Write the claim down first
“ (who) hid or lost (what, how much) at (where) in (when), and it has not been found because .”
A story that cannot be written this plainly cannot be checked. Every blank you cannot fill is a question to answer before anything else.
Nine questions
- Who told it first, and when? Find the earliest version in print. Count the years between the event and that telling. A story first printed sixty years later is a different kind of evidence from a report made that week.
- What did the teller know first-hand? Sort each detail into saw it, was told it, or supposed it.
- Is there a record made at the time? Newspapers, court and land records, military reports, mission and church books, mining claims, assay and mint records. One dull document made at the time outweighs many exciting retellings.
- Do the names, dates and places check out separately? Was that person alive, in that place, in that year? Did the fort, road, mine or mission exist yet?
- Has the story grown? Lay the versions side by side in date order. Note what each one adds. Amounts usually rise and landmarks usually multiply.
- Does the ground agree? Check the distances, the water, the travel time and the season on a map of the period. Rivers, roads and place names move.
- Does the weight agree? Gold is heavy: a solid cubic foot weighs about 1,200 pounds. Work out what the claimed amount would weigh and how it could have been moved and hidden by the people in the story.
- Who gains from the telling? A map for sale, a book, a mine promotion or a town’s tourist trade does not make a story false, but it explains why it is still told.
- Whose land is it, and what is allowed there? Find out who owns or manages the ground and what the rules are before you set foot on it. On public land, historic and archaeological sites are protected by law.
Your verdict
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| Documented | A record made at the time supports the main claim. |
| Plausible | No record of the event, but the people, place and period check out and nothing contradicts it. |
| Legend | Late first telling, growing details, and the parts that can be checked fail. |
Most stories land between the last two, and a legend can still be worth reading. The point is to know which kind you are holding.
For the places and sources behind many Southwest stories, the Grant County Atlas is free to use. The Treasure section has longer guides to research and to searching responsibly.