Tale of Greed and Treasure Waiting to be Found in Southern Utah

Is there a three-foot golden cross sitting in a cave in Utah waiting to be discovered? The story of a Spanish priest from the 1800s that fled his attackers and stashed his treasure in a cave in Southern Utah still intrigues people today.

The Priest and His Treasure: A Gold Mining Tale

The story is that a priest in the southwest that was then part of Mexico knew of a mine in Utah. He used the Mexicans in his parish to dig for gold and the conditions were harsh.

He made the gold into holy trinkets including a cross that stood three feet high. His lust for gold and his treatment of the people resulted in a rebellion in which he and the Spanish soldiers with him had to flee for their lives.

The Perilous Journey: A Race Against Time

They made for the four corners area hoping to eventually make it to the mission in Santa Fe for safety. When they came to the Kaiparowits Plateau in the Grand Staircase National Monument the attackers drew close.

The priest and his remaining men stashed the treasure in a cave and hurried on and may have died soon after. What is intriguing is the remains of burrows and men have been discovered in the years since then.

If you want to dig in more about this story, the above video goes into detail about what he calls the golden Jesus. It fires up the imagination to think a large golden cross is sitting in the dust of a cave in Southern Utah.