Lloyd E. Parris, in his book 'CAVES OF COLORADO' (Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder, CO. 1973) describes a slave-mine or a mine-cave which lies outside of the city of Westcliffe, Colorado. According to legend, the early Conquistadores under the direction of the Roman Pope pillaged the New World of it's precious gold and silver reserves, most of which found it's way back to the king's of Europe who paid tribute to the Roman Pontiff during the Dark Ages. There are many accounts of native Americans having been forced into slavery (and death) to mine gold and silver to satisfy the greed of these conquerors. The story of the legendary cave of gold appeared in the DENVER REPUBLICAN, vol. X, February 20, 1888, p. 3, col.2., under the title 'Rival to Mammoth Cave'. Parris states: "...it was not until August 1920 that two forest rangers, Arthur H. Carhart and Paul Gilbert, were told the story about the legendary cave. Paul Golbert first heard the story from Mrs. Apollina Apodoca, who died in 1927, supposedly at the age of 110. She was a devout person and claimed to be a descendant of the first Spanish explorers in the area. Mrs. Apodoca never tired of telling the legend of LA CAVERNA DEL ORO. She was sure the cave was still full of fabulous riches and that the main opening connecting the subterranean passages that honeycombed the whole range was farther down the mountain. "According to the ranger, Mrs. Apodoca always completed her story by mentioning the revolt of the Pecos Indians, who were used as slaves to work the gold mine... only after great loss to both sides did the Spanish succeed in driving the Indians away. "She told me, Gilbert recalled: "'...that years ago they went up to the cave and would throw blankets into the entrance and that the winds would return them shortly... She also told me that her people say that the Spaniards worked it as a gold mine and at a depth of about 90 feet they had dug a tunnel back into the bowels of the mountain for gold...' (see: Dayle, Molen. 'Cold Cavern Near Westcliffe Draws Adventurers,' STAR JOURNAL & SUNDAY CHIEFTAIN, November 18, 1956, p. 12B, col. 1). "Supplied with these stories and an approximate location, the two forest rangers, Carhart and Gilbert, made their way to the entrance of the cave. they were unable to go beyond the top of the first pit because they lacked the proper equipment. They did, however, pinpoint the exact location of La Caverna del Oro. "Their short exploration resulted in new bits of information that only augmented the mystery. For instance, they discovered a red 'Maltese' cross painted on the wall outside the entrance of the cave, a wind blowing out of the cave that was strong enough to blow out a candle, and far below, down the pit of unknown depth, they heard a subterranean river flowing. "The following summer (1921) the DENVER POST somehow learned of the cave's existence and the legends that shrouded it. An exploration party led by Paul Gilbert went to Marble Mountain. Other members of the party were Forbes Parkhill, Jack Henricks, and several members of the Colorado Mountain Club. Apparently, however, they were also unable to penetrate the cave beyond the first pit. Whether they were stopped by lack of intestinal fortitude or lack of equipment is unknown. "The next recorded trip to La Caverna del Orno was in August 1929. This expedition was financed by Frederick G. Bonfils, co- founder and publisher of the DENVER POST, who was determined to have the cave thoroughly investigated and if possible ascertain if the legends were valid. Only two men were sent; they were A. G. Birch, an experienced spelunker, and William G. Schweigert, a former resident of the area. Upon their return Mr. Birch wrote: "'...To reach the caves one goes south from Westcliffe for a dozen miles to the ranch of Casper Henrich. Here horses may be had for the trip, due westward, five or six miles, to the cave mouths. These are above the timberline... Horses may be ridden to within a few feet of the openings. "'The main cave is on the side of a deep, steep gully, which is filled with an immense snowbank until about the first of August. The snow, many feet deep, completely covers the cave mouth; it is only in the last few days that one could reach the hole. "'The opening is a jagged affair about five feet high by two feet wide. It would scarcely be noticed from any point if one had not been instructed to search for the cross painted in dull red on the rocks near the right of the opening. This emblem, about two feet square, has the perfect form of a German "Iron cross." "'No person living in that region today knows who painted the cross upon the mountainside. It is very old. It was old when the first white settler saw it more than sixty years ago. "'...It was intensely cold in the orifice, and the bitter wind nearly froze our wet gloves and clothing to our bodies. "'At the end of about forty feet the tunnel suddenly opened into a quite spacious chamber. The floor dropped away in a sheer precipice, while the roof soared into the blackness, broken into three other tunnels. "'The floor about the brink of the precipice was covered with ice a foot thick, making it difficult and dangerous to get a footing while leaning over the pit, to shine our lights into its depths. "'Wedged between the stone walls at the brink of this drop was an ancient log, to which was fastened an iron-chain ladder that disappeared down the shaft. The log was badly rotted, and the chain was too rusted to bear a person's weight. We could not even hazard a guess as to how long this former means of descent had hung there. "'Our lights would not penetrate far down the shaft, so we resorted to being lowered by turns, on ropes. "'At a depth of fifty feet we came to a shelf--more properly a twist in the shaft. Here a very narrow opening had to be passed, and we had no more rope on which to proceed. Shining our torches down this hole, we could see only illimitable blackness. Stones cast into the dark (pit) fell a long distance without striking anything, and then rumbled away, from ledge to ledge, into unknown depths. "'The walls of the cavern are apparently solid marble-- mostly deep red in color, with streaks of gray and other tints. In places the marble is encrusted with white limestone. "'There are no evidences of stalactites or stalagmites as far as our lights would penetrate. "'Neither are there any evidences of past mining activity (this suggests that the 'mine' was actually a natural cavern which was 'mined' in its deeper recesses - Branton). "'...How vast may be this network of underground openings, no person can guess. From viewing many other caves--including Carlsbad, Luray and Mammoth--I am inclined to the opinion that these openings in the Sangre de Cristo range do not open up into vast and beautiful chambers. It is more likely that they merely wind thru the mountain, offering an outlet for some now-vanished subterranean stream of water.' (see: A. G. Birch, 'Denver Post Explorer Visits Caves in Lofty Peaks,' DENVER POST, vol. 38, August 11, 1929, p. 10, cols. 1-3.) "...Again the cave was forgotten until September 4, 1932, when the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS carried a front-page headline that read: 'Skeleton Found Chained by Neck in Colorado Mystery Cave.' This was followed with a rather lengthy, garbled article describing how the Indians were forced to work in chains deep in the cavern mining gold and how the Indians rose in rebellion and wiped out every conquistadore who knew of the location, leaving the Spaniard's "Maltese" cross as the only outside evidence of previous human habitation of the area. The article continued: "'...Back from the entrance... the bottom of the cave dropped into the inky darkness. "'Members of the party drew lots--three white slips of paper and a black one were held in the darkness and each drew a slip. When the light was turned on again, Moser held the black slip. "'On the end of a rope he was lowered away into the forbidding and unknown depth beneath him. Foot after foot he scraped along the rock side of the cave. It seemed the bottom would never be reached. Finally he touched ground. His companions had paid out 250 feet of rope. "'Moser explored a bit. Reaching out from the bottom of the shaft were a number of passages. Some of these ended abruptly, but two principle ones led deep into the mountain. "'Moser assisted his companions down the rope. "'They used up all their heavy rope in the first descent and had to leave it in place to be able to return. "'The principal passage they followed for 50 feet, when it opened into another large cavern. Out of these, another passage pitched downward at an angle of 45 degrees. They followed this, using a light rope they had, which was sufficient to let them down. Finally this declivity ended in another shaft. "'With no heavy rope, they were unable to descend farther. With the lighter rope they lowered a lantern. "'Forty feet downward they saw the bottom, and in the light of the lantern could clearly make out the skeleton. "'With a metal strap encircling the neck, the pile of bones reclined against the rocky wall, as if the person who died there centuries ago had been chained in a sitting position and left to starve. "'...On the second level they found evidence of crude timbering and the top of the second shaft was an old tree trunk fitted together until it formed a crude windlass. Evidence enough to indicate that out of these black depths Indian slaves had hoisted riches for the Spaniards...' (see: Kenneth C. Lightburn, 'Skeleton Found Chained by Neck in Colorado Mystery Cave,' ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, vol. 73, September 4, 1932, p. 1, cols. 7-8) "The foregoing article stimulated so much interest and raised so many unanswered questions that the following weekend another exploration party decided to penetrate the subterranean pits of La Caverna del Oro. This group had, perhaps, the best trained and qualified cavers in Colorado at that time. Upon the party's return, the last of the series of newspaper articles was released. Their explorations not only solved some old mysteries, but as before, added new ones. The title of the account was 'Blasts Partially Close Cave Door,' and the subtitle read 'Mysterious Dynamite Explosions At Cavern and Vanishing of Skeleton Baffle Explorers.' It further stated: "'...Dynamite blasts have been set off in the past week in an effort to completely close the entrance of La Caverna del Oro- -legendary source of Spanish gold--added to the mystery tonight of the great cavern which reaches deep into the vitals of Marble Mountain. "'As the members of our party reached the mouth of the cave, which is marked with a Maltese Cross chiseled deeply in the rock, we were amazed to discover that blasts had partially filled the entry-way with debris. What person may have set off the blasts or what inscrutable reason moved him to endeavor to block the cave mouth cannot be determined. Whether some human being in this wild country actually holds the secret of the cave and has reason to guard it is not clear. It is apparent, however, that the blasts have been set off in the week since Peter Moser and his party explored the cave. "'The possibility lies large in the minds of our party that someone has reason to keep investigators out of the cave, perhaps having discovered in its far-flung series of passageways and shafts the rich gold lode that the ancient Spaniards are reported to have mined. "'We penetrated deep today into the intricate maze of the cave, but its ramifications are so extensive that we were forced to turn back before we traced it to its utmost end...'" Although they failed to find the skeleton chained to the rock which 'Moser' reported, the article continues "'...they did find a crude, handforged hammer, which Dr. Hafen later declared to be of seventeenth century vintage. "'Reaching out from this level were numerous other passages, and each of these ended in another drop. it was of course impossible for Blurock and Hafen to descend further. We had exhausted all the rope and there was no one on the same level to let them down. It was all the five of us could do to haul them up the pit. "'At the top of this shaft we found the hoisting apparatus which Moser reported. This was a wooden structure built over the shaft, which could have been used to hoist ore... "'While it appeared that we had explored the same pit as the one Moser and his party did, it is possible that he may have seen the skeleton at another point in the cave. It is also possible that the persons who blasted the entrance may have done away with the skeleton. "'The Wet Mountain Valley people who accompanied our party to the mouth of the cave are definite in their statements that the skeleton has been in the cave. They also reported some of the ladder material had iron chains attached to it. "'Many of the valley legends are to the effect that this was a refuge cave for the Spaniards. Our investigations today led Hafen and McMechen to subscribe to this theory. "'These stories all speak of a lower entrance into which the Spaniards went, appearing later above and attacking their Indian enemies. The lower entrance, however, has never been found...' (see: Kenneth C. Lightburn, 'Blasts Partially Close Cave Door,' ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, vol. 73, September 13, 1932, p. 1, col. 3) "Another local legend claims the cave is the old Three-Step Mine, which was the source of gold for the Indians and later, the Spaniards. While still another legend proclaims that if one descends deep enough in the passages of the cave, one will find a set of large wooden doors and behind those doors is the treasure. "...Ever since the first field trip to the cave by the Colorado Grotto (of the National Speleological Society) members in 1952, unusual things have occurred. For instance, a bundle of dynamite was found dangling down the first pit, and someone has been apparently chiseling away at the 'Maltese' cross, so that now only about half of it remains. Another mysterious 'happening' near the cave is described by Robert J. O'Connell in his HISTORY OF THE COLORADO GROTTO, published in 1961: "'Never to be forgotten is the night long ago in 1957, when climbing to the rifle pits on a rainy, windy night there was seen high up on the Mountain [Marble], a flaming torch, and Bruce [Courley], Doug [Cornish], and I watched as it disappeared over the ridge to the other side of the mountain. [Strange lights on the mountain have also been reported by the residents of Wet Valley.] For long moments afterwards, we wondered who would climb around on those dark, windy slopes on such a night and the question was never answered...' "The author is not particularly prone to believing in ghosts, demons, or gnomes; however, the cave does seem to resist all intruders. Perpetually, in the sport of spelunking, things go wrong; but on visits to this cave EVERYTHING goes wrong at the same time. As a result of this field trips usually end up in a complete 'snafu,' with participants getting soaked by rain or snow or both. On these same trips members have become pugnacious or even violently sick. In another standard scenario the party hikes all the way up to the cave only to find that a very important piece of equipment was left behind. And, in general, it seems that once in La Caverna del Oro, some very basic caving techniques at least momentarily evade the explorer; therefore, Murphy's Law can certainly be applied... "So the mystery of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains still challenges the explorer. And the eery solitude of Marble Mountain and its caves still steadfastly refuses to give up the legendary secrets which history maintains is there. Most attempts to solve these riddles have, in reality, only complicated them. "Thus, the final chapter of the legend of La Caverna del Oro has not been written and may not be written in the foreseeable future. (Most spelunkers now refer to this cave as Spanish Cave...)"