Jesuit Gold In The Mojave Dessert?

First White Men in Pinon Hills

The first known (recorded) white man to appear in the Mojave Desert was Francisco Garces in March 1776. Garces was a Spanish Franciscan priest who followed the old Indian trail along the Mojave River looking for a route from Arizona to Northern California. This trail was later known as Fort Tejon Road.

Jesuit priests discovered gold in the 1700s somewhere between Littlerock and Pinon Hills. When the priests were recalled in the 1730s they caused a landslide which covered the mine. Some claim that it was one of the richest gold mines in the southwest. It has not been rediscovered since.

Link to the full article (here)

Picture is of the Mojave Desert