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New Mexico
Treasure - Victorio Peak |
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In the Fall of 1939, Doc wanted to enlarge the
passageway into Victorio Peak so that the
treasures
could be more easily removed. Hiring a mining engineer by the name of
S.E. Montgomery, the two went into the mountain to blast out the shaft.
The engineer suggested eight sticks of dynamite, to which Noss heatedly
disagreed, claiming the mountain was too unstable. However, the
“expert” won the argument. However, the blast was a disaster, causing
a cave-in, collapsing the fragile shafts, and effectively shutting Doc out
of his own mine.
Doc tried several times to regain entry into his
mine, but the shaft was sealed with tons of debris. All attempts failed,
leaving him an embittered and angry man, which caused problems in his
marriage. Noss soon deserted Babe and in November 1945, a divorce was
granted. Two years later, he married Violet Lena Boles, which would
further complicate ownership of the
treasure
rights for years to come.
Now, instead
of having thousands of gold bars to draw from, Noss had only a few hundred
that he had hidden in the desert. Becoming desperate for cash, Doc
along with a man named Joseph Andregg, transported gold bars, coins, jewels,
and artifacts into Arizona, selling them on the black market. For nine
years, Doc attempted illegally to sell his gold, but it was difficult
finding buyers.
In 1948, Doc met
Charles Ryan, a Texan involved in drilling operations and oil exploration in
West Texas. Noss made an agreement with Ryan to exchange some of the
gold bars for $25,000 to reopen the shaft. Meanwhile, Babe Noss had
filed a counter-claim on the entire area. Denied entry by the courts until
legalities could determine the legal owner of the mine, Doc feared Ryan
would back out of the deal. Sensing a double-cross by Ryan, Doc dug up the
gold that was to be used in the exchange and reburied it in place where Ryan
was unaware.
The next day,
March 5, 1949, Ryan arrived to the area, insisting that they discuss the
problem of what happened to the gold. However, Noss demanded to see
the money before revealing the new hiding place. Ryan hinted that if Noss did not reveal the whereabouts of the gold, Doc would not live to enjoy
it. An intense argument ensued and Noss headed toward his car. Ryan,
fearing Doc was getting a gun, fired a warning shot in Doc’s direction,
demanding that Noss back away from the vehicle. Noss refused to obey
and Ryan fired again, hitting Noss in the head, killing him instantly. Just
twelve years after discovering the
treasure,
Doc Noss died with just $2.16 in his pocket. Ryan was charged with murder,
but was later acquitted.
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 As
the years passed Babe Noss held onto her claim at
Victorio Peak, occasionally hiring men to help her
clear the shaft. However, it was a slow process and in 1955, the White
Sands Missile Range unexpectedly expanded their operations to encompass the Hembrillo Basin. Babe
began a regular correspondence with the military requesting permission to
work her claim, but she was always denied. From that moment onward,
every attempt of Babe’s to clear the rubble from the plugged shaft met with
a military escort out of the area.
This was the
beginning of long legal battles over the ownership of the claim. The
military claim stemmed from a statement made by
New Mexico
officials on November 14, 1951 which withdrew prospecting, entry, location
and purchase under the mining laws, reserving the land for military use
only. However, disputing the military claim,
New Mexico officials
stated that they leased only the surface of the land to the military. Further, they stated that underground wealth, in whatever form it took,
belonged to the state or to any legal license holders.
Becoming
even more complicated, a search of mining records failed to turn up any
existing claims – including that of Doc Noss. Additionally, the actual
land where Victorio Peak is
located was not owned by the State of
New Mexico,
but rather, by a man named Roy Henderson who had leased it to the Army.
The dispute was
finally worked out when a federal court issued a compromise of sorts, which
stated the Army would continue to use the surface of the land, but no one
would be allowed on the property without the Army’s consent. In effect, no
one could mine the
treasure,
and that included the Army and Babe Noss.
Even though the
military refused any of Babe’s efforts to work her claim, it apparently did
not refuse other military personnel from exploring portions of Victorio
Peak. Two airmen from nearby Holloman Air Force Base would later say
that they had found the gold cavern from another natural opening in the side
of the peak. The soldiers, Airman First Class Thomas Berlett and
Captain Leonard V. Fiege, said they had found approximately one hundred gold
bars weighing between forty and eighty pounds each in a small cavern. After the discovery, Fiege told several people that he had caved in the roof
and walls to make it look as if the tunnel ended.
Neither man being
familiar with laws governing the discovery of
treasure on
a military base, Fiege went to the Judge Advocate’s Office at Holloman Air
Force Base to confer with Colonel Sigmund I. Gasiewicz. Now there were
two military commands involved.
Continued Next
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