Somewhere around Castle Gap, hidden high in the King Mountains north of El Paso, Texas is a king's ransom in gold, silver and jewels. Actually, it is an emperor's ransom: Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, born in July 6,1832, was the archduke of Austria when, during the America Civil War, Napoleon III placed him on the Mexican throne. The reason for this unusual international situation was that France was having grand ideas about regaining some of the land that it had previously lost in the New World. Placing the archduke in a position of power, on April 9, 1864, in Mexico was only a first step in the plan. But Maximilian had plans of his very own.
Maximilian and his wife the Princess Carlota (or Charlotte) of Belgium, whom he had married in 1857, was all ready in possession of a wealth beyond belief. To Mexico with them they brought the entirety of their wealth as well as their visions of vast grandeur, visions that would increase their already fabulous wealth.
This new ruler was seen by the Mexican peasants as an oppressive foreign ruler. He was despised and almost from the moment he arrived in Mexico plots began to overthrow him. In time, Maximilian realized the dangerous situation he was now in and knew that he and his wife must very soon find a more healthy land to dwell in. But before the royal pair could make a hasty move elsewhere they needed to see that their wealth was removed to a safe location out of Mexico.
This moving of some five million dollars in gold and jewelry through rural Mexico was not going to be an easy undertaking. Far from easy, it surely would be considerably dangerous. But Maximilian had a plan.
Maximilian had four aides, he believed could be trusted, pack all of his wealth into 45 flour barrels, then sprinkle a layer of flour on top. When all was ready and secure, these four aids, with fifteen faithful peons, set an overland course northward.
Having escaped or avoided any contact with Mexican patriots, in time they crossed into Texas near present-day El Paso. But now they faced a new danger.
Maximilian's Millions continued.
