Spanish adventurers first explored the desert southwest in the
early 1500's looking for "Cibola", the cities of gold. They always
traveled with Catholic priests who attempted to convert the people
they met on their travels. As a result, the cross as a religious
symbol has more than 400 years of history in this part of the
country. Almost every church is adorned with a cross. Likewise,
cemeteries are filled with crosses.
In 1869, the Jesuit Fathers in Albuquerque announced they would be
building a new chapel and new cemetery. The old cemetery near the
San Felipe de Neri Church would no longer hold burials. Father
Donato Gasparri found a better site three miles from the Old Town
site. The first recorded interment was August 1870. The earliest
existing monuments are those of Vicente Otero (1877), Jesusita Baca
de Romero (1877) and Diego Armijo (1878).
The listed coordinates are for the statue of Jesus on the Cross
located in the center of the cemetery. As noted above, the cache is
not hidden on the cemetery grounds. In order to determine the
actual location, you must first find the marker for the grave of
Juan Tafoya. You can see it easily from the sidewalk running along
the west side of the cemetery. At that point, you should be about
3048 inches from the listed coordinates. You will also be within
reach of the cache.