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Where is the lost treasure of the Emperor of Mexico?
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph was one Emperor of Mexico
that was loved by many but also hated by many. It is believed that French
Emperor Napoleon III and a conservative group of Mexicans schemed to crown him
Emperor on June 10, 1864. There were devious reasons that the French Emperor and
this conservative group desired to have Maximilian Emperor of Mexico. Mexico at
this time owed a debt to Napoleon III and he wished to collect what was due him
and the government of Benito Juarez was too liberal for this French Emperor.
Juarez suspended the payment of $15 million and lied to Maximilian when he was
told that the Mexican people had voted for him to be their new Emperor.
Maximilian did agree to move to Mexico and take over the crown after much
persuasion. He went to Mexico with his wife Carlota and his own personal French
army in 1864.
Maximilian was not the harsh cold conservative that
the French had desire as an Emperor to Mexico. He loved the people of Mexico and
ruled as a father would over his children.
The American Civil War came to an end in 1865 and
the United States then ordered the French to leave Mexico as it was a clear
violation of the Monroe Doctrine. At this time, Carlota, Maximilian’s wife
returned to Europe to seek help from Napoleon III and Pope Pius IX that were
behind this scheme. However, of course since Maximilian was not the puppet they
had envisioned and they did nothing to aid Maximilian or Carlota. Carlota became
unstable understanding what this could mean for her husband, she had an
emotional and mental breakdown. She was not able to return to Mexico and to her
loving husband. She became a recluse in Laeken, Belgium and died alone in 1927.
The French did move as ordered by the United States
after about one year in 1867. Juarez and his troops moved back into Mexico City.
Without the aid that Maximilian needed to fight off Juarez and his troops, he
fled with the supporters he still had to Queretaro. After he was captured,
rulers in Europe did protest but nothing was to stop Juarez and his troops from
making sure that this ruler never got a chance to rule again. He was executed
outside Queretaro on June 19, 1867. This day many that believed in Maximilian
and his fatherly way of ruling mourned the day while others of course were glad.
Maximilian before his capture and death knew what
the future held and because of this he collected his treasures which were
Australian, Spanish, and American gold coins, gold and silver plate and some
bullion. This is how the legend goes anyway. He had all his treasures places
onto wagons with the instructions for the drivers to go to San Antonio, Texas
and then to Galveston, Texas where the treasure could be sent to Austria and
into the hands of his wife Carlota. Remember this is 1867, Texas was an unstable
territory with bands of ex-Confederate soldiers and people fleeing Mexico that
loved Maximilian and knew he was soon to be in power no longer. These were rough
times with bandits and gunmen along with Indians fighting for survival.
The group that left Mexico with Maximilian’s
treasure Maximilianos as they were later called was a group of fifteen people
including one woman that was the leader of the Maximilianos daughter. There only
objective was to get to San Antonio at the time that they met up with a group
that did offer some aid, the ex-Confederates. The Maximilianos were not familiar
to the Chihuahua Trail and could use the help. The Americans did agree to help
the Maximilianos with their cargo of so-called flour to San Antonio. Suspicious
began to mount among the Americans when the flour was never left alone; someone
was always near and even slept in the wagon with the flour. As they began to
near Pecos River, the cargo was detected at when the group reached Castle Gap;
around fifteen miles east of Horsehead Crossing, all the Maximilianos were
killed. Their bodies and wagons were burned. The treasure was too much for these
devious Americans to carry so they buried more of the treasure than they took
with them, with the hopes of returning later. After their dirty deed, they
headed off east.
When they reached Fort Concho, Bill Murdock the leader of the group became very
ill and had to stay behind. The rest of his bandits kept heading east, but they
were soon attacked by Indians and mutilated. Once Bill could travel, he
discovered their bodies along the trail. Now, he was the only one left alive
that knew the whereabouts of Maximilian’s treasure. He headed to Missouri to ask
the James Brothers to travel with him to Texas to share in the loot. On his way,
he met up with some more bad characters and found himself in jail in Denton,
Texas, with the horse thieves. He once again became very ill and a Dr. Black was
called in. Dr. Black knew that Bill Murdock did not have long to live and he
sent for a lawyer to try to get Murdock released from jail. The lawyer O’Connor
could not get him released before his death. However, Bill Murdock told the
story of how he and his group of men killed the Maximilianos, stole the
treasure, and buried it. He even presented a map of the location of the buried
treasure before he died. Black and O’Connor traveled to the area, but the
landscape had changed or so they say and the treasure to this day is still
buried. Some believe that it will remain hidden until an heir or rightful owner
of Maximilian’s treasure searches in the area around Castle Gap.
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