La Caverna del Oro (Cave of Gold)

Indians long warned that demons guarded La Caverna del Oro on Marble Mountain. In 1541, monks from Coronado's expedition allegedly enslaved natives to extract gold until an uprising left only Friar De la Cruz, who killed the workers and fled south with pack mules of ore. Elisha Horn rediscovered the cave circa 1900, finding a skeleton in Spanish armor and a faded red cross above the entrance near Westcliffe. A 1920s Colorado Mountain Club expedition descended 500 feet, finding a 200-year-old ladder and 1600s hammer but no padlocked oaken doors described by a 105-year-old Mexican woman as guarding the "Three Steps Mine." Later visitors found a windlass, clay jug, shovel, and a skeleton chained to a wall. Some believe the cross-marked entrance was an escape route and the real door lies lower on the mountainside, possibly buried by rockslide. The cave sits northeast of Great Sand Dunes over Music Pass.