Maximillians Millions

Hello all

True to my word here is the other information I have found that may be of interest.

In regards to the Merida Shipwreck story that in 1911 the fleeing dictator of the day in 1911. (see picture ) fled the country with the remaining Maximillan's jewels and gold from the Mexican treasury.

This as we know the Merida was sunk off the coast of North America in a collision and that was a fact.

We Know from various Newspapers there was several attempts to recover the gold and bullion from the Merida. The Newspapers on the day were not clear if any attempt was successful.

In the popular mechanics magazine tells more of the story and of the attempted salvage attempts.

You can read them online at Google books

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You will see from a series of articles from popular mechanics etc. that seem to contradict each other about the Merida Shipwreck.

Popular Mechanics Mar 1928 claimed in a  statement the Maximillan's Jewels were on board the Merida.

Popular science of September 1931 claims that there was going to be an attempt to recover the treasure on the Merida.

Popular Mechanic November 1932 that there was no such gold on the Merida belonging to Maximilan?

But in Popular Mechanics May 1942 claim that the Maximilian treasure was on the shipwreck?

Kiplinger's Personal Finance May 1956 claims that the treasure safe of the Merida was opened and nothing was found and the story that Maximilian jewels were on it was only a rumor.

So perhaps there is no truth to the Merida shipwreck story after all?

Moral, never rely on one source alone for information. 

Hardluck 


Hello again

Here is more on follow up story on the 1911 New York times Story of the Mexicans trying to sell gems in New York.

This story written by Justin Gilbert in the San Antonio Light 28 March 1948.

Please forgive poor copy see attachments.

In the story in brief: The Mexicans did have evidence to support their claims that the jewels were from originally Maximilan. The diamond was size because the Mexicans entered the country Illegally and and failed to declare them. the gems were sized as contraband.

It seems to me that the Jewelers and authorities conspired to find a legal way to rob those poor Mexicans of the gems. The Mexican had originally entered the country through Lardo?

the article goes on to tell of the next few owners of the Jewels up to about 1939 when it was last owned by a Mrs Phelps.

Hardluck 

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Hello everyone.

Idaho Jones you make very good point. Perhaps the treasure was being smuggled as general cargo? And not as precious treasure in which the purser which is the ships banker would of been in charge of.

And of course when salvagers searched the Bullion room they found nothing?

There is some more information about the fate of some of Maximilian's gems.

It appears that a verry successful business women Marjorie Merriweather post aquirred Maximilian's Emerald  and diamond ring, And necklace of Emeralds and diamonds in the late 1930's

Marjorie Merriweather Post was born on March 15, 1887, in Springfield, Illinois, and was the only child of Charles William Post and his wife Ella Leticia Merriweather. C. W. Post founded the Postum Cereal Company after his invention of the coffee substitute Postum, Grape-Nuts, and Post Toasties cereals, which expanded rapidly to become one of the largest food-manufacturing empires in early twentieth century.

Being his only child, C. W. Post trained his daughter in all aspects of the company's workings, preparing the groundwork for his daughter to takeover the rapidly expanding family business at anytime in the future. Marjorie who also accompanied her father on his business trips abroad, was exposed to the appreciation of art and imbibed her father's interests as a connoisseur and collector of artworks.

The death of  C. W. Post in 1914, thrust upon her the responsibility of running the rapidly growing family business, a role which she assumed with great ease given the training she received from her father before his death. At a time when women in America were seldom more than secretaries in a business world, dominated by men,  Marjorie Merriweather Post became the first woman President of a company, going down in history as one of America's first businesswomen.

Mrs. Post married four times. Her first marriage was in 1905, to investment banker Edward Bennett Close, of Greenwich, Connecticut, by whom she had two daughters. However, the marriage ended up in divorce in 1919. Her second marriage was in 1920, to Wall Street financier Edward Francis Hutton. This marriage was a perfect match, both being handsome, wealthy and similar inclinations towards business. The business acumen of Hutton coupled with the experience of Mrs. Post, led to a rapid expansion of the business. Hutton became the Chairman of the Board of the Postum Cereal Company, which diversified into the prepared and frozen food products with great success, and the name of the company changed to the General Foods Corporation.

Post and Hutton  were divorced in 1935, and had one child by their marriage. Marjorie married her third husband Joseph E. Davies, a Washington lawyer in 1935, and accompanied him to the Soviet Union, where he served as the American ambassador from 1937 to 1938, and was one of those who witnessed Stalin's reign of terror first hand. It was also in the Soviet Union, that Marjorie began acquiring Russian imperial art treasures which were sold with the approval of the government of the Soviet Union.

Among the items of Russian art acquired by her, included Russian icons, textiles, porcelains,  silver and Faberge art objects. Her collection of Russian art, today is the most important collection of Russian imperial art outside Russia, and is displayed at the Hillwood Museum, her former residence in Washington D.C. Marjorie's marriage to Davies also came to an end in 1955. Her fourth marriage occurred in 1958 to Herbert A. May, a wealthy Pittsburg businessman, a marriage that lasted only until 1964.

Besides being a successful businesswoman, Marjorie was also a well known art collector, a philanthropist and socialite. As pointed out earlier she inherited her passion for the arts from her father C. W. Post, but her collection began to expand significantly only after  she moved to New York in the early 20th century. While at New York she came under the influence of the wealthy collectors of the New York high society.

To learn more about art she enrolled in classes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and came under the influence of the renowned art dealer Sir Joseph Duveen, who instilled a life long passion for the arts in Marjorie.

During the 1920s she acquired decorative art objects for her New York home, and French furnishings for her grand apartment in New York, her estate Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Camp Hutridge in the Adirondacks and her yacht Sea Cloud. She also acquired fine Sevres porcelain and 18th century French gold boxes.

She put together her Russian collection of art during her third husbands assignment as American ambassador in 1937-38. She continued collecting throughout her life, and in 1958 hired Marvin Ross, a Harvard trained art historian to catalogue and organize her collections and implement standard museum practices at Hillwood.

In 1973, after her death, Hillwood, her last estate in Washington D. C. was bequeathed to the public as a museum, where her magnificent French and Russian collections are on display. This was her final and most important philanthropic gesture.

Marjorie Merriweather Post involved herself in lot of charitable activities during the great depression of the 1930s, and supported many philanthropic causes throughout her life. She supported the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, and during World War I donated funds for the construction of field hospitals in France, a gesture that was recognized by the French Government, who awarded her the Legion of Honor. In 1971, she was the recipient of the Silver Fawn Award presented by the Boy Scouts of America.
 
Marjorie Merriweather Post donates her jewelry to the NMNH of the Smithsonian Institution.
Marjorie Merriweather Post donated some of her jewelry of historical value to the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution in the 1960s, where these are exhibited today at the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals.

The famous pieces of jewelry donated by her include the following :-
1) A pair of 20-carat diamond earrings belonging to Marie Antoinette
2) 275 carat diamond and turquoise necklace and tiara given by Napoleon I to his wife Empress Marie Louise.
3) The 30.82-carat "Blue Heart" diamond ring, containing the "Blue Heart" diamond of South African origin.
4) Emerald and diamond necklace and ring belonging to the Mexican Emperor Maximilian Joseph.
 
The Maximilian Emerald Ring is Now exhibited in the Museo Alameda, San Antonio, Texas.



That is the fate of some of the Maximillian's Gems. There is another interesting fact that there was never any Mexican Crown jewels they were never made for Maximilian coronation. He used borrowed Tiara and crown jewels from his brothers collection in the house of Hasburgs.

There are 2 diamond pendants that are still to be located.

More to follow

hardluck 


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Here is some more information.

History of the Maximilian Emerald

Source of the Maximiilan Emerald

The emerald belonged to Cuauhtemoc the last king of the Aztecs

According to legend the Emperor Maximilian Emerald is believed to have belonged to Cuauhtemoc, the last king of the Aztec Empire, with its capital based at Tenochtitlan ( present day Mexico City), who was martyred trying to defend his homeland from the Spanish in the 1525. Cuauhtemoc was captured by the Spanish Conquistadors in 1521, while crossing lake Texcoco in disguise, during the 80-day siege of Tenochtitlan, and tortured on the orders of Hernan Cortes, to make him reveal the whereabouts of hidden treasures, which he did not possess. Cuauhtemoc was executed by the Spaniards on charges of treason in 1525. Today, Cuauhtemoc is one of the most revered figures in Mexican History, considered as a symbol of bravery and courage against the cruelty of the Spanish Conquistadors.

If the emerald did indeed belong to Cuauhtemoc, the last king of the Aztecs, its source must be undoubtedly one of the three ancient emerald mines of Colombia, Muzo, Coscuez and Chivor, the only source of emeralds in South America during that period, and were mined and traded by the Chibchan and Muzo Indians. Large quantities of these emeralds eventually found their way to neighboring Peru and Mexico, where emeralds were considered as sacred stones and the indigenous Indian tribes used them as ornaments, offered them to their Gods in the temple, or buried them together with their dead.

 In fact the Spanish Conquistadors saw emeralds for the first time in South America, when they landed in Peru and Mexico, and attempts made by them to located the source of these emeralds in Peru and Mexico, proved fruitless, simply because there were no emerald mines in these countries. Thus the Spaniards resorted to desecrating the temples and the graveyards of the indigenous people stripping them of their emeralds and exporting large quantities of these emeralds back to Spain. It was not until 1537, the Spaniards came to know the actual source of the emeralds, when Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada  captured Colombia, and on entering the valley of Guacheta, the heart of the Chibcha domain, was warmly received by the Chibcha Indian Chief, who also gifted him with nine large emeralds.
 
The emerald was purchased by Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph during his trip to Brazil in 1860
Another possibility is that the emerald actually belonged to Emperor Maximilian, like the "Emperor Maximilian  Diamond" and the "Princess Carlota Diamond" which was purchased by him in 1860, when he made a trip to the Brazilian rain forests in pursuance of his Botanical studies, a subject that had fascinated him since his childhood. It is quite possible that Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph also purchased the Maximilian emerald during his trip to the Amazon rain forests of Brazil, and later got it cut and mounted on a ring.

It is well known that soon after the execution of the Emperor by firing squad, it was discovered that he had been wearing the 41.94-carat diamond in a small satchel tied around his neck. After his execution the Emperor's body was returned to his family in Vienna, and the diamond given to his widow Princess Carlota. If we accept this version as correct, the source of the emerald is either the Muzo or Cosquez mines, as around the period 1860 the Chivor mines were still lost and not rediscovered after its closure in 1675, by royal decree issued by King Charles II, due to the cruel and brutal conditions under which the mines were being exploited.


Another thing you will find interesting is....

Maximilian diamond


Maximilian diamond found on the Emperor's body
Soon after his execution it was discovered that Emperor Maximilian had been wearing the 41.94-carat diamond in a small satchel tied around his neck, when he faced the firing squad. After the execution the Emperor's body was returned to his family in Vienna, and the diamond given to his widow.

The problems faced by her husband ever since he was installed as emperor of Mexico, that eventually led to his execution, and her desperate attempts in seeking help for her husband, which was denied by those who installed him as emperor, had a profound effect on Princess Carlota, which led to serious emotional collapse and severe mental derangement. The princess remained mentally deranged until her death near Brussels in 1927, almost 60 years after the tragic incident. The Emperor Maximilian diamond was sold in 1867, in order to pay for the medical expenses of the princess. Since then the whereabouts of the diamond was unknown, until it reappeared in America in 1919, when it was purchased by a Chicago gem dealer, Ferdinand Hotz.
 
Maximilian diamond displayed at the 1934 Chicago World Fair
The Emperor Maximilian diamond was exhibited by Ferdinand Hotz, the owner of the diamond, at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago held in 1933-34. The diamond was the highlight of a $ 5,000,000 exhibit, which reproduced a South African diamond mine in operation with native laborers.
During his ownership of the diamond since 1919, there had been several offers by interested individuals to purchase the diamond, but Ferdinand Hotz refused to part with it. However after his death in 1946, it was sold to an anonymous private collector in New York City.
The Emperor Maximilian diamond then came into the possession of Laurence Graff, the King of diamonds, the founder of the internationally renowned Graff Diamonds, who is said to have handled more important gem-quality diamonds than any other living dealer.
 
Last transaction of the Maximilian diamond
The last transaction of the Maximilian diamond took place in 1983, when the diamond together with the 70.21-carat Idol's Eye diamond and the 70.54-carat Sultan Abdul Hamid II diamond was sold to the same anonymous buyer, by Laurence Graff in one of the biggest single transactions in the history of diamond sales. According to rumors the three famous diamonds were actually purchased by Imelda Marcos the wife of the former President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos.

Isn't it strange one set of characters connected to a treasure story connected to another treasure story by the proceeds of crime?

How ironic of all people?

Who says crime does not pay?



Hardluck 

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Bearing in mind that Carlotta was apparently going insane all this time and
dissapeard for a while 

Crime does pay it seems.

And why would Imelda Marcos spend sooo much money on 3 diamonds, the pair were more corrupt than a hard drive in the rain! They had billions of dollars in offshore accounts through dodgy dealings.....to spend so publicly makes no sense.

Sooo comfuzzled 

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I agree this has been a fun ride so far, lets see where it goes. I began posting on this because I love old treasure stories and I have to say the enthusiasm has drawn me in. 

I did some searching of old newspaper articals for any mention of a William "Bill" Murdock and so far haven't found any results that fit.

One tidbit came from researching Upton County where castle gap is:

Marker Title: Castle Gap
Address: US 67, E of McCamey
City: McCamey
County: Upton
Year Marker Erected: 1962
Marker Location: On US 67 about 5 miles E of McCamey
Marker Text: Castle Gap, famous early pass for southwestern trails, lies 14 miles northwest along the Upton-Crane County line. Through this mile-long gap between Castle and King mountains flowed the full panorama of Texas history-- Indian, Spaniard, Stage and Trail Herd Driver, Settler, '49er. In prehistoric time Castle Gap was a landmark for nomadic Indian tribes and later guided the Commanches on their war trail into Mexico. The first white man to discover the pass was probably the Spanish explorer Felipe Rabago y Teran in 1761. Then came the '49ers in their frenzied rush to the California gold fields, to be followed by other, more permanent settlers. From 1858 to 1861 the famed Butterfield Overland Mail coaches rumbled through the pass on their 24-day journey from St. Louis to San Francisco, pausing briefly at the adobe-walled Castle Gap station for fresh teams. Then they were off again, fording into the sunset. By 1866 the Goodnight-Loving cattle trail was firmly established at the gap, funneling tens of thousands of brawling longhorn cattle to the northern markets. During this same period, legend holds that a treasure-laden aide of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, fleeing the country when the regime collapsed, buried gold and jewels in the area. Dust of the pioneers settled long ago. Today Castle Gap slumbers peacefully, disturbed only by visitors, occasional treasure hunters and those who probe for ruins of the Butterfield station and the rapidly fading ruts of coach and wagon.

I'm going to dig more on the Goodnight-Loving trail and see if I can locate some old maps showing the route.


Since I can't dive on the Meridia, I have focused my search on Texas.

I found a few tidbits on some other sites. One talked a bit more about Murdock and how after the illness he headed Missouri way to enlist Jesse James help in recovering the stashed loot. That's apparently where ol Doc Black ran into him. For the sake of speculation at this point I'm taking a point from this story. It seems that Max's trusted men in this version were Austrian, which sounds accurate to me since he was hated by the Mexicans as we discussed. The rumor is that Murdock said the stash was near Horsehead Crossing. Now just on the surface this makes a lot of sense. The Butterfield Stage line had been using this crossing as well as many earlier groups and also the cattle barons as they drove thier herds to market. Namely the Goodnight-Loving trail among others. So this crossing was an extremely well known and marked spot apparently by critter skulls, and was so named by Capt. Randolph Barnes Marcy USA
 

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What makes him interesting to this story is that he also drew a map marking the ford. If you scroll down this page you will find this entry below.

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Capt. R. B. Marcy, U. S. A., exploration - 1854

The report of this forms Senate Ex. Doc. No. 60, first session Thirty-fourth Congress. It is accompanied by a map of the region explored, on a scale of 8 miles to an inch. Captain Marcy was accompanied by Major Neighbors, Indian agent, and Dr. G. G. Shumard, geologist, and escorted by forty-five men of the Seventh Infantry, under Lieuts. N. B. Pearce and G. Chapin. An odometer, compass, aneroid barometer, and thermometer composed his main instruments. The object of the expedition was to find suitable lands to reserve for the Indians. No astronomical observations were made; he adopted the positions of Forts Belknap and Phantom Hill, from Johnson's map of Texas.

Now when Texas put up the Historical marker at Horsehead there seems to be some confusion as to the real location (much like many historical sites...oh this is close enough) Apparently at one time there were a couple sandstone buildings at the ford as well. What makes me think this could be a likely location area is my basic treasure ideal. If you are going to hide something, hide it where you can find it easy later, even if you don't get back right away. What better location than the most popular river crossing marked with skulls? Aside from geological markers like big strange shaped rocks or caves thats the only semi unchanging part of the landscape. The most accurate location of the real ford will likely be on that map. If any of the Texas scenarios are true....

Anyway it would also be a great place to hold up a stage, since it has to slow down to cross over, so who knows what might be around there?

The below site has the details of this version, and a possible contact. Seems the poster was searching that area last month.

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