In his chapter 'OLD GOLD' the author of 'DEATH VALLEY MEN', Bourke Lee, relates the allegedly-true account of two prospectors who claimed to have discovered this ancient, abandoned 'city' within huge caverns inside the heart of the Panamint mountains. Take special note of the INCREDIBLE similarity between this account and the one given to the Navajo -ga-Make by an old Paihute sage, as recorded in the article 'TRIBAL MEMORIES OF THE FLYING SAUCERS'.

We will take up the story where two Death Valley residents by the name of Bill and Jack are havng a conversation with two prospectors, 'Thomason' and 'White', from whom the author 'apparently' learned the details of the following discussion, if not present at the discussion himself: ...Thomason looked from Jack to Bill and asked, 'How long have you men been in this country?' Jack spoke before Bill had a chance. 'Not very long,' said Jack quietly. Bill glanced curiously at Jack but said nothing. If Jack thought that 30 years was not very long, that was all right with Bill. about it for several years, and we're the only men in the world [?] who do know about it. We're going to let you two fellows in on it.

You've been good to us. You're both fine fellows. You haven't asked us any questions about ourselves, and we like you. We think you can keep a secret, so we'll tell you ours." Jack blew smoke and asked, "A lost mine?" "No, not a mine," said Thomason. "A lost treasure house. A lost city of gold. It's bigger than any mine that ever was found, or ever will be." "It's bigger than the United States Mint," said White, with his voice and body shaking with excitement. "It's a city thousands of years old and worth billions of dollars! Billions of Dollars! Billions! Not Millions. Billions!"

Thomason and White spoke rapidly and tensely, interrupting each other in eager speech. Thomason said, "We've been trying to get the treasure out of this golden city for years. We had to have help, and we haven't been able to get it." "Everybody tries to rob us," put in White. "They all want too big a share. I offered the whole city to the Smithsonian Institution for five million dollars -- only a small part of what it's worth. They tried to rob us, too! They said they'd give me a million and a half for a discovery that's worth a billion dollars!" he sneered. "I had nothing more to do with them."

Jack got up and found his plug of tobacco. He threw away his cigarette and savagely bit off an enormous chew. He sat down and crossed his legs and glowered at White as he worked his chew into his jaw. Bill's voice was meek as he asked, "And this place is in Death Valley?" "Right in the Panamint Mountains!" said Thomason. "My partner found it by accident. He was prospecting down on the lower edge of the range near Wingate Pass. He was working in the bottom of an old abandoned shaft when the bottom fell out and landed him in a tunnel. We've explored the tunnel since. It's a natural tunnel like a big cave. It's over 20 miles long. It leads all through a great underground city; through the treasure vaults, the royal palace and the council chambers; and it connects to a series of beautiful galleries with stone arches in the east slope of the Panamint Mountains. Those arches are like great big windows in the side of the mountain and they look down on Death Valley. They're high above the valley now, but we believe that those entrances in the mountain side were used by the ancient people that built the city. They used to land their boats there." "Boats!" demanded the astonished Bill, "boats in Death Valley?" Jack choked and said, "Sure, boats. There used to be a lake in Death Valley. I hear the fishing was fine." "You know about the lake," Thomason pointed his blue chin at Jack. "Your geology would tell you about the lake. It was a long time ago... The ancient people who built the city in the caverns under the mountain lived on in their treasure houses long after the lake in the valley dried up. How long, we don't know. But the people we found in the caverns have been dead for thousands of years. Why! Those mummies alone are worth a million dollars!" White, his eyes blazing, his body trembling, filled the little house with a vibrant voice on the edge of hysteria. "Gold!" he cried. "Gold spears! Gold shields! Gold statues! Jewelry! Thick gold bands on their arms! I found them! I fell into the underground city. There was an enormous room; big as this canyon. A hundred men were in it. Some were sitting around a polished table that was inlaid with gold and precious stones. Men stood around the walls of the room carrying shields and spears of solid gold. All the men -- more than a hundred -- had on leather aprons, the finest kind of leather, soft and full of gold ornaments and jewels. They sat there and stood there with all that wealth around them. They are still there. They are all dead! And the gold, all that gold, and all those gems and jewels are all around them. All that gold and jewelry! Billions!" White's voice was ascending to a shriek when Thomason put a hand on his arm and White fell silent, his eyes darting about to the faces of those who sat around the table.