Treasury in Purgatory

I've always been fascinated by certain periods of history. And I'm a little odd in that I feel much more comfortable surrounded by things from the 1800's than I do with all the modern items we have in our home. I've always said I was born in the wrong time period.

I'm starting with a series of tales of lost treasure that abound here in Colorado. We have a rich history here, and at one time it was thought that the seven cities of gold were hidden in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

This first tale begins in 1539, not far from where I go camping at Trinidad Lake State Park. There is a canyon nearby called Purgatory canyon. Through this canyon runs El Rio de Las Animas Perdidas en Purgatoir which, when translated, means The River of Lost Souls in Purgatory and is more commonly known as the Purgatory River.

In 1539 the Humana and Bonilla expedition made it's way into the mountains of Colorado. This expedition was led by a Portuguese Don, Humana and seconded by a Spaniard, Bonilla. This expedition, consisted of priests, soldiers and miners and had not been sanctioned or requested by either country.

At some point, after reaching Colorado, Bonilla became angry and jealous of Humana and killed him to take over leadership. The priests, who refused to follow a murderous leader, left the group and went back to Mexico. The remainder of the group ended up being attacked and killed by the Apache thus bringing an abrupt end to this expedition!