Thomas Penfield wrote, "There is not the slimmest thread of reality in this story which is common throughout Mexico and the southwestern United States.
A labyrinth found in modern times at the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument led to speculation that it might be home to some of the fabled treasure.
But later, as the United States Army entered the mountains, the Apache rose up against the Mexicans who had to hide their gold in a canyon near Montezuma's Head.
Most of the Mexicans were killed but at least one man survived and later went back to the mountains in the 1880s with a treasure map to find the gold.
[citation needed] The treasure is the basis for an episode of Wagon Train entitled "The Alexander Portlass Story".