Chacuaco Canyon Gold Ingots

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Chacuaco Canyon Gold Ingots

Lost Treasure CO • Las Animas County County
Description
1858 legend of a wagon train carrying 1,500 pounds of gold ingots ambushed in southeast Colorado; three men hid the gold on mules at a creek outcropping but were killed by Utes before they could return.
Historical Notes
In 1858 a wagon train with 1,500 pounds of gold ingots crossed southeast Colorado (present Las Animas County). Outlaws and renegade Indians attacked; survivors briefly drove them off then detoured through Chacuaco Canyon. Three men loaded ingots onto six mules and hid them at a rock outcropping along a creek while the outlaws massacred the rest of the party. The three escaped to a Mexican village but were killed by Ute Indians on the return trip. Legends of America notes a 2009 reader claim that most of the treasure was eventually located with corrected research. The classic lost-treasure version remains unverified in public record.
Status / Verification legend — Legendary or approximate

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