Treasure Hunting Questions and Answers: Part 2

Here is the second installment of answers to your "Treasure Trove Dreams" questions:

What percent of treasure legends are worth hunting for? Like most things in treasure hunting, there are many variables to be considered. Many treasure legends and tales have very little in terms of solid information or details to back them up. I call these "will-o'-the-wisps" or chimeras and they are very hard to pin down. But if I had to make a very general estimate, I'd say somewhere along the lines 0f 25% or 30% are worth spending time and effort researching (this is only an "educated guess" though).

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How big a part does modern technology play in treasure hunting? Great question! Modern technology plays a huge part in today's treasure searches. Everything from increasingly sophisticated metal detectors, side-scanning sonars, ground-penetrating radars, more efficient magnetometers, GPS systems, satellite imagery, communications gear, the internet, you name it. It's a very long way down the road even from where I started treasure hunting 30-something years ago, let alone for pioneers like Karl Von Mueller, Robert Marx, and Mel Fisher.

What's a "post-hole" bank? Please read my post in this blog titled "Small Treasures: Posthole Banks" (http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2008/11/small-treasures-posthole-banks.html). I cover this topic there, but if you have additional questions e-mail me.

I heard through the metal-detector grapevine that a big gold nugget was found in the desert in California recently. True or not? True. Very recently a Southern California nugget hunter using a metal detector recovered a 8.7 troy ounce gold nugget in the high desert near the old Randsburg Mining District. It's estimated value is between $20,000-$25,000 since it is probably the largest surviving nugget ever found in this historic California mining region. (Interestingly enough, I once worked a placer gold claim near Randsburg but I never found any nuggets that large. One like this whopper would've made my day!)

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Are there any good treasures to look for in South Dakota? A general answer to your query is that there are treasure trove legends in all 50 U.S. states. However, you can research these specific treasure tales for South Dakota: Custer's Lost Trove (yes, the same Custer who led his command into the Little Big Horn massacre), Lost Gold at French Creek, and the Dirty Woman Creek Trove, to name but 3. Good luck!

What's the most valuable treasure hunting tool? I suspect you are referring to types of equipment. However, the most valuable and effective treasure hunting tools you can employ anytime, anywhere are: patience, persistence, perseverance, and good research. Without these you can spend millions on fancy gear and never hit the "big one," while with them you can operate successfully on a shoestring budget. That's my take anyway....

Who was Kip Wagner? Kip Wagner was a native of Ohio who moved to the small beach hamlet of Wabasso, Florida after WWII. After being told that old Spanish coins often washed up onto local beaches after big storms, Kip began searching for them himself. One thing led to another and with some steady research Kip discovered that in 1715 a Spanish treasure fleet had been wrecked off the coast. Eventually Kip formed a treasure hunting company called the Real Eight Company, one of the first treasure salvor enterprises in Florida. Kip set the standard for many of the treasure hunters who followed, including the late Mel Fisher.

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That's it for this round. Be safe out there and, as always, good hunting to you!

If you liked this post, you may want to read: "Treasure Hunting Questions and Answers: Part 1"

http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2009/04/treasure-hunting-questions-and-answers.html

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at j872vt90@yahoo.com

"Bronco Billy's" Lost Loot

(Graham County, Arizona.)

A Fortune in Gold at Solomonville?

This treasure tale from the "Grand Canyon State" is centered around Graham County in southeastern Arizona. But the key location in this legend of lost gold is Solomonville, the county seat, which sits on the south side of the Gila River.

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It was here, at little Solomonville, that a fortune in stolen Wells Fargo gold was buried by a well-known desperado of the day. Who was that desperado, you ask? Why none other than the infamous "Bronco Billy."

"Bronco Billy"

"Bronco Billy" was born William E. Walters in Fort Sill, Oklahoma Territory sometime in the late 1860s (his birth year is usually given as 1869). When he came of age "Billy" drifted southwestward into New Mexico and Arizona, doing stints as a cowboy and a Santa Fe Railroad employee.

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Evidently this sort of mundane labor did not suit "Billy's" temperament because he soon abandoned honest work to join "Black Jack" Ketchum's gang of thieves, robbers, murderers, and associated "n'er-do-wells" in Arizona. "Billy" rode with Ketchum's gang for a short while and then formed his own band of desperadoes after earning a well-deserved reputation as a hard case and a cold-blooded killer.

A Penchant for Gold

"Billy" and his boys specialized in robbing Wells Fargo stagecoaches and commercial transport wagons. Although the gang typically stole anything and everything of value from individuals and Wells Fargo alike, "Billy" himself had a particular penchant for gold in all forms....coins, jewelry, and bullion.

Over time "Billy" amassed quite a hoard of the yellow metal, much more then he himself could personally spend or lug around on horseback. Since the gang's main R&R area was centered in and around Solomonville, it is generally assumed that "Billy" buried one or more large stashes of gold nearby (Note: this was corroborated later by other gang members trying to save themselves from prison or worse, J.R.).

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Wells Fargo Puts a Price on "Billy's" Head

Needless to say, "Billy" and the boys became so good at stealing Wells Fargo "goodies" that the company men back East decided they'd had enough and put a price on "Bronco Billy's" head. Wells Fargo hired bounty hunters and Pinkerton detectives to put an end to the gang's depredations once and for all.

This they did in short order, locating "Billy's" hideout just outside Solomonville and shooting, running off, or capturing most of the gang. "Billy" himself barely escaped the noose and was sent off to do a long stint of hard time at a territorial prison.

"Billy" Never Returned to Solomonville

There must have been something about prison life that didn't sit well with "Billy," because when he was finally released in 1917, he dropped the "Bronco Billy" moniker and once again became William E. Walters.

"Billy" never returned to Solomonville (or his buried gold) but instead ended up in Hatchita, a small community in southwestern New Mexico where he once again returned to cowboying as an employee of the Diamond "A" Cattle Company.

Mr. Walters Meets His End

Mr. Walters kept his nose clean thereafter, refusing to discuss his earlier criminal career or to answer any questions regarding the possibility of buried gold near Solomonville. In the end, the legendary "Bronco Billy" met his end in the most inglorious fashion...by falling off a windmill tower he was working on.

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So there you have it. Sure, additional research is needed, especially in the areas of "Bronco Billy's" activities and movements (as well as the gang's) after the robberies. But for the persistent and careful researcher, a fortune in buried gold may await you near Solomonville, Arizona.

Good hunting out there!

If you liked this post, you may want to read: "$60,000 in Gold Coins: the Bloody Springs Treasure Trove"

http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2009/06/60000-in-gold-coins-bloody-springs.html

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com

Texas Treasure Troves: John Fletcher's Buried Treasure

Periodically one of my readers here at "Treasure Trove Dreams" graciously provides me with information on a treasure tale that is not in my 30 years' worth of notes scribbled on 3" x 5" index cards. One such legend is John Fletcher's buried trove in Texas.

I have treasure hunter Jim Everett to thank for providing me with information gained from his own knowledge and research of Fletcher's cache. What sort of treasure trove are we talking about here? Huge, to say the least, with enough gold and silver to make any number of us wealthy beyond our wildest dreams.

Here is what Jim has to say about Fletcher's buried treasure:

Fletcher and Jean Lafitte


"The treasure I'm talking about is John Fletcher's treasure. Fletcher was a scallywag living in the 'strip' back in the early 1800s. The strip was a neutral zone established between the newly born U.S. and Mexican Texas."


"Most of the people living in the strip were Jean Lafitte's men. They saw caravan after caravan of Mexican mule trains carrying silver reales going to Nacadotches, Louisiana to buy hardware and goods to bring back to San Antonio. Louisiana was closer to do business with at the time it seems."


The Looting of San Antonio


"They (Note: Lafitte's men including Fletcher I assume, J.R.) finally decided to try to invade San Antonio in 1813, 14 years before the Alamo. They drove the Mexican army out and looted the town. The loot was promptly sent back in a 30-mule train of gold and silver to the strip."


"But the invaders lingered too long and were caught by the vengeful Mexican army. Almost all were massacred. The mule train was intercepted after having came through Palestine, Texas. It was reportedly along the Camino Real (Note: the King's Highway, J.R.) about 30 miles from the ferry."

Treasure Under a Waterfall


"The newspaper reports said Jasper County, but this is about 50 miles south of the Camino Real. The road went through present day Sabine County."


"It (Note: the treasure, J.R.) was deposited under a waterfall in a spring-fed 'clear' running creek about 150 yards from the Camino Real. I have found the only spring-fed creek along the King's Highway and sure enough it is almost exactly 30 miles from the old ferry."

Block's Article on the Treasure

"A man named Brock, or Block wrote an article on it (Note: Block's article can be found at the following link: http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/john.htm. My thanks to Jim for providing this article link, J.R.). I did extensive research on this 2 years ago and found that there were political issues in store for the money that came up missing."

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"A cache of silver ingots was dug up at Newton's Landing about 20 miles south from the King's Highway during the Civil War. 200 plus I think (Note: The number of ingots recovered, J.R.)."

As you can see, Jim Everett has done his research well and has uncovered additional leads to this treasure trove. Again, I thank him for providing information on this treasure tale and especially for allowing me to publish certain aspects of his own research.

Thanks for your help and for a job well done Jim!

If you liked this post, you may want to read: "Top 10 Personal Mistakes to Avoid in Treasure Hunting"

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com

Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid in Treasure Hunting (Part 1)

This post mirrors its counterpart in my gold mining blog, "Bedrock Dreams." That said, here are the first 5 of my top 10 personal mistakes to avoid in treasure hunting:

1. Forming treasure hunting partnerships on a handshake or by verbal agreement: in an ideal world we could depend on others to be as honest and trustworthy as we think ourselves to be. But if you enter into partnerships with friends, relatives, landowners, or that treasure hunting club buddy without some sort of written or concrete documentation, then all bets are off. The "noble brotherhood" will only last as long as no substantial amount of loot is found or selfish egos are kept in check. So do yourself a favor and draw up some sort of solid, legal documentation before entering into a partnership with anyone (this includes yours truly). Not only will things shake out better in the end, you just might avoid ruining a good friendship or two.

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2. Allowing the "dream merchants" to sell you a bill of goods: your treasure hunting supply and equipment needs should be based, in a large part, on your overall knowledge, skills, and experience. So it makes absolutely no sense, for example, for a novice who hasn't even learned to coin hunt properly to purchase a $5,000 metal detector. Similarly, no one in their right mind (except the gullible and extremely naive) needs a pricey "treasure locator" wand that can supposedly point the way to buried caches 50 miles away. But the small percentage of "dream merchants" (including treasure map vendors) who run less-than-scrupulous treasure hunting supply stores and shops online and elsewhere could care less. One of my basic rants in this regard is that those "crooks" (yep, if the shoe fits...) have a "vested interest" in your interest in treasure hunting and they will tell you anything you want to hear to get your hard-earned cash. (Can I really make a living treasure hunting? "Hell yes, of course! It's a piece of cake!" Do your treasure locator rods really find caches miles away? "Proven scientific fact, my friend!" Can I return this piece of junk you sold me for a refund? "Nope, and don't let that door hit you on the ass on your way out either.")

3. Trespassing on private or restricted public lands: as you go about about your treasure hunting forays there will be occasions when your research will lead you to investigate hoards or caches that may lay within the boundaries of private property or restricted public lands such as state or federal parks. If your research and leads have pretty much pointed the way and your inner voice is screaming "this is where the treasure is, I just know it!!," then the temptation to trespass can become almost overpowering. My advice? DON'T TRESPASS. No matter what. No way, no how, and here's why: for every treasure recovery successfully made on the sly, nine others resulted in arrests, court appearances, jail time, or worse. I am intimately familiar with one case like this back in the 1980s that resulted in a shootout and a murder charge (yes, someone died with a .223 round to the head). It just ain't worth it my friend. In the long run, you can't spend all that trespass loot if your dead, jailed, or a landowner, the state, or the Feds take it all away from you in the courts.

4. Becoming the poster boy or girl for "greedy is as greedy does": if your treasure hunting activities are eventually going to transform you into a gold-grubbing version of Scrooge from "A Christmas Carol," then perhaps treasure hunting is not the right venue for you. Much of what we do in treasure hunting circles is not only about us, but about sharing our abilities, knowledge, skills, and at times, even basic leads with others to help them along the way just as we were helped by others early on. My personal view is this. If you are one of those ego-driven, greedy treasure recovery "maniacs" out there with a selfish heart and even meaner spirit (and I've come across a few in my day, unfortunately) your karma will catch up with you eventually. And when the day finally comes that you need help from another treasure hunter, he or she will shake their head in disbelief before showing you their backside as they walk away from you for the last time. Beyond this, always remember the old treasure hunting motto: "Greed Kills."

5. Not listening to the oldtimers: this is one of my personal pet peeves. If you are one of those people who, for whatever reason, cannot put your voracious or fragile ego aside for a bit and open your ears to the advice and instruction of more experienced treasure hunters, then you are stepping on your own toes something serious my friend. Why? Because an experienced treasure hunter (yes, like myself) can teach you more about the ins and outs of treasure hunting in a day or two than you could learn in 6 months of trial and error. This means not only the nuts and bolts but the more difficult aspects of treasure hunting such as how to conduct good research, develop and follow leads, set up and operate equipment, identify recoverable troves, how to avoid legal hassles, etc., etc. But, if you are one of those mental giants who always knows better than anyone else, far be it from me to tell you otherwise (and by the way, enjoy that steep learning curve while you're at it.)

If you liked this post, you may want to read: "Arizona's Lost Black Canyon Placer (Conclusion)"

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at j7872vt90@yahoo.com

Arizona's Lost Black Canyon Placer (Conclusion)

(A small gold-bearing stream and bedrock in Black Canyon [photo courtesy ankaa.])

A Lost Mine Legend With Merit

In my first post on the legend of the Lost Black Canyon Placer I established that the Bradshaw Mountain region in Arizona is highly mineralized and has produced much placer and lode gold over time. So, the possibility of a very rich and only partially worked pocket placer in Black Canyon is more than a simple chimera or "will-o-the-wisp."

This is one lost mine legend that has merit and probably holds more water than most treasure tales. The fact that extensive gold deposits once existed in the Canyon cannot be disputed. But is there a gold placer in the Black Canyon region that, if worked properly, could yield untold riches to the lucky treasure hunter, prospector, or miner who finds it?

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Gold Pans

Perhaps, but to date that patch of rich, gold-bearing ground has probably not been located.

Here's how the Lost Black Canyon Placer became "lost:"

Mexican Miners in the Bradshaws

By the mid-1850s, many miners from Mexico had made their way into Arizona and the new gold strikes in the Bradshaw Mountains. These men knew their stuff, having spent numerous years prospecting and working in Mexican silver and gold mining regions.

Using their hard-won skills and experience, the Mexican miners began recovering large amounts of placer and lode gold in the southern and southeastern Bradshaws. One of these hardy souls was a young man I will call "Isidro."

"Isidro" Ventures Into Black Canyon

In the latter half of the 1800s Isidro ventured deep into Black Canyon, sampling various gravels and bedrock locations with his batea (wooden gold pan) as he went. Along the way he bypassed numerous successful small mining operations being carried out by his fellow countrymen who had been in place for some time.

P&S Fishing Tackle

Although Isidro discovered paying gold ground at various spots along his path, something inside him pushed him deeper and deeper inside the Canyon. Eventually he came to a spot where a small feeder tributary entered the main stream he had been following.

(Note: For potential leads, please read my description of the main Black Canyon streams and various "feeder" creeks in Part 1 of this series. J.R.)

Ounce Upon Ounce of Yellow Metal

Here Isidro sampled the gravel banks and small areas of exposed and fissured bedrock. What he found astonished him! His batea contained nearly as much placer gold as it did gravel and black sands. Ounce upon ounce of yellow metal lay at the bottom of the wooden panning bowl, glowing in the intense sunlight.

Isidro felt his heart flutter. He knew that he had discovered fabulously rich ground, the sort of gold-bearing ground most other miners only dream of. Wasting no time, Isidro built a crude sluice box and set about recovering as much of his new-found riches as he could.

Life Intervenes

After only a few weeks Isidro had gathered enough placer gold (including numerous large nuggets and many ounces of smaller flakes and fine gold) to return home to his family in Mexico.

This he did, assuming all the while that he would return again one day to recover more gold from his rich placer in Black Canyon.

But life has a way of intervening and Isidro never made it back to his gold mine. He bought a nice plot of land, married, and raised a loving daughter and two sons.

Rich Ground Becomes "Lost"

Much later, as he lay dying of complications from old age, Isidro described the location of the Black Canyon placer to his sons. Hoping to make their way as men of substance just like their father, they themselves set out for Black Canyon but, try as they might, they were unable to locate Isidro's rich ground.

Over the years many other prospectors, miners, and treasure hunters have attempted to locate Isidro's lost gold mine. And, like his sons, they too have been unsuccessful (or smart enough not to broadcast otherwise).

So somewhere, deep inside Black Canyon or its immediate environs, great wealth in the form of gold nuggets and flakes awaits a lucky discoverer. Perhaps you'll be the one who finally locates the Lost Black Canyon Placer and recovers all the gold that Isidro left behind so long ago....

Costplustools

Good hunting to you!

(If you liked this post, you may want to read: "Arizona's Lost Black Canyon Placer (Part 1)"

http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2009/06/arizonas-lost-black-canyon-placer-part.html

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com

Arizona's Lost Black Canyon Placer (Part 1)

(Terrain view in the Bradshaws.)

A Lesser-Known Lost Mine Legend

As I've mentioned before in this blog, Arizona is certainly no stranger to treasure tales of lost mines. The Lost Dutchman Mine, to name but one, is arguably the most famous lost mine legend of all time.

Treasure Hunting

However this post is not about the Lost Dutchman, but another, lesser-known lost mine legend located in Arizona's mineral-rich Bradshaw Mountains. What legend, you ask? A rich gold placer known as the Lost Black Canyon Placer.

Black Canyon

Located on the southeastern flanks of the Bradshaws, Black Canyon was named for the color of the metamorphic country rock that predominates in the area. Cutting its way through the Canyon is Black Canyon Creek which, in turn, is supplied by numerous feeder streams, including Turkey Creek, Crazy Basin Creek, and Poland Creek. Eventually all of these empty into the Aqua Fria River at Black Canyon City.

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Like many areas of the Bradshaws, Black Canyon has an extensive history of lode gold and placer gold mining going back to at least to the early 1850s. At that time, nearly every tributary stream draining into Black Canyon Creek, including the main stream itself, contained large amounts of placer gold.

Fabulously Rich Pockets of Placer Gold

The basis for all the gold deposited into the Black Canyon watershed was the highly mineralized nature of the Bradshaws. For millions of years gold stringers and veins eroded out, exposing fines, flakes, and nuggets that were, in turn, washed down the slopes of the mountains, eventually coming to rest in low-laying areas and streambeds.

Some of the placer gold pockets in the Black Canyon region were fabulously rich. Even long after the bulk of the Canyon's gold was recovered in the mid-to-late 1800s, astounding discoveries were made. For example, in the early 1920s one lucky miner recovered over $20,000 in placer gold (when gold was at $35.00 per troy ounce!) from a gravel bar just downstream from the Howard Mine.

Simply Setting the Stage

You're probably wondering when I'll get to the heart of the matter here, the Lost Black Canyon Placer. All that I've told you to this point simply sets the stage for this tale of lost gold in the Bradshaws.

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I'll cover the the gist of this lost mine legend in my concluding post on this topic, so stay tuned. Until then, keep smiling!

If you liked this post, you may want to read: "Louisiana's $625,000 Treasure Trove"

http://treasuretrovegold.blogspot.com/2009/06/louisianas-625000-treasure-trove.html

(c) J.R. 2009

Questions? E-mail me at jr872vt90@yahoo.com