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The journey to painting Victorio Peak is a winding road.

I first met Terry Delonas through a friend and was immediately interested in his story about a mysterious mountain in New Mexico called Victorio Peak. It's really a journey of events that began with the discovery of a buried treasure and continues today as an astonishing record of the human spirit. This is one of America's true unsolved mysteries... strange today as it was in 1936 or 37 when the discovery was made.

Milton "Doc" Noss was hunting in New Mexico with his wife, Ova "Babe" Beckwith (Terry's Grandmother) when he escaped from a rain storm on Victorio Peak under a rocky overhang near it's summit. The story continues that Doc saw a "worked" stone that he eventually lifted and found a hole straight down like a mine shalt. Exploring the hole later, he is recorded to have found a treasure consisting of two billion dollars worth of gold bars, seventy-nine human skeletons, coins, jewels, saddles and artifacts including a gold statue of the Virgin Mary.

Here the story begins its complexity with betrayal, murder, heartbreak, courage and a strange military and political coverup. This mystery has consumed many lives and continues today to lure anyone who hears the story of the treasure hidden in Victorio Peak.

My interest in painting the mountain was stirred by conversations with Terry about his family history.
I wanted to capture the mystery of the mountain in a portrait and fill the painting with secrets.

First of all, the composition of this portrait is an "X," as in X marks the spot. Which leads your eye to the center of the painting at the peak of the mountain... the very place the treasure was discovered. The clouds, mountains and road are painted to help you take a journey to the top of the peak. Just like the generations of families who have been on a journey here, you are also on a journey as you experience the art. You will notice that the painting is divided in half, sky above and earth below. I painted this equally to honor the Native American people's belief in the sacred Mother Earth and Father Sky. The light is coming from the east or the right side of the canvas... it is morning light. Look to the top left corner of the painting and you will see a star... the morning star. Chief Victorio (who the mountain was named after) was also known as "The Morning Star". The clouds in the painting show dramatic changes and dynamic movement which symbolize the passionate lives of the characters in this story.

So, finally your eye discovers the shadow in the bottom right corner. Who is it? Doc Noss? Terry? Chief Victorio? US Military?.. or maybe it's you. The human shadow is on the road... making the journey in the morning light. The person is off the canvas, but this shadow suggests that the arms are not at his/her sides... but carrying something in his arms or on his back. Could it be the treasure?

And finally... the treasure was never found.

Learn More about the treasure, the efforts to find it and on-going mystery of Victorio Peak by CLICKING THE PAINTING below and go to www.victoriopeak.com which offers the books, "The Gold House" by John Clarence.