The Curse of Cahuenga Pass

Could there be buried treasure at the Hollywood Bowl? More so, did its curse kill at least 10 men?

The Hollywood Bowl and its famous parking lot in 1929 (Huntington Library)

The lore of the loot dates back to 1864 amid the second French intervention in Mexico. To defend against a monarchical government (Emperor Maximilian I, former Austrian archduke), the resistance crowd-sourced $200,000 worth of gold coins, diamonds, jewelry, and watches to buy armaments in San Francisco.

Four men were sent on the mission from Mazatlán, yet only three made it to Northern California. Along the way, their lead died suddenly. Fearing it was the work of French spies, the three surviving delegates split the treasure into six portions, wrapped each in a buckskin, and buried them outside San Francisco for safekeeping.

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