Title: “Fort Huachuca Gold”

Season 1, Episode 3

Description:

In this episode of Forgotten Fortunes, we journey into the shadowed canyons of southern Arizona and explore one of the West’s most enduring legends: a soldier’s claim to a hidden chamber of gold beneath Fort Huachuca. Did Pvt. Robert Jones really stumble into a trove of ingots? Or is this just another tall tale in the desert night? We’ll sift through archival accounts, newspaper reports, and modern investigations to separate gold from dust.

Resources & Further Reading:

• Amazon affiliate: Robert Jones – Fort Huachuca Gold Book (affiliate link)
  https://amzn.to/4qktusU

(This is an affiliate link; if you purchase via this link I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

• “Is a fortune in gold buried at Fort Huachuca?” — Arizona Republic / azcentral article (2017)
  https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/arizona/2017/08/01/jones-gold-fort-huachuca-legend/428889001/

• “Republic Reporter Digs Into Story Of Soldier’s Pursuit Of Ft. Huachuca Gold” — KJZZ story by Lauren Gilger (2017)
  https://kjzz.org/content/534502/republic-reporter-digs-story-soldiers-pursuit-ft-huachuca-gold
• “Legends of the Lost” — Arizona Highways magazine (1992) — the classic deep dive on the Jones gold legend
  https://www.arizonahighways.com/archive/issues/chapter/Doc.857.Chapter.11

Tags / Keywords:

Fort Huachuca, hidden gold, Arizona legends, treasure stories, military history, desert mysteries, Jones gold, forgotten fortunes

Episode: The Gold Behind the Waterfall

In 1910, a solitary prospector named Tom Watson discovered an unopened letter in an abandoned cabin near Flagstaff, Arizona. The letter, dated 1904, described a sack of gold nuggets hidden behind a 22-foot waterfall deep in the Grand Canyon.

Drawn by the map that came with it, Watson spent years searching the Canyon’s side gorges. He endured blistering summers, snowbound winters, and endless dead ends. Finally, in June 1914, after a rare summer rainstorm, Watson stumbled on a waterfall that matched the letter’s description. Behind its veil, he found a cave floor glittering with gold.

But his triumph turned to tragedy. A fall shattered his leg, and by the time he crawled to safety, infection had nearly killed him. Though he survived, he was never able to find the same waterfall again. Even with help from a companion, veterinarian Roy Scanlon, the elusive site seemed to vanish. In 1915, broken in spirit, Watson ended his life at Deadman Flat. Two gold nuggets were still in his pocket.

Notes & Sources

• The waterfall’s location remains one of the Canyon’s enduring mysteries. Many side canyons feature seasonal falls that roar during spring snowmelt or after a heavy monsoon, but dry up for much of the year. This may explain why Watson could never relocate the site.
• The nearby ranch where he was treated was the Buggeln Ranch, a historic property associated with the Bright Angel Hotel and early Canyon tourism.
• Accounts of this story appear in W.C. Jameson’s Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of Arizona, as well as Arizona Highways and earlier magazine retellings.

Disclaimer

This episode shares a historical legend. The Grand Canyon is protected land, and treasure hunting or digging is not permitted. Please respect the land, the law, and the cultures who have lived in and around the Canyon for generations.

In 1899, a Southern Pacific train was stopped in the desert night near Cochise Station. Minutes later, sixty thousand dollars in fresh-minted gold coins had vanished.

Constable Burt Alvord led the search… but the truth behind the robbery was far stranger than anyone imagined. From midnight gunfights to jailbreaks, from the hellhole of Yuma Prison to a mysterious disappearance in Panama, Alvord’s story blurs the line between lawman and outlaw.

More than two million dollars in today’s money may still be hidden out here — somewhere among the mesquite, boulders, and dry washes of Cochise County.

Sources & Extras:

Lost Mines & Buried Treasures of Arizona by W.C. Jameson

https://amzn.to/3IsqCZU

The book links above are Amazon affiliate links. If you pick up a copy through them, it helps support Forgotten Fortunes at no extra cost to you.

Above all else. Thank you for listening