What If Montezuma’s Lost Gold Is Hidden In Our Backyard?

The legend of Montezuma's lost treasure dates back roughly 500 years. People have been trying to find the location of the Aztecs' lost treasure for centuries, with no luck. Leads have brought treasure hunters to Utah, New Mexico, Northern Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. It is estimated that the treasure is worth over 3 billion dollars. Due to this, hundreds of treasure hunters have sought out Montezuma's gold, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and losing people along the way.

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The Legend

Montezuma came to power in the Aztec Empire in 1502, according to Sky History. For 17 years, he ruled, until Spanish conquerors showed up and changed the lives of this civilisation forever. It was 1519 in what is now considered modern-day Mexico. Hernán Cortés arrived on shore and began trying to make friends with the different Native populations. When Cortés arrived at the Aztecs' doors in their capital in Tenochtitlán, history gets muddy as Cortés account was the only one that made it out.

According to his account, Montezuma saw the Spanish as walking gods, arriving to fulfil a long-awaited prophecy. Montezuma surrendered his throne to them willingly. The Spanish stayed for 6 months, whether or not with the Aztecs' permission is debatable. On May 20, 1920, Cortés was supposedly out of town during an Aztec ceremony when Spanish soldiers locked the Aztecs in their temple and began to massacre them. The Spanish claim they were trying to stop the sacrifice of innocent people. The Aztecs argued it had happened due to the Spaniards' hunger for the Aztecs' gold.

Events continued, and battles began as the Aztecs rose against the Spanish. Montezuma was taken captive, and Cortés returned, but the damage was done. The Spanish control was unable to be regained. They spent a couple of months collecting gold and crushing the Aztecs. One night in July, they left with all of the riches they could get their hands on. On their way out, they were ambushed by the Aztecs. Montezuma was killed, alongside nearly all 500 Spanish soldiers. Cortés escaped with a few soldiers. This became known as the Sad Night.

The fleeing Spanish soldiers are rumoured to have dropped their treasure as they fled. Although lots of accounts suggest the surviving Aztecs collected their treasures back after the Spanish fled, and hid it somewhere in the north. Whether north means Northern Mexico, Arizona, or Utah is still up for debate today.

Why Arizona?

Lots of theories exist as to where the gold went. Some believe it is at the bottom of Lake Texcoco in Mexico, but no treasure hunters have found it there, according to Ancient Origins. However, a piece of gold was found in Mexico City by construction workers in 1981. Tests done a few decades later confirmed that this gold belonged to the once plentiful treasure of Montezuma. With that in mind, maybe the treasure never left Mexico, or at least didn't make it very far.

Three Lakes Ranch pond in Kanab, Utah, is also considered to be one of the big sites for treasure hunters looking for this gold. According to ABC Utah, treasure hunters believed the Aztecs used an underwater digging technique to hide their treasure in a secure cavern in the pond. No treasure hunters have ever made it to this rumoured location. Many of them report divers seeing ghosts and feeling choked. A well driller had found a cavern in this pond and dug nearly 50 feet into it before his drill broke, and he couldn't continue. That night, he went home and had a heart attack. Barely 3 weeks later, his wife died, leading people to believe in an Aztec curse being present in that cavern.

Arizona falls in route between where gold has been confirmed to be in Mexico, and where gold has been rumoured to be in Utah, making it a likely place for lost treasure. Whether or not it's one or two pieces, like what was found in Mexico, or the entire load, Arizona is considered one of the potential resting places for this treasure. Desert News reports that someone might've found the treasure in a cave along the Arizona strip, but stories like his are common.

The Hauchuca Mountains?

One spring day a few years back, I was working in a coffee shop. A customer came in claiming that Montezuma's gold was buried in the Huachuca Mountains in a hidden cave along Montezuma's Pass. It seemed very unlikely to me, but the man seemed certain. He explained that from afar, the north-west side of the mountains looks like a face, and that is a marker for Montezuma's treasure. I have not been able to find any information on whether or not his theory had any backing to it. There is little evidence available to suggest that the face-shaped mountain is accurate to the original legend, nor are there any sightings or legends about a hidden cave in those mountains. I never saw the man again, so I couldn't ask him any more questions.

Whether or not the random coffee shop explorer was correct, the thought that the Montezuma Trail in the Huachuca Mountains might be a road to treasure is a fun one.  With all sorts of urban legends of monsters, ghosts, and aliens present in this community, it could be a fitting addition to the list.

So what do you think? Are the Aztecs' riches still out there, waiting to be discovered, or are people just wasting their time and resources hunting for it?

READ MORE: How Ed Shefflin Discovered Silver And Founded Tombstone