In 1955, the missile range was expanded and, the Army closed Victoria Peak to outsiders. For the next few years, Mr. Noss sought partners to help him find the gold. Its occasional visitors included hunting parties, and Doc Noss and his wife, Ova, were on one such expedition in search of deer. Chester Stout, for example, a retired Army sergeant, traced the removal of two large truckloads of gold from Victorio Peak, but later had to move out of New Mexico; his life was threatened because, as he was told, he knew too much.. : Did 'Doc' Noss Really Find Caverns of Gold or Did He Pull Off a Hoax That Has Plagued His Kin for Years? This time, the military began a full-scale mining operation at the Peak. The peak, named after a 19th century Apache war chief, apparently served as a repository for immense quantities of gold mined centuries ago by Spaniards and Indians and smelted into tens of thousands of crudely formed bars. The daughter of another man, Harvey Snow, died from a gunshot wound in the head after Snow had disregarded repeated warnings in regard to the peak. Further, they stated that underground wealth, in whatever form it took, belonged to the state or any legal license holders. Reportedly, he amassed a treasure of gold, silver, and jewels before being ordered back to Mexico City in 1607. Mr. Fertig denied that the report had been censored. In 1958, Leonard V. Fiege, then an Air Force captain stationed at nearby Holloman Air: Force Base, and three other men, contended that while deer hunting they found a cave filled with gold bars. The two decided to keep the discovery between themselves and return to inspect the shaft later. Noss agreed with Ryan to exchange some of the gold bars for $25,000 to reopen the shaft. Hunting by himself, Doc scouted the base of the mountain. After three years they were given permission to go back to Victoria. That three or four weeks later Frank Foss told me that E.M. had called him and said he was in Central America. The economic potential of placer deposits in New Mexico is unknown and most known economic placers in the state have been worked. Anyone can read what you share. Published historic reserves exist for only two districts: Jicarilla with 5.4 million yd3 of 0.043 oz Au/yd3, or approximately 230,000 oz Au in place and Pittsburg with 2 million yd3 of 0.01 oz Au/yd3, or approximately 20,000 oz Au in place in 1936. After determining the accuracy of the two mens reports, the entire area was placed off-limits until an official investigation could be conducted. The mystery boils down to a single question: Was Milton (Doc) Noss telling the truth, or just a tall tale? While waiting for the rain to subside, he noticed a stone that looked as if it had been worked somehow. Suddenly, a host of people surfaced to lay claims on the legendary gold treasure. The peak is riddled with a network of tunnels. Now, scientists confirm it was part of a plunder by Spanish conquistador Hernn. Doc Noss was extremely paranoid and buried everything he took out of the caves, not even trusting his wife, Babe. Seeking out the Seven Cities of Gold, Onate was said to have been a cruel man, brutally subjugating the Indians to do his bidding by beating and torturing them. A treaty was reached between the tribe and the Federal government in Washington that the Indians could stay upon the land in New Mexico. Three days later the Nosses went back, and in the months that followed, Noss hauled gold bars, one at a time, with enormous effort up the narrow passageway, according to Mrs. Noss's daughter, Mrs. Letha Guthrie of Clovis, who said she was also there part of the, time. White Sands, New Mexico by the National Park Service. He was barely able to lift one, much less think of carrying it back to the surface. Mrs. Ova Noss said she shad filed papers retaining mineral rights in case the area opened up again. Try as he would, Captain Fiege could not penetrate the opening he had used just three years earlier. About $250,000 was spent, core holes were drilled, seismic tests were taken, and nothing was found. Today, the Armys official position on the whereabouts of the gold remains cautious, maintaining that the burden of proof rests with the accusers. We took 90 bars stacked by a mine shaft at Victorio Peak and reburied them 10 in a pile scattered throughout the basin with the exception of 30 bars that we buried in a grassy flat near the road we came out on.. While Babe looked on from above, Doc inched his way down the narrow passageway into the mountain nearly 60 feet. This was shortly before a much-publicized expedition, entitled Operation Goldfinder, took place at the site in March 1977. Recreational mining continues intermittently in the White Oaks, Pittsburg, Hillsboro, Orogrande and Jicarilla districts to the present day. Known placer gold deposits were found along the southern and eastern flanks of the Ortiz Mountains; however, there could be additional placer gold deposits along the western flanks of the mountain range. The gold was then shipped to Switzerland and sold in a new form in Zurich. Within moments he found more skeletons, most of them bound and secured to stakes like the first. But the expedition soon went broke, and the Army declared that it would allow no more searches. Ova convinced Doc to return to the big cave and bring one of the heavy bars back up. In all, eight persons told this writer they had received direct threats against their lives or against the lives of their families. New York Times, July 29, 1992 The soldiers, Airman First Class Thomas Berlett and Captain Leonard V. Fiege said they had found approximately 100 gold bars weighing between 40 and 80 pounds each in a small cavern. The deposits generally occur in Late Tertiary- to Holocene-age alluvial fan deposits, bench or terrace gravel deposits, river-bars, and stream deposits or as residual placers formed directly on top of lode deposits typically derived from Proterozoic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary source rocks. Two airmen from nearby Holloman Air Force Base would later say that they had found the gold cavern from another natural opening in the side of the peak. The next day, March 5, 1949, Ryan arrived in the area, insisting that they discuss the problem of what happened to the gold. A new scientific analysis of a large gold bar found decades ago in downtown Mexico City has confirmed it was part of the plunder Spanish conquistadors abandoned as they beat a temporary. Some believe that Doc Noss found the Casa del Cueva de Oro, Spanish for the House of the Golden Cave. Fearing a Federal swindle at the time, Noss returned to Victoria Peak, carrying out gold bars and hiding them, Mrs. Guthrie said. But Doc Noss cared little about the historical value of the treasures inside Victorio Peak, mostly ignoring the pouches, packs, and artifacts. Letha Guthrie, Ovas eldest daughter from a previous marriage, described the next few years as a very happy time for the Noss family, one of simple, hard work with a bright, limitless future. Reaching a compromise, the military allowed Expeditions Unlimited, representing all of the claimants, to excavate the peak in 1977. Now, scientists confirm it was part of a plunder by Spanish conquistador Hernn. Ryan hinted that if Noss did not reveal the whereabouts of the gold, Doc would not live to enjoy it. A gold bar found in a Mexico City park in 1981 was part of the Aztec treasure looted by Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadors 500 years ago, a new study says. One story involves a Jesuit missionary named Padre LaRue whose band of 40 gold mining families was massacred in a punitive raid by Spanish soldiers in the early eighteenhundreds. Led by U.S. Air Force Captain Leonard V. Fiege, the four had done extensive research on Victorio Peak, poring over old documents and records, and even traveling south into Mexico to check stories there regarding a man who has often been linked with the origin of the gold, Padre Philip La Rue. The Lost Padre Gold Mine in New Mexico. The Legendary Treasure White Sands Missile Range, https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/13/archives/the-legendary-treasure-of-the-white-sands-missile-range-gold-bars.html. The initial soundings appear to indicate a cavern precisely where Mr. Noss described. Sam Scott, for example, a retired airline pilot, was warned in 1977 to keep clear of anything regarding Victorio Peak for at least five years under pain of having his home firebombed and his wife and daughter killed. Congress had just passed an act outlawing the private ownership of gold, meaning he had no buyers for his supposed stash (via Unsolved). [6][5] By 1992, a grandson of Ova formed the Ova Noss Family Partnership to finance additional searching. Holes were drilled and it assayed at $20.67 an ounce, said Mrs. Noss. CNN Almost four decades ago, a gold bar was found on land that used to be Aztec ruins in Mexico. In 1981, a construction worker discovered the gold bar, weighing 4.25 lbs. For three months beginning on June 20, 1963, the group used various techniques to search the area; however, they failed to turn up anything. After some discussion, the men decided that Porter should take the bar to a close friend of his who worked in the provost marshals office in nearby Fort Bliss, Texas. The cave was covering a small tunnel, originally thought to be an abandoned mineshaft. According to this source, a B-24 was used to transport at least seven loads of the peaks gold, with up to 20 tons of gold moving in each load. In November 1958, a team of four weekend gold seekers rediscovered the hoard. In 1933, he married Ova Babe Beckworth, and the two settled down in Hot Springs, New Mexico, which later changed its name to Truth or Consequences. The family believes that as much as 100 tons of gold, which would be worth $1.25 billion at today's closing price of $358.90 an ounce on the Commodity Exchange in New York, remains hidden in the cavern. During fluvial events, large volumes of sediment containing free gold are transported and deposited in relatively poorly-sorted alluvial and stream deposits. After much searching, he finally found a small iron bar to carry back through the narrow passageway. Thayer Snipes of El Paso, Texas, swore to an affidavit regarding another death. They had trekked in from Hot Springs, New Mexico, a town since renamed Truth or Consequences. Legend says he sent a palace full of valuables to the United States to be hidden. He was overcome with joy that they might be gold. These materials, including tape-recorded sessions wherein Lyndon Johnson discussed the disposition of some of the gold bars on his ranch, disappeared from Holmes office at the time of his death in February 1977. As Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH . John Dean, the former lawyer for President Richard M. Nixon, mentioned that Attorney General John Mitchell had been asked to pull strings to allow some searchers to look for the gold. Forrest . In 1963, the Army allowed a group of searchers, including Mrs. Noss, to search for the gold. However, Doc was unable to capitalize on the gold bars, as four years before his discovery, Congress had passed the Gold Act, which outlawed the private ownership of gold. 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