El Dorado
The myth about El Dorado is created by a ritual of the Chibcha's. They used to cover the body of a prince or Cancique (leader) with gold powder. After this they dived into the holy water en offered juwels to the gods.
The Spanish conquerers heard about this ritual from the natives and it went from ear to ear.
Finally this lead to a hole other story: the El Dorado, which means the Golden man. Due to the Spanish there was a man who carried an incredible weight of gold with him. For many men, this was a reason to go and look for him. He was never found.