Sibley's Gold

By Leroy Stradford

A ne-er-do-well descendant of a Territorial New Mexico governor goes in search of legendary Civil War era treasure supposedly hidden near the town of Socorro. Benton Connelly and his friends are soon suspected of murder. Sherriff George Martinez, a passionate cop, is sure he's got his man and makes life difficult for Benton until Benton gets help from Reyna Yazzi, a Navajo woman from the Alamo Band.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leroy Stradford
• Release date: Sep 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301492053

Leroy Stradford

Leroy Stradford was born, raised, and is now retired in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He spent twenty years behind a whistle as a soccer referee. Currently he teaches kids about bugs and the environment at the Albuquerque Biopark. He also performs with a Madrigal company and sings in the chorus of Opera Southwest.

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SIBLEY’S GOLD

By Leroy Stradford

Published by Leroy Stradford at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Leroy Stradford

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to my parents.

Edited by Marla Shin

Cover art by Donna Casey

Sibley’s Gold

CHAPTER 1

November 1986

The treasure’s there, said Benton Connelly to the group that had gathered in his home. All we need to do is drive down there and pick it up. He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.

Seated around Benton’s dining room table were his friends Gilly, Hector, and Lyle. The three men swigged at their Coors while they studied the maps and the old documents that Benton had laid out on the table for them. Younger than Benton, they regarded him as a leader, which pleased him, although sometimes they reminded him of the Three Stooges. Benton’s girlfriend Jill leaned on the railing that separated the dining room from the sun porch that was on a somewhat lower level. She sipped her beer and watched the reaction of the trio to Benton’s statement. His mother, Charlotte Connelly, busied herself with small chores on the sun porch, paying little attention to her son’s latest scheme. Well, he’d show her.

Benton shoved his straggly hair out of his face. I thought we could all go down to Socorro in Gilly’s Prize, if that’s all right with Gilly. We’ll drive out into the desert and conduct most of our search on foot. Benton swigged first at his beer and then at a glass of bourbon and water, then tapped his finger on a map at the center of the table, and pointing at a patch of desert south and east of the town of Socorro, New Mexico.

Gilly’s Prize was an aged Winnebago that Gilly had won in a raffle, having bought sixteen of the five-dollar raffle tickets. Well, what exactly is this we’re going to look for? asked Gilly. When and where do we go?

The treasure, said Benton, is known as Sibley’s Gold in some of the stories I’ve heard, and it’s called that by the locals down in Socorro. Most people think it’s nothing more than myth, but supposedly General Henry Sibley who commanded the Confederate troops here in New Mexico at the beginning of the Civil War made some sort of a deal with a nineteenth-century paramilitary group in Mexico. As the story goes, he obtained about half a million in gold and silver coins, and he supposedly stashed it out there in the desert somewhere. My dad and granddad used to talk about going to look for it sometimes. They talked about it like it was real, but they always said they were too busy to hunt for it. I thought it was just family folklore until Ma gave me those papers.

Benton pointed to the old letters and newspaper clippings that lay scattered on the table. The documents were yellow and brittle, but readable. The dates on them showed that they were of Civil War vintage.

So we’ll be looking for about a half million in gold, said Hector. That’s worth killing a few days’ vacation time over.

If the stories are true, said Benton, Sibley got about a half million in gold, silver, and copper coins, but that’s what the money was worth then. The treasure is probably worth several millions now.

So why do you think it’s there to be found, Benton? asked Jill. What’s in those papers?

These are some of my great-great grandfather’s papers, said Benton. Ma had them just stuffed in a box in the garage. You know how she is.

Jill nodded and glanced at Charlotte Connelly uncomfortably, but the old woman did not seem to be listening to the proceedings. Jill didn’t care for the way Benton and his friends usually behaved toward the woman even though she did seem to be a bit bats. Jill knew Mrs. Connelly had mentioned the old papers to Benton in hopes that their mystery would distract him at least briefly from his constant drinking. Jill sighed.

Benton took a swig of his bourbon and continued. "Anyway, there’s quite a few of Governor Connelly’s personal notes here, some old Santa Fe Gazettes, and most importantly a letter from General Sibley to Rafael Armijo of Albuquerque. Sibley obtained from the Armijo family a considerable amount of goods and supplies for his army which he had no way to pay for. The history books show the Armijos tried to get their money from the Confederate government before the end of the Civil War and that they were turned down. But this letter indicates General Sibley intended to pay the Armijos out of the gold he stashed out on the desert. It was apparently among the papers that Governor Connelly recovered and kept. Governor Connelly was my great-great grandfather."

Whoa, Gilly breathed.

The Armijo family obviously never received the letter, explained Benton. And it tells where the treasure is buried! Sibley says he hid the treasure under the floor of an abandoned house, up on a hill, in the trees, and the house is surrounded by black paving stone.

Does the letter say where the house is? asked Gilly. Do you know where we need to look? He leaned forward eagerly.

The letter doesn’t specify the location of the house, unfortunately. Benton grimaced. Apparently Sibley had already told Armijo the general location and this letter was meant to be used as a detail map. It doesn’t tell us where to look, but I think that book does. Benton pointed at a leather-bound volume on the table. The book, with a Zia sun symbol on its cover, was one of the more authoritative histories of the State of New Mexico. Benton had gotten the book out of the special Southwestern collection at the University of New Mexico library. They were highly unlikely to get it back.

What is that? asked Hector, nodding at the book.

It’s a history of the state that was written right around the turn of the century. It’s got probably the best stuff there is about the Civil War years here in New Mexico. Benton leaned back, his eyes glittering.

You mean, said Lyle, that that book tells where the treasure is buried?

No, no not directly. Benton hoped this didn’t discourage them. "The book talks about General Sibley’s deal with the Mexicans, but it assumes, like most people do even now, that Sibley’s deal fell through. We know better because of the letter. Benton looked at all of them, his eyes glittering with excitement. We know that Sibley did get his hands on a small fortune and hid it. This history book follows Sibley’s activities day-by-day and I think we can deduce from it, where and when Sibley made his contact with the Mexicans."

Okay, so where do we look? asked Gilly. He and the other three exchanged enthusiastic glances.

And why do you think the treasure’s still where Sibley hid it? asked Jill. That she had asked this question before was apparently lost on the four men as they drank and schemed.

Why was she such a killjoy? Benton shoved the books and papers down to one end of the table so that the state map he had spread out could be seen by everyone. Here’s where we’re going. He pointed to Albuquerque on the state map and then traced the interstate south to the town of Socorro, where the map showed a state highway split off and drifted west toward the little town of Magdalena while the interstate continued its plunge south. Benton traced his finger south on the interstate until just south of Socorro. When it reached a mark on the map that indicated a highway exit, it then left the interstate and moved slightly east on the map to a little town called San Antonio. New Mexico, not Texas.

I thought we could drive down one afternoon and spend the night there. There’s a neat little tavern there called the Owl Bar. It’s popular with the tourists, and we can get something to eat and have a good time. We can sleep in the parking lot then start our search at sunup.

Why do you think the treasure’s down there? asked Gilly. Lyle leaned forward, squinting at the map. Jill rolled her eyes.

About fifteen miles south of San Antonio is the old Civil War battlefield of Valverde, said Benton. "General Sibley brought his troops up out of El Paso and was trying to go around Fort Craig there. He apparently felt he didn’t have the forces to attack the fort, so he crossed the river. There’s a ford at Valverde. When General Sibley’s troops arrived, they were met by a New Mexican militia coming down from the north to support the Union troops in the fort. The next morning the Union forces came barreling out of the fort and all hell broke loose. The history books say this General Sibley was known as a walking whiskey barrel, a man after my own heart. According to the Santa Fe Gazette there, Benton pointed to an old brittle newspaper on the table dated April 26, 1862, General Sibley, when he and his staff fled Santa Fe, rather abruptly, left the Governor’s offices which they had occupied littered with papers, proclamations, and liquor bottles."

I’ll drink to that. Gilly raised his can of Coors.

Benton took a swallow of his bourbon and continued. Some accounts say Sibley was passed out in his tent and some say that Sibley was hiding, but this is where I think the books are wrong. Late in the day, after the Confederates had turned things around, Sibley was seen fighting valiantly from horseback. I don’t think he spent his day drinking in his tent at all. I think that’s when he slipped away and met the envoy from Mexico and got the money he was going to finance his war with. I think it’s hidden somewhere near the Valverde battlefield.

If I remember high school history, said Hector, the Confederate army won the battle at Valverde. Why didn’t this Sibley guy hold on to his war chest? Why did he hide it? Was he a crook? Hector thought all military officers and all politicians were crooks.

No. Benton managed to not appear annoyed at Hector’s question. Sibley turned out to be far from the best military man in history, but he was sincere in his loyalty to the Southern cause. When he left the battle at Valverde to meet the Mexicans, he undoubtedly thought the battle was lost. My theory is that Sibley assured the Mexicans the South would be victorious, but since he was also sure that his forces were losing, he hid the war funds on his way back to the battle to ensure that the Union army couldn’t get their hands on the money.

So why didn’t he go back for it after the battle? said Gilly. Since the South won that one?

Well, we know that Sibley’s army was broke when it marched into Albuquerque, said Benton. It’s my guess that even though the Confederates won the battle at Valverde, Sibley must have felt that the Union troops holed up in Fort Craig were still a threat to him, so he left his money where he hid it. When he got to Albuquerque, Sibley was certainly following a ‘confiscate now, pay later’ plan of warfare. We know that he got about two hundred thousand dollars worth of supplies from the Armijo family and I’m convinced that he fully intended to pay for it with his hidden gold.

Jill went into the kitchen and returned with another six pack of Coors for the crew at the dining room table, passing them out to the quartet.

Benton freshened his bourbon drink, this time adding very little water to the mix. Judging from this letter, Sibley wanted the Armijo family to recover the gold for him and bring it to him in Santa Fe. He had gotten involved with one of the Armijo daughters - that’s even mentioned in the old history book - and he apparently trusted the Armijos completely. Unfortunately for him, his letter never left Santa Fe. The Southern troops got beaten badly at Glorieta, so Sibley and his entire staff had to evacuate the city quickly. The Union forces in New Mexico got help from the Colorado militia and it was all over for General Sibley. It was when he and his army were high-tailing it back south that my great-great-granddaddy Connelly’s house got destroyed.

What happened? said Gilly, who hung on his every word. Lyle seemed more interested in his beer than the story. Hector had begun to look bored. Jill, Benton couldn’t help noticing, still looked quite skeptical.

Benton leaned forward. He loved being the knowledgeable one. The Southern troops had camped for the night on the property and the officers were in the courtyard. It was one of those old hacienda-type places. You know the kind. Anyway, the Union army caught up to Sibley during the night and they blew the hell out of my family’s old homestead the next morning. After that, Sibley marched his forces down the river and out of the state for good.

You mean he didn’t stop on his way and get his loot? gasped Gilly, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

I think he meant to but the Union troops at Fort Craig kept him from it, said Benton. It seems that the Union commander in Fort Craig got word Sibley’s army was coming south and he led his troops out for revenge. By the time the southern army got to Socorro, the Union troops were positioned all along the east side of the river. I think Sibley hid the gold somewhere out east of the river, but we know that during the retreat he was forced to go west through Magdalena on his way out of the state.

I’ll ask again, said Jill in an overly-patient voice, what makes you think Sibley didn’t find some way to get the treasure out? Or that no one else found it in all these years? Over a century!

Like I said, said Benton, imitating her tone, Sibley was loyal to the South. If he had brought the gold out of New Mexico there would be records of it and no one would be looking for it now. But people do come looking for his gold, and the rumors and stories keep cropping up. You might remember some years back a commercial outfit from Shreveport got access to the Stallion missile range in order to hunt for treasure. The whole thing was rather strange. They had to pull a lot of strings to get on the missile base and then came up with nothing.

Were they hunting for Sibley’s Gold? asked Jill. Is it hidden out on the Stallion military reserve? We can’t go out there. Her brow creased in frustration.

The gold isn’t out on the military base, said Benton, but the people who have looked for it in the past think it is. That’s why I think the treasure is sitting there waiting for us. They’re looking in the wrong place! Look here on this map. Benton pointed to the area around San Antonio. This area just south of San Antonio is the Bosque Del Apache Game Refuge where all the tourists go, and just south of there is the old Valverde battlefield. Only rough dirt roads go out there now, but we can get there in Gilly’s Prize. Look due east now. It’s about twenty miles until you hit the western boundary of the military reservation.

Jill stared at the map. So you think….

I think the treasure is hidden somewhere between the river and the military line. Most people who think a treasure exists have been looking about fifty miles further east. They think that Sibley never got his hands on the gold. The history books say, you remember, that the deal fell through. The prevailing theory has been that the Mexicans were attacked by Indians while on their way north and had to hide the bulky gold shipment out on the east fork of Jornada Del Muerto trail in order to escape with their lives. We’re the only ones who know that Sibley actually got his hands on the gold, and I think we’ll be the only ones who will have looked for the treasure so close to the river.

Jill came over and stood beside Benton and studied the map of New Mexico that now had beer can circles all over it. She ran her finger over the little town of San Antonio marked on the map to the shaded triangle area that represented the game refuge just south of it. The game refuge didn’t look very big on the map, but she knew from having been there that it was quite a large place, where tourists came to see the thousands of waterfowl that wintered there.

Benton watched her trace her finger east of the game refuge to another shaded area that was the military reservation. It began north of the San Antonio road, where the map indicated co-use land, and extended south to the New Mexico-Texas border. On the map, the military reservation, which was larger than the entirety of many eastern states, was clearly marked with the words not open to public. With the exception of the co-use land, the military kept a rather massive piece of real estate off-limits to the ordinary citizen.

Jill tapped the area that Benton had indicated which was defined by the river, the game refuge, the Stallion Military Reservation and the Valverde battlefield on the south. This territory was by no means small. It’ll take us days to search all that on foot, she said with a frown.

So what we’ll do, Benton continued as though she hadn’t spoken, is hike every inch of this area until we find the ruins of an old adobe surrounded by black rock. The letter says it’s up in the trees, so we’re looking for someplace on a hillside or something. The trees may be gone by now but I’m sure we can find the ruins of the old house and then we’re rich. He leaned back in his chair, beaming at all of them.

Benton, questioned Gilly, can we keep this loot if we find it? Aren’t there laws or something that’ll get in our way?

Oh, yeah, there’s various regulations I’m sure, said Benton, waving away his objection, but as far as I know this state is still pretty much a finders-keepers state. These papers that gave me the clues to the treasure were sort of handed down to me, you know, like an inheritance, and it was my family that got damaged by the war. I think I can make a legitimate claim to the treasure. Besides, once we’ve got the treasure in our own hot little hands anyone else would have a hard time getting it. Their lawyers would have to try to take it away from our lawyers.

You’re the only one who’s got a lawyer, Benton, said Jill. His father had been close friends with one, using him to set up the contract with Connelly Vending that now supported Benton and his mother. He still looked after their few legal needs, treating the two surviving Connellys like family.

Once we find this treasure we’ll be able to afford plenty of lawyers, boasted Benton.

Hey, I’m game, said Lyle. Let’s go for it. Lyle had been too busy guzzling his Coors to say much, but the flush of his face was not just from his beer. He was clearly excited. Gilly and Hector were nodding their agreement.

I’m game, too, said Gilly eagerly. When do we leave? I’m ready right now. He wasn’t kidding, Benton knew. After two weeks of utterly uninspired courtship his most recent girlfriend had told him to go away and never come back, and since Gilly’s current livelihood derived from unemployment compensation nothing hindered him from treasure hunting at a moment’s notice. When he won the old travel home it represented one of the few victories in his life. He