In the past, miners, robbers and regular folks didn't use banks but instead hid their valuables and money. There were many years that towns didn't even have banks available for funds.  Gold and silver was a currency commonly used to buy goods and services. Miners were well known for storing up and hiding their finds over a period of time and when they had enough they would gather it up and head into town to cash it all in.  The problem was that sometimes they never made it, succumbing to accidents, Indian attacks and robbery.

I will mention a few of these stories here to encourage your interest and curiosity.  Perhaps you will begin the search for lost treasure and dream of the possibility of becoming very rich yourself! Keep in mind these kinds of stories get embellished over time, but it's still fun to ponder finding lost riches.

I have only searched for one (French Creek gold) in my younger years with my father in law and wife. No, we never did find the lost treasure only American Indian artifacts, which we left, so it's still out there somewhere.

Below are four short stories and 16 more even shorter accounts.

*During early Bradshaw history, there is the story of two French miners that worked a creek near Ship Rock for gold and silver. Apache Indian activity was very active in this area as it was near the still undiscovered secret hot springs that we now call Castle Hot Springs. These miners happened to find a great amount of gold which they hid in a small cave along or near the creek. As with most greed (gold fever) got the best of these two souls and they stayed longer than they should have.   An Apache war party eventually found them and killed them both. The gold has never been recovered to this day and sits in a small cave somewhere along or near the creek. In remembrance of these two Frenchman the creek was named French Creek. This is the one lost treasure I have spent time looking for, but only found Hohokam ruins instead.

* When the dam was about to burst at Walnut Grove, a loan rider was dispatched to warn people who lived down stream of the danger within the Hassayampa River. Directly below the dam was a saloon with a safe inside that was said to be stuffed with gold. The person who was supposed to warn the others of possible impending doom stopped in the saloon to warn them, but instead of warning them, he is said to have stayed quite a spell becoming intoxicated and quickly forgot his mission. Later that night the worst disaster in Arizona's history occurred, when the massive Walnut Grove Dam burst and killed from 50 to 150 people down stream. The saloon was the first to go along with the safe stuffed with gold.  Below this old dam site now lies a loaded safe somewhere within the Hassayampa River.

* On a Rainy day two men steered a wagon down through CrazyBasin. Aboard the wagon were gold bars. Once they reached Turkey Creek they tried to cross but the wagon and gold were washed down stream. People searched for years for this gold to no avail. The gold bars have never been found to this day.

* Many are convinced that the lost Dutchman gold mine is located in the Bradshaw's instead of the Superstition Mountains. This theory recently gained momentum once again with the publication in 2013 of yet another book purporting such a claim. Pat Parish, Dutchman and the Devil: The Lost Story. There is evidence that "Dutchman" Jacob Waltz actually lived and worked a mine near Walnut Grove. Even a rock feature there is said to have been named by him and most believe this was before he moved on to the Superstition range. But could the fabled lost Dutchman Gold Mine be somewhere in the Bradshaw's? Jacob said on his death bed that one could -be standing near the mine and still not see it. His gold finds were incredibly rich.
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Below we list a few more that may be worth searching out. Happy treasure hunting.

Beautiful Lynx Creek above Fain Lake   is known for its rich gold deposits.

• Oscar Johnson's Hidden Treasure: Oscar was a recluse miner living in McCabe and buried his earnings and more near his cabin in the town McCabe.
• Lynx Creek Hidden Indian Treasure: During 1864, miners struck a rich gold deposit on Lynx Creek worth about $30,000 in nuggets. Indians killed the miners took their gold and hid it.
• The Lost Silver of Dead Apache's: A treasure known as the Silver of Dead Apache's is hidden in the Bradshaw Mountains.
• Bumble Bee Treasure: Several hundred pounds of gold is lost in a drainage near Bumble Bee. A second Treasure story about the Bumble Bee area has 80,000 in gold nuggets hidden and is known as the Lost Bronco Canyon Gold.
• Golden Bars Treasure:  Seventy-five thousand in gold bars is buried in the Bradshaws.
• Seymour's Stage Coach Money: Seymore successfully robbed and hid money from stage coaches along the Black Canyon stage route until he was caught.
• Lost Granite Dells Gold Dust Bags: During a surprise Indian attack in the Granite Dells area, several miners quickly buried bags of gold.
• Yeager's Lost Gold: This treasure is located near Yeager Canyon.
• Red Aimer's Buried Coins: Red buried $8,000 in gold coins in the near Prescott.
• The Lost Treasure of Lone Lost Ledge: A treasure near Skull Valley.
• Zonia's Hidden Treasure: Mexican gold and silver coins is buried in the vicinity of Kirkland and Hillside.
• Kneeling Knee Treasure:  A chest containing over $100,000 in gold was quickly buried by a miner who was being followed by hostile Indians, under a boulder shaped like kneeling man in the Bradshaws.
• Golden Cup Treasure: Treasure hidden on Rich Hill.
• Japanese Gold: While being pursued by lawmen, two Mexican outlaws hid $30,000 in gold along Weaver Creek near Stanton.
• Monte Christo Mine Hidden Treasure:  Fifty thousand dollars in gold and silver was kept hidden in or near this famous mine.
• Granite Mountain Strong Boxes: The strongboxes from several stagecoach robberies are buried somewhere on Granite Mountain.