Thursday, October 27, 2011

Brass Bucket



In March of 1934, Joe Hunter, an avid treasure hunter, was combing through the rugged granite boulders near Bear Springs in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. On that day, he discovered a brass bucket. The find would make history, due to its unique inscription. On the bottom of the bucket was a patent date of Dec. 16th, 1851, extended in 1873, and manufactured by E. Miller and Company. The bucket was a treasure in itself.




Chiseled deep into its sides fifty-eight years prior to Joe’s discovery was an outlaw contract which formed a bounty bank for all who would sign below. These outlaws had made their mark on a contract which stated, “This the V March 1876 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy six. We the undersigned do this day organize a banty bank. We will go to the west side of the Keechi Hills which is about fifty yards from a crossed set of rifles. Follow the trail line coming through the mountains just east of lone hill where we buried Jack, his grave is east of a rock. This contract made and entered into this V day of March 1876. This gold shall belong to who signs below.” Carved into the bucket were the names: Jesse James, Frank Miller, George Overton, Rub Busse, Charlie Jones, Cole Younger, Will Overton, Uncle George Payne, Frank James, Roy Baxter, Bud Dalton, and Zack Smith.



Though many clues had been found, Hunter and his partners searched for more than a decade for the elusive treasure without success. The Lawton Constitution dated Sunday, February 29th, 1948, featured the story of Hunter and his long quest for hidden treasure. The story spread like wildfire across the nation. It was Hunters’ hope that, by coming forward with news of his discoveries, he might be given the final clues to unearth the long-sought treasure.



What Joe Hunter failed to realize was that the bucket contract itself was the map needed to find the gold. The bounty bank was hidden in an area some thirty miles to the northeast of where the James Gang had camped and hidden the bucket. Just a mile east of Cement, Oklahoma, stands a lone hill that has made a unique landmark for travelers throughout the ages. Known locally as Buzzard Roost, this hill is where Hunter unearthed a cast-iron tea kettle containing gold, coins, a pocket watch, and a copper treasure map, but that is another story altogether.



Buzzard Roost happens to lie in a set of limestone hills known as the Keechi Hills. This same lone hill happens to be the one mentioned in the brass bucket contract. On the north side of the Roost was carved a set of crossed rifles. Time and the elements have long since erased this important clue, but an aged photo taken in the late 1940’s shows a clue never reported by Joe Hunter.



I discovered this clue while looking through some old photos that had belonged to Hunter. The picture taken from the top of Buzzard Roost and looking toward the northeast clearly shows the name JACK spelled out using rocks. A rock with a carving of a pistol had been found by Joe just to the west of where JACK lay and due north of the Roost. This rock was another clue that had been mentioned in the contract code.



Having gone public with his story of the James gang brass bucket contract, Joe hoped to profit from his sudden celebrity status. He soon sold the brass bucket to a group of Texans, but upon their departure with the bucket they cancelled the check used as payment. Joe was forced to travel to Texas to recover his beloved bucket. After Hunter’s death, the brass bucket disappeared into history. It wasn’t until I was given a lead informing me that it was in the collection of Craig Fouts, a noted western memorabilia collector, that the bucket’s location was revealed.



It is still unknown how much of the bounty bank remains to be found. What is known is that part of the loot was uncovered in the early 1900’s by workers digging a pipeline northeast of the Roost. The value of the fortune they discovered in the ditch they were digging is anyone’s guess, but it was reportedly enough that they walked off the job never to return.



This is but one of many treasure stories associated with Buzzard Roost and the Keechi Hills. Time will tell what remains to be discovered.

7 comments:

Zabo said...

Love this story. What brought me here was a television show called expedition unknown. The year is 2016 July, 22nd. Crazy how life goes. Great stories, great facts! Will enjoy these stories for a couple of days. Thank you, Dan from Pittsburgh, Pa.

Anonymous said...

It's 11.53 pm on 9.07.16 and I'm watching Expedition Unknown on Travel and I just had to check out the "copper map". This was a great read. I'm so curious right now, thus the reason why I'm doing a little research.

Stacey from NYC

Unknown said...

I just noticed this hill with a definite X about 50 yards west of it. The inscription says due NE. Buzzards Roost is E. I think everyone has been looking in the wrong place. But, i am not even an amateur yet. Just a curious one. Google Earth coordinates 34 55 26.77 N 98 07 52.47 W elev. 1567 ft. check it out.

Unknown said...

I copied and pasted that coordinate and it didn't work

Unknown said...

Are those coordinates written out correctly? I copied and pasted and it didn't work

Unknown said...

I went to a Dennys in the late 1990,s i sat at the booth next to Joe Hunter my back against his he was with another man cant remember his name i could overhere their conversation I got up and went to the register and.went back to my booth i walked past them slowly and could see a map !!! So as i listened i heard them talk about Jessie James and buried Treasure !! That did it for me I told them what i had heard Joe was very nice to me and he could see my excitement invited me to sit with them an hour or so later we hit it off and was invited to go on a treasure hunt in Cement Okla !! Told him I had a metal dector and Dousing Rods and a American Indian was going to meet us there we were there for the weekend !! So exciting i took pictures of a gun and knife carved into the stone i still have today.i saw what was called the kitchen a large ring of stones where the outlaws hung out and i recovered several gun shells from that area. I didnt find anything but i had one hell of a good time !! Would love to go back and do it all again !! Jimmy

Unknown said...

I would love to travel to cement and the Kerch I hills and buzzards roost. I’d like to go to Tarbonne mountain and see where Joe Hunter dug up the brass bucket. Even if the treasure was dug up all those years ago, it would be fun to just walk in the shoes of those who made that history.