It’s hard to watch films like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider without putting ourselves in the shoes of their protagonists and wanting to search for treasures like the Victorio Peak gold.
But dropping life’s mundane responsibilities to go on a treasure hunt seems too fantastical to happen in real life. Well, what if we told you it could? Across the world is buried treasure just waiting to be found by a brave (and patient) adventurer like yourself.
Below is our list of five real-life treasure hunts you can still embark on. Read to find out how you can get a piece of the hidden loot.
The Victorio Peak Gold
In 1937, a man named Milton Ernest “Doc” Noss was deer hunting in Victorio Peak, a mountain range in southern New Mexico.
While there, he stumbled upon a stone that seemed to be obscuring a man-made hole. After pushing aside the heavy stone, he discovered a mine shaft that led deep into the mountain. Things only got weirder when he climbed down the shaft.
After climbing several hundred feet down, he was brought to a large room filled with rare coins, valuable religious artifacts, and thousands of bars of pure gold. This would one day be known as the Victorio Peak Treasure.
In a very Indiana Jones-esque turn of events, Doc also found 27 skeletons, tethered to stakes with their hands bound behind their backs.
However, not even this could stop Doc from later returning to the shaft with his wife. The pair spent about two years carrying gold back and forth from the mine, slowly bringing all the Victorio Peak treasure to the surface.
Victorio Peak Gold: Treasure Update
However, Doc was distrustful of his wife. While she slept, he would disappear into the desert, re-hiding portions of the gold, which to this day have never been found.
He never truly benefited from his discovery, as private ownership of gold was outlawed at the time. Unfortunately, he was murdered in 1949, taking to his grave the secret of where the Victorio Peak treasure had been reburied.
In 1952, the land known as Victorio Peak became a part of the US Army White Sands Missile Range, and civilians were not able to hunt for the treasure until 1989.
Some believe that the Victorio Peak treasure had been covertly excavated by the US government, but this has never been officially confirmed or denied.
Beyond Victorio Peak Gold: The Thomas Beale Treasure
In 1816, Scottish naturalist Thomas Beale and his band of explorers were mining in the Rocky Mountains when they came across a sum of gold and silver said to be worth around $63 million by today’s standards, which would later be dubbed the Thomas Beale Treasure.
Instead of spending their new found wealth frivolously, Beale and his men hid the treasure somewhere in Bedford County, Virginia, as they wanted to ensure that their next of kin would be able to benefit from the massive fortune.
Thomas Beale Treasure Ciphers
Beale then wrote three ciphers, the first detailing the location of the hidden treasure, the second describing its contents, and the third listing the names of Beale and the men’s next of kin, who were to eventually receive shares of the plunder.
He placed these ciphers in a box that he entrusted to Robert Morriss, a local innkeeper. Beale told Morriss that he would return in 10 years. But if for some reason he didn’t, he would mail Morriss a key to decode the ciphers.
Unfortunately, Beale never returned, nor did he mail Morriss the key. (Note: a cryptographic “key” refers to a piece of information that reveals how to decode a cipher text.)
As of today, only the second cipher–the one describing the contents of the treasure–has been decoded. If you think you’re up to the challenge of decoding the other two, they are published online.
