In a little-known mountain range in southern New Mexico is an
unremarkable mountain called Victorio Peak. In a cavern in that
mountain, it is rumored that billions of dollars' worth of artifacts and
thousands of gold and silver ingots and coins have been cached for
decades, a treasure that dwarfs all others. Its existence, or the belief
in its existence, has been responsible for millions of dollars' worth of
recovery efforts, blatant violation of laws and trampling of legal
rights by the United States government as well as dozens of citizens,
and the involvement of a wide variety of infamous characters. It has
also been responsible for a number of deaths. For generations, people
all over the world have been fascinated and enthralled by tales and
legends of lost mines and buried treasures. There is something in the
human DNA that embraces such things. North America has served as a
setting for hundreds of such tales, and every now and then one of these
treasures is found. Most can identify the Lost Dutchman Mine of
Arizona's Superstition Mountains and the so-called Oak Island Treasure
in Nova Scotia as prominent examples of legends that have seized the
attention of millions. If one were to write a mystery/thriller
incorporating colorful characters, murder, unexplained deaths, intrigue,
theft, deceit, and political and legal machinations, one need not look
any further than the incredible treasure mystery associated with
Victorio Peak. It is, in fact, one of the most bizarre and confounding
mysteries in American history and involves what my well be the largest
treasure cache known to man.
