Bones and Treasure, a recurring theme

First off, I would like to say that I have only been to New Mexico seven times and only three of those trips were related to treasure. One of those times did lead to the end of a trail and unfortunately, an empty hole. With that said, when I started to do a little research for this blog article I was amazed at the amount of treasure stories I found concerning New Mexico.

If you are ever in New Mexico, it is loaded with lost mines and treasures so make sure to take so time to do some hiking if you can.

Here is one of those stories.

Back in 1865 a butcher by the name of Charles Kennedy and his wife came to the area of the Palo Flechado Pass in Taos County and built a cabin. By all appearances they lived what seemed to be a simple and normal life. That is until 1871.

From the time that Mr. Kennedy arrived in the valley wealthy travelers and miners working in the same area had been disappearing. No one knew what had happened to these people until Mrs. Kennedy came forward and admitted that her husband was nuts (a clinical term from the 1800’s) and he had been robbing and murdering these people. Instead of telling the local sheriff first, Mrs. Kennedy chose to tell the other residents of the community about her husband’s activities.

Charles Kennedy was quickly lynched by a group of angry citizens before any questions could be asked. After the lynching the local sheriff made a search of the Kennedy’s cabin and the immediate grounds around the cabin. This search found several human bones and whole skeletons in the yard and under the under the fireplace. It was estimated that Mr. Kennedy had killed between 25 and 100 people before his own unpleasant demise.

It was said that the Kennedy’s never spent any money that wasn’t necessary and none of the stolen gold and jewelry was ever found.

Did Mrs. Kennedy decide to get rid of her husband and keep the spoils for herself? It’s certainly possible. You know how vindictive women can get in a divorce! Sorry ladies but you know it can be true :~)

Maybe Mr. Kennedy wouldn’t tell his wife where the stolen goods were or maybe she was afraid the crazy ol’ coot was going to kill her next. No matter what the scenario it is possible that there is still one or more treasures waiting to be found around the Kennedy’s cabin.

The cabin, with a dugout was located in Moreno Valley at the mouth of Fernandez Canyon about three-quarters of a mile from the foot of Palo Flechado Pass. This would be about fifteen miles south-southwest of Eagle Nest, north of Highway 64.

Good luck and don’t forget the very good possibility that the local sheriff at the time didn’t find all of remains of the unlucky victims of Charles Kennedy.