacacori were fleeing marauding Indians. They loaded what gold and silver they had on hand on the backs of Burros to transport it to Mexico, and then would be taken to Spain. They passed through Rock Corral Canyon stopping at the La Virgen De Guadalupe treasure vaults to load more Burros with gold and silver bars. They blasted down peaks that were above the vaults before leaving . They proceeded southwest toward Mexico meeting another group of Priests coming from the Ajo mining area. They also had burros laden with silver and gold, the two parties met on the north side of Atacosa Peak. Going up a canyon toward the peak they unloaded the gold and silver

bars into a small mine located there. A door of Oak wood was placed in the entrance of the mine and was secured by a padlock. This story of the Franciscan Priests fleeing the Indians and the gold and silver bars were documented by the Priests, and were part of the records Vince and I had.

These two stories support each other, therefore it is very possible that the door exists,

and that there is a treasure located behind the door on the north side of Atacosa Peak. Some day some lucky treasure hunter will stumble across that door, or someone with high tech medal detectors will locate it.

Another supporting item that can be added to this list is "La Cruz" (the cross), located on a cliff not far from this possible treasure site. To get there, take highway 289 south of Rio Rico drive toward Arivaca, after crossing Sycamore wash you will climb out of the valley, when you reach a noticeable curve in the road look to the northeast, you win see the cross on the face of a cliff. The best time for viewing is about ten o'clock in the morning. These type of trail markings are called shadow writing. Behind the cross is a canyon that looks very much like the Vaquero's description of the canyon he was in. Along this northeast line lie many Spanish mines, Missions and the La Virgin De Guadalupe treasure vaults.

My treasure hunting partner (Vince from Arivaca) and I discovered this cross while hiking southeast of Ruby (a mining ghost town), as we hiked to the top of a saddle and looked to the northeast we saw the cross, it looked as though it had been painted on the cliff.

Later we hiked to the cliff and examined the cross, it had a vertical crack top to bottom

on the cliff’s face about twenty feet long. A horizontal crack about seven feet long and about one-third of the way down the vertical crack. On the horizontal fine it was chipped on the bottom, and on the vertical line it was chipped on the left side giving the appearance of a black cross at a distance.

These shadow writings are early road signs, made and used by early travelers.

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