In the 1500’s a Catholic priest and two Spanish conquistadors left Lima, Peru, crossed the Andes and traveled to the headwaters of the Amazon. They found a native village at the base of a waterfall. The priest tried to teach them about Jesus Christ; he told them about His teachings, he explained how He died on the cross. He tried to show them that the cross represented Him; they saw it as something evil. The villagers had an abundance of gold; the priest carved a cross in clay and he had them cast a golden cross in the clay. He pulled the golden cross out of the clay mold. One conquistador fled down river. After years the other conquistador died and was buried in a log coffin. Eventually the priest died and was likewise buried in a log coffin. The golden cross remained in the village.

A rich Englishman made treks around the remote parts of the world and documented each trip in a book about his adventure. This trip was from the mouth of the Amazon and to the headwaters. He found the native village at the base of the waterfall. The natives shared their oral history with him. He was intrigued with story about the priest and conquistadors. He saw the golden cross. On his return, he documented the trip, the native village and the oral ancient history. In the last chapter titled ‘The Cross’ he told about the golden cross worth about 60 million dollars.

His published book was read by a small audience. However, the last chapter, ‘The Cross’, generated a lot of interest … 60
million dollars. Many wanted to go get it. A few had the resources to retrieve it. Hence, a race was on as to who could
get there first.