I happened to catch a part of a radio show that had an author (can't remember his name) talking about the Knights Templar. He seemed to be talking about treasures they had hid across North America. He also said he believed Christopher Columbus was a Knights Templar, or at least affiliated with them because he had married into some royal bloodline, and that he was in fact searching for the treasure. Is there any truth to what he said? Can anyone perhaps expand on this idea/theory (even if its false)? It sounded pretty interesting.
There is very little substantive evidence that any Europeans came to the New World between the voyage of Leif Erikson and the landing of Christopher Columbus. While there's very little we can say without a doubt, Pre-Columbian Templars are almost certain to have not come to the New World.
I recommend These posts by /u/LoneGazebo and /u/CommodoreCoCo respectively if you have further questions.