Who doesn’t love a treasure hunt? While people around the world have been fascinated by lost treasures and the quests to find them, there’s been an especially rich history of treasure hunting in Utah. For centuries, the Beehive State has held legends of hidden treasures, from outlaws’ caches of gold and silver coins to treasures deliberately hidden as part of a national hunt.
What makes Utah such a magnet for tales of treasure? It’s hard to say. Perhaps it’s the state’s rugged terrain, full of remote and hidden places that could hold just about anything. Perhaps it’s part of the broader history of the American West, and the Gold Rush that brought people out West in droves. Perhaps it’s something else altogether. But however you slice it, Utah tales of treasure just don’t seem to quit.
Before you read these treasure tales, be forewarned: Treasure hunting, especially in remote corners of Utah, can be dangerous and should only be attempted with extreme caution and emergency plans in place. No hidden treasure is worth your health or safety.
But there’s no danger in hearing some of the best treasure stories in the state. So, without further delay, check out some of Utah’s legendary treasures, and the lengths people have gone to in order to seek them out:
1. Curious questions at Blind Frog Ranch
Treasure hunts are fun, but what about one that’s a little bit spooky? When it comes to Blind Frog Ranch, the treasure story is also something of a mystery. For years, Blind Frog Ranch in the Uinta Basin was the subject of legends of hidden Aztec gold. Now, this could easily be written off as a colorful story…but it’s one of those stories that just doesn’t seem to quit. To the point that the Discovery Channel decided to investigate it for themselves on the TV series “The Mystery of Blind Frog Ranch.”
What did the investigators find? Well, they did discover golden ingots hidden away, but there’s no word on whether or not they belonged to Aztecs—and no evidence pointing to an Aztec connection at the site. Moreover, the hunt involved a fair amount of physical danger, and while the Discovery Channel has precautions in place to keep the treasure hunters on the show safe, if you’re in the Uinta Basin, it’s still not advisable to try similar hunts for yourself.
2. Forrest Fenn’s Rocky Mountain treasure hunt
Unlike many of Utah’s legendary treasure hunts, this one was started deliberately, eventually solved, and didn’t actually involve a treasure in Utah, when all was said and done. Forrest Fenn’s treasure hunt was a project that took treasure seekers across the Western United States in search of the treasure that Fenn, a New Mexico art dealer, hid in the Rocky Mountains in 2010, challenging seekers to find it.
The treasure hunt sparked massive interest, with clues, theories, and expeditions across the Rockies—including in Utah. The hunt also proved controversial, with multiple deaths from accidents while hunting for it, and one Utahn seeker arrested for damaging artifacts while on the hunt. In Utah itself, many treasure hunters attempted to follow the clues left by Fenn to find treasure in the Beehive State, but in 2020, the treasure was finally found in Wyoming.
3. Montezuma’s maybe-treasure in Southern Utah
History tells us that the Aztec Empire may have had some connections to Utah, particularly in the context of long-term migration. While that’s still debated by scholars, treasure hunters have a different question on their lips: is Montezuma’s lost treasure hidden somewhere in Utah even now? While the Blind Frog Ranch treasure stories simply discuss “Aztec gold,” another legend links a treasure more specifically to Montezuma himself.
The legend of Montezuma’s treasure has centered around the town of Kanab, specifically, where hunters have looked for over a century. In 1922, an excavation team led by a prospector named Freddy Crystal believed they had the location, but the treasure was never unearthed—and while Crystal simply left town, others who’ve sought the treasure have, according to legend, met untimely deaths (or been stymied by legal challenges), so perhaps it’s best to leave it undisturbed.
4. The lost loot of the Castle Gate Robbery
The Wild West was full of outlaws, and Utah was no exception. But what happened to the loot that these criminal gangs made off with? Well, much of it was spent, but sometimes, when the authorities were hot on their tail, the outlaws would hide their loot to come back for it later. And sometimes, just sometimes, they would be apprehended or otherwise detained. And the loot would stay hidden for anyone to seek out.
That may have happened in the case of the infamous Castle Gate Robbery, carried out by none other than Butch Cassidy and his gang. The gang reportedly stashed the lion’s share of more than $8,000 (around $300,000 in modern currency) in gold and silver they’d stolen from the Rio Grande Western Railway depot for the Pleasant Valley Coal Company in the mountains of Utah—and this remains one of Utah’s most intriguing treasures as the existence of the loot itself has never been doubted, but the treasure has still never been found.
5. The mysterious vanishing Rhoades mine
How does a gold mine up and disappear? It shouldn’t be possible—and yet, stories of the vanished Rhoades Mine just don’t seem to quit. Legend has it that, in the 1850s, Utah frontiersman Thomas Rhoades was led to a bountiful gold mine by Native American Chief Walker (Wakara), leader of the Ute people who was, like Rhoades, a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints.
While Rhoades did certainly appear to be a wealthy man, and rumors of his gold stores were prevalent even during his and his equally wealthy son’s lifetimes, the Rhoades mine, allegedly in the Uinta Mountains, has never been found.
6. The potential site of the Lost Josephine
Where, oh where, did Josephine go? Despite what the name may suggest, the Lost Josephine was never a person; it was a mine. Like the Rhoades Mine legend, the Lost Josephine is a mine full of gold and silver, allegedly abandoned by the Spanish. Unlike the Rhoades Mine, though, there’s a possibility the Lost Josephine has been found again.
In 2013, Gary Holt of Summit County discovered an abandoned mine at Hoyt’s Peak in the Uinta Mountains, which he believes may be the Lost Josephine. However, Holt never did find the vaults of gold and silver that allegedly filled the Lost Josephine, so there are sources who claim it’s still out there, awaiting discovery again.
7. Treasure Hunting in Utah: An annual tradition
Utahns love treasure hunting so much, some have actually turned it into an annual event. The Utah Treasure Hunt is a family-friendly annual event, plus assorted “side quests” with smaller prizes.
Unlike many of the other treasure hunts on this list, there’s no myth or legend involved, only a spirit of adventure, and unlike the Fenn Treasure, these hunts are designed to be safely accessible to Utahns of all ages. So, if you want to try your own hand at hunting for an authentic Utah treasure, check out the website. Good luck, and happy hunting!
This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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