Proof of the Reynold's Gang Treasure Found??? Options

[Enigma1]

Hello Everyone,

I've been hunting, hiking, fishing, and camping in Geneva Gulch since my father first took me there nearly 30 years ago. In my own opinion, I'd say I know the area better than most.

I'd never heard of the Reynold's Gang treasure until about a year ago when I was researching the ghost town of Geneva. At first I didn't pay much attention, and just found the tale an interesting footnote to the area's history.

Then I remembered an unusual find I had made in August 2011-

While on a long, remote hike, I stumbled onto the bones of a very large animal, partially buried in years of sediment and moss near a swampy/bog like area at about 11,000 ft. elevation. The bones were extremely old, and badly deteriorated. I uncovered several, including a fragile jaw bone that was under several inches of moss and mud that still contained a few teeth. A short distance away I noticed a rusted object which turned out to be a very old rusted shovel/spade head.

Due to the length of the hike back to camp, and the size of the bones, I only kept the jaw, and snapped a few photos of the rest. I didn't think anything of the shovel/spade I had found, and left it were it lay after a quick look. I had no idea what kind of bones I had found, and didn't think the shovel was connected to them in any way at the time.

I was interested to find out what kind of bones they were, as I had never seen such a large animal in the area. They weren't elk or moose bones, and why would such a giant animal have been wandering around at or above timberline where there is so little forage?

I posted the pics on an archaeological forum, and within a few days I had my answer from a Professor at British University- The bones I had found were those of a horse, and the Professor noted the extent of the decay as unusual and stated that this indicated they were quite old- he estimated around 150 years old.

I've since begun to wonder if these bones and the shovel may have been tied to the Reynold's Gang?

The account of the shootout, and the buried treasure mentions a horse that became mired in a swampy area that had to be killed/abandoned on the spot, and it is said that the stolen loot was buried at the head of a gulch around 11,000 ft. The tale also mentions the loot was buried in an old prospect hole after they had "followed the mountain around to the right". Geographically, where I found the horse skeleton and shovel, there was a large hill and the lay of the land "followed it around to the right".

Also since learning of the Reynold's Gang, I've done some research on Civil War era shovels, and the shovel I found was similar.

I'll be returning this summer for an extended search of the area, and sorry, I won't be sharing the exact location with anyone!

Here are photos of the bones I think may be the mired horse of the Reynold's Gang-

Cheers!

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[swizz]

Also... looks like at least one other party has (reportedly) historically located the hose bones (Albert Brown) and had four attempts but said it was never found. Seems that the Albert Brown party should have found it since they were the ones that buried it... but apparently not? Must be a very well concealed rock cover over that hole... or Albert and the boys lied.
the plot thickens...

Fairplay, 1860, courtesy Denver Public Library

Finally, a posse was organized and on July 30, 1864, the outlaws were spotted camping in a forest. A gunfight quickly ensued, leaving one outlaw by the name of Owen Singleterry dead. One posse member, a Dr. Cooper, cut off Singleterry’s head, took it back to Fairplay and preserved it in alcohol, where it supposedly remained for many years.

The gang buried their loot and split up, fleeing the area. It was estimated that the gang had taken somewhere between $5,000 and $100,000 and area locals blamed them for every robbery within miles.



An even bigger posse was raised to capture the fleeing bandits. About seventy-five men were dispatched to find the thieves and just four days later, four of them were captured. Outlaw, Tom Holliman, was caught just days later as he made his way to Canon City, Colorado. However, Jim Reynolds, his brother John, and another bandit escaped to New Mexico.








As the five captured bandits were being taken to Fort Lyon, the first stop on their way to Denver for a military trial, a fight ensued. Three of outlaws were killed and two managed to escape.
Years later, John Reynolds lay dying of gunshot wounds suffered during a horse theft in Taos, New Mexico. However, before he died, he shared the story of how the gang had buried their loot, to fellow outlaw Albert Brown. He also drew a map, which showed the site of the ambush and the vague location of the treasure. After Reynolds died from his wounds, Brown and his partners traveled to the South Park area, trying to find the treasure. When they arrived at the site, they were disappointed to find that a forest fire had destroyed many landmarks. While they found an old white hat that supposedly belonged to the decapitated Singleterry, a headless skeleton, and horse bones in a swamp, they were unable to find the rocked-in prospect hole. Brown and his partners made three more attempts to find the treasure, but finally gave up and returned home. Albert Brown later died in a drunken brawl in Laramie City, Wyoming Territory.

However, before he died, he either gave or showed the map to a Detective David J. Cook, a Colorado Lawman. In an autobiography by Detective Cook, published in 1897, Cook quotes Reynold’s conversation with Alfred Brown as follows:

“Jim and me buried the treasure the morning before the posse attack on Geneva Gulch. You go up above there a little ways and find where one of our horses mired down in a swamp. On up at the head of the gulch we turned to the right and followed the mountain around a little farther, and just above the head of Deer Creek, we found an old prospect hole at about timberline. There, we placed $40,000 in greenbacks, wrapped in silk oil cloth, and three cans of gold dust. We filled the mouth of the hole up with stones, and ten steps below, struck a butcher knife into a tree about four feet from the ground and broke the handle off, and left it pointing toward the mouth of the hole.”

By all accounts, the money remains buried somewhere in the South Park area.



Readers' Comments:

I have found that there were three parts to the treasure of the Jim Reynolds gangs lost treasure. I have also found a crude map of the old South Park area which I made from the three parts. If anyone was reading the three different stories of the Reynolds gang they would have found that two of the outlaws were never accounted for until now when you put them together but were reunited with Albert Brown. Yes the treasure is still there, but it has something to do with the Appaloosa horse that one would not think of in the story. When all of this is said and done I believe that this treasure will be found and hopefully it will be.