Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The mystery and intrigue of buried treasure is something that captivates most peoples' attention. Hollywood has capitalized on this fascination with films like "Indiana Jones," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "National Treasure," but you might not know there could be real-life riches buried right here in Utah.
From abandoned mines to lost Aztec gold and Spanish treasures, Utah has its fair share of legends. Whether they're true or not has yet to be determined, but one thing is for sure — these stories are sure to get you out the door to do some digging!
The gold at Blind Frog Ranch
Some Utah treasure legends are so popular that they even have their own TV show. "The Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch" on the Discovery Channel chronicles the treasure hunt for Aztec gold at Duane Ollinger's ranch in Vernal. And while that may sound like a tame premise on the surface, the show has been full of enough twists, turns and unsolved mysteries to merit a second season.
According to local legend, the land is "cursed" and full of treasure. Ollinger, along with his son Chad and others, is determined to find the alleged treasure in seven underground caves on their 160-acre ranch — but the hunt proves to be more dangerous than they thought.
While they've yet to find gold, viewers have been fascinated by the discoveries they've made in the meantime. So far, they've recovered several items, including a bracelet and some coins (which turned out not to be Aztec gold), and a box full of rocks and strange metal.
Perhaps that Aztec treasure will show up eventually, but the only way to find out will be to tune in!
The Treasure of the Golden Jesus
The so-called Treasure of the Golden Jesus sounds like something you'd see on an Indiana Jones film, but it's supposedly hidden somewhere between Escalante and Boulder. According to one online forum, a party of Spanish soldiers fled Mexico in 1810, looting and robbing valuable possessions along the way. One of those items was a three-foot-high solid gold statue of Jesus. (Hence, the name of the treasure.)
No one knows for sure what happened to all of the treasure the Spaniards were carrying, but legend has it that the group buried it in a cave in the Boulder-Escalante region. People have reported "mysterious markings" on Fifty Mile Mountain, as well as several Spanish artifacts that could add some validity to the story.
Butch Cassidy's buried treasure
Famous outlaw Butch Cassidy certainly had his hands on plenty of riches throughout his storied career as a bank robber and some of it is rumored to be right here in Utah. Cassidy and another cowboy named Elza Lay stole approximately $8,000 from an unloading train in what's now the ghost town of Castle Gate in Carbon County on April 21, 1897. The two robbers took off on horseback to Robber's Roost, cutting telegraph lines along the way so that no one could spread the news of the robbery.
Legends of America states that "[t]he outlaw loot was never recovered and many believe it was hidden by the gang somewhere near Robbers Roost located along the Outlaw Trail, in southeastern Utah."
The Lost Josephine Gold Mine
Longtime Utah residents may be familiar with the legend of the Lost Josephine Mine, which was purportedly full of Spanish gold and silver. The mine was established by Spanish Jesuit priests in 1650 but abandoned in 1680, never to be found again.
But in 2013, Summit County resident Gary Holt claimed to have discovered it. The mine Holt found was located by Hoyt's Peak in the Uinta Mountains. He also claimed to have extracted $30 million of something he calls goldcite, which is actually a form of fibrous calcite.
But Tom Flanagan, a local Forest Service archaeologist was skeptical about Holt's discovery.
"If we had those kinds of gold mines in the Uintas, I'd be a rich man," Flanagan told The Park Record at the time. "A lot of treasure hunters will map on a natural solution cavity and try to purport that it's a historic or ancient mine and then try to mine it."
Holt stood by his claim that it's the long-lost mine, but beyond the goldcite, no one's found any treasure to date.
The Montezuma hoard
For 500 years, people have heard about a possible treasure buried in Kanab. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the 1500s, Aztec Emperor Montezuma offered Spaniard Hernán Cortés gifts to keep the peace, according to Visit Southern Utah. If you know your history (or if you've seen "Pirates of the Caribbean") then you know that this led to Cortés' thirst and obsession for riches. He pillaged the town of Tenochtitlán for gold and silver, killing and torturing many Aztecs in his path.
To protect Montezuma's treasure from the Spaniards, legend says that thousands of Aztecs took it and fled north, possibly to southern Utah. After hiding the treasure, the Aztec warriors sacrificed their slaves to watch over it for eternity. Neither Cortés — nor anyone else — has found the treasure to this day.
Utah locals believe it lies at the end of a tunnel below Three Lakes pond in Kanab. Much like in the movies, however, the purported $3 billion worth of treasure appears to be cursed.
According to a 2014 KSL article, "Multiple efforts to dive into the caves were ended after divers said they became disoriented and saw the ghosts of Aztec guardians, but they were able to detect metal at the end of the tunnel."
The Dream Mine
Unlike the other legends and myths on the list, this one isn't about a treasure that was buried long ago — it's about a mine that will supposedly be filled with fortune and riches in the future. The Dream Mine in Spanish Fork came about when John Hyrum Koyle claimed to have a spiritual vision in 1894 about an abandoned mine in a nearby mountain, says Jay M. Haymond for Utah.gov. Supposedly, the mountain would eventually be filled with enough treasure to support members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when Christ returns to the earth.
Atlas Obscura reports that Koyle was called before a disciplinary council to either sign a statement saying his claims were false or be excommunicated from the Church. Though he signed the statement, Koyle later claimed he was forced to do so by the Church and was eventually excommunicated.
However, even after Koyle's death, the Dream Mine saga lives on with the Relief Mine Company. While they've halted work on the mine itself, the company is still active and sells stock in the Dream Mine.
What happens if you find buried treasure?
Before you grab your metal detector and get too excited about amassing hordes of wealth, you should probably know that the only thing you'll gain is bragging rights if you find the treasure mentioned above.
According to the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, any "archaeological resources" you find on the land of the state are government property. This includes just about anything over 100 years old. But if the thrill of the hunt is enough, get out there and start exploring!
Of course, the locations of some treasure could be on private property and you will likely be prosecuted for trespassing if venture into those areas.
5 of Utah's most breathtaking family-friendly winter hikes
Many mellow and family-friendly trails can still be explored in this season with the right precautions taken. Your rewards for braving these trails include mind-blowing seasonal scenery and improved fitness.
