Case file · Folklore / legend
Valverde's gold in the Llanganates
Botanist Richard Spruce published in 1861 the 'Derrotero de Valverde', a route said to lead to the gold Rumiñahui hid from the Spaniards in Ecuador's Llanganates mountains.
1861 CE · -1.15, -78.25 · status: legend
The account
Searchers have followed it ever since through fog, swamps and cliffs; several have died or vanished.
The sceptical view
No treasure has been found; the guide's landmarks may be invented or copied.