Treasure Tales and Treasure Stories About Utah from the Archives of Lost Treasure Magazine

Outlaw loot

Fortunately for old west posses and lawmen (as well as modern day treasure hunters), most stagecoach bandits weren't very bright. Time and again they were done in by failing to take into account the fact that gold is heavy -- and a lot of it is very heavy. Robbing a stagecoach is one thing, getting away with the loot is another matter. First the heavy Wells Fargo strongbox had to be opened and the gold (if there was any) transferred to pack animals. This generally took an inordinate amount of time and posses were already being organized by the time the outlaw was ready to make his run for freedom. Burdened by a heavy load of treasure, the escaping felon who did not have fresh horses stashed in advance was no match for his pursuers. By the time the bandit realized this and stashed the gold, it was usually too late.

When outlaw Bill Sloan robbed the stage at Desert Springs Station in 1874, the posse found the empty strongbox in a shallow, rocky gulch leading into the Escalente Desert. He was overtaken and captured a short time later south of Modena. The gold, of course, had been cached during his flight. Sloan was killed while trying to escape, and the secret of his cache died with him -- but it must be somewhere in a direct line between Desert Springs and Modena.