Legends of the Lost

egends of the Lost High Atop Mount Graham Burro Loads of Treasure May Lie Hidden

Driving south from Safford on U.S. Route 191, you try to imagine what eastern Arizona was like before settlers came to the Gila River Valley and dug in, before towns took root, and miners riddled the hills.

12-mile ascent to the end of the road: the campground below the 10,720-foot peak of Mount Graham. Only a half-mile or so from the campground, a trail loops around a natural cienega known as Treasure Park. Surrounding the sunny mead-ow, dark forests of pine, spruce, and fir may hide a secret cache: nine burro loads of gold and sil-ver bullion, jewelry, and other valuables said to have been bur-ied by a band of brigands more than a century ago... the leg-endary lost treasure of Mount Graham.

In the high desert air, the sharp medicinal scent of cha-parral spikes the breeze. To the north lie the geometrical farms of the Gila Valley. To the west, the massive blue hulk of Mount Graham.

About seven miles south of Safford, you turn west onto State Route 366, into the Coronado National Forest, and start the 12-mile ascent to the end of the road: the campground below the 10,720-foot peak of Mount Graham. Only a half-mile or so from the campground, a trail loops around a natural cienega known as Treasure Park. Surrounding the sunny mead-ow, dark forests of pine, spruce, and fir may hide a secret cache: nine burro loads of gold and sil-ver bullion, jewelry, and other valuables said to have been bur-ied by a band of brigands more than a century ago... the leg-endary lost treasure of Mount Graham.

State Route 366 also is known as Swift Trail, named after Theodore T. Swift, a former Tonto National Forest supervisor who played what became a somewhat embarrassing role in the mystery of the lost treasure.

According to Arizona historian and newspaperman Roscoe G. Willson, a personal friend of Swift who vouched for his With integrity, Swift came across the story of the treasure in 1907. As a young forest ranger on what was then the Crook National Forest, Swift was sent to find a route for a telephone line to a fire lookout in the Pinaleno Mountains.

He noticed a blaze, a cut used to mark trails, high up on an old pine tree. Looking around, he discovered more trees with ax marks that appeared to form some kind of trail. He followed them to a clearing in an alder grove where he found a curious sight: three rocks of gray, blue, and red granite set about nine feet apart in the form of a trian-gle. On the red stone was a chisEled cross.

Swift the forester was interested enough by this time to cut into the wood that had scarred over the blazes and count the annual tree rings. He reckoned the blazes had been cut in 1832, 40 years prior to white settlement.

On his return to Safford, Swift made some inquiries and heard the story of the lost treasure from longtime residents. It seems a band of Mexican freebooters once roamed the territory that later became California, Arizona, and New Mexico, robbing waGone trains, rancheros, churches, and mines, amassing gold, silver, and other treasure. They allegedlyly hid their booty on top of a high mountain known to the Spanish as Sierra Bonita, now called Mount Graham.

The bandidos came to a bad end in northern Sonora. In a battle with Mexican militia they were all killed but one. The seriously wounded man escaped to a ranch and was taken in by an old woman who nursed him and hid him from authorities.

As death drew near, he decided to tell her about the treasure in return for her kindness. He sketched a rough map and gave directions to the buried treasure, then expired.

The woman had apparently put the map aside and never attempted to locate the treasure.

However, according to most versions of the story, the map was handed down through the family. It came into the possession of Pedro Michelena of Solomonville, a settlement near Safford.

But by the time Ranger Swift learned this, Michelena had died.

Swift did find out that two men had come to Solomonville in the winter of 1892, outfitted themselves, and departed to parts unknown. In about a week

they returned. One partner left

and one stayed behind, ill with pneumonia. While he was recuperating in Solomonville, the stranger apparently passed on copies of some old documents to three residents. The men were all prominent citizens of the area: Burl B. Adams, Henry Jefferson Dowdle, and Pedro Michelena. According to the Graham County Bulletin of August 16, 1895, the three left in search of hidden treasure and were "very secretive of their movements."

Unfortunately Swift's story leaked out, the national press played it up, and he was besieged with mail from people who thought he had actually discovered the treasure. One writer claimed to be a descendant of one of the robbers and wanted a share of the loot.

Waiting until the storm subsided, Swift pursued the stories and located relatives of Michelena in Douglas, as well as some Gila Valley residents who said they had English translations of the original Spanish documents.

Several versions of the story contend that the treasure was supposed to be under large rocks. The advice given in the documents was "dig deep."

Swift did just that. He packed into the mountains, found his granite rocks, and dug - about six feet down to bedrock. The only thing he found was dirt and rocks.

That ended that. Swift gave up treasure hunting for a Forest Service career but told Roscoe Willson he still believed the cache might be found one day. As far as anyone knows, the location of the stones died with Swift.

But the treasure hunt goes on. Andrew Clarence Dowdle III of Tucson, great-grandson of Henry Jefferson Dowdle of Solomonville, came across the story of the lost treasure of Mount Graham while researching his family history. No documents turned up, but Andy Dowdle found another kind of treasure: a wealth of stories about the colorful people who settled in Arizona.