Gold in the Shadows: Lost Treasure Legends

The desert that embraces the Colorado River Valley has a way of holding secrets. From the summit of Sitgreaves Pass along Route 66, as the sun sets in the west, shadows fill the canyons and darkness hides old mine tailings, mine shafts, and weathered ruins.

In northwestern Arizona, in the Colorado River Valley and along the old Mojave Road, legends of hidden gold, vanished payrolls, and lost mines are the tall tales shared around campfires and diners. As with many such legends, there is occasionally a grain of truth.

Those tales have fueled countless adventures. For travelers exploring Bullhead City, Laughlin, the Black Mountains, and the lonely reaches of the Mojave Desert, these stories unleash their imagination.

Consider the story of the Canyon Station holdup. This tale of lost gold in the Cerbat Mountains grows more amazing with every telling.

The story takes place along a forgotten road that once climbed to the crest of the Cerbat Mountains and connected the towns of Stockton, Mineral Park, and Cerbat, near the historic C.O.D. Mine, is one of Arizona’s enduring legends of lost treasure.

The year was 1873 or 1875, depending on the storyteller. Near Canyon Station where coaches were double teamed to pull the steep grade, legend has it that two outlaws ambushed a stagecoach carrying a government gold payroll destined for Fort Mohave.

The grain of truth in the story is that a coach was robbed by two men. They were pursued and captured within a few miles of the station. And they were sentenced to serve time in the territorial prison at Yuma. The legend is built a simple fact; the men did not have the money when captured.

How much was stolen? Did one of the pursuers find and keep the money? If not, where was it hidden?

There is a persistent local legend that one of the men returned to the area after serving his sentence. He was searching for the hidden money. Did he find it? Is it still hidden in the remote and craggy canyon?

As with many boys I was enamored with stories of lost treasure in my childhood. That quest for answers to historic mysteries continues to this day and stories are often shared through the Jim Hinckley’s America network.

I first learned of the Canyon Station robbery story at about age 10. Our neighbor was Nell Clack, a member of a pioneering Mohave County family. She sparked my imagination by telling me about growing up near the C.O.D. mine where her father worked, and discovering a small cave overlooking the site of Canyon Station. She claimed to have found an old saddle, and a gold coin.  

Another persistent legend of lost treasure is the story of the Moss Mine in the rugged Black Mountains that tower above the west bank of the Colorado River and Bullhead City. If there was ever a place ideally suited to inspire treasure stories, it is the Black Mountains.

At the dawn of the 20th century, the last major gold rush in Arizona was sparked when Jose Jerez, a former Mexican army captain, discovered a rich gold deposit near the present site of Goldroad. Within a few short years booming mining camps such as Vivian, Silver Creek and Oatman were luring people from throughout the world. And with each new discovery or the opening of a new mine, the legend of the Moss Mine grew.

This legend is also partially grounded in truth. There was a man named John Moss. And he has a connection to Colorado River Valley history. But he was a storyteller that helped build the legend of John Moss. And he was linked to several mines, several of which storytellers claim to be THE lost Moss mine.  

John Moss was an explorer and prospector that also claimed to have been a mountain man. He developed a reputation as a storyteller. That is evidenced by contemporary sources that reference him as captain John Moss even though he never served in the military.

He was linked to the gold rush in El Dorado Canyon near present day Hoover Dam. According to legend through the sale of several claims, Moss made a small fortune.

He next appears in the historic record at Ivanpah, located at the east end of Clark Mountain south of Las Vegas. There were an ebb and flow to his fortunes as his prospecting at the south end of the Amargosa Valleys and in the Newberry Mountains resulted in rich discoveries, and the sale of claims.

There is a legend that Moss sold several claims for $5,000. He then followed the Colorado River to the area of Hardyville and Fort Mohave. In addition to establishing a ranch, he also prospected in the Black Mountains.

 After one of his prospecting trips into the mountains, he returned heavily loaded with gold laced quartz samples. This where the story develops a few holes.  

Moss had made and lost fortunes by filing claims and selling them. Why didn’t he file for and sell a claim in the Black Mountains near present day Oatman? And why did he leave the area and move to the coast?

Fact or fiction the story of Canyon Station and the discovery made by John Moss adds some inspiration for a desert adventure.

Written by Jim Hinckley’s America