Entierro cristo museo sevilla.jpg

In Chilean folklore the entierros (lit. "burrowing") are legendary treasures buried in different locations by different motives. The identity of the alleged burrowers vary from case to case, sometimes being indigenous peoples, pirates and privateers like Francis Drake or the Jesuits.Montencino 2015, p. 268–273 A significant number of the entierro legends relate to the Spanish Conquest of Chile in the 16th century. Associated to this there is a significant folklore on how to unearth the entierros.

Some people believe that a nocturnal bird called Alicanto can show to treasure hunters the location of entierros.

Patagua trees are said to signal or guide people to an entierro.

Particular entierros

Colonial era entierros

In the far north of Chile a tale says that because Francis Drake feared falling prisoner to the Spanish he buried his treasure near Arica. Further south in Quintero is Cueva del Pirata (lit. "Cave of the Pirate") which is also associated with a treasure of Francis Drake.Montencino 2015, p. 196-197

In Carelmapu an entierro is said to have been left by the Spanish in an effort to hide valuables from Dutch invaders that sacked the settlement in 1643.

During the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767 folklore says Jesuits of buried their valuables near their confiscated estate in Ocoa.Plath 1979, p. 129 By some accounts the buried treasure was once found but nothing was extracted since the vault proved resistant to dynamite. Another saying tells that those who seek to recover the treasure become cursed.

Post-colonial and undated entierros

Also associated with the Jesuit was an entierro said to exist at a large rock known as Piedra del Padre in Cajón del Maipo. The rock was said to resemble a priest. Allegedly the rock was blown up with explosives in an attempt to retrieve the treasure but nothing was found.

One story about an entierro is set during the Chilean War of Independence. Reportedly in the aftermath of the patriot defeat at the Battle of Rancagua (1814) some patrician families gathered their valuables in an ox cart to have them evacuated to Mendoza across the Andes. Its is said that the cart had only reached to Laguna de Aculeo when the Spanish cought up with it. To avoid capture of treasure the driver hit the oxes with the spike of his picana making the oxen plunge towards the centre of the lake where the cart and the treasure then sunk and was lost in the lake's mud.

Another entierro is said to exist in Laguna de los Cristales in the Andes in the commune of Rengo. The entierro is said to have came to being when an arriero sought shelter near the lake amidst a snow storm. While at sleep the lake's water rose and brought him and his mule to the bottom of the lake. According to folklore the mules can still be seen in the bottom of the lake during sunny days. In some versions the arriero can be occasionally seen getting out of lake with his mules into a path.

See also

*Carbunclo
*City of the Caesars
*Cueva de los Pincheira
*Robinson Crusoe Island

References

;Bibliography
*
*

{{Pirates
Chilean legends
Legendary treasures