In the same general direction from the San Caja as Los Picachos is the
Loma de Siete Piedras, or Seven Rocks Hill, on which the Mills Ranch is
located. Near this hill, as I have the tale from Mr. Whitley, the Mills
boys unearthed some human bones while digging post holes. They
themselves had never dug for treasure, for though they had always heard
that there was treasure stored away somewhere in their country, they
had never been able to get the details that would guide them to it.
Naturally they talked of the rather unusual find, and not long after
the event a gang of eleven or twelve Mexicans rode up to the Mills
Ranch. Now, the San Caja country is in all ways a border country, and
in many places one can cross the Rio Grande without meeting a river
guard or seeing a customs officer; nowadays it is the rendezvous of
tequilleros and mescaleros with their smuggled liquor from the other
side. When the Mills boys saw the horses that the Mexican gang were
riding, they knew at once from the brands that they were smuggled; and
the saddles, ropes, bits, and other paraphernalia showed that the
riders were fresh from old Mexico.
The spokesman of the band began by saying that one of their number was
a descendant of a Mexican who, with his entire party, had been killed
by Indians in that vicinity years ago. Their mutilated skeletons,
scattered by the coyotes and buzzards, were known to have been buried
months later by a Mexican freighter who came across them while he was
hunting a mule that had broken away. The freighter had put a cross of
mesquite sticks over the bones, but the cross was doubtless rotted away
a long time ago, and now these men were come to put up another, if, by
the will of God, they could find the place where the bones lay. Could
anyone in the country give them the necessary information?
From the number, equipment, and general looks of the Mexicans, it
appeared to the Mills boys that the mission of the gang might not be so
altogether pious. They smelled a nigger in the woodpile, and told the
Mexicans as much.
The Mexicans beat around the bush a while longer and consulted with
each other for a few hours while their horses picked up mesquite beans
down in the hollow. Then their leader came back to the Mills boys and
let out that they were looking for the bones of men who had been killed
while they were escorting seven jack loads of silver bullion from
above—de arriba—to Mexico. If they could find the battle ground marked
by the bones, they had a plata (plat) that would take them to the
treasure.
At that the Mills brothers offered to show the bones provided they
should get half the find. True to their nature, the Mexicans refused to
go in on halves, and they left, trusting no doubt to come back some
mañana and find the bones and bullion.