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Show www.kanabguide.com 26 2004 Kanab Area Vacation Guide SearcMng for Momteznamas Tireasimre White Mountain. As the group Brunner It all started back in 1914 when entered the canyon, Crystal By Dixie an old cowboy named Freddie Crystal rode into town. Crystal, who had been staying at a Johnson Canyon ranch, was convinced he knew the location of Montezumas Gold. the long-lo(The Aztec Indian treasure Montezumas followers buried to prevent it from falling into the hands of Cortez and his Spanish conquistadors). Crystal said Indian petroglyphs marked the way to a buried tunnel and secret room inside of a mountain with a great hoard of Aztec gold, silver and jewels. Crystal disappeared for a few years, returning with a map he claimed to have found in a Spanish monastery. The map showed four mountains to the north, one mountain in each of the other three directions, a cliff with stairs, a duck petroglyph symbol, and a canyon with four side branches. One of the branches was marked as the buried treasure site. After a great deal of searching, Crystal and his entourage found another map directing them to st pointed out matching clues.. .the duck petroglyphs and the cliff stairs were both there. They were sure they had found the lost treasure! The group was so excited they began digging flat terrain beneath the mountains slope. The workers pushed through the stone wall and found to their excitement, a tunnel. The 160 foot tunnel was treacherous with cave-inbut worked Crystal and his group diligently. The party found pottery shards, deer and rabbit bones, and just as the map said, a large room! Unfortunately, the room was empty. There was no gold, jewels or treasure... only dust. Many more tunnels leading in other directions were found, and the searchers kept on looking for the treasure to no avail. After a two year effort, immediately. After two days of g excavation, they e discovered a stone wall built of blue limestone rock. News of the discovery rocked Kanab! The townspeople were in a frenzy. An organized group of diggers set up a tent city on the back-breakin- man-mad- s, Crystal gave up his treasure hunt and disappeared completely. Interest in the treasure waned, and Kanab folk returned to their ordinary lives without finding the phenomenal gold stash. The tunnel and treasure room still exist today. Occasionally you hear of somebody who thinks they know the golds real location, but the only treasures ever discovered in the hunt is Picturesque Three Lakes, just six miles north of Kanab, is just one of the many places where Montezumas Treasure is thought to be buried. Photo by Cathy Jo Winter. Kanab Mission Motel spectacular scenery. Kanab Center for Field Studies backroad explorations & evening hikes Kanab area & Grand Staircase Escalante Monument it Educational organization Individuals and small groups welcome! Guided hiking tours led by experienced naturalists, field scientists ana professors All-da- y non-prof- r. 1 X' ' you caijt really appreciate where youve been until youve V learned something about it! X. 435-644-55- www.kanabfieldstudies.org 40 VktoUw GltamDmt & BY CHOICE Color Country from its Hub! HOTELS 20 Rooms Menu Breakfast Available CgQ Gift Shop Handicapped Rooms Senior Discounts (AAA, AARP) Low Rates Clean, Comfortable Rooms Friendly Service 386 East 300 South (Hwy 89 East) ClecfxintlntlteJfeGdo 644-86- 60 1 190 800-738-96- 43 N Hwy 89 Kanab www.victoriancharminn.com victoriancharminnkanab.net |