The Skeleton Canyon treasure is said to be located in the Peloncillo Mountains within

Skeleton Canyon Skeleton Canyon, called Cañon Bonita by the Mexicans, is located northeast of the town of Douglas, Arizona, in the Peloncillo Mountains, which straddle the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line, in the New Mexico Bootheel region. This can ...

. The canyon straddles the modern Arizona and New Mexico state line border and connects the

Animas Valley The Animas Valley is a lengthy and narrow, north–south long, valley located in western Hidalgo County, New Mexico in the Bootheel Region; the extreme south of the valley lies in Sonora- Chihuahua, in the extreme northwest of the Chihuahuan De ...

of New Mexico, (the

New Mexico Bootheel The New Mexico Bootheel is a salient which comprises the southwestern corner of New Mexico. As part of the Gadsden Purchase it is bounded on the east by the Mexican state of Chihuahua along a line at extending south to latitude 31°20′0″ ...

region), with the

San Simon Valley The San Simon Valley is a broad valley east of the Chiricahua Mountains, in the northeast corner of Cochise County, Arizona and southeastern Graham County, Arizona, Graham County, with a small portion near Antelope Pass in Hidalgo County, New Mex ...

of Arizona. An alleged

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

tale, involving a Mexican gang in a sack of

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and buried in southeastern Arizona's Skeleton Canyon in the summer and fall of 1881. According to extant stories, a Mexican gang led by Jose Estrada had sacked several banks and cathedrals in Monterrey, taking a large amount of gold and silver bullion, gold statuary, and diamonds. Some stories indicate the items taken include 39 gold bars and a cigarbox full of diamonds. This gang then made their way northwest, towards

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, where they were ambushed by American outlaws in the Peloncillo Mountains as they made their way through Skeleton Canyon towards the Animas Valley of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Having killed off the Mexican outlaws, the American outlaws supposedly buried the treasure there, and made their way out of the canyon, only to die off one by one in a series of later double-crosses. The treasure remains unrecovered. In treasure hunting there are always true stories, false ones, and those built up from minor events. Skeleton Canyon is of the latter. Between the late 1870s and early 1880s the Clanton Gang operated in that part of Arizona. Their

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

was to rustle cattle and sell the stock to the mining towns which sprang up during that time. Their victims included Mexicans, some of whom were involved in legitimate cattle drives, as well as those engaged in the illegal smuggling of various goods. The canyons along the western side of the Pelloncillos were favored as ambush sites, and it is documented that at least four such ambush/robberies took place. On 13 August 1881, in retaliation for one such ambush, Neuman Haynes Clanton was gunned down in the

Guadalupe Canyon Massacre The Guadalupe Canyon Massacre was an incident that occurred on August 13, 1881 in the Guadalupe Canyon area of the southern Peloncillo Mountains – Guadalupe Mountains. Five American men were killed in an ambush, including "Old Man" Clanton, t ...

. The ambush and robberies in those canyons may have netted the outlaws a small fortune, possibly a few thousand dollars at most, which then grew into the Skeleton Canyon tales today. The large amount that is stated in the tales never existed; a check of newspapers and government sources within Mexico and the U.S. states bordering the area revealed that the source of the treasure, Monterrey, was never sacked and robbed at any time. The legend was dramatized on a 1990 episode of

Unsolved Mysteries ''Unsolved Mysteries'' is an American mystery documentary television show, created by John Cosgrove and Terry Dunn Meurer. Documenting cold cases and paranormal phenomena, it began as a series of seven specials, presented by Raymond Burr, Karl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skeleton Canyon Treasure American frontier Arizona folklore New Mexico Bootheel New Mexico folklore Treasure in Arizona Treasure of the United States