The match confirms they’re following his route accurately, though Elena feels increasingly isolated as they penetrate deeper into wilderness that sees few visitors during any season. Cell phone coverage disappeared an hour ago, leaving them dependent on their GPS device and Morrison’s carefully documented navigation notes. Marcus climbs onto the truck’s running board to photograph the rock formation, documenting their progress, while Elena examines Morrison’s description of the next segment of their route.
The historian’s notes become increasingly detailed as his route approaches the treasure site, indicating landmarks and terrain features with the precision of someone who understood that navigation errors in desert wilderness could prove fatal. Morrison mentions a side canyon about two miles ahead, Elena reads from the journal. He says the entrance is partially hidden by a large boulder that fell from the cliff face sometime during the last century.
The desert landscape around them shows evidence of the geological forces that created the superstition. Mountains, scattered boulders, exposed mineral veins, and the kind of rugged terrain that challenged Spanish colonial expeditions nearly three centuries ago. Elena understands why treasure hunting in this environment appeals to people with patience and determination, though she also recognizes why so many treasure hunters have disappeared without leaving.
By traces, they drive slowly along what Morrison optimistically calls a road, but which resembles a dry creek bed scattered with rocks large enough to damage their truck’s undercarriage. Elena engages the four-wheel drive system and reduces speed to walking pace, following tire tracks that might have been left by Morrison’s vehicle or might represent other visitors with unknown intentions. The side canyon Morrison described appears exactly where his notes indicate, its entrance nearly concealed by a house-sized boulder that has tumbled from the cliff above.
Elena parks the truck in shade provided by the boulder, recognizing that the vehicle’s dark paint will absorb enough heat during the day to make metal surfaces untouchable by afternoon. Marcus unfolds a piece of paper from Morrison’s journal, a hand-drawn map showing the interior of the hidden canyon, complete with distance measurements and compass bearings that the old historian recorded during multiple visits. The map indicates a specific location, approximately half a mile into the canyon, where Morrison found what he calls definitive Spanish colonial markers.
Elena shoulders her backpack loaded with water, first aid supplies, and metal detecting equipment they purchased with their last remaining credit. The threatening note has made them paranoid about being followed, but the isolation of their current location provides reassurance that they’ve succeeded in traveling here without detection. The canyon entrance feels cooler than the open desert, shaded by vertical walls that rise more than 50 feet on both sides.
Morrison’s map shows the canyon following a serpentine course that conceals its interior from casual observation, creating a hidden valley that Spanish colonial expeditions might have used for temporary camps or emergency supply caches. Twenty minutes into the canyon, Marcus stops beside a boulder that bears what appears to be carved symbols, geometric shapes, and directional arrows that don’t resemble natural geological features or modern graffiti. The carving style matches illustrations in Morrison’s journal, confirming they’ve located the Spanish colonial markers that guided the historian to his ultimate discovery.
Elena photographs the carved boulder from multiple angles, documenting the symbols that represent the first tangible evidence of Spanish presence in this remote location. The markers confirm Morrison’s research while pointing them toward whatever treasure cache justified his years of patient investigation. The carved Spanish markers lead deeper into the canyon, following a route that demonstrates the sophisticated navigation knowledge of 18th century expeditions.
Elena and Marcus trace the directional arrows from boulder to boulder, each carved symbol pointing toward the next landmark in a chain that has survived nearly three centuries of desert weather and geological change. Morrison’s map proves remarkably accurate as they progress through the canyon’s twisting course. The historian documented every significant terrain feature, narrow passages where the walls close to arm’s width, ancient flood channels carved into the floor, and scattered boulders that provide shade during the increasingly brutal midday heat.
The canyon floor shows evidence of seasonal water flow, though the current dry season has reduced the stream bed to scattered pools of stagnant water that Elena tests with purification tablets before refilling their bottles. Desert survival requires constant attention to water resources, and Morrison’s notes emphasize that this canyon provides one of the few reliable water sources in the immediate area. After two hours of careful hiking, the canyon opens into a hidden valley that appears on no official maps or satellite images.
The natural amphitheater stretches perhaps half a mile in diameter, surrounded by vertical cliffs that make it invisible from outside the entrance. Ancient cottonwood trees indicate a permanent water source, while scattered ruins suggest human habitation during historical periods. Elena examines the ruins while Marcus consults Morrison’s increasingly detailed notes about this hidden valley.
The stone foundations appear too old for modern construction, but too sophisticated for casual camping structures. Morrison’s research identifies them as remains of a Spanish colonial waystation, a temporary supply depot used by mining expeditions traveling between established settlements. Look at this, Marcus calls Elena’s attention to a passage in Morrison’s journal.
He writes about finding evidence of emergency occupation, hastily buried supplies, defensive positions, signs that people stayed here longer than originally planned. The implications align with their library, research about Spanish expeditions that disappeared during the 1750s. This hidden valley could represent the location where a silver convoy made its final stand against Apache attacks, burying their valuable cargo before succumbing to superior numbers or harsh desert conditions.
Elena discovers additional carved markers among the ruins, these more elaborate than the directional arrows that guided them through the canyon. Spanish colonial symbols indicate specific locations within the valley, water sources, defensible positions, and what appears to be a marked burial site near the base of the eastern cliff wall. Morrison’s notes become increasingly excited as he documents his discoveries in this hidden valley.
His journal entries span three years of visits, each trip revealing additional evidence of Spanish colonial presence and pointing toward the specific location of buried treasure. The historian’s methodical approach transformed casual treasure, hunting into legitimate archaeological investigation Marcus uses their metal detector to survey the area Morrison identified as the primary burial site. The device immediately registers strong signals indicating metal objects buried approximately three feet below the surface.
The readings suggest multiple objects of significant size, consistent with Morrison’s theory about emergency burial of silver ingots and processed ore. But Elena’s attention focuses on something Morrison apparently missed during his visits, a small object partially exposed by recent erosion near the marked burial site. She carefully extracts what appears to be a silver medallion, tarnished but intact, bearing Spanish colonial religious imagery and text that identifies it as belonging to a Franciscan missionary.
The medallion bears an inscription that Elena translates with difficulty, Padre Francisco Garcés, Mission San Xavier del Bac, Zim 51, the name matches historical, records they researched at the Phoenix Library. Father Garcés was the missionary who reported the disappearance of silver convoys in this exact area during the 1750s. Marcus, this medallion belonged to the priest who documented the lost expedition, Elena explains, her voice reflecting the awe of holding an artifact that connects them directly to documented historical events.
Father Garcés was here, probably with the Spanish soldiers who buried this treasure. The discovery transforms their treasure hunting into historical detective work. They’re not just seeking valuable artifacts, they’re uncovering evidence of specific people who lived, struggled and died in this remote location nearly three centuries ago.
The medallion represents a personal connection to the Spanish colonial expedition that Morrison spent years researching. Morrison’s journal indicates that this hidden valley contains the primary treasure cache, but his notes also warn about the challenges of recovering buried silver without proper excavation equipment. The historian planned to return with mechanical assistance and legal documentation for archaeological recovery, but his unexpected death prevented him from completing his life’s work.
Elena carefully stores the medallion in her backpack, recognizing its historical significance regardless of monetary value. The artifact confirms Morrison’s research while providing tangible evidence that their dangerous desert expedition has located the actual site of documented Spanish colonial activity. The sound of vehicles approaching through the canyon reaches Elena and Marcus…
