New Mexicos Lost Treasure

In 1797 during the last years of the Spanish, stationed at Chihuaha, New Mexico, was a priest named La Rue. As Father LaRue tended to an old dying soldier, he listened while the soldier told him of a rich gold-bearing load in the mountains north of El Paso del Norte   The soldier explained to LaRue that the mother lode could be found by traveling one day north of El Paso until you came upon three small peaks. When the peaks came into view, turn east across the desert to the mountains. On the first mountain range, you will find a basin with a spring at the foot of a solitary peak. This mountain is where the gold vein lies.
Shortly after the soldier died, Chihuaha settlement was devastated by drought and famine. The Priest called the villagers together asking if they would follow him north to a better climate and more water.  Having agreed they migrated north.  After crossing El Paso del Norte, they followed the course of the Rio Grande to the small village of La Mesilla near Las Cruces, New Mexico. North of there, they sighted the three peaks and turned east across the dreaded Jornada del Muerto desert, they finally arrived in the San Andreas Mountains, and just as the old soldier had said, they located a basin in which there was a spring at the base of a solitary peak. Settling the new colony at Spirit Springs in Dona Ana County, Larue sent the men out to search for the gold.  On one side of the peak, they located a rich vein in a deep canyon southwest of the springs.  They tunneled into the mountain and followed the vein downward.  The deeper they went, the richer the ore became.  The priest assigned dozens of monks and Indians to mine the gold, form it into ingots and stack it along one wall of a natural cavern inside the mountain.  For two years He extracted the gold from the mountain. Word made way into Mexico that LaRue was extracting large quantities of gold. Wasting no time the Spaniards rounded up an expedition to send north. While purchasing supplies in La Mesilla, a small group learned the Mexican Army was on the horizon. Hurrying to camp, they spread the alarm. It was one thing for the priest La Rue to leave his post without permission of church officials in Mexico City, but it was quite another not to deliver the Royal Fifth of the gold for shipment to Spain.  Father La Rue immediately started concealing all traces of the mine. Working day and night he had his little group labor to seal the entrance to the mine.  When the soldiers finally arrived and demanded to know where the gold came from which was used to purchase the supplies in La Mesilla, Padre La Rue refused to answer. He died under torture, as did many of his followers. The soldiers searched the entire area, but finding no clues, they returned to Mexico empty-handed. So this is where the question begins. What happened to the gold? Where do you think the mines are hidden? Any answers or ideas can be left in the comment section below.   Thanks for reading and make sure to come back again.     TreasureFaQs