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When the French arrived, the Indians did
not initially disturb them, but as time went on, the Indians mounted a
brutal attack upon the expedition and a fevered battle ensued. Quickly, the French buried the gold and made new maps, but most of the
Frenchmen were killed by the Indians. Only an estimated 17 to 35
men were able to flee the area, only to be attacked again, once they
reached the Front Range. After this second brutal strike, only
five weary men began the journey back to
Kansas. However, winter was upon them, and starvation and bitter conditions
killed three more, leaving only two who finally stumbled into the
Kansas
outpost. Even then, only one of the two survived. The sole
survivor, a man by the name of "Le Blanc,” was the expedition’s
historian. After recuperating at the outpost he made the long
journey back to France, with two copies of the
treasure
map, one of which he gave to the French government, the other, he kept
for himself.
 A
second expedition was mounted to retrieve the buried treasure, though
it is unclear weather the mission was conveyed by La Blanc’s family or
by the French government. Fifty men headed back to the
Summitville area, passing through Taos,
New Mexico,
where they hired a guide to lead them to the area.
However, months later, the guide returned
to Taos alone, claiming the entire expedition had again been wiped out
by the Indians. The Taos locals were suspicious of the "sole
survivor” and in the last Mexican trial held in United States
territory, they tried him for murder but he was acquitted. Some
theories claim the whole story was contrived by the Frenchmen, who
secretly found the gold and returned to France, paying the guide to
return to Taos,
New Mexico
with the untrue story of a massacre.
Over the years, several maps have appeared
which claim to lead to the buried
treasure.
A man by the name of William Yule supposedly had a copy of the
original and searched the entire western side of the valley, north to
Saguache, without success. Later, a prospector named Asa Poor
supposedly obtained the map from Yule and with two partners, was able
to locate several landmarks leading to the
treasure,
but never found the hidden gold. One of Poor's partners, named
Montroy, retained possession of the map, but it disappeared several
years later.
 More
recently, a local area family, who claims to be direct descendents of
Le Blanc, professes to be in possession of an authentic map written in
French. Supposedly, for three generations they have been quietly
searching for the lost cache. After years of search, the family
members claim to have located seven of the eight landmarks that are
mentioned on the map.
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Discoveries
America Colorado DVD