Montezuma Treasure

Apparently if you want to find a lost treasure in the United States, your best bet is to check out the Rocky Mountains and the southwest, as this next treasure brings us to the town of Kanab, Utah, which is said to be the home of the Montezuma Treasure. Montezuma, the legendary leader of the Aztecs, was a man in possession of an incredible fortune. It was taken after he was killed during a battle with the Spanish led by Cortez. Millions of dollars worth of jewels and gold were removed from Montezuma's treasure room by his own people in order to keep it away from Cortez.

So why do people think the massive treasure of an Aztec leader wound up in Utah? It turns out in 1914, a prospector found an etching made on the side of a cliff that matched a marking on an old treasure map that was said to lead to Montezuma's treasure. The prospector - man named Freddy Crystal - tracked down a descendent of Montezuma to interpret the map, and it was determined the topography did in fact match Kanab. Crystal actually convinced the townspeople to help him secretly search for the gold with the promise of sharing any findings, and eventually they did manage to find a system of caves and tunnels running through the mountain. It was laced with booby traps, but no gold was ever found, leading to the common belief that if the treasure had ever been there to begin with, it had either been moved by the Aztecs or discovered by some absurdly fortunate spelunker.