Victorio Peak treasure facts for kids
The Victorio Peak treasure is a famous story about a large amount of gold that was supposedly found inside Victorio Peak in 1937. This mountain is located in southern New Mexico. People also call it the Treasure of Victorio Peak or the Treasure of San Andres.
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The Mystery of Victorio Peak's Gold
The story of the treasure began in 1937. An American businessman and gold prospector named Milton Ernest "Doc" Noss claimed he found the gold. He said it was hidden deep inside Victorio Peak.
The Search Begins: Doc Noss's Story
Doc Noss was the first to talk about this amazing discovery. He said he found a secret cave filled with gold bars and other valuable items. Many people became very interested in his story. However, even with many trips to the peak, no gold has ever been officially found and recorded from the site. Sadly, Doc Noss passed away in 1949, and the search for the treasure continued without him.
Continued Hunts and New Theories
In 1961, the U.S. Army started its own search. Victorio Peak is inside the White Sands Missile Range, which is a military area. The Army's search stopped when Doc Noss's first wife, Ova Noss, asked state officials to intervene. She later joined an unsuccessful search herself in 1963.
Later, in the 1970s, a lawyer named F. Lee Bailey represented people who claimed they knew where the treasure was. By 1992, Ova Noss's grandson created a group called the Ova Noss Family Partnership. This group worked to fund more searches for the gold. They searched until March 1996, when the Army stopped their access to the area.
Many ideas exist about where this treasure might have come from. Some people think it was taken from Mexico during the time of Emperor Maximilian. Others believe it might have been connected to Pancho Villa and Germany before World War I.
The Treasure in Books and TV Shows
The exciting story of the Victorio Peak treasure and the efforts to find it have been shared in many books and television programs.
- A September 1977 episode of 60 Minutes featured the story. The reporter, Dan Rather, even interviewed Ova Noss.
- The 1978 book 100 Tons of Gold by David Leon Chandler tells the tale.
- The television show Unsolved Mysteries covered the mystery. It first aired on May 10, 1989, with an update on February 11, 1990.
- A 2008 book called What Men Call Treasure was co-written by Robert Boswell.
- A six-part TV series named Gold, Lies & Videotape premiered on the Discovery Channel in January 2023.
See also
- Battle of Hembrillo Basin, an 1880 battle between the U.S. Army and Apaches led by Chief Victorio
- Executive Order 6102, a 1933 action that limited gold ownership in the United States
