Somewhere along the old New Mexico trail that runs from Shakespeare to Skeleton canyon is a shallow mining shaft containing riches that would be quite astounding.

According to the story current in this region, the original prospector found a small stringer of gold, but it pinched out before he had gone many feet, and the hole was abandoned. No one knows the location of this shaft, but it is believed to contain 25 mule loads of gold and silver bars and buckskin bags of Spanish coins and jewelry.

The gold and silver bullion was stolen from the mint and smelter, and the jewels from the cathedral at Monterrey, Mexico. It is known as the “Monterrey loot,” and for a time was buried in Skeleton canyon near the little town of Rodeo, New Mexico.

The bandit gang that stole the treasure and buried it was composed of Jim Hughes, Zwing Hunt, “Doc” Neal and Red Curley. Hughes was the leader, and he and his men were said to have been mixed up in the Lincoln county war in which Billy the Kid was the central figure.

Forming an alliance with the notorious Estrada gang, Hughes and his partners stole 25 U.S. government mules and then crossed the border into Mexico. They robbed the mint, smelter and cathedral at Monterrey and returned to United States territory with booty estimated to be worth between 2.5 and 8 million dollars. Shortly after returning to Texas ill feelings developed between the Estrada men and the Hughes gang, and the feud ended in a gunfight in which the Mexicans were wiped out.

The treasure was buried temporarily in Skeleton canyon and Zwing Hunt, who had been wounded in the battle, was left to guard it. Other members of the band continued their raids on mining camps and stages in Arizona and New Mexico. Their last crime was the murder of a farmer and his son and the theft of their wagon and ox teams.

Hunt had recovered from his wound, and it was decided to load the treasure, which by now had grown, in the wagon and head for Silver City. Two days from Skeleton canyon, a distance estimated between 40 and 50 miles, the unshod oxen became so crippled from travel over the sharp rocks they were unable to continue.

That night the loot was carried up a hill and dumped into the abandoned shaft. Two buckskin bags of jewelry and church plate were thrown in the hole on top of the money and bullion, and the shallow shaft filled with rocks and gravel from the dump. The oxen were turned loose to fend for themselves. The woodwork of the wagon was burned.

The bandits had taken what money they could carry conveniently, and when they reached Silver City they spent it freely. Heavy drinking led to a gunfight in which a young easterner was killed by one of the bandits, and the entire gang immediately dispersed to the hills with a posse after them. Neal was shot and died instantly. Hunt was wounded and taken to Tombstone where he subsequently escaped and was reported to have been killed by Apache Indians.

Red Curley and Hughes were overtaken and captured at Shakespeare where they were well known for their depredations and both were hung from a rafter in the dining room of the Pioneer House. Curley offered to take his captors to the buried loot if the noose were taken from his neck, but the request was refused, and with his death none remained who knew the location of the treasure-filled mine shaft.

Prospectors have searched the area, and gold hunters with metal detectors have made many trips into the region of Skeleton canyon and as far away as El Muerto springs, but the old shaft probably has acquired a covering of desert vegetation by now, and the recovery of the fortune is considered unlikely unless some one comes upon the spot by accident. But then again, who knows.