RE: The Legend of Montezuma's Treasure
Awesome story. I hadn't heard this one. We've visited Montezuma's Castle (which I don't think had anything to do with Montezuma at all) and I'm aware of other legends, but that one's new to me.
Have you heard of the Lost Dutchman of the Superstition Mountains? Supposedly there's gold hidden there. And there's also a tale of a stage coach laden with gold that was attacked. The drivers were able to hide the gold, but I can't recall if they were killed or never came back.
A couple of friends claimed that they got caught in a storm up there and hid in a cave where they found boxes that they think may have been from the coach. Weary and concerned for their health, they left without properly marking the cave, thinking they could find it later. They never did, though they searched many times... supposedly. :)
Archaeologists estimate that the place known as Montezuma's Castle was abandoned in the 1400s. It was named such in the 1860s because the discoverers thought the Aztecs constructed it.
One theory of the lost Dutchman's mine is that it is where this treasure is! They say that gold shouldn't be in the area that the Dutchman mine is claimed to be, the Superstition Mountains.
There are many tales of lost or hidden gold in our section of the southwest. I do find them all pretty cool reads. I guess that is the kid in me still. :D