Treasure Hunting

Texas Vacation

2012-01-17T14:53:00.001-06:00

Early one morning a few weeks ago my wife awoke with an urge to go pick up seashells on a beach somewhere. We packed up the car and headed south to Galveston Island, Texas. Of course my sons and I decided a side trip to the Cabela's Store was in order on the way down.

Having spent over a year on the sea I no longer have a desire to see the sun rise up on the water but my wife did, so the next day we were up before daylight heading to the ferry that crosses over to the Bolivar Peninsula. For some reason the TSA guys at the ferry entrance decided my family of four looked like a group of terrorist and pulled us out of the line so that they could search our car. Now remember we had made a stop at Cabela's and had a few boxes of ammo in the trunk. Just imagine the thoughts I was having of my car stripped apart as they looked for the guns the ammo went to. Fortunately they just had me pop the trunk and hood so they could take a quick look.

I did make note that they didn't pull any of the cars to the side that had occupants not born here in the good ol' USA. It could have been my Oklahoma license plate that triggered their need to search us.

Once on the Bolivar side we headed towards Roll Over Pass which happens to have the best spot for gathering seashells. I also found reminders of the hurricane that just about swept the place away. I picked up pieces of bright colored tile and a ceiling fan blade.

From there we headed north to Glen Rose Texas. This is a great little town to visit. I recommend eating at Hollywood and Vine. The food was delicious. We also made a trip to the Creation Evidence Museum. Just after you turn onto the road to the museum there's the Stone Hut. You have to stop in and look around. It was well worth the trip just to talk to Morris Bussey. You can go to http://www.glenrosefossilhunter.com/ or look him up on Youtube. You can find dinosaur tracks in the local streams around the Glen Rose area.

All of this got us in the mood to find a few fossils ourselves, so once again we loaded up and took off driving towards the Mineral Wells Fossil Park where you can find and keep the fossils that you come across. On the way up we made another side trip to Granbury where J. Frank Dalton is buried. The town seems to have become a tourist trap and I couldn't find anyone on the square with an interest in J. Frank, so we drove the short distance to the cemetery and located his grave. There were pennies scattered across the tombstone. I'm not sure if people left them there for luck much like a wishing well, but to not be left out I placed one there as well.

Mineral Wells is an interesting area, but I didn't have a detector with me to go looking for the gold that Frank James had supposedly hidden in the area. After a couple of hours of searching for fossils we decided that we had enough of being on vacation and headed north to our beloved Oklahoma. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

What were the trains carrying back in the day?

2012-01-10T09:52:00.001-06:00

Here's another tidbit from Rick. I can see why trains were targets for outlaws.

This excerpt is from The History of Linn County Iowa by Luther Brewer and Barthinius Wick

After the completion of the railroad, Mr. Reiner was given a position as ex-
press messenger on one of the trains. "Many times," said the veteran express
messenger, "I have literally had the car floor paved with gold and silver, over
which I walked in doing my work. We had carried lots of gold and silver bars
east from Virginia City, in Nevada. In order that the weight should be evenly
distributed the bars were spread like paving bricks all over the car floor. The
following description, written by a reporter from one of the Council Bluffs
papers while Mr. Reiner was yet at Boone, gives a description of the work! of
carrying the bullion :

"While viewing the scenes at the transfer yesterday afternoon, we boarded
W. F. Reiner's Northwestern express car and beheld a scene that caused our bump
of inquisitiveness to jump. Mr. Reiner is a messenger of the American Merchants
Union Express company, and will have served in his present position and on his
present route seven years in November next. He lives in Boone. On the floor
of his car were sixty-seven gold and silver bricks. That is, each brick was com-
posed of gold and silver in compound. In some of them, silver predominated —
in value. They resemble silver almost entirely in color. They are of somewhat
irregular sizes, though nearly every one of them weighs more than one hundred
pounds. Some of them were much more refined than the others. The amount
of gold and silver in each one is stamped on the face or top, in different lines, and
the total value of the brick is added in a third line. The value of each metal is
marked, even to a cent. How those values can be so accurately determined in a
compound brick is beyond our knowledge.

Fifty-seven of those bricks which we yesterday saw, were worth $101,950.80. The remaining eleven were worth $15,077.57. They were mostly from Virginia City and are being taken to New York. Mr. Reiner informed us also that these bricks are carried only by the Northwestern and Rock Island roads. On some days he has had as many as 160 of them in his car. They are taken east nearly every day."

Is a Steel Penny in Our Near Future?

2012-01-05T19:14:00.000-06:00

It cost more to make a penny than it is worth, so say goodnye to the copper/zinc penny and welcome the steel penny. I have a large pile of the 1943 steel pennies, so having one made 70 years later in my collection is fine with me. This will also bring the legal melting of copper pennies one step closer to reality. I have mixed feelings about this though. Please leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject.

http://coincollectingenterprises.com/copper-pennies/penny-composition-change-steel-pennies

Rick's East-West Trails Story

2012-01-02T20:59:00.000-06:00

I love it when when our readers contribute a story of their own and Richard Bierman has been kind enough to submit one of his. If you have a story that you would like to share feel free to email me.

In her book The Commerce of Louisiana During the French Regime, 1699-1763, Nancy Surrey writes, "Some Spanish coins also came into Louisiana by way of the Illinois country. These the French obtained in trade with the western Indians who secured them, directly or indirectly, from New Mexico."

When I read those two sentences, I had an instant Indiana Jones moment. I live in eastern Iowa and during the French colonial period Iowa was part of the Illinois country. I could just imagine all sorts of Spanish gold and silver moving through my county heading east to Montreal or Quebec. As it turns out, that idea might not be too far-fetched.

As I studied my county's history, I found mention of an old Indian trail that started at the Mississippi River and continued west across central Iowa. A section of this trail was marked with three boulders between the Mississippi and Cedar Rivers. After further research, I found that this trail was a westward extension of the Great Sauk Trail that runs east from the Mississippi to the Detroit, Michigan area. From there, it's a boat trip to Montreal and Quebec.

From the west bank of the Mississippi, the trail travels toward Des Moines where it meets a north-south trail called the Dragoon Trace. This trace moved southwest from Fort Des Moines to Fort Leavenworth where it was close to the network of trails that went west to the New Mexico territory. It would have been possible for precious metals from the southwest to pass through eastern Iowa.

There were many trails heading west that were used by the French during the colonial period. The French moved west from Canada at a rapid pace to expand their fur trade, search for a route to the Pacific and establish trade with the Spanish in the southwest. The Sauk Trail was an important trail during that expansion.

If you are interested in searching for these trails, I would suggest you study the French fur trade and the missionaries of New France.

As these trails moved west, they encountered the steep bluffs of the Mississippi River. Look for clefts in the terrain that would allow a traveler to move from the river to the prairie without having to negotiate a steep bluff. These clefts are formed by tributaries of the Mississippi.

When trying to determine how the older trails passed through your county, go to your county engineer and ask to see your county's original survey notes. These notes will give you information about the Indian trails and early frontier roads that moved through your county.

If you use the Internet for your research, try googling, your counties name, your state and Indian trail. Also try, your counties name, your state and Indian trails. Sometimes I get information from trail that I miss with trails. I'm sure you all know that a lot of the trails the early explorers used were Indian trails.

Finally, in the archives of this blog there is an article written by Rockman titled How to Begin a Treasure Search. It's the best treasure hunting advice I've ever read. You don't have to drive hundreds of miles to hunt for treasure. Here's the link.

http://okietreasurehunter.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-to-begin-treasure-search.html

Good luck as you search.

Joe Hunter and the Brass Bucket

2011-12-26T09:27:00.000-06:00

Photo courtesy of the Craig Fouts Collection.

I've been asked to provide more information about the brass bucket that Joe Hunter found in 1934. There's just not much more that I can add to the story other than a photo or two. It is my belief that Joe didn't actually find the the bucket, but received it from an old miner who had found it years before. I can't reveal why I think this at the moment, but we have evidence to support this theory.

I have been researching stories for the videos that I will be posting soon, so between that and other obligations my time has been limited. I will be writing a few more stories about local treasure and maybe a few about a trip I will be taking in the near future.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:52:00.000-06:00

We pray that each of you have a Merry Christmas.

Will the D.B. Cooper case finally be solved?

2011-12-09T07:21:00.000-06:00

http://main.aol.com/2011/12/05/db-cooper-case-solved_n_1131511.html?ref=mostpopular

Waynes Detector Sales

2011-12-02T23:11:00.000-06:00

I had some business in Oklahoma City today so while up there I made a little side trip to Waynes Detectors. I enjoy going by there just to see if they have a book or magazine I don't have in my collection. They also have a good selection of detectors to choose from as well.

While talking to Allan he mentioned that there was a gentleman, who do to health reasons, has a month old Whites V3I he has to sell. The fellow bought about every imaginable thing to go with it as well. He has over $3100 invested but would take $2100 for all of it. You can call Allan at 405-685-3130 for more details.

I know with the internet and guys selling detectors that are drop shipped it's hard for guys with shops and overhead to compete. If you get the chance swing in and take a look at the shop. It's also one of the last places you can buy the book " Follow the Signs". Even though I've bought several copies of it over the years I picked up another today just to keep around.

Let's keep these mom and pop shops in business no matter what it is they are selling. You just don't get that kind of service from the internet or corporate stores. Maybe I just miss the old five and dime stores.

http://waynesdetectors.com/

Need a Vacation?

2011-11-26T23:40:00.000-06:00

http://www.theprovince.com/travel/Sierra+Madres+ghost+town+takes+visitors+into+Mexico+colonial+past/2132168/story.html?cid=megadrop_story

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Please remember to say a little prayer for our service men and women who are away from their families this holiday season. Pray that this great nation will awaken and be truly thankful to God just as George Washington was.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/GW/gw004.html

Coinroll hunting with a twist

2011-11-21T23:41:00.000-06:00

With the weather outside cold and rainy I thought it would be a good time to buy a few rolls of pennies and sort through them. Stopping in at a local bank, I drop two rolls of half dollars on the counter and ask the teller for twenty dollars worth of pennies. As usual, I get that oh so common strange look. While she is sliding the box full of penny rolls toward me, she asks me if I'm sure I want them. With a straight face and no further explanation, I assure her I do.

Once home I joyfully start unwrapping the rolls in search of my beloved wheat cents and it doesn't take long to go through the forty rolls. Luck was on my side and I found five "Wheaties". Normally I start putting the coins back into rolls but today I decided to do a little test.

Pennies dated prior to 1982 are 95% copper and it takes 145 of them to make a pound. 1982 was a transitional year so some are copper and some are zinc. The easiest way to tell which is which is to weigh them. A copper penny will weigh 3.11 grams while a zinc is 2.5 grams. You can also do this test for the somewhat rare 1983 copper penny.

Out of the twenty dollars worth of pennies I purchased, 394 were copper. I had 68 1982 pennies that I didn't test. There were also five wheat cents, a Canadian penny, and a 1976 & 1960 that were in mint red condition. With spot prices at $3.34 that means I had $9.07 in scrap copper value.

Hoarding of copper pennies isn't an unknown thing and with the cost of producing a penny exceeding it's value, I think it's days are numbered. At this time it is illegal to melt pennies for scrap, but with the high prices of copper that may soon change.

I have mixed feelings on this. I'm all for making a profit, but I would hate to see large quantities of old pennies being permanently taken out of circulation. I think that future generations should have the chance to experience the same joy I get from roll hunting.

Good luck and good hunting!

Storage Wars

2011-11-14T08:30:00.002-06:00

http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/TV/2011/11/13/Storage-auction-yields-pirate-treasure/UPI-18041321226323/

In God We Trust

2011-11-02T08:24:00.000-05:00

While not a treasure story this does restore a little faith in our politicians, so I thought I should share it.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/1/house-vote-reaffirms-in-god-we-trust/print/#.TrC_2Lotcbg.facebook

Brass Bucket

2011-10-27T07:59:00.000-05:00

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.

Sunken Treasure

2011-10-22T21:58:00.000-05:00

http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/100-years-ago/183224/funds-sought-recover-immense-sunken-treasure

Research

2011-10-19T16:54:00.000-05:00

The number one question I'm asked is have I found anything, but the second most asked question is how do I find so many treasure stories. I often ignore the first question but a simple answer to the second is research.

My research methods vary but searching newspapers is always a good start. The older the story the better. I have a number of keywords I use to hit on articles that may lead to hidden loot. Remember that you're not just looking for the words buried treasure. I look for stories about old hermits, bank robberies, money being found, etc.

These simple stories may yield clues to hidden wealth. I have found dozens of stories about old hermits passing away and money being found hidden in various places around the home. Many of these newspaper articles were written before the time of metal detectors, so a search of the property these days could put a little jingle in someones pockets.

Old treasure magazines are good sources as well. While there are many bogus stories that have been written over the years you, can on occasion, find a kernel of truth. I also talk with other treasure hunters and old timers that may remember a story they heard from days gone by.

One treasure cache I'm working on now came from a ghost story I heard. Without giving too many details away, the part I was interested in was the ghostly glow coming from the orchard. If you've read anything about Louis Matacia and his theories on finding treasure you'll understand why I was interested in this story.

Treasure is where you find it and the same thing can be said about the treasure story. Turn cold or rainy days into research time and you will be surprised how many stories you can come up with

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Change will be coming to the blog

2011-10-16T23:28:00.000-05:00

In a never ending effort to keep the blog interesting I'll be making some changes soon. I hope to start adding videos that we will shoot, edit, and produce ourselves that will show actual treasure sites and the signs and symbols we find on the them. Of course these won't be active sites that we are currently working on but they will be interesting all the same. I've already installed the video editing program on my computer and I'll have the professional video equipment soon.

As I gain experience I hope to shoot a few documentaries that will include finding a lost city here in Oklahoma, Frank James, J. Frank Dalton, artifact hunting, and whatever ideas our readers may come up with.

If any of our readers have experience with this sort of thing I'll gladly accept any helpful hints you may have.

18 Million in Silver Found

2011-10-12T22:00:00.000-05:00

This just might get me to switch from searching on land to researching sunken ships.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/science/11shipwreck.html?_r=1

Artifact Hunting

2011-10-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

I love hunting for treasure of any kind and hunting for stone artifacts is just as much fun as hunting for gold and silver. The thrill of knowing that you are the first person to hold a point since it was lost hundreds or thousands of years ago. Stone artifacts add such a personal element to the search. These were tools necessary for survival. They give a look into the past and are works of art at the same time.

I have logged many hours walking river beds and plowed fields and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Just as with treasure hunting research plays a key role in artifact hunting. You can save yourself a lot of time and empty pockets by learning where and what to look for.

Searching a river bed is fairly straight forward. I have found points in the gravel bars, sides of the river bank, and deep in the channel. Along with stone artifacts many other items can be found as well. Bottles, buttons, fossils, bison teeth and skulls, have been recovered. I have a friend who found an old silver Morgan dollar in a river bed. Youtube has numerous riverbed hunting videos and I encourage you to check them out for little tips and hints for a more successful hunt.

Campsites can be a challenge to find, but with a basic idea of what you would need to survive you can locate a few likely areas. I hunt the hilltops near spings, above the flood line near natural river crossings, horseshoe bends in rivers, etc. I've even found points in urban areas as well. Many of our early cities were established on former native campsites.

Kill sites are another good area to search. The base of a high bluff, box canyons, or the narrow portion of a canyon have proven to produce points or tools. Once again Youtube will give you videos to watch and pick up a few more ideas of how and where to hunt.

With A.R.P.A. looming over your shoulder make sure you are searching in a legal manner. This means you need to check local, state, and federal regulations before beginning your search. To play it safe I only surface hunt on private land.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Joe Hunter finds 13 old silver dollars and a silver pitcher.

2011-10-02T22:18:00.000-05:00

In July of 1949 Joe Hunter, Herb Penick, Lester Paden, and Richard Brock climbed to the summit Mount Sheridan and repelled down the steep slope using a 300 foot rope. Searching the numerous small caves they found the object of their desire. A silver pitcher with coded carvings upon it, blackened by time and the elements, that held 13 silver dollars dating from 1879 to 1881.

The silver pitcher with it's mysterious carvings has long since faded into history. Perhaps it now adorns someones mantle or is tucked away in an attic or basement. No matter the final resting place of the silver pitcher it holds clues to the location of $23,000 Joe Hunter thought was hidden nearby.

The life and adventures of Joe Hunter have long held my interest and I am slowly putting the puzzle pieces together. I have been blessed to find many of Joe's person papers, pictures, and maps, but the hunt continues for what still remains to be found. I'm always interested in buying any items or information related to Joe or other treasure hunters, so feel free to contact me.

Joe Hunter and his washpot full of silver ore

2011-09-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

In August of 1948 Joe Hunter and Herbert Penick unearthed a wash pot full of silver ore. It was 65 pounds worth of ore to be exact. The old wash pot was two feet in diameter, 16 inches tall and half filled with ore. After digging numerous other holes Hunter found the wash pot, buried six feet down, just twenty paces from an old oak tree that was encircled by eleven rocks. Not far from the site was the outline of an old dugout rumored to be used by the James Gang.

Joe claimed the ore was found just 98 yards from the place he dug up the brass bucket that had the outlaw contract chiseled into it's sides. Personally, I feel that Joe was misleading folks with that bit of information since the brass bucket was found on federal land and the silver ore was on private land.

I have held the outlaw map that Joe used to find this ore and I know that there are several more caches of gold coins waiting to be found. It's just one more of my many projects I need to get to. So many sites to hunt and so little time. You just have to love Oklahoma and it's rich history of hidden treasure.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Television and Treasure

2011-09-19T08:26:00.001-05:00

While I have been disappointed in the History Channel and their shows about treasure, Jesse James, and etc. I still have hope that Hollywood will come up with a few more good shows that will be truthful and entertaining.

Take that bunch in Alaska searching for gold. I eagerly awaited each new episode just to see how bad things were going to go for them. It was like watching episodes of a disfunctional Brady Bunch. I've got my dvr ready to record the new season.

The "Decoded" show is another one that leaves me perplexed. Some episodes they ask really tough questions and do a good job of investigating and on others it seems as if they left their brains back at the office.

How about the new show "Buried Treasure"? While the name is a bit misleading I still find it to be a good show. The brothers seem to be sincere in their desire to help people find items of value setting around their homes.

My question to our readers would be,if you could create a tv show about treasure hunting, what topics would you want to see?

The reason I ask this question is that there is a production company looking to produce a new series that will include treasure hunting, battlefield archaeology, wreck diving, etc. Believe it or not, people who are into television production are reading this blog and this may be your chance to let them know what you as viewers would like to watch.

I would like to see someone dig up a real treasure and not just a few old coins in a fruit jar they buried in the ground a few weeks before filming began.

#23 in Treasure, but still the #1 Blog

2011-09-14T14:19:00.001-05:00

Just to update our readers on how fast our blog is growing. According to Xmarks Beta we are ranked #23 among treasure websites. This is surprising since we are little more than a homegrown blog site. We are ranked behind such well known websites as Whites Electronics, Treasurenet.com, GPAA, and other big companies. Note that these are dot com websites who have webmasters and are in it for a profit. I'm proud to say this blog isn't too shabby for a couple of guys who are doing this for free.

Facebook

2011-09-13T21:51:00.001-05:00

I have added a Facebook gadget towards the top of the blog page for "Okie Treasure Hunter". I created this for all of those who would like to join as friends just to see how big our treasure hunting community is. I'm not a big facebook user but I'm trying to get with the times.

Sunken Treasure

2011-09-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

While we mainly deal with land locked treasure I do have an interest in sunken treasure. A few weeks ago I was researching old newspaper articles and came across a story from 1907. It seems that in the 1800's a steamer named Golden Gate was sailing along the east coast of Mexico when a fire broke out in the engine room. The Golden Gate was carrying a cargo of $4,000,000 in gold. In an attempt to beach the ship the captain headed to shore where the ship burned at the waters edge about 17 miles north of Manzanillo, Several attempts where made at recovering the cargo. From what I can find about $1.4 million was recovered. A little more research should reveal more information about what became of this wreck. If nothing else this might be a fun area to go dive in hopes that something good was left for a lucky treasure hunter.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Wild Fires

2011-09-06T22:47:00.000-05:00

The blog will be idle for a few more days as I help with the fire fighting efforts here in Southwest Oklahoma. Please keeps all the firefighters and families who have lost their homes this year to fires and natural disasters in your prayers.

Pennsylvania Miser Cache

2011-09-03T13:10:00.001-05:00

Samuel Jackson King lived an isolated life keeping a pack of fierce dogs and a loaded gun at his side. Signs leading to his home read "Keep Out", "Beware", and "This Means You". Samuel rarely ventured into town, choosing instead to remain on his farm. The 107 acre King Farm lay just ten miles away from Mt. Davis in Somerset County.

Samuel was found in a field with a loaded shotgun at his side and his favorite dog who had remained beside his masters body for three days. A search of the house by the sheriff revealed that King liked to hide his wealth. Nearly $18,000 in bonds, old currency, gold and silver coins were found stashed away in old jars, tin cans, ten gallon ice cream can, backs of pictures, etc. I have no record of anyone searching outside of the home, but local newspapers from the time might shed more light on the story. Mr. King passed away in August of 1952.

A records search at the Somerset County Court House should give you the exact location of the King Farm. Having hidden that much money inside the house, there's a good chance much more could be recovered outside of the farm house.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Lost Gold of Oklahoma

2011-09-01T10:06:00.000-05:00

September 1, 2011 at 7:00 pm central time the local (Oklahoma's OETA) PBS channel will have a program called "Back in Time" the episode is called "Lost Gold of Oklahoma". It will feature details of the little known Oklahoma gold rush and treasure hunting. If you happen to miss the program you can go to http://oeta.tv/ to find the next time it's scheduled to play.

Are you ready to be a movie star?

2011-08-30T23:05:00.001-05:00

Prospero Productions, a television production company out of Australia, has contacted me looking for a host for a new tv series they are developing. As with most of these tv shows you will need to be a charismatic and passionate character. If you're knowledgeable in the areas of battlefield archaeology, aviation archaeology, wreck diving, warbird restoration, or treasure hunting feel free to contact me at okietreasurehunter@msn.com for more details. I will check into all of this and make sure it's all on the up and up, but you never know, you might just turn out to be the next big star. They are looking for individuals in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA who viewers find easy to watch and trustworthy.

World Wide Web

2011-08-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

I just want to say thanks to everyone who enjoys reading our blog! I was just looking at the many different countries that our readers come from. Though the majority are from the U.S.A. We have people from Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Iran, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, and the United Kingdom viewing the blog. I know there are a number of countries that I have probably left out, but I just wanted to let everyone know I appreciate you stopping in to take a look at our blog. It will always be a work in progress as we strive to bring you more stories and tools to aid you in your quest for treasure.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Hawkins Hidden Cache

2011-08-22T23:01:00.006-05:00

During the mid 1800's John Hawkins was a stockman, farmer, and trader in the Cherokee nation. It seems he was very good at what he did and managed to accumulate a bit of wealth. Since banks were a scarce commodity he did like most folks and just buried his money. Ol' John took $10,000 in gold coins, put them in a bean pot and secretly buried the cache near his house. As with many of these lost caches John didn't tell his family where he hid the money and it wasn't until he had become very ill that he tried to give directions. Unfortunately for the family John passed away before good instructions could be given. The homestead was called the "Old Woods Place" in 1907 and was located two miles southeast of Tahlequah, Oklahoma. With the price of gold nearing $2000 an ounce, gold coins are bringing big dollars!!!!!!!!

With the gold being buried in a bean pot this would be a good location to try out a schonstedt. If you get lucky remember where you got the story. Hint! Hint!

A records search at the Cherokee County Court House should give a legal description of the Old Woods Place and by using our links section found on this blog, http://www.glorecords.blm/gov/ an 1898 plat map will show you where the house once stood. To help you along in your search you might Look in Township 16 North and Range 22 East. I'd even give you the section number, but that would take all the fun out of it.

I created the blog to be used as a tool for other treasure hunters, so I add useful links as I find them. If you have one that you think would make a great addition to the blog feel free to e-mail me. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Good luck and Good Hunting!

Civil War Camp Site Found

2011-08-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44194267?gt=43001

It can be found

2011-08-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

Treasure is out there and it is still being found, but this story comes to you almost a century after it occurred. It was in the spring of 1918 that J. Epperly and his son were searching for treasure along Kickapoo Creek about eight miles southeast of Hinton, Oklahoma.

Like many stories I've heard before, they stumbled upon a two gallon kettle that had been recently dug up. The imprints of the coins were plainly visible on the insides of the kettle. A blazed tree had marked the spot of the hidden loot.

Treasure is out there waiting to be found. With hard work, research, and a little bit of luck you just might be the person who leaves the empty kettle for the next guy to find.

Miser Cache

2011-08-12T21:35:00.001-05:00

Years before the Sac and Fox lands were opened for settlement, lived a miserly, old man who managed to save up a few thousand dollars. He suddenly took ill and wasn't found until he was on his death bed. He was so weak he could barely speak, but managed to point towards a dry creek bottom and whisper that it was buried under a rock by a stump. For many years afterward people searched for the money but never found it. The search area is south of Kendrick, Oklahoma on what in 1920 was the Sporleder Farm. A records search in that county should turn up who is the current land owner and with a bit of luck you might just be the one who turns over the right rock.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Aerial Photos

2011-08-08T21:36:00.001-05:00

If you're going to treasure hunt at some point you will need aerial photos. While Google Earth is a handy tool it doesn't give you infrared or vintage aerial photographs. This is where the Aerial Photography Field Office comes in handy. http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/apfoapp?area=apfohome&subject=landing&topic=landing You can order infrared and aerial photographs on cd or dvd. This just might help you find that lost trail or old river crossing that will lead you to treasure.

New Link

2011-08-03T23:12:00.000-05:00

I have been given a link for those who would like to make apples to apples comparison on metal detectors. Try it out and let me know what you think of it. If our readers find it useful I'll add it to the links list.

http://metal-detectors.findthebest.com/

Spanish Gold in the Panhandle

2011-07-27T17:38:00.000-05:00

In the spring of 1886 a cowboy was hunting horses twelve miles east of present day Kenton, Oklahoma on the south side of the Cimarron River. 5N 3E-CM section 4. Following a cow-trail, that lead to the bottom land below, he noticed that the rain had gouged out shallow holes in the bottom of the trail. Turning and following the trail to the rim of the river valley he happened to see two gold coins lying in the trail. Having dismounted he picked up the coins and noticed that they were Spanish in origin and from the early sixteenth century. Searching the area he found another coin about a hundred yards away. Looking for the next few days he was unable to locate any other coins. Eventually he told some friends about his find and a search party was formed, but though they looked for miles in every direction from his original site, they too were unsuccessful. If burrowing animals had brought the coins to the surface there may be a long lost cache yet to be found. Modern metal detectors may just find what the cowboy missed.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Kansas Treasure

2011-07-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

This one is for our Kansas treasure hunters! Of course I have in-laws that live near the search area, so it might be one I'll look for myself the next time we are up that way visiting. For those lucky enough to live near Seneca Kansas, in the northeastern part of the state, there are two buckskin bags full of gold nuggets buried.

According to legend two miners returning to Boston from the California gold fields had split from the wagon train they were traveling with because of the rowdy behavior of their fellow travelers. Reaching a ford in the Nemaha River, about two miles north of the present town of Seneca, the miners made camp. Old survey plats or county maps should show this ford as it was a junction point where the Saint Joseph Trail met the Oregon Trail. Many other relics and treasure could be located at this spot as well.

Needing supplies the miners decided to head into nearby Richmond, which I believe is a ghost town, before leaving for town they buried the two buckskin bags in an empty powder can. While in town one of the miners was shot and killed and the other barely escaped. Racing back to the wagon the surviving miner headed out towards St. Joseph. In his haste to get away he failed to dig up the gold nuggets. At St. Joseph he sold his team and wagons and boarded a boat heading back east.

The young miner eventually married but joined the Union forces at the outbreak of the Civil War. Before leaving he gave his wife a rough map to where the gold was hidden, promising to to travel back and recover the gold after the war ended. The man died early in the war and it wasn't until 1889 that his two sons traveled to Seneca in an attempt to recover their fathers gold. Time had changed the landmarks around the old camping grounds and the sons returned to Boston empty handed.

With a little research and a good metal detector you might be the one to get lucky and find a small fortune. With gold, at the time of this writing, hitting the $1600 dollar an ounce mark it's definitely worth looking into.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!!!

J. Frank Dalton aka Jesse James

2011-07-20T15:26:00.000-05:00

Once again I'm looking to harness the power of the internet and this blog. I am working on a project about J. Frank Dalton and would like input and information that our readers may have. The previous request I made here on the blog provided a few interesting leads that I am following up, but as always I know there is more information that has yet to come to light. Feel free to write me at okietreasurehunter@msn.com

Treasure is where you find it

2011-07-19T10:28:00.001-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/video/business-15749628/unclaimed-money-treasure-hunters-cash-in-25941651.html

The Hidden Cache of Mihe-Coby

2011-07-10T22:59:00.000-05:00

Hidden in the gyp hills near Cyril Oklahoma are the life-savings of Mihe-Coby. Born somewhere between 1840 and 1850 in Mexico he was captured by Comanche raiders as a young boy and taken north. Adopted into the tribe he grew up roaming the plains. Mihe-Coby was among the last of his people to surrender and come into Fort Sill in 1875.

He quickly adapted to the white mans world and by 1880 he was working as a freighter for the Army at Ft. Sill and the Indian Agency. He worked at this for fifteen years and all the while saving his wages and at the end of his employment he was paid in gold coin and ended up with a big sack of money.

These wages were secretly placed in a hiding in the gyp hills. He would go to his secret bank as he needed money. Lying on his death bed he tried to tell his family the directions they needed to find the hiding spot but they never could find it. His family sold one of his race horses to buy a monument which was placed on his grave in the Little Washita River Indian Cemetery. A quick search of old plat maps might show trails going by these gyp hills near Cyril and with modern metal detectors someone might just lucky and find this one.

Oklahoman Searches for the Treasure of the Copper Scrolls

2011-07-06T00:09:00.002-05:00

It was a huge surprise that greeted me while I was thumbing through the August 2011 issue of Lost Treasure magazine. There was an article titled "Finding the Treasures of King Solomon" written by Jim Barfield. This is a very interesting article and Jim's theories should be proved or disproved within a very short time as he is currently overseas working on the project.

I had met Jim a few months ago and had no idea he was working on this project as our business at the time had nothing to do with treasure. On the next occasion that I went in to talk to Jim I was informed that he was in Egypt looking for a kings treasure. This of course proved to be incorrect as he is actually in Israel at the ancient city of Qumran.

You can bet that as soon as Jim gets back to Oklahoma that I will be there talking with him. I may even show him the copper scroll found here in Oklahoma. You can read Jim's E-Book, The Copper Scroll Project, Finding the Treasures of the Tabernacle, at http://www.copper-scroll-project.com/

Happy July 4th!!

2011-07-04T10:01:00.002-05:00

Confederate Treasure

2011-06-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

Brigadier General Stoughton and the Union Forces under his command had been enjoying several weeks of looting in Virginia when they were captured in a surprise attack by Confederate Captain John Mosby at Fairfax Court House, Virginia. Stoughton had accumulated a large amount of family treasures as he had looted Southern homes. This loot was captured along with Stoughton and a number of his men in a night raid Mosby perfectly executed.

Gathering the loot and prisoners, Mosby and his men made tracks back for the Confederate lines some 40 plus miles to the south. Enroute to Culpepper, Va. Union forces were detected and the raiders swung to the southwest of Haymarket, Va. along what is now Highway 211. Having traveled several miles and worried that the loot would fall back into Union hands Mosby decided to stop and bury the recently captured goods. Choosing two large pine trees Mosby marked the trees with his knife and buried the sack of treasure between them.
Several months went by and Mosby decided to send a sergeant, that was with him at the time the treasure was buried, back for the hidden loot. The sergeant chose six of his best men and made tracks for the sack of southern treasures. Unfortunately the sergeant and his men were captured, declared guerillas, and promptly hanged. This left Mosby as the only person to know the exact location of the buried loot and to his dying day regretted never having returned to find the sack of heirlooms he had so long ago buried.

There's a good chance that somewhere a few miles from Haymarket along what is now Hwy 211 is a small fortune in Southern family heirlooms. Research into old roads and trails heading to Culpepper might help narrow the location down a bit more.

We're Back!!

2011-06-27T11:26:00.000-05:00

After a lengthy time away I'll be posting new stories. With the killer heat we have been having I won't be back out into the field until fall.

A little humor

2011-05-07T10:10:00.002-05:00

Thanks go out to Homer for sending this to me. I thought some of you might enjoy it also.

Treasure Hunting 101, Part III

2011-05-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

The general impression everyone gets about treasure hunting is that it’s all about the treasure, holding that gold or silver in your hand and being independently wealthy. For the most part that’s why 95% of us got into this hobby but if you stick with the hobby, you learn that it’s more about the search for the treasure and anything you find at the end of the search is a bonus. Yea, OK, I’ll agree that digging up an iron kettle full of gold coins will put a smile on your face but getting to the point of digging that hole takes A LOT longer than digging the hole.

If you are doing it right, treasure hunting requires a lot of research and with that comes knowledge. You learn about the history of the area you are looking in and history in general, the REAL history and not what you see on that TV channel of the same name.

So how do you find a spot to treasure hunt in? Many years ago a famous treasure hunter once said that there is a treasure hunting spot within twenty minutes of everyone. With the way society has spread out over the years I would partially agree with that statement.

If you are a coin shooter then the treasure spots for you are endless and you should be able to find one within twenty minutes of your home. Remember, treasure hunting is more about research than anything else. A coin shooter has the option of hunting old homesteads, parks, beaches, fairgrounds, ghost towns and just about any place else people have gathered. One of my favorite spots to coin shoot is on the beach in Hawaii. I don’t find any old items but lets face it, if you’re on a beach in Hawaii you’re already having a very good day!

If you want to work a beach where you might find gold and silver coins then you need to be along the coast of Florida where the Spanish ship wrecks occurred centuries ago. These beaches are well documented and I will say, worked on an almost daily basis. This doesn’t keep people from finding things though. The best time to work one of these beaches is during hurricane season. The hard core hunters are on the beach just after a hurricane has come through and it’s still raining. The hurricane churns up the things sitting on the bottom of the ocean and brings them up to the beach for the lucky hunters to find. Keep this in mind the next time you are planning a vacation. Just don’t blame me if you spouse is more than just a little upset that you have taken them to Florida during a hurricane.

Ghost towns can be a bonanza for almost any treasure hunter. Keep in mind that a ghost town doesn’t have to be like you see on TV, one that died in the 1800’s and looks like a ghost town. “Modern” ghost towns, those that died out in the early 1900’s, are very abundant and are great places for coin shooters, cache hunters, bottle hunters and relic hunters. This all comes back to research, do your homework and find the places that nobody else has thought of. Old plat maps of these towns are available at the county appraisers office and will show you where the businesses and homes use to be. Check the old papers to see if the town used to have a city fair or some type of annual gathering and figure out where that was. Don’t forget to try to talk to any of the old residents that still live in or near the town. They can be a wealth of information and it’s free.

Cache hunters have a harder time finding locations especially if you are looking for the ever illusive outlaw, Spanish or pirate, Arrrggggg! treasure. Normally, you have to go farther out of town for these types of places. I say normally because I have done some hunting in places such as Arizona where just four miles from my hotel in the big city where I was staying was more treasure sites than you could ever wish for.

No matter what type of treasure hunting you do, it all comes back to research. Spend some time in your local library reading through the old newspapers to see what actually went on in your neck of the woods and when. You’ll be amazed at the type of information they put in the paper back then.

There are many types of treasure hunting and I can’t mention them all. I am trying to give information about the most popular types of hunting and I am just skimming the top of those. If you have any questions about what I am writing you can always e-mail me if you would like at redrvr@aol.com.

Please remember, you need to get permission to hunt on private land. Not having permission could cause you several problems including legal and financial woes and it makes the rest of us look bad.

Treasure Hunting 101, Part II

2011-04-28T10:22:00.000-05:00

In my last article I briefly touched on the different types of detectors available to today’s treasure hunters. And yes, even though I’m sure some of you thought the article was a little long winded, I really only scratched the surface of what is out there.

So you’ve read the previous article, done a lot of your own research and then shelled out your hard earned cash for a detector, what do you do now? No matter if this is your very first detector or number twelve, you should practice, practice, practice! I can’t say that enough. Every detector is a little different even if it is from the same manufacturer. You need to learn the specific nuances of each detector you use. Not knowing how to use the detector to it’s full potential EVERY time you turn it on could literally cost you the find of a lifetime.

I have found the best way to practice is with your own “test garden”. It’s easy to do and will make a lot of difference when you practice. You simply need to find a place in your yard where you can bury different objects at different depths. Your biggest problem here is what your wife will think about you digging holes and burying things in the yard. I know ladies, there are women treasure hunters but let’s face it, we’re men, we don’t usually care if you are digging holes in the yard as long as we don’t have to dig them.

I keep several different coins buried at several different depths along with mason jar lids, a mason jar full of coins, a couple of different iron pots, one copper pot and some other iron objects like railroad spikes, horseshoes and an old knife. I also have a separate “trash” section for things like barbed wire, pull tabs, aluminum cans, etc.

Knowing what is buried at a certain depth allows me to know how each detector will react with each target and under different circumstances. A detector will work better, meaning finding deeper targets, if there is a little moisture in the soil, not soaking wet, just a little moisture. It will also react differently in topsoil, sand, clay and rock, etc. Having a little bit of each type of soil and a few rocks to detect over is a good thing.

What you bury and how deep you bury it falls into the same circumstance as which detector you choose. It will all depend on how you intend to use your detector. If you’re a coin shooter then you don’t need iron or copper pots or railroad spikes, etc. If you are a relic hunter you may not care about how deep the detector gets on coins because you know that what you are looking for could be deeper than the average coin anyway.

This treasure hunting stuff is starting to sound like a lot of work, huh?

It is work but if you get bitten by the bug then there’s nothing else like it and it won’t seem like work. If you are just a one day a month coin shooter then having a test garden could be a little bit of overkill. As a cache hunter I like to know how my detectors will react to different objects at different depths and in different types of moisture content.

OK, you have practiced, practiced and practiced so more and are ready to work a site. The first thing you need to do once you are at your site is to be logical about where you look. If you are coin shooting you need to be looking in the areas where there will probably be coins. If it’s an old homestead you work along the pathways where they walked, you look under the big old trees where people use to sit in the shade, you check under where the clothes line used to be (this is a great spot and has yielded me several silver coins, much to the dismay of my hunting partners) and you look anywhere else that would have had foot traffic where people could have dropped coins from their pockets.

If you are looking for the possible money stash of the home owner then you need to be looking where the gardens used to be or near or under a fence post. These types of caches usually were put within site of the home so the owner could keep an eye on the spot.

If you are cache hunting, like those left behind by outlaws or the Spanish then you will need more to go on and that’s where research comes in.

Once you start detecting and finding things the most important thing to remember is to ALWAYS check the hole again. Once you pull that coin or jar of coins out of the hole run your detector over it again to make sure there isn’t anything else below what you just took out. A lot of people forget this thinking, well, I found a coin, I will fill in the hole and move on. This can be a very big mistake! I think my record for coins in one hole is 13. You couldn’t see any of them but I just kept hitting the hole with the detector and kept getting readings. This is not a rare occurence. OK, maybe 13 coins in one hole is but finding a second or third coin happens all of the time and I can tell you that finding a jar of coins or an iron pot can definitely lead to finding a second one 6-12 inches deeper in the same hole.

Always check the hole before you fill it in!

Two more quick things. Headphones, do you or don’t you wear them? The idea behind wearing headphones is that you can hear the really faint signals and you won’t miss that one object you might really need to find. Personally, I like to hear what’s going on around me so if I do wear headphones (which is a rare occasion) then I only wear them on one ear. The only other reason to wear headphones is to keep anyone else from hearing your detector and maybe to keep your ears warm during the winter!

The other thing is batteries. The manufactures say you should remove the batteries from your detector if it is going to sit for any extended period unused. This is a very good suggestion and well worth heeding. The first time you have some batteries leak inside a compartment you will wish you paid attention.

Treasure Hunting 101, Part 1, Detectors

2011-04-24T12:44:00.000-05:00

The blog has grown tremendously over the last year to the point that we have people from several different nations reading it. I know we have a lot of seasoned treasure hunters that visit this site but we are also starting to get a lot of “newbies” to the hobby looking for information.

Because of that we will be posting some different articles to try to help the new and the old with navigating their way through this great hobby of ours.

Part I of this article is about metal detectors. There are just about as many different metal detectors as there are treasures and sometimes it hard to choose what detector is the right one for you.

To decide what kind of detector you need (and there is a difference between what you need and what you want) you need to decide what type of treasure hunting you will be doing.

If the majority of your treasure hunting is going to consist of coin shooting then you have a myriad of detectors to choose from and several companies that make them. The most prominent brand names for these detectors would be Whites, Garrett, Tesoro, Fisher, Minelab and Bounty Hunter. There are others out there but these are the main names that come to mind to most treasure hunters.

The majority of these detectors all work on the same principal and it’s not until you get into the higher end detectors or ones with manual tuning that you will see any real difference in the amount of depth they get.

For coin shooting you can buy some pretty complicated machines with lots of bells and whistles or you can get pretty “plain Jane”. I personally tend to lean towards Tesoro and Garrett for my coin shooters although Whites makes some very nice machines. If I’m feeling particularly lazy I will opt for one of my Garretts just because I can set it on auto and go. I don’t have to worry about messing with the ground balance because their auto setting does a pretty good job. With that said, any of the companies I mentioned produce some really nice machines. I’m not real big on the Bounty Hunter detectors but that’s just me.

If you like to do your coin shooting underwater then you options get more limited and you will switch from a VLF machine to a pulse induction machine. You will also pay a LOT more for an underwater machine but if you have to have it, you have to have it. Again, there are several companies that make the underwater machines and for the most part, it will boil down to your personal preference and budget on which you choose.

If you are a relic or cache hunter then you will be wanting a machine that has all of the manual settings on it so that you can get the best depth possible in any condition. I am partial to the Tesoros for this type of hunting. They get great depth, are very light and easy to use.

If you cache hunt more than relic hunt then you will be looking at purchasing more than one detector and getting a more specialized version for your needs. One of these versions is called a two-box. This term refers to a “box” being at each end of the detector and you will hole it so it is horizontal to the ground. These days there really isn’t a box at each end on most models. They have switched those to metal loops. The one glaring exception would be the two box detector by Fisher. It actually has a box at each end.

Now here’s a warning for all prospective buyers of metal detectors. If you are wanting something that looks deep into the ground, say more than 3-4 feet then buyer beware. In my opinion, the ads that most companies use are really generous with the amount of depth their detectors will get. Most of the “tests” used to measure this depth are open air tests. This means they stand on a ladder and go up until they no longer get a reading from a car battery sized metal object. This works great if what you are looking for isn’t buried but then you wouldn’t need a metal detector now would you?

A lot of the two-box detectors are said to get 15-20 feet. Good luck with that! You can figure that in any given soil you are going to get four, maybe five feet and even six feet if the conditions are absolutely perfect.

Another type of cache hunting machine is the pulse induction detector. These work on the exact same principal as the underwater PI machines but you can get them with loops as large as four feet. These types of PI detectors can be pricey but they will get you a lot more depth. Something with a four foot loop can easily detect a car battery sized metal object at ten feet or better. I have mentioned this before on this blog but Whites has come out with a new PI machine that works with a smaller loop and has shown very good results for cache and relic hunters.

One of the lesser known detectors for cache hunting isn’t really a detector. The company that makes it refers to it as a metal locator and that’s exactly what it does. The Schondstedt is used by surveyors and pipe companies. It will only locate iron and steel but it’s the best machine out there for finding ferrous metals. It’s small, light and simple to use and it will find a ¾ inch round pipe at a depth of nine feet every day, all day.

Besides the two-box, pulse induction and the Schondstedt you also can choose from several more extremely pricey machines such as ground penetrating radar, cesium magnetometers and electro-magnetic induction tools. You’ll probably have to rob a bank or find a treasure before you can afford one of these so I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about them. I will say that all of these are very specialized machines and require a lot of time using them to accurately interpret the data they present you with.

This is by no means a complete catalog of the different types of detectors out there but it will get you started. It also ends Part I of this article.

Please remember that although we aren’t “experts” (between all of the contributors on this blog we have over 90 years of experience in treasure hunting) we will gladly try to help you with any questions that you may have so please feel free to e-mail us.

Learning a lesson (or two)

2011-04-20T08:44:00.001-05:00

I would like to thank Rob for sending me the information for this article. Not only is it an article about finding treasure but there are at least two very imporant lessons to be learned from reading it.

The first lesson is that you have to be persistent in treasure hunting. It is the very, very rare occasion that a treasure hunter finds a cache of anything in the first few tries. It usually takes a continued effort and there usually seems to be a massive learning curve to finding any cache you are hunting.

The second lesson is to never turn off your detector until you get ready to get into your car. One of the very first things I was taught by another treasure hunter, many, many years ago, is that you should be running your detector while walking to and from your vehicle. You never know what you'll run across.

I'll admit that if you do this it usually makes your trip to and from the vehicle take a lot longer but you just never know. I can't tell you how many stories I have heard (and a couple that I have told) about the things people find while just walking to or from the car with their detector on. A couple of really big finds have been uncovered this way. This should be S.O.P. for every treasure hunter if you are hunting a cache or just coin shooting. Luck is always a welcome thing in treasure hunting!

Now for the article, straight from the web.

Treasure hunter finds Bronze Age founders hoard

A treasure hunter has found 18 Bronze Age items in a field near Newark in Nottinghamshire.

Maurice Richardson stumbled across the collection, which includes four socket axes, a spear head, a chisel and a fragmented sword, by mistake.

"I was on my way back to the car after being out all afternoon and wandered off the track," he said. "If I hadn't I wouldn't have found it."

This is the third major discovery Mr Richardson has made. In 2005 he dug up an ancient necklace valued at £350,000 while in 2010 he found a hoard of Roman coins.

The tools were found just a foot below the surface of a farmer's field.

The first things to be dug out were three of the four axes; Mr Richardson said he immediately knew what they were.

The items have been confirmed by Dr Chris Robinson, an archaeological officer from Nottinghamshire County Council, as a founders hoard.

"Bronze Age metal workers tended to be itinerant. They would travel around the land plying their trade," said Dr Robinson.

"Often they would bury their produce and come back for it later."

The finds will now be submitted to the Portable Antiques Scheme (PAS) so that they can be recorded.

All prehistoric base-metal artefacts found after 1 January 2003 qualify as treasure and the PAS will forward the items to the British Museum for further assessment, dating and valuation.

Research by Mr Richardson suggests that his latest hoard may be worth a few thousand pounds.

But the tree surgeon said his hobby, which he has been doing every Saturday and Sunday afternoon for 40 years, is nothing to do with the money.

"It's the interest in the local history and the buzz from handling something that is thousands of years old," he said.

Mr Richardson confessed that there was no secret to his success.

"It's embarrassing really. There's no recipe. It just seems to happen," he said.

Need a vacation?

2011-04-16T10:52:00.000-05:00

We all need some time away when we can get it. Now a days it seems harder and harder and more expensive but here's something the whole family might enjoy and as treasure hunters, we could learn a few things while we are there. It's all about pirates you see. Arrrrrrrggggg!!!

Pirate Museum Moves to New Florida Digs

Avast Ye Mateys! Fans of all things pirate will want to visit a newly opened museum in the historic Florida city of St. Augustine.

The St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum is the brainchild of former Philadelphia 76ers president Pat Croce, who has a passion for both basketball and pirates.

"It just happened when I was a kid. I fell in love with Errol Flynn and "Captain Blood" movies," Croce tells AOL Travel News. "I would write a skull and cross bones in notebooks, and the nuns would smack me. And I was a pirate for Halloween as a kid."

As his wealth grew from businesses, Croce, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker, started collecting pirate artifacts including one of only two original Jolly Roger flags known to exist (the other is in Finland), the only authentic pirate chest in America, a journal from Captain Kidd's last journey, and real weapons and pieces of eight.

About six years ago, Croce opened Pirate Soul in Key West to display his collection, with exhibits featuring not only memorabilia but Disney Imagineer-designed animatronics, interactive displays and technologies such as creepy 3-D sound, all used in an attempt to re-create the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730).

The museum was popular, but given Key West's somewhat remote location, hours from Miami, it didn't attract the family and school group tourist crowd that Croce was hoping for, he says. He decided to close up shop and move the museum to St. Augustine in northern Florida, the oldest city and port in the U.S.

"I love Key West. I have a home in Key West. But you go there to party. In St. Augustine, heritage is number one. And families go there."

The former museum's exhibits are back in the St. Augustine venue. But there are also new displays outlining local routes where famous pirates walked the streets, plundered and pillaged – Sir Francis Drake and Robert Searles even burnt St. Augustine to the ground in 1586 and 1688, respectively.

Added attractions at the new museum, which is located across from a 17th century fort, also include a participatory treasure hunt, 17th century cannons that fire (in electronically simulated fashion) and pirate movie memorabilia.

"We now have Hollywood pirates, props from "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Hook," and "The Goonies," Croce says. "I took it up a notch."

Movie items on display include Captain Jack Sparrow's sword and cursed Aztec coin and Captain Hook's hook.

Among nearly 800 museum-quality artifacts are borrowed historical items from the State of Florida collection including gold, rings, jewels and sword handles.

Croce is still collecting too.

"I just got some really cool coins from the 1715 fleet off the east coast of Florida," he says.

Fact or fiction?

2011-04-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

I received a story from one of our readers who, for reasons that will become obvious, requested to remain anonymous. This is his story.

If you have the time, I have a tale I can give you that actually happened. This is not a “made up” story manufactured out of thin air. This happened in my past. Actually this one happened about thirty five years ago, when I was younger and much more active in treasure hunting.

Our local newspaper used to have a section called “News From the Past” which was tidbits taken from the historical archives of the paper. Items were dated 25 years ago, 50 years ago and 100 years ago. One of the stories from the 50 years ago part told about the death of a local gentleman by the hand of someone unknown. Our hero was found lying in his living room apparently several days after someone blew a very large hole in his chest area. The home had obviously been looted because everything was strewn out onto the floor. The story went on to tell that the deceased seemed to have no relatives and was famous for lending money to people who needed it. Until three years before his demise, he had lived on a farm about five miles from town, had no apparent income but always had cash to loan to his acquaintances. The recipients of this favor always came to his house after dark and told him of their needs. The man would tell them to sit down for a while and he would leave out of the back door. After about fifteen minutes or so, he would return with greenbacks or gold coins. These always smelled “musty” and it was assumed that our hero had to dig the cash up somewhere in the back of the house. When a debt was repaid, the borrower was told to take a seat and wait. After about fifteen minutes, the loaner would return through the back door and brew up a pot of coffee for the two of them. (Believe it or not, this was really in the newspaper.)

While I didn’t think that there would still be any cash left at the farm site, I thought it may be a good idea to check it out. The property was now owned by a large agricultural aggregate so I sought permission to go onto the site with a detector and “Look for coins where the house used to be”. They didn’t know that a “two-box” detector wasn’t exactly a coin hunting machine. No problem gaining access but as I had imagined, no luck at all.

Next came the problem of hunting the house in town. He had lived there for three years and I figured that even though the murderer had thoroughly searched the house, if he buried it while on the farm he would also bury it in town. Naturally, there was a family living in the home but they didn’t know of the story. It didn’t take long to learn that no one was going on the property “To look for lost pennies and old toys”, even if a 50/50 split was offered. How to get onto the property proved to be a perplexing problem. Would posing as a water department worker for the city work???? That would gain someone access to all of the back yard.

I’ll leave it to you to decide the answer to this perplexing question. If I told you that it didn’t, you would think that I’m just an old windbag, spouting stories. If I told you that it did, the IRS might think that I needed to be audited. It’s your call.

Oh yeah, as far as I know the murderer was never caught.

I will add that I have known this treasure hunter for a few years now so I have no problem believing the story. I am also leaning towards the fact that the water department employee ruse was a good one and worked well but as he said, "it's your call".

This should serve as a reminder about how to find clues to lost treasure. They are everywhere, you just have to be paying attention.

I would especially like to thank this reader for sharing this with our readers. We all need that little extra incentive sometimes to keep us going.

Will part of a treasure do?

2011-04-08T12:04:00.003-05:00

Do you ever find yourself in New Castle County Delaware? Will having just part of a treasure make you happy or do you need the whole thing?

Well if you need the whole thing then you are just S.O.L. If you can be happy with just part of a treasure, the good part I might add, then this just may be the ticket for you.

During the revolutionary war the Brits were headed towards a spot known as Cooch’s Bridge. Thomas Cooch operated a mill at the bridge and when he heard the British were coming he gathered up all of his family’s valuables including silver and jewelry, placed them in an iron chest and took them to an area called Purgatory Woods located between White Clay Creek and St. George’s Creek. Purgatory Woods was adjacent to Cooch’s Bridge so Thomas Cooch didn’t have to go far to get to where he was going.

Once in the woods Thomas Cooch buried the iron chest in one spot and then buried an iron pot in another spot in the woods. The iron pot contained a “peck” of gold coins.

How much is a “peck” of gold coins? According to the imperial standard a peck is the equivalent of TWO GALLONS of “dry volume”. Two gallons of gold coins is going to be a pretty good size pot of gold!

As luck would have it the British did arrive at Cooch’s mill and made themselves at home. Once they decided to leave they set fire to the mill and burned it to the ground. The fire from the mill also burned down the majority of Purgatory Woods.

Once Thomas Cooch returned to the area to retrieve his valuables he ran into the problem of not having the trees to use as landmarks. This made it difficult for him to find what he had buried. Luck was with Thomas Cooch, at least partially, because he was able to find and retrieve the iron chest with his silver and jewels and other valuables. His luck didn’t hold for finding the iron pot of gold coins and although he searched for a long time, it was never found.

So that leaves you looking for an iron pot somewhere along the old road running between Newark and Cooch’s Bridge. Keep in mind that it was in the woods at one time so I wouldn’t think it would be too close to the road. The good news is an iron pot should be really easy to find with a detector.

The bad news is, Purgatory Woods was described as a “wooded, marshy area”. There is a chance that the iron pot has settled or sank deeper into the “marshy” ground over the years so it could be a lot deeper than it started out as.

Good luck!

Digging For Jesse James

2011-04-02T14:07:00.006-05:00

Deep in the haze filled woods of the Arkansas hills lives a grizzled old friend of mine named Lefty. I am pretty sure any give afternoon you might find him with a shovel in his hand, clothes soiled and digging a hole that his detector sounded of at. In his old grizzled gruff ways he sent me this one by carrier pigeon. He said he thought some you old conspiracy theoriest out there may enjoy it. So while ya'll are trying to disprove history he says he'll be out digging it up. Either way I hope you all enjoy this little article. It is from a Arkansas news paper dated December 10, 1953

Digging For Jesse James Gold
Recalls story here 13 years ago

Recent news accounts from Arkansas tell of a hunt for buried gold reportedly concealed many years ago by Jesse James. The present hunt, near Paragould in northeastern Arkansas has been abandoned temporarily when a 22-foot wooden shaft collapsed and the armed diggers ran out of money.

The object of the digging, on the sandy banks of the Black river, is a chest believed to be filled with gold and flung into the river by James as he fled from a posse. The chest is presumed to be at a depth of 30 feet.

Thirteen years ago-Feb. 28, 1940, to be exact – The Constitution-Tribune told a story of buried gold in Arkansas, treasure which bandit Jesse James was said to have buried. The story, preceding the present interview with a business school student who felt sure his grand-father was Frank James. The interview, by Carl McIntire, now news editor of the Sedalia Democrat (near the scene of the first daylight train robbery), is reprinted below:

Thoroughly convinced that he is the grandson of Frank James, brother and :business” associate of the more notorious Jesse James of the pioneer days in Missouri, Coumbus Vaughn, student at the Jackson School of Business from Newton county, Arkansas, tell his story as he learned it and says he can produce evidence and affidavits of proof. However, he adds that he can expect no one to believe him for the tale is fantastic in the light of what has been told in years gone by.

Columbus says that Jesse James was not killed by Bob Ford and that Frank James never surrendered as Missouri history relates. He adds that Robert T. James who lives on the old James farm near Kearney, Mo., is no real relative of the James boys, though he is known as the son of Frank.

The Vaughn family lived quietly and with notoriety near Jasper in Newton County, Arkansas, until 1926 when Columbus’s grandfather, known as Joe Vaughn, died. Joe Vaughn had come to Newton County a long time before and had settled there and had lived a quit life. He raised a family of two children, Wm. Nelson Vaughn, father of Columbus, and a daughter.

When Joe died he left a member of papers and one included a history of his life in which stated that he was Frank James, brother of Jesse. He told the complete story of the James’ boys life in this tale and added what the members of the family are now the final chapters to the biographis of Frank and Jesse James.

The story written by Joe Vaughn, according to the local student, included the statements that Robert Bigelow was the man who was shot by Bob Ford and believed to be Jesse James and that another man who looked somewhat like Frank James, was paid $35,000 by the brothers to “take the rap” for Frank by surrendering to Governor Crittenden. That man has heired the James homested near Kearney, according to Vaughn, and it is his son who lives there now in the belief that his father was the real Frank James.

“It seemed unreal that we were the blood relatives of the James boys,” Columbus said, “so my father and aunt started immediately after reading the history to determine whether or not it was true.” The family tried as hard to prove Joe Vaughn was really Joe Vaughn as it did to prove he was Frank James. There was no connection ever made t substantiate the fact that Vaughn was the man’s real name but many facts led to the belief among members of Columbus’ family that their father and grandfather was really one of America’s most notorious outlaws.

Some of the facts are startling, some rather “happen so” yet when they are all placed together even the skeptics must say that Columbus Vaughn and his family have certain right to claim relationship to the James boys. They are all convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Joe Vaughn was Frank James. A book is to be published in the near future, according to the business college student in which all of the information left by Joe Vaughn will be included. Moving picture right, too, have been sold on the story, he says.

Some of the facts that have made the Vaughn family believe Joe’s history are:

(1) Joe’s brother, William Nelson, has the same first names that Jesse James had.

(2) The man who for years has claimed he was Jesse James, appearing on the stage of a New York theater in 1936 and relating some of the tales of the past, was contacted and asked what he though of Joe Vaughn’s story. He wrote back he most interesting of all the facts that have been found, He said, however, these are not his own words:

“Many years ago (about 1920, according to the Vaughn family) I visited your home in Newton County. At that time Joe Vaughn was living. My name then, to you people, was “Santa Mire” and I was taken to your house by William Nelson Vaughn because he thought I looked like his father. I was with a carnival playing at a small town near your home. I stayed all night in your home on that occasion but I saw Joe Vaughn only once, that man was my brother, Frank James.”

(It has been learned by the Vaughn family since that Frank and Jesse were at odds toward the end of their lives. Once the story is told, they rode all day trying to get the draw on the other to shoot to kill. This possibly explains the reason what the two saw each other only for a minute when they were under the same roof in 1920.)

(3) In the story written by Joe Vaughn was the statement that on a 7-acre strip of land in Sebastian County, Arkansas, there were buried two trunks, one containing clothing worn by him in the early days and another containing his guns and some loot money. Columbus says that he himself found a rock with dates cut on it on this 7-acre strip of land. The family dug down 15 feet and found two hinges, a lock and other hardware off a trunk. They thought this was the trunk that had contained clothing. The other trunk was never found.

(4) Joe Vaughn’s story conforms so nearly perfectly with information that has been brought to light on the James boys and the Vaughn family has be unable to disprove any part of this tale.

Truly, Columbus Vaughn has an interesting story of his family live. Whether he can ever convince the public that all of it is true and the disproof of the better known stories of the James boys, is a matter to decided in time. For the present it leaves a question in the minds of many persons as to which story is really true.

This original clipping may be found at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/arkansastellhuntjjames1953.htm

Atlantis found???

2011-04-01T10:02:00.001-05:00

I don't know why it's so hard for everyone to find this place, it's a very nice hotel in the Bahamas!

I'm a little late getting this posted, it seems that has been my theme for the last couple of months, a day late and a dollar short. OK, a week or two late and several dollars short! I'm only human you know.

Homer sent this one to me about two weeks ago and I just haven't had the time to get through all of my e-mails every day. The National Geographic channel did a show on this find and even though the show ran a couple of weeks ago you know they will run it over and over again. So if you didn't already know about it you might take a peak. One of these days somebody is going to get it right and Atlantis will be found.

I know this isn't your standard treasure hunting story but again, it's one of those things that has intrigued me since I was a teenager and I thought some of our readers might have the same curiosity.

From the web:

Was Lost City of Atlantis Found in Spanish Marsh?

Crime solvers follow the money, but experts searching for the lost city of Atlantis? In archaeology, "you should follow the stones," Richard Freund said.

Freund, a University of Hartford professor, believes he and his research team have found the legendary island-city described by Plato in about 360 B.C. as having "in a single day and night ... disappeared into the depths of the sea."

Using satellite photography, ground-penetrating radar, underwater technology and some old-fashioned reasoning, Freund said his team pinpointed the city in a vast marsh in southern Spain that dries out one month a year. Their findings are featured in a National Geographic special premiering tonight, "Finding Atlantis."

"'Follow the stones' means that you have to find the artifacts," he told AOL News in a telephone interview today. "And certain types of stones give you clues about where certain types of things came from."

His team's search began in 2008 with a space satellite photograph showing what looked to be a submerged city in Spain's Dona Ana Park. In 2009 and 2010, Freund's researchers worked with Spanish archaeologists and geologists to explore beneath the mud flats using radar and imaging.

The discovery was clinched, Freund said, with the later find of "standing stones" and a series of memorial cities in central Spain built in the image of Atlantis.

"We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archaeology, that makes a lot more sense," Freund told Reuters.

The memorial sites are significant to Freund's theory because refugees from the lost city would have built smaller-scale versions in tribute. And so when a Spanish scientist led him to ancient sites surrounded by concentric moats -- and a museum featuring standing stones with a symbol similar to Plato's drawing of Atlantis -- Freund was convinced these were commemorations of the destroyed city.

"There are more than 100 of them, and they come from all different places in the area," Freund told AOL's local news site Canton Patch.

"In crime, you follow the money," he told Patch. "In archaeology, you follow the stones."

His team also found ancient wood dating back to 440 B.C. A core sample taken at the marsh showed a layer of methane -- an indication to Freund that a lot of living things all died at once.

His team also found ancient wood dating back to 440 B.C. A core sample taken at the marsh showed a layer of methane -- an indication to Freund that a lot of living things all died at once.

"Finding this one layer of methane is a very telltale sign of a society that is destroyed in one fell swoop," he told the Hartford Courant. "This was in the middle of nowhere, and there was no methane layer found in the area except where we were working."

Explorers looking for Atlantis previously have focused on the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The lost city has been "found" many times over the years, including by Russian scientists who pinpointed a ruined town in the Black Sea; an American who found man-made walls a mile deep in the Mediterranean; and Swedish researchers who found it in the North Sea.
The lost city even was proclaimed found when people searching Google Earth spotted lines resembling a city street grid in the ocean off the coast of Africa. Google squelched the revelation when it explained the lines actually were left by a boat collecting data.

Researchers plan more excavations at the Spanish site, and Freund agreed his current findings won't put a definitive end to the debate.

"It's never like finding the Titanic. It's never like finding Tutankhamun's tomb. That's the way, in the best of all circumstances, that you find something intact," Freund told the Courant.

"You'll not be able to convince all the people all the time," he said.

Gold cross and chain from the Atocha found

2011-03-29T08:46:00.001-05:00

The ocean floor off the Florida Keys never seems to stop giving.

Diver Bill Burt with Mel Fisher’s Treasures was looking for a section of the sunken Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Atocha, this week. Instead, he came across a 40- inch gold chain shimmering on the sandy ocean floor about 30 miles from Key West.

The chain, which is believed to have come from the Atocha, contains a gold medallion and a gold cross. The cross appears to be, according to the salvors, inscribed with Latin letters. It is estimated to be worth $250,000.

Mel Fisher’s team found a portion of the Atocha and $450 million worth of artifacts and treasure in 1985. But the contents of the Atocha’s sterncastle, a wooden, fort-shaped area at the back of ship, have never been recovered. The Atocha sank during a hurricane in 1622. A second hurricane is believed to have torn the sterncastle from the Atocha and carried it miles away.

The payday

2011-03-27T13:48:00.001-05:00

I would like to thank Rob for sending me this story. This is a follow up to a story I had posted early about a gold nugget that had been found.

Just in case you have a lot of money just laying around (don't we all?), the owner of the nugget also owns the land the nugget was found on and is auctioning that off too. 180 acres, maybe there's another huge nugget just waiting to be found!

Bidder pays $460K for roughly 8-pound gold nugget

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

A bidder has paid $460,000 for a roughly 8-pound gold nugget found in Northern California's Gold Rush country.

Spectrum Numismatics came away with the nugget on Wednesday after a feverish two minutes of bidding at the Golden West Auction in Sacramento. The company was bidding on behalf of an anonymous buyer.

What may be the biggest California gold nugget in existence was found in the unincorporated town of Washington in Nevada County last March with a metal detector.

At current gold prices, the nugget would have fetched less than $138,000. But auctioneers say its connection to the 19th century Gold Rush helped boost its value.

Auctioneer Don Kagin says the person who found the nugget also plans to auction the 180 acres where it was discovered.

The Gold Cube

2011-03-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

For those of you that like to find your gold in it's original form, you might want to take a look at this video. Rob sent this to me (since we are thinking about doing a little panning of our own) and I thought I would share it with our readers.

The find of a lifetime, made twice!

2011-03-13T18:09:00.001-05:00

OK, so maybe for some people this isn't that exciting but as treasure hunters, I can't believe this wouldn't be of interest to everybody.

I have been interested in the crystal skulls for a long time, even before they were made popular by Indiana Jones!

This skull has been lost and found, or hidden and found, twice. Once by the Mayans and once by the Nazis.

I was made aware of this story from a forum I am a member of and I would like to thank the man who posted it for bringing it to my attention.

From the web:

Mayan crystal skull believed to have been owned by SS chief Heinrich Himmler discovered in Germany

A crystal skull believed to have occult powers that was part of a treasure trove of architects held by S.S. chief Heinrich Himmler has been unearthed in Germany.

The skull, found resting in an attic in the roof of a house in a small Bavarian village, has excited treasure hunters who say it was with a list showing it was part of a larger trove of booty once owned by the most sinister man in the Third Reich.

Early indications are that it is part of a series worshipped by ancient Mayan cultures in what is now Mexico which, legend has it, are vital to stop the world from ending next year.

The Mayans believed that after a ‘Great Flood‘ destroyed Atlantis, the survivors wished to preserve their wisdom. They shaped thirteen crystal skulls; nine were coloured and represented the races of men and four were as clear as glass to represent ``the beasts that walk, crawl, slide and fly."

They were then sent to their place of "birth" until such a time when all are needed to avert the catastrophe that man will wreak on the planet.

The Mayans were a race of highly gifted astronomers and mathematicians.

Using their knowledge of planetary and galactic progressions, the Mayans were able to record a time and date for this ‘end of days‘ - the winter solstice, 21st December 2012.

Himmler, who ran the modern industrial-scale murder programme of the Jews, was also spellbound by myths and legends all his life. He financed expeditions to far-flung corners of the earth by Indiana Jones-type S.S. men seeking proof of the supremacy of Ayran man - ie, the Germans.

The skull, which weighs nearly 20lbs, is of the same design as the death’s head which adorned the uniforms of his killers. It was found in a wooden and leather box in the home of an old lady and it is now in the hands of Swiss journalist Luc Burgin.

With it, it is claimed, was a list of 35 treasures which the S.S. was seeking to bring back to Germany from Sudetenland on the border with Czechoslovakia as the Reich crumbled in 1945. Part of it reads;"Nr. 14; the crystal skull - 263-2 RFSS Collection Rahn, No 25592, leather case, crystal death‘s head, South America."

RFSS referred to Reichsfuehrer-S.S. - Himmler‘s official title in Nazi Germany While Rahn referred to Otto Rahn, an S.S. officer and chief occultist for Himmler who has been described as as the inspiration behind the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, although neither George Lucas nor Steven Spielberg have never spoken of him.

Burgin says he is commissioning experts in the coming weeks to examine the skull to try to prove its authenticity. He said; "I am 99 percent sure that this is one of the skulls of the Mayans, but we need clarity and all available tests will be carried out to ascertain authenticity."

A footnote on the box stated; "Do not open! The personal property of the Reichsfuehrer-S.S.!"

The old lady who handed it over in a village near Munich was once married to a high ranking S.S. officer.

The full details of the booty on the list found along with the skull haven‘t been revealed but are thought to include details of S.S. silver rings worth 50 million pounds in today‘s money.

They are said to be buried in the hills surrounding the eerie triangular-shaped castle of Wewelsburg near Paderborn. Himmler used the castle as a Black Camelot for his knights-of-the-dark-side.

As the Reich crumbled he abandoned Wewelsburg. Some 9,280 special S.S silver rings struck for his men, and returned on his orders to him after death, were stashed in secret cave in the nearby hills.

Pirate treasure found!

2011-03-10T16:22:00.004-06:00

Aaaaaaarrrrgggg!!

Oh come on, you can't seriously be tired of me doing that everytime I mention a pirate treasure can you?

This is another story from the web that I have to thank Rob and Homer for sending to me to share with our readers.

This isn't treasure in the truest form but to me, finding anything left behind by a pirate is treasure.

From the web:

Captain Morgan's Cannons Found

What may be the first artifacts from legendary pirate Henry Morgan's shipwrecked vessels near Panama were recently discovered.

Scuba diving archaeologists recently found six cannons from Morgan's vessels that sunk on a mission to capture a fort in the 17th century, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Morgan is a legend in Panama. He's commonly thought of as a pirate, but he was what's called a privateer — a legal pirate. He was paid by the English crown to defend its Caribbean colonies.

The cannons, if truly Morgan's, would be the first artifacts of his that have been found near Panama.

As the story goes, Morgan, along with three ships carrying 470 men, set out to take over a fort guarding the entrance to Panama City. Morgan was sailing on the Satisfaction, his flagship, but all four ships crashed on Lajas Reef in shallow water. Despite losing their ships, Morgan's men still were able to paddle ashore and capture the fort.

The ships were abandoned, and treasure hunters have picked through the reef over the years. The cannons were found covered by layers of sedimentary rock in the shallow water. At least two other guns are buried nearby, as well as an anchor, ceramics and bottles. Metal detectors indicated that more artifacts may be buried deeper.

Mayan treasure found?

2011-03-08T09:33:00.001-06:00

I would like to thank two of our readers for this one. Homer and Rob both sent me this story and a few others on the same days. Keep them coming guys!

The good news with this story is that someone may have cracked a code leading to EIGHT TONS of gold! The bad news is that if they are right, it's at the bottom of a lake!

From the web:

Cracked Mayan Code May Pave Way to Lost Gold

Led by Joachim Rittsteig, an expert in Mayan writing, a group of scientists and journalists left Germany Tuesday, on a mission to Guatemala in search of a lost Maya treasure allegedly submerged under Lake Izabal.

According to the German newspaper Bild, which sponsored the expedition, the expedition includes two reporters from the publication, a photographer, a television camera, and a professional diver who will submerge into Lake Izabal in an attempt to find eight tons of gold said to have been lost there.

The expedition is led by Joachim Rittsteig, an expert in Mayan writing, who claims to have cracked the famous Dresden Codex and discovered specific information in one of its chapters that leads to a treasure in Lake Izabal.

"The Dresden Codex leads to a giant treasure of eight tons of pure gold," said Rittsteig, who has spent more than 40 years studying the document, to Bild.

A professor emeritus at Dresden University and author of various publications about the Maya culture, Rittsteig stressed that "page 52 talks about the Maya capital of Atlan, which was ruined by an earthquake on October 30th in the year 666 BC. In this city, they kept 2,156 gold tablets on which the Maya recorded their laws."

The treasure sank, along with the city, into the waters of Lake Izabal, located in eastern Guatemala. But the German academic claims to have found the remains thanks to radar images taken in the area.

Rittsteig calculates that "just the gold in the tablets is estimated to be currently worth up to 211 million euros (290 million dollars)."

The Dresden Codex, drafted in the year 1250 AD by Mayan priests, is one of the four major documents that remain from that culture. It has been housed by the Saxon State Library in East Germany for the last 272 years.

The code was discovered in 1739 in the possession of a wealthy man in Vienna, though no one knows how he got a hold of it. He then donated it to the Dresden Library, where it is kept under bullet-proof glass in a room with other treasured documents.

Joachim Rittsteig has dedicated most of his entire life to decoding the codex, which is composed of 74 pages, 3.56 meters long with 74 distinct hieroglyphics.

The Dresden Codex contains much of what is known of Mayan Culture, including their understanding of astrology, medicine and even the end of the world. In the last chapter, the codex describes the coming apocalypse, which it says will take place on December 12th, 2012.

Adventurer dies while exploring old mine

2011-03-06T09:50:00.001-06:00

Once again I find myself apologizing to our readers for not keeping up with the posts. I would like to tell you I have been uncovering a long lost mine filled with treasure but unfortunately, this time, it has just been the things of everyday life that have kept me overly occupied.

This article comes from the web and is a good reminder of what can happen if you are not careful. Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, things like this can happen anyway so please, everyone out there, take the necessary precautions to come back from your adventures alive and well.

Man Dies After Falling Into Nevada Mine Shaft

RENO, Nev. - A father of five children has died after falling into a Nevada mine shaft so deep and treacherous that rescuers had to abandon efforts to reach him while he was still alive, officials said Saturday.

Devin Westenskow, 28, of Evanston, Wyo., worked at a geothermal drilling operation in Nevada and had gone exploring Wednesday with two friends during his off-hours when he fell 190 feet into the open shaft northeast of Reno.

His family thanked rescue workers in a prepared statement that also identified Westenskow.

"We feel they did everything possible to rescue Devin, but that there was no way to get him out alive given the extent of his injuries and instability of the mine shaft," the statement said. "We are forever grateful for their efforts."

The decision to end the rescue came after two unsuccessful attempts by search teams to descend into the shaft, where Westenskow was trapped in debris, said Doran Sanchez, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management spokesman.

An attempt Thursday caused walls of the 100-plus-year-old shaft to crumble and rocks to fall on rescuers, he said.

"One individual was hit in the head by falling rock and it split his hard hat," Sanchez said. "You're talking about two of the best search and rescue squads in Nevada, and they finally determined there was no way they could safely rappel down."

Westenskow was given his last rites Friday. He was pronounced dead at 12:30 p.m. that day, after the Pershing County coroner's office determined he had stopped breathing by reviewing images from a video camera they had lowered into shaft, Sanchez said.

Word of the death was not released until Saturday because there was no cell phone service in the remote area for authorities to stay in contact.

A video camera showed he had been breathing early Friday but not moving and had suffered serious head injuries. Images taken Thursday night revealed he had been moving his hands.

About 50,000 abandoned mine shafts have been identified as the most hazardous in Nevada, but the shaft where the man fell wasn't among them, BLM officials said.

The agency plans to permanently seal the shaft and several other openings in the area by Monday, Sanchez said.

The family statement said Westenskow was divorced and split his time between Evanston and Battle Mountain, Nev.

Sheriff's officials from Pershing and Lander counties oversaw the rescue effort, with assistance from rescuers from Washoe County, Newmont Mining Corp. and the U.S. Navy in Fallon.

Devils Kitchen

2011-03-06T09:29:00.002-06:00

Deep in the heart of Oklahoma territory sat a out crop of rocks that was home to the Kichai Indian Tribe. Later this wild and desolate area would become known to Outlaws as "Devils Kitchen". With large rock boulders, jutting rock out crops and caves, this was the perfect safe haven for outlaws and bandits. Legend has it that there was once a cave at the base of the the "Kitchen" that has been used as a strong hold by numerous later day outlaws. This same legend tells of four outlaws robbing a train near Ardmore Oklahoma and making away with over $50,000 in gold. Knowing of Devils Kitchen and its location of solitude, the outlaws made camp inside the cave at the base of the rugged hill out crop. By early morning a posse had made their way near the entrance of the cave. The shoot out that transpired ended up claiming three of the four outlaws lives. The fourth was captured and sent away for trial and later prison. None of the $50,000 was ever recovered and still said to be hidden inside the cave some where.
Now just where oh where is Devils Kitchen you may ask? Well it sits under 6,000 acres of surface water that makes up Lake Murray. It is suppose to be right of the point that the majestic Tuckers Tower sits. It has been said that the tucker tower has a secret passage leading into the cave system beneath it. Of course the chances of that are probably the same chance that the Alamo has a basement. If you had the know how and equipment the only way to find this one is to start swimming.

On a side note the Tucker Tower was built in 1933 by Governor William H. "Alfalfa Bill" Murray. During its construction a 500 Lbs granular hexahedrite meteorite was found. One of the largest of its kind. It is believed there are many more around the area and even under the lakes surface. So if your in the mood to hunt for lost gold or old fire from the heavens Lake Murray is the place to head. Be sure and take a fishing pole with you as well.

Profile of a treasure hunter

2011-02-25T08:38:00.000-06:00

Our buddy Homer sent me this link and I thought some of our readers would find this interesting.

Although I don't agree with a lot of what Mr. London says about the ever elusive treasures of the KGC (Knights of the Golden Circle), I do know that he has a lot of knowledge that can be put to good use. I will also say that Mr. London is one of the most knowledgeable people you will ever find when it comes to metal detectors.

I apologize for having the link instead of the imbedded video but my skills with a computer are just a little less than your average ten year old. This is a two part series so make sure you look for the second part once you get to the page.

http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=585357

Hawaiian Treasures being searched for

2011-02-22T08:39:00.006-06:00

I have to really thank Homer for this one. Lost treasure and Hawaii, it doesn't get much better than that!

This is a little different kind of treasure hunt but since it is about Hawaii it's near and dear to my heart.

From the web:

In This Hawaiian Scavenger Hunt, A Princess Seeks Palace Treasures

Lolani Palace

By JULIA FLYNN SILER

HONOLULU—Abigail Kawananakoa has been on a decades-long treasure hunt—a bid to recover silverware, lamps, rare furniture and other assorted objects from her family's former home.

Make that "palace."

This 84-year-old is a princess—a descendant of the royal family that ruled the former nation of Hawaii more than a century ago, presiding from graceful Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu.

But much of the 19th-century palace's custom-made furniture, oil paintings and other treasures disappeared after January 1893, when a small band of businessmen overthrew the monarchy.

"We'd love the king's bed back," says Princess Abigail, the great grand-niece of Queen Kapiolani, who was married to the last King of Hawaii, David Kalakaua. His gilt-and-ebonized bed, made by the Boston-based A.H. Davenport Co., is one major item still missing. "We've had so many leads, and they've all been dead ends," the princess says.

Built in 1882, Iolani Palace was richly furnished when it was the home of Hawaii's last two monarchs. But by 1969, the creaky, termite-infested Italianate palace stood vacant. The Junior League of Honolulu helped found a nonprofit group called The Friends of Iolani Palace, which ended up running the palace as a museum. They tapped Princess Abigail's mother, Liliuokalani Kawananakoa Morris, to be the Friends' first president.
The groups commenced their recovery mission in the late 1960s. Working from a desk in the state archives, they spent several years scouring 19th-century newspapers for clues as to where the stuff might have gone missing. To compile a list of items, they used old palace photographs, household ledgers, furniture purchase orders, details from the last king's probate and auction records.

Known as the "Register," the list includes everything from the wines in the king's cellar to sterling flatware. Pattie Black, the sole remaining acquisitions volunteer, continues to follow up tips of possible sightings on eBay.

The Palace also posts a "Most Wanted" list on its website.

"Occasionally, we spot something that did come from the palace," says Mrs. Black, 86. "That's a thrill." She's been following some missing items for decades.

Palace bounty has trickled in from some unlikely places. In 1987, a California couple bought a pretty porcelain plate for fifty cents at a community college swap meet in Huntington Beach, Calif. After seeing a television program about Iolani Palace, they realized the plate, with its royal insignia, had come from the palace's French Pillivuyt china service. They donated it in 2007.

One chair from the palace's Blue Room survived a tsunami in 1946, which swept it out of a Maui home and deposited it on a beach, where the owners recovered it and eventually donated it to the palace in 1976.

Another was more recently recovered through sheer social pressure. A group of Iowa eighth graders learned from their teacher that a small mahogany table in the palace actually belonged to the state of Iowa, which had received it as a gift from an Iowa resident and then lent it back to the Hawaiians. The kids, calling themselves the Give 'Em Back their Table Committee, began a campaign in 1999 to persuade the Iowa government to permanently give the table back to the palace.

Iowa transferred legal ownership in 2000, and the table is now a permanent addition to King David Kalakaua's library, according to the palace. The eighth graders created "a little bit of pressure through embarrassment," explains David Cordes, the retired Iowa official who handled the details of the table's transfer. "And they were absolutely right."

Despite these successes, about half of the palace's contents remain at large. It hopes to recover a white Venus di Milo plaster cast that once graced the king's office as well as the last queen's tiara, whose 150 diamonds were sold off and will probably never be recovered. The palace declines to estimate the value of the missing items.

Palace staffers and volunteers say that even today they know where a number of items are after spotting them in private homes. Some owners refuse to give stuff back, they say; others do so anonymously.

Then there's the clutter factor. Some families have simply run out of room to store their Hawaiian treasures. Descendants of Theo H. Davies, a 19th-century British sugar baron, returned four large ceremonial bowls, known as calabashes, he'd bought at auction. They'd been displayed both in the family's large home in Hampshire, England, and its home in Honolulu. Eventually, the family decided to donate them to the palace in 2006. "Nobody has a big enough house" to properly display them, says Joan Davies, the widow of Theo's grandson.

Alice Guild, one of the founders of the Friends of Iolani Palace, recalls opening the front door of her Honolulu home in the mid-1970s and finding an 18-inch package wrapped in butcher's paper and string on her doorstop. Inside was one of the long-missing wall escutcheons that someone had evidently pried off the palace. She thinks the donor left it anonymously because it was likely spoils from the overthrow.

"We never ask questions," says Princess Abigail. "Let's face it: [Donors'] relatives might have taken part in the looting."

Princess Abigail herself has bought back some treasures. At a Sotheby's auction in Switzerland in 1991, she placed the winning bid of 65,000 Swiss Francs (worth about $46,000 at the time) for a Knight's Grand Cross of the Order of Kamehameha I, which she then gave to the palace. The seller: a mysterious man known only as "Monsieur J.P.L."

Working with a contract

2011-02-19T10:30:00.001-06:00

I just received this from Rob, a friend of mine and one of our readers. I thought everyone might like to read this and see how sometimes, no matter what you have in writing, it always comes down to the people.

From the web:

(Lyon County, KAN.) — You can tell it gets Jerry Weaver irritated just by talking about it. “I’ll be honest, it is all about the money,” said Weaver from his Lyon County home. “I’m not greedy, I just want what’s mine.”

In 2008, meteorite hunter Steve Arnold came to Lyon County to look for meteorites. Certain locations in Kansas contain meteorites that fell from the sky thousands of years ago. Many are found by farmers as they work the land. Arnold made deals with 19 landowners in the area for permission to look on their property for meteorites. The contract terms stated the landowners would get 25% and Arnold would get 75% of whatever was discovered.

“I was interested and happy to do it,” recalls Weaver. “He painted a pretty picture that they were valuable.”

Arnold found two meteorites on Weaver’s land. Weaver and his family helped Arnold dig them out of the ground. Weaver says Arnold was excited about the find and kept talking about the value.

“He said they're worth millions. He kept asking where I wanted to have a vacation house,” said Weaver.

In all, Arnold discovered meteorites on ten of the 19 properties. Total weight of the meteorites was close to 2500 lbs. Weaver waited for his cut.

“I never heard from him unless I contacted him,” said Weaver. He says at first, landowners were led to believe the money was coming.

“He kept saying we'll have some money and there will be some check writing going on and all that kind of talk,” said Weaver. “But I've heard that for three years and there hasn't been nothing wrote.”

“We haven’t received a nickel.”

WHERE’S THE MONEY?

You may be familiar with Steve Arnold and his meteorite hunting. Arnold co-stars in a TV show called “Meteorite Men” which will enter its third season on the Science Channel. Arnold sat down with Eyewitness News to answer questions about the land deals and why landowners have not been paid any money.

Arnold says about a year ago, he realized the traditional way of selling meteorites just wasn’t cutting it. So instead of selling the meteorite whole or slicing it into pieces for collectors, he decided to extract gemstones and sell them in the jewelry market. All landowners, including Weaver, agreed to this change. The problem? Arnold says the gems aren’t making much money.

“It’s not like wheat that you can just take down to the grain elevator and sell for cash,” said Arnold. “In our particular case, we're actually having to help create a market because most people don't even know the stones exist.”

Arnold says he’s sold a few but not enough to pay the landowners.

“The agreement was that their royalties would be based off of profit and we've sold some gemstones but our expenses have been more than what we've sold so there just hasn't been any profit to share yet.”

But are the gems really worth millions? Arnold believes so.

“The gemstones are worth anywhere from three to nine thousand dollars a carat,” said Arnold. “So if you just take 5000 dollars as an average, all it takes is 2000 carats for there to be a million dollars worth of gemstones in there.”

After we started asking questions, Arnold offered Weaver and the other landowners the option of getting a portion of a meteorite back. But Weaver says the new offer isn’t fair because it gives landowners less than 25 percent of a meteorite and also prohibits them from selling it on the gem market for five years. Arnold says none of the landowners took him up on the offer.

When does he expect landowners to see some money?

“I'm confident that it's going to happen,” said Arnold.

OTHER LAND DEALS

This isn’t the first time Arnold has made land deals in Kansas to look for meteorites. Years before signing the contract with Weaver, Arnold made a similar deal with Kiowa County farmer Bob Ahrens. Ahrens deal was a little different from Weavers. Instead of a 25-75 split, it was three-way deal between Ahrens, Arnold and an investor.

“I wasn't expecting anything until they started digging,” said Ahrens. “It was like a buried treasure.”

Arnold found five meteorites on his property. Ahrens didn’t expect to see much money right away. He tells Eyewitness News he did receive a cash payment and then chose to get part of his meteorite back. He keeps the 100 lb. rock on the floor board of his pickup truck so he can show it to people.

“If you got it you might as well do something with it. It's not doing any good sitting in the corner,” said Ahrens.

He says in the end he was satisfied with his deal.

THE LAWSUIT

The investor who was part of Ahrens’ deal is now suing Arnold. In a lawsuit filed in Bexar County, Texas, Phil Mani accuses Arnold of fraud. Mani claims he fronted Arnold thousands of dollars for his meteorite expeditions and Arnold lied to him. He claims Arnold told him a farmer’s field was empty then later returned with his TV crew once their partnership had ended to find meteorites. He says Arnold “promoted himself over the interests of the partnership.”

Arnold says he’s confident he’ll win the lawsuit and is fighting it to defend his name and his business. The case is scheduled for trial February 22nd.

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN METEORITES

Don Stimpson owns Kansas Meteorite Museum and Nature Center near Haviland. Stimpson’s museum houses the world’s largest collection of Brenham Meteorites. Stimpson also cuts meteorites and sells slices to collectors through his internet business. For him, it’s not about the money but the science.

“If you value nature and the universe and you're interested in understanding and learning, it's just another piece of the puzzle.”

Imaginary Points

2011-02-16T16:12:00.003-06:00

As kids growing up a lot of us had really great imaginations. As adults, some of us still have really good imaginations, especially those treasure hunters looking for the ever elusive Knights of the Golden Circle treasures. Their imaginations are off the charts!

Having an imagination and finding an imaginary point aren’t exactly the same thing but you do have to have some of one to find any of the other.

For the most part, I only hunt outlaw and Spanish treasures and as a general rule, the outlaws didn’t use imaginary points. The spots they took you to on a map were usually marked in some way either at the spot or on the map so that you know exactly where you are on the trail.

The Spanish on the other hand had several ways of doing things and one of those involved what I call “imaginary points”. These points are places you have to find that aren’t marked, at least not in the normal fashion and they usually involve measuring. I hate measuring, it’s always such a pain in the butt and you usually have to do it in terrain that doesn’t lend itself to being measured easily.

The simplest way to use an imaginary point is with a triangle. The Spanish loved triangles and used them often however, you can have a forth point tied to a triangle that gives you a spot to look for the treasure or even a buried clue or hidden map. The Spanish were known to “flip” a triangle. This is done by using three marked spots in the field that form your triangle and then flipping the triangle over along one side to give you a forth and unmarked, imaginary point. This requires you to measure the sides and angles of the original marked triangle so that you can get to an exact spot on the other side.

The good news is that the math and measuring for this imaginary forth point is fairly simple. The bad news is, I have never found anything at a site that definitively tells you that you need to flip a triangle or which way you should flip it. This means, like most treasure hunting, you are having to work every possible solution to see if this is the actual solution. It’s about trying every possible combination until you hit on the right one or decide there isn’t anything there.

Keep in mind imaginary points don’t happen with every triangle but they do happen and should be considered when you find a triangle laid out by the Spanish.

Something new to me that took a couple of months to figure out is an actual corner of a triangle being an imaginary point.

We recently worked a Spanish site that had three triangles, the most important triangle had one corner that told us there was another triangle and in what direction to look for the other corners. The third corner of the triangle was unmarked except for a flat spot to stand on a ledge. To find this flat spot and third point of the third triangle we had to use a measurement and direction they had given us with the first triangle.

You’re probably thinking this sounds very complicated and to a point it was but on the other hand it wasn’t. The distance and direction to go to the imaginary third point was very obvious but at the time we didn’t know it took us to the third point. There wasn’t anything there except solid rock. We didn’t even know we had a third triangle when we found the distance and direction.

We knew this information was going to be extremely important but we just didn’t know how to use it at the time. Thanks to a good mapping program, some laser range finders, a compass and a couple of months working the site we finally discovered the third, final and most important triangle.

I still consider this third point as an imaginary one because it was not marked like the rest of the points of the three triangles. Those points all had rock piles giving specific information on where to look for the other corners of their respective triangles. The “imaginary point” could only be found by using the distance and direction given. I will also say that the imaginary point turned out to be the dead center of the first triangle. The spot that was the imaginary point was on a ledge about ten feet high and the flat spot of the ledge was about one and a half feet wide and just a couple of feet long. Just enough for a person to stand on and take a compass heading.

These are by no means the only ways to use an imaginary point and I don’t want you going out in the field and just imagining anything. Use some common sense and keep in mind that if you have an imaginary point there has to be a very specific and exact way to get to that point. It will require the dreaded measuring technique to find these points and you will have definite markers to measure from.

Treasure found

2011-02-07T15:56:00.000-06:00

Every once in a while a story pops up on the internet about someone somewhere finding a treasure. I can always count on Homer catching the ones that I miss and this is one of the ones I missed. Thanks Homer!

From the web:

Honest Estonian cashes in on treasure find

TALLINN — An honest Estonian who turned in a treasure of more than a thousand ancient silver coins he dug up in a field got his just reward Thursday, when the government decided to give him nearly 100,000 euros.

"Under Estonian law, a person who finds and turns over ancient treasure to the authorities is entitled to the half of its value," the Estonian government said on its website.

"An expert study by Estonian heritage authorities found the treasure is worth 198,126 euros ($273,000)," it said.

The identity of the lucky treasure hunter was not made public.

"Most of the nearly thousand-year-old coins -- 80 percent of them -- are from Germany and the rest from England, Sweden, Denmark and Hungary. One silver coin seems to be from Italy," Mauri Kiudsoo, a Tallinn University expert, told reporters in the Estonian capital Thursday.

The man made the rare discovery on August 16 last year while digging in a farmer's field near Tallinn.

The treasure, contained in a broken clay pot, comprised 1,329 silver coins and nine other silver items.

The find came three years to the day after the previous such discovery in Estonia, when five treasure hunters discovered a trove of almost 1,000 coins, mostly from the 17th century, on Saaremaa Island off the west coast.

They were rewarded with 32,650 euros for handing in the money from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands.

The average monthly salary in Estonia is 759 euros according to latest figures.

Technology and Treasure Hunting

2011-02-03T11:43:00.001-06:00

In today’s world we have all come to rely on and enjoy the technology that surrounds us. In most cases, it makes our lives easier. Even though the people who hid the treasures we are now looking for didn’t have this kind of technology, we use it constantly to try to find those treasures. We routinely rely on our computers for using mapping programs, finding information from of the internet and contacting other treasure hunters. Add to that the digital cameras, GPS units, photo programs, etc. that we use and our lives as treasure hunters, even normal human beings are stored in a little box of wires and diodes and other stuff most of us don’t understand.

That brings us to the reason for this article. Rob, one of our readers, recently sent me an e-mail about backing up my computer before a catastrophic loss. This wasn’t news to me and unfortunately I had to learn the hard way, but just in case we have some newbies out there or people who have been lucky enough not to loose any electronic data, this is your warning.

It’s not about IF it will happen, it’s about WHEN it will happen. Because it will and always when you least expect it.

I urge all of our readers to constantly back up their files and on a regular basis. Depending on how much you use your computer and what you use it for, you may need to back up once a day or once a week or once a month. I would not recommend going longer than a month between each back up. That’s just asking for trouble.

There are several ways to back up your computer, you can use an external hard drive, something I’m very fond of, or you can use disks such as dvd or cd’s or you can even pay a small price and use an offsite storage company for your information. Maybe it’s just the paranoid lunatic in me but I don’t like the idea of my information being stored on somebody else’s equipment where anybody can get to it. Not that I have any big life altering secrets on my computer, I’m just naturally suspicious of people I don’t know and have a hard time trusting that my information will be safe. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean somebody isn’t trying to get you!

I will leave it to you, the readers to decide what is the best option for you personally. I just want to make sure you think about, and at least occasionally back up your files so the information you have is not lost to the world like some of the treasures we hunt for.

Remember the Boy Scout motto; Be Prepared!

New Metal Detecting law

2011-02-01T09:54:00.002-06:00

Our good buddy Homer e-mailed me this and I thought I would post it for our readers. If you live in Washington or hunt in Washington you might want to give your two cents worth.

Everyone interested in metal detecting,

We have a bill in the senate that is intended to open all developed areas in Washington State Parks, excluding those that are designated archaeological sites.

What we need to do is write the senators on the committee and ask for their support of the bill, the more letters of support that we get the better our chances for the bill to get out of committee.

All I wrote is . Short and to the point..................................

Senator ---------,
Please support SB 5506, the bill to keep state park lands open to metal detecting.

Thank you,

Your Name
address
e-mail

encourage others to write also, it only takes a few minutes.

The Natural Resources, Ocean and Recreation Committee consist of the following.
Senator Kevin Ranker , Chairman, kevin.Ranker@leg.wa.gov most important!

Senator Debbie Regala , vice Chair, debbie.regala@leg.wa.gov

Senator Bob Morton, bob.morton@leg.wa.gov has supported us in the past

Senator Karen Fraser karen.fraser@leg.wa.gov has stalled previous bills in committee, and they died

Senator Dan Swecker dan.swecker@leg.wa.gov

Senator James Hargrove jim.hargrove@leg.wa.gov has supported us in the past

Senator Val Stevens val.stevens@leg.wa.gov
Write to one or all, but please write.
Thank you

Ron Sharer, pres,

Metal Detecting Association of Washington

Zerelda Cole James Samuel / The mother of Jesse James Photo on Ebay

2011-01-30T19:31:00.000-06:00

Up for bid on Ebay is what could be a rare photo Zerelda samuel who was the mother of Frank and Jesse James. Compare the known photgraphs of her and decide for yourself. She appears to be in her 50's in the photo. The date written in pencil on the back could be July 1884 which would make her 59 years old and would have been two years after Jesse was killed. This may be why she is wearing the black dress. Her right arm appears to be fake and must have been added by the photographer. She lost that arm in 1875 thanks to a Pinkerton bomb. Note the large left eye, shape of the nose, parting of the hair, and down turned corners of her mouth. These are the same characteristics Zerelda has in other photographs.

Jesse James in Texas

2011-01-26T09:47:00.001-06:00

One of the benefits to having this blog is the number of different people we have the chance to talk with. Betty Dorsett Duke is one of those people and she has an interesting story to tell. Betty is the author of "Jesse James Lived and Died in Texas" and "The Truth About Jesse James". She makes a compelling argument that her grandfather was really Jesse James and has recently acquired a photo off of Ebay that seems to be of a wedding party and may change history. Zerelda Samuels is easily identified in the center row of the photo and it is possible that Frank James and Betty's grandfather may be in the front row. To get the full story please go to her website http://www.jessejamesintexas.com/index.htm . I think you will find it interesting.

A Bridge to Far?

2011-01-23T17:19:00.003-06:00

Sometimes in life there seems to be places that just seem to have bad energy circle them. Place’s that just seem to have a history of almost being a cross roads in life for bad things to happen. The stretch of cold steel that makes up the Rock Island rail road in-between Dover and Kingfisher Oklahoma is just such a place. It’s had its fair share of troubled times. Everything from having its trains robbed to its trains washed away. I’ll begin with the train that was robbed.

On April 3, 1895, the Doolin Gang along with the most of the “Wild Bunch” gang boarded the Rock Island train near Dover, Oklahoma. Their goal that ill fated day was to empty the safe aboard the trains baggage/mail car that contained $50,000 of army payroll. The safe proved to be a bit more of a challenge than the gang would have imagined so they set their sights on robbing the express car passengers of cash and jewelry. As the train neared the bridge just south of Dover the gang prepared for their departure as it crossed the Cimarron River. They let out with over confidence and leaving a almost taunting trail for the law to follow. Within two hours, Chief Deputy Marshal Chris Madsen arrived at the robbery scene with six deputy marshals. They gave chase to the notorious outlaws, tracking them west then back across the river north. About two o’clock that afternoon, the posse caught up with them at a camp near Ames “Tulsa Jack” Blake was killed and “Little Bill” Raidler was seriously wounded, losing several fingers. Bill Doolin, Red Buck, Bitter Creek Newcomb, Charlie Pierce and Dick Yeager escaped, riding their separate ways to safety. The loot was never recovered. Does it still lay somewhere in hiding between Ames and the bridge? The bridge holds more than just a starting point of a outlaw trail, it is also the deadly end to a ill fated train.

On a dark and dreary rainy September night in 1906, the Cimarron river began to swell. It soon became a roaring river of death and carnage as it carried debris down river, creating extreme pressures against the train bridge between Kingfisher and Dover. As the Rock Island train No. 12 northbound, crossed the river, the bridge collapsed. The engine tender, baggage/mail car, smoker and day coach all where immediately thrown into the violent waters of the river. The baggage car sank for an instant. The smoker half floated, with one end above water, the couplings between it and the day coach broke, and, submerged, it was carried down the river at least 400 yards. The baggage/mail car was seen a little further down river at a smaller bridge crossing before it caused that bridge to collapse as well. Due to high waters and quick sand none of the train’s contents or the train its self where recovered. Many of the passengers perished in the crash so it is anyone’s guess what may have been in the baggage/mail car.

This bridge as well as the stretch of train track it connects across the Cimarron has a checkered past. It could hold the beginning of the treasures of your future. As a matter of fact I believe that this is such a great search area I almost didn’t write this for you to read. I was going to keep it for my own searches, but in the end you the reader are more important to me. Please if you do go looking though remember that this area could hold your end as well. There could be hidden dangers of quick sand and quickly rising waters. Maybe even a few modern day outlaws waiting for someone to come along. What I can tell you that if you live in Oklahoma this bridge is not “to far”.

Florida Lawmakers getting involved with the Black Swan Treasure

2011-01-22T15:06:00.001-06:00

This is an update to the wikileaks story about the Odyssey Marine Treasure salvors and good Ole Uncle Sam trying to screw them over. Once again, Homer has supplied us with this story fro the web.

Members of Florida's congressional delegation this week called on the U.S. Department of State to withdraw the nation's support of Spain's claim to the $500 million Black Swan treasure.
In a two-page letter dated Jan. 20, six Republican lawmakers said ownership of the sunken treasure found by Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc. should be determined by the courts without the U.S. government's intrusion. Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor sent a letter the same day, voicing her concern to the State Department about the U.S. government's backing of Spain.

Odyssey and Spain are battling in U.S. courts over claim to the sunken treasure found in 2007.

The U.S. government filed a "friend of the court" brief in the case in support of Spain.

Documents posted by WikiLeaks showed that the U.S. government's involvement in the case appeared to be related to other discussions with Spain.

In exchange for helping with the Black Swan case, the U.S. government wanted assistance from Spain in retrieving a French painting owned by a U.S. citizen that is currently in a Madrid museum.

Republican lawmakers said the U.S. government's support of Spain in the case "is ceding our sovereignty to foreign entities."

Odyssey already has asked the federal courts to strike the U.S. brief from the record.

The U.S. government opposed Odyssey's motion to strike the brief, arguing it has "substantial interest in the proper interpretation of maritime and international laws that protect sunken vessels, both as to ships owned by the United States and as to those owned by foreign sovereigns."

Superstition Mountains claim three more

2011-01-20T10:21:00.001-06:00

A while back I wrote an article about three treasure hunters who disappeared in the Superstitiion Mountains of Arizona while looking for the Lost Dutchman Mine. Thanks to Homer we have an update to that story. All three of the men have been found dead in the mountains. Here is a story from the web that was sent to me by Homer.

PIMA, Ariz.(ABC 4) - Just over a week ago, Pima Country Sheriffs Deputies discovered the skeletal remains of two of the three missing Utah men in the mountains of Arizona.

Searchers now believe they have found the remains of the third man.

Officials say they found the wallet of Curtis Merworth along side human remains on Saturday in the Superstition Mountains.

Merworth was in a group of three men that were reported missing last July after they set out on a gold mine hunt.

His mother tells ABC 4 she is saddened by the news but relieved that the long, painful wait is over.

"We are happy because it's been six months and we've been under a lot of stress," said Carol Merworth.

Pima County Sheriff Officials believe they found the remains of Ardean Charles and Malcom Meeks last week.

The Pima County Medical Examiner will identify the remains.

I have said it time and time again, BE PREPARED, you never know what might happen and it's always better to have something and not need it instead of not having something and needing it badly. That extra five or ten pounds that you don't want to carry could be what saves your life.

Jewels, Jewels and more Jewels

2011-01-18T09:39:00.001-06:00

Are you the adventuresome type who doesn’t mind a little danger in your treasure hunting? If so, then you might want to try your hand at looking for more than 100 million dollars in stolen jewelry.

This heist is a modern day robbery and was pulled off by some very well trained people who didn’t mind cracking a few skulls in the process.

In December of 2008 four individuals entered the Harry Winston Jewelry store in Paris, France. All four were men however three of the men were dressed liked women to help them gain entrance through a locked door that you had to be “buzzed in” through.

Once inside the men pulled out a hand grenade and a handgun and started barking orders at the employees, even calling some of the employees by name. In less than fifteen minutes it was over. The bad guys were gone and after smashing several display cases and banging up a few of the employees Harry Winston of Paris was short more than ONE HUNDRED MILLION dollars worth of jewelry.

As of the date of this article there has only been a few of the jewels from this robbery recovered however they have made some arrests. Those arrests were of other men that are said to be part of a gang consisting of more than 200 men, all ex-military and all from a small town in Serbia. The gang is known as the Serbian Pink Panthers. They have been robbing jewelry stores in several places including Dubai, Switzerland, Japan, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Monaco.

At least four of the gang members have been arrested and sent to jail. One of those was cooperating with authorities, giving them details on how the gang operates but to date, they haven’t found all of those jewels.

So if you don’t mind traveling to Europe, possibly being shot at by ex-military guys with some pretty big guns and competing with Interpol and several other law enforcement agencies then this just might be for you!

I would like to thank Susan, one of our readers, for this information. If you are interested in more robberies like this one, possibly for clues to some modern day treasure then you might want to check out the link she sent me:

http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-impressive-heists-that-shocked-the-world.html

On the trail to Spanish treasure?

2011-01-13T10:30:00.002-06:00

Once again our good buddy Homer has saved my bacon by giving me yet another treasure story to post for our readers. Thank you Homer!

This one takes us to Mexico and the 1930's. It is being researched/hunted for by some underwater archies from Mexico.

Maybe it's just me but I'm thinking that if any great treasure is found in Mexico it will never make it where the archies think it should go. We may never hear of it again except in rumors or government documents that show up many years later.

From the web:

Mexico City – Starting from a watch dial, Mexican researchers are following a number of clues to find a purported treasure from Spain, while also hoping to find a survivor of that story that goes back to the 1930s exile of Spanish Republicans to Mexico.

The 7-centimeter (2 3/4-inch) watch dial was found Nov. 20 by divers from the underwater archaeology division of Mexico's National Anthropology and History Institute, at the bottom of a lake in the crater of Nevado de Toluca volcano, at 4,200 meters (13,770 feet) above sea level.

The watch is related to other objects, including a locket and some boxes bearing the name of the Spanish bank Monte de Piedad de Madrid, which were found in the same lake in the 1960s by members of Mexico's Hombres Rana (Frogmen) Club, who kept them in a private collection.

The pieces might all be related to a treasure said to have been brought to Mexico in 1939 by Republican Spaniards who brought them from Monte de Piedad de Madrid - a savings bank now known as Caja Madrid - and from the Spanish central bank to help support the exiles.

The story remained literally submerged for the following decades until this year a group of archaeologists, led by Roberto Junco, climbed Nevado de Toluca volcano and descended to the bottom of Lake of the Sun, which has a depth of 12 meters (39 feet) and a water temperature of 5 C (41 F).

After several days of searching they found a watch face that is now being restored and studied.

Junco, who knew the story of the divers' club that in the mid-20th century found several objects in that lake, met one of them two years ago, who showed him photos taken at the time the discovery was made of pieces that might reasonably have belonged to the "Spanish treasure."

The story goes back to 1939, when Gen. Francisco Franco defeated forces loyal to the Spanish Republic.

That year the ship Vita set sail from a French port with Spanish Republicans aboard, who were apparently carrying objects of value packed in 120 boxes that are said to have been worth $300 million at the time.

That "treasure" is believed to have been amassed by the Spanish socialist politician Indalecio Prieto, a man on good terms with then-Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas, who welcomed the Republicans and their children, from then on known as "the children of Morelia."

Historian Flor Trejo said that the Republican Spaniards are believed to have stripped the gold from watches and other pieces and then threw the mechanisms and dials into the volcanic lake.

On that point, Junco cited some researchers who say that Mexico's central bank bought the melted-down gold from valuable jewelry and coin collections, but he warned that this has not been documented and so falls within the realm of speculation.

Trejo is in charge of pursuing the clues provided by the watch dial and the pieces that the divers found in 1960.

She believes the watches came from Swiss factories and plans to ask for help from those still in business.

The idea is also to find some Spaniard or descendant who knows the history of this shipment, Trejo said, while Junco adds that an attempt must be made to "get to the individuals behind the objects."

Junco said that there is no certainty that the objects found at the bottom of the lake are part of the purported treasure - this is just one line of investigation, because there is another theory that a group of thieves came to the lake to get rid of part of their haul.

The research could take years, since according to Junco, "it has to be done as seriously as possible."

"This is one of those great mysteries that perhaps will never be solved. Maybe someone left a statement that tells all. The goal is to find somebody who owned one of these watches, to reconstruct the journey of those objects that somehow came to Mexico, some of which were dumped in the lagoon of a volcano. It's a story that seems taken from a detective novel," Junco said.

A dispute over Pirate Treasure, Arrrrrrg!

2011-01-11T09:45:00.002-06:00

This story comes from our good buddy Homer who is always on the look out for treasure.

The story was originally posted on the web December 24, 2010 but as usual, I'm a little behind.

A FAMILY staking its claim on land in San Salvador where it is believed billions of dollars worth of pirate treasure is buried secured a consent order in court yesterday that will bring excavation efforts on the disputed property to a temporary halt.

Dennis Bethell and his family are contending that the land being excavated at Fortune Hill, San Salvador belonged to their ancestor Nimrod Newton by way of a Crown grant dated August 8, 1876.

The Newton tract encompasses 47 acres on Fortune Hill and includes an area of the 23 acres owned by Dorothy Black-Beal who has reportedly started excavation on the disputed tract of land.

Mr Bethell contends that Mrs Beal's property was erroneously mapped over a portion of his land to encompass the cave in which the treasure is believed to be buried.

Rumours of treasure buried on the land have been circulating in San Salvador for years.

Mrs Black's attorneys agreed during a closed court hearing before Justice Bernard Turner to a consent order to stop excavation on the land for 14 days as the claim by Mr Bethell and his family is investigated.

Mr Bethell said that he had initially come to court to seek an injunction to have the excavation works stopped and viewed yesterday's outcome as somewhat of a compromise.

"I am quite certain that when they do what they have to do they will realise that they were wrong," Mr Bethell told The Tribune.

100 once gold nugget found

2011-01-08T08:27:00.001-06:00

This story was posted on a treasure forum I belong to so I am stealing it from there.

It comes from the web and was originally posted by a California newspaper.

By Carlos Alcala

Published: Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 - 12:00 am
Page 1A Last Modified: Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011 - 4:56 am

Imagine a gold nugget the size of a small fruitcake.

Fred Holabird, a mining geologist, doesn't have to imagine, because a gold prospector brought one into his Reno office in 2010.

Holabird remembers shouting, "Oh, my God!" or something similar, but unprintable in a family newspaper.

"I made some exclamation that was very, very loud," Holabird said Tuesday.

Holabird will auction what is now dubbed the Washington Nugget in March.

The stunning piece of gold was literally turned up from the ground near the town of Washington in Nevada County. It weighs nearly 100 ounces.

Current prices would make that gold worth about $135,000, but Holabird believes that the intact nugget is the biggest California nugget in existence and could be worth as much as $400,000.

That's a fruitcake that won't be regifted.

To understand how it was found requires a little background.

The gold in this lunker – as large nuggets are known – was formed in the same way as the little flakes that panners find. Gold was created as part of the underground processes that created the Sierra, and gradually was eroded out and washed downstream.

The Washington Nugget was part of an ancient riverbed with rocks that eventually cemented together, including the bones of prehistoric rhino- and hippo-like mammals, Holabird said.

Hydraulic miners took all the gold they could out of those deposits 150 years ago.

"This ended up being a little piece that got missed," said Holabird. "This was a chance thing."

Early last year, after storms eroded tailings off the cemented conglomerate, a property owner – his name is not being revealed – went out exploring.

"They got a huge reading on the metal detector," Holabird said.

It took heavy equipment to knock the nugget out of the ancient bed.

The nugget's discovery has been known in prospecting circles, but it hasn't produced any rush akin to that of the 1850s.

"It's like winning the lottery," said James Hutchings, president of the local chapter of Gold Prospectors' Association of America. "They (prospectors) realize they're probably not going to get the big one."

The rise in gold prices has prompted a few people to go out and try to find the bits of gold that are still out there.

"They don't realize looking for gold is hard work," said John Clinkenbeard, California's program manager for mineral resources.

The mining companies that do that hard work aren't going to spend huge amounts on the slight odds that they might find such a lunker.

"It truly is not one in a million," Holabird said. "It's one in a billion."

The Washington Nugget's finder brought the lunker to Holabird for his assessment. He researched the nugget's origin and that of others like it.

"I tried to find out if any of the big ones still existed, and they don't," he said.

It's not that this one, at just over 6 pounds, is any kind of record. Nuggets with far greater weights – as much as 25 pounds – have been reported, though most are gold quartz rocks, not true nuggets, which have eroded out.

Nuggets bigger than 100 ounces exist from other countries, too, such as Australia.

However, any true nugget that big from California has been melted down to bullion or coins, Holabird believes.

Holabird considers it his job to preserve Western mining history.

To that end, he once helped the Sacramento Public Library's archives acquire a handwritten letter from John A. Sutter, owner of the land where gold discovery set off the big rush.

"Fred, when we talked, he said, 'I'd really rather have this go to an archive library,' " recalled Clare Ellis, then the librarian in the Sacramento Room.

Holabird gave the library enough time to raise the $7,500 to buy the rare document. And, shrewd businessman that he was, he sent it to Ellis to hold until the money was raised.

"Once I had it in my hot little hands, I had to have it," she said.

Anyone desiring to have the Washington Nugget in their hot little hands will have to wait until March 15, when it's auctioned. The auction site, when determined, will be announced on Holabird's website, holabirdamericana.com.

It is on display at a Florida coin show this week, and in Long Beach in February, Holabird said. If he can find a suitable place in Sacramento before March, he will display it here, as well.

Thinking out loud on Dan Cooper

2011-01-06T18:18:00.001-06:00

Dan Cooper or "D.B. Cooper" as he is better known has been an enigma since the hijacking of the Northwest Airline jet in 1971.

I will be the first to tell you that I know less than I should about this mystery and for this article I am truly just thinking out loud. With that said, what if Dan Cooper never really left the plane when he was supposed to have jumped out? No one was in the back of the plane when this was supposed to have occurred. The man known as Dan Cooper did have a lot of knowledge about the plane and flying and apparently a few different airports including a military base not far from where the jet landed to refuel.

Is it possible Cooper knew enough about the jet (maybe an airline employee) that he could have stowed away in a space that the F.B.I. wouldn't have looked in? Is it possible the F.B.I. didn't really search the plane all that much because they assumed he jumped? This latter scenario seems extremely possible to me based on the art of misdirection and the possibility of it turning into a cluster ---- once the plane landed.

Maybe the man known as Dan Cooper never left the plane until after it had landed and after the F.B.I. finished collecting their evidence. We know from experience that investigative techniques and the collection of evidence changes over time as criminals get smarter and/or more daring.

To this date I think there is only one individual that has been named that could even be considered a possible suspect and that is a man named Kenneth Christiansen. You will here more about him tonight on Brad Meltzer's Decoded but based on what I have read, he is the only one that seems to have the right kind of background and who, from interviews of friends, had some pretty suspicious activities going on before and after the hijacking. I am told there was a man here in Oklahoma that could have been Cooper but that's another story for someone else to write. :~)

If this story interests you I would suggest doing a little more research into Mr. Christiansen. There was a book written about him and his possible connection to the hijacking which is bound to have more information than you will get from a one hour show on the History Channel.

Besides solving a mystery, there is still a little less than 200 grand that has never been accounted for. Could someone have spent the money without the F.B.I. ever knowing it?

The history of D.B. Cooper

2011-01-05T16:26:00.002-06:00

There has been a lot said over the years about who D.B. Cooper was and if he survived the jump from the plane with the cash in hand. The F.B.I. has updated their own theories and have even found some new evidence but as of this date, they still don’t have a real suspect or any clue as to what happened to the money.

As almost everyone knows, a small portion of the cash was found several years after the hijacking and parachute jump but since then nothing else has turned up. There have been a couple of men come forward in the past claiming to have been D.B. Cooper but they have been ruled out by the F.B.I. The new evidence the F.B.I. has been working with is DNA. They were able to remove some from the tie D.B. Cooper was wearing at the time and left behind on the plane before he jumped.

The F.B.I.’s current theory is that D.B. Cooper was not an experienced jumper and never survived the jump from the plane. I personally am not so sure about that. It would be my opinion that if his chute opened and he didn’t survive the jump then they would have found him and/or the chute long ago. The only viable explanation if he didn’t survive the jump is that his chute did not open and he drilled himself into the ground. If this is the case then the spot where he “landed” would be very difficult to find. I would also think that if this was the case the paper money that was in the cloth duffel bag would have decayed and faded away over the last 30 years. There still might be a few remnants of the cash since it was bundled but for the most part, there would be no money to be found.

Does that mean it’s not worth finding? Absolutely not! Finding D.B. Cooper would be an amazing feat, all be it one that would get your name and face plastered all over the news.

The F.B.I. has given their own synopsis over the years, twice actually. I have reprinted the two F.B.I. articles here for our readers along with posting two of the photos available from the F.B.I.

Article number 1:

On the afternoon of November 24—35 years ago Friday—a non-descript man calling himself Dan Cooper approached the counter of Northwest Orient Airlines in Portland, Oregon. He used cash to buy a one-way ticket on Flight #305, bound for Seattle, Washington. Thus began one of the great unsolved mysteries in FBI history.

Cooper was a quiet man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, wearing a business suit with a black tie and white shirt. He ordered a drink—bourbon and soda—while the flight was waiting to take off. A short time after 3:00 p.m., he handed the stewardess a note indicating that he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him.

The stunned stewardess did as she was told. Opening a cheap attaché case, Cooper showed her a glimpse of a mass of wires and red colored sticks and demanded that she write down what he told her. Soon, she was walking a new note to the captain of the plane that demanded four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty dollar bills.

When the flight landed in Seattle, the hijacker exchanged the flight’s 36 passengers for the money and parachutes. Cooper kept several crewmembers, and the plane took off again, ordered to set a course for Mexico City.

Somewhere between Seattle and Reno, a little after 8:00 p.m., the hijacker did the incredible: he jumped out of the back of the plane with a parachute and the ransom money. The pilots landed safely, but Cooper had disappeared into the night and his ultimate fate remains a mystery to this day.

The FBI learned of the crime in flight and immediately opened an extensive investigation that lasted many years. Calling it NORJAK, for Northwest hijacking, we interviewed hundreds of people, tracked leads across the nation, and scoured the aircraft for evidence. By the five-year anniversary of the hijacking, we’d considered more than 800 suspects and eliminated all but two dozen from consideration.

One person left on our list, Richard Floyd McCoy is still a favorite suspect among many. We tracked down and arrested McCoy for a similar airplane hijacking and escape by parachute less than five months after Cooper’s flight. But McCoy was later ruled out because he didn’t match the nearly identical physical descriptions of Cooper provided by two flight attendants and for other reasons.

Or perhaps Cooper didn’t survive his jump from the plane. After all, the parachute he used couldn’t be steered, his clothing and footwear were unsuitable for a rough landing, and he had jumped into a wooded area at night, a dangerous proposition for a seasoned pro—which evidence suggests Cooper was not. This theory was given an added boost in 1980 when a young boy found a rotting package full of $20 bills ($5,800 in all) that matched the ransom money serial numbers.

Where did “D.B.” come from? It was apparently a myth created by the press. We did question a man with the initials “D. B.” but he wasn’t the hijacker.

The daring hijack and disappearance remain an intriguing mystery—for law enforcement and amateur sleuths alike. To read more about the NORJAK investigation, see the files on our Freedom of Information Act website. Fair warning: you might get hooked on the case!

Article number 2:

On a cold November night 36 years ago, in the driving wind and rain, somewhere between southern Washington state and just north of Portland, Oregon, a man calling himself Dan Cooper parachuted out of a plane he’d just hijacked clutching a bag filled with $200,000 in stolen cash.

Who was Cooper? Did he survive the jump? And what happened to the loot, only a small part of which has ever surfaced?

It’s a mystery, frankly. We’ve run down thousands of leads and considered all sorts of scenarios. And amateur sleuths have put forward plenty of their own theories. Yet the case remains unsolved.

Would we still like to get our man? Absolutely. And we have reignited the case—thanks to a Seattle case agent named Larry Carr and new technologies like DNA testing.

You can help. We’re providing here, for the first time, a series of pictures and information on the case. Please look it all over carefully to see if it triggers a memory or if you can provide any useful information.

A few things to keep in mind, according to Special Agent Carr:

Cooper was no expert skydiver. “We originally thought Cooper was an experienced jumper, perhaps even a paratrooper,” says Special Agent Carr. “We concluded after a few years this was simply not true. No experienced parachutist would have jumped in the pitch-black night, in the rain, with a 200-mile-an-hour wind in his face, wearing loafers and a trench coat. It was simply too risky. He also missed that his reserve chute was only for training and had been sewn shut—something a skilled skydiver would have checked.”

The hijacker had no help on the ground, either. To have utilized an accomplice, Cooper would’ve needed to coordinate closely with the flight crew so he could jump at just the right moment and hit the right drop zone. But Cooper simply said, "Fly to Mexico," and he had no idea where he was when he jumped. There was also no visibility of the ground due to cloud cover at 5,000 feet.

We have a solid physical description of Cooper. “The two flight attendants who spent the most time with him on the plane were interviewed separately the same night in separate cities and gave nearly identical descriptions,” says Carr. “They both said he was about 5'10" to 6', 170 to 180 pounds, in his mid-40s, with brown eyes. People on the ground who came into contact with him also gave very similar descriptions.”
And what of some of the names pegged as Cooper? None have panned out. Duane Weber, who claimed to be Cooper on his deathbed, was ruled out by DNA testing (we lifted a DNA sample from Cooper’s tie in 2001). Kenneth Christiansen, named in a recent magazine article, didn’t match the physical description and was a skilled paratrooper. Richard McCoy, who died in 1974, also didn’t match the description and was at home the day after the hijacking having Thanksgiving dinner with his family in Utah, an unlikely scenario unless he had help.

As many agents before him, Carr thinks it highly unlikely that Cooper survived the jump. “Diving into the wilderness without a plan, without the right equipment, in such terrible conditions, he probably never even got his chute open.”

Still, we’d all like to know for sure, and Carr thinks you can help.

“Maybe a hydrologist can use the latest technology to trace the $5,800 in ransom money found in 1980 to where Cooper landed upstream. Or maybe someone just remembers that odd uncle.”

If you have any information: please e-mail our Seattle field office at fbise@leo.gov.

Oklahoma Sunset

2011-01-03T23:09:00.000-06:00

Not all Oklahoma treasures are gold or silver. Our state has some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.

Clues to a Spanish Mine

2011-01-03T08:44:00.001-06:00

I was going through my files the other day and came across several things I have been holding on to in the hopes I might have the chance to work them myself. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I have so much stuff that I want to work myself that I will never have time to get it all done.

This description is said to have come from "an old Spanish document" and the story was originally published in 1950. This is the description and directions to a large Spanish mine. Pay close attention to the description of how deep the tunnels are.

“Follow straight ahead through the pass of Los Janos to the south about three leagues from the Guadalupe mine, which is one league from the big gate of the Tumacacori mission to the south, to another gateway or pass called The Gateway to Agua Hondo (Deep Water). To the south from this pass runs a creek that empties onto the desert near the old town of Santa Cruz.

The mine is to the east of the pass. Below the pass on the bank of the creek there are twelve arrastres and twelve patios. At the mine there is a tunnel 300 varas (835 feet) long that runs to the north. About 200 varas from the portal of this tunnel a crosscut is yellow and is one half-silver and one-fifth gold. Fifty varas from the mouth of the mine in a southerly direction will be found planchas de plata (slabs or balls of silver) weighing from 25 to 250 pounds each. In the rock above the tunnel is the name La Purisima Concepcion, cut with a chisel. The mouth of the tunnel is covered by a copper door and fastened with a large iron lock”

Hmmm, a copper door fastened with a large lock, this sounds familiar doesn't it?

A different kind of treasure

2011-01-02T12:08:00.001-06:00

This one comes from another one of our readers, Thank you Rob!

I'm a little late in getting it on the blog and the story is a few weeks old. They may have to design a detector that will only find clay!

Bellagio casino in Las Vegas robbed of $1.5m in chips

An armed man stole at least 1.5 million dollars in casino chips from a craps table at the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas before escaping on a motorcycle, police have said.

The suspect entered the casino at 0350 local time wearing a motorcycle helmet and walked directly to the table.

The man may have robbed the Las Vegas Suncoast Casino last week, police said.

Strict controls over Las Vegas casinos may make it difficult to cash in the chips anywhere other than the Bellagio.

Chips are generally unique to specific casinos and are typically not interchangeable.

"Casino chips are not like cash - at some point they must be redeemed," MGM spokeswoman Yvette Monet told Reuters news agency.

MGM Resorts, which owns the Bellagio, captured video footage of the suspect.

Police said that if the same culprit was responsible for the Las Vegas Suncoast Casino robbery, he may have netted less than $20,000 in chips during that heist.

The incident at the Bellagio was the 10th casino robbery in Las Vegas this year.

The Dodge

2010-12-31T10:17:00.002-06:00

Man, I’ll say! I doubt that Bob Brewer realized he would be coining the one phrase that aptly describes the show he was on. I also can’t believe that once again, I and others that are looking for the truth got hosed by the History Channel!

What is it with these guys (and gals) at the History Channel? When it comes to treasure hunting, especially something that allegedly involves the Knights of the Golden Circle, they seem to put the blinders on and ignore all the common sense in the world. Maybe it really is a conspiracy!!
I know, I can hear all of the big believers in the KGC mega bucks treasures now, “you’re just a sore loser”, “Brewer just proved on national television that he can read KGC treasure signs”, on a show I promoted even. Yea, yea, yea. Now, lets get back to reality can we?

I promised a friend of mine that when writing my review of the show that I would be kind. I intend to keep that promise but I am not going to ignore the obvious like the TV show did.

My observations won’t please some, will amuse others and hopefully, just hopefully will get many others to think and research before heading off to find the alleged KGC treasures.

First off, the show took a big leap of faith saying that Mr. Brewer was following “KGC treasure signs”. What signs are those? I wasn’t aware the KGC published a book saying “these are our signs”. Secondly, nobody even asked the question about the rest of the KGC treasures Mr. Brewer said existed “all over the United States” nor did they question the ability of the KGC to even do such a thing.

OK, lets get down to brass tacks here. A gazebo?? Come on, really? The KGC used a gazebo in a cemetery as a clue to hidden millions? The first question that comes to mind is; just when was that gazebo built? Was it there in the 1860’s so the KGC could use it as a clue? The second question is; a gazebo? Really??

And let’s not forget the infamous template. Lay that baby down on top of the cemetery map and presto, you have a KGC treasure layout. All be it one that spans EIGHTEEN MILES! Then there is the “dodge” as pointed out by Mr. Brewer, clues that aren’t clues but actually are clues because you find them with the template but then they don’t mean anything because they are trying to trick you into quitting so that you don’t search the whole 18 miles and find all of their clues that don’t really take you anywhere. Did I get that right?

About those Holly trees, according the Journal of Forest Research the average life of a Holly tree is 100 years and the maximum life of a Holly tree is 150 years. This means that the trees with the alleged carvings on them, and I say alleged because I’m not so sure about that “ghost” or even the dots for that matter, were, at the most, just twigs in the ground at the time the Confederate treasury went missing. This is being really generous since both of the trees shown would have to have lived the maximum life of the species. How do you carve an H or a ghost or an 8 or even the dots on a twig smaller than the circumference of your little finger?

Don’t even get me started with the “ghost” carving. I’m not sure that was a carving and if it was, you’re looking for a grave? In a cemetery? Imagine that!
I can’t really fault Mr. Brewer too much for this stuff. He truly believes in what he is doing and saying. You have to give him and Mr. London credit for sticking to their guns. But what happened to Brad Meltzer’s people? They just kind of rolled over and let this stuff pass right by without saying a word. What happened to investigating history and it’s conspiracies?
Maybe Brewer is a KGC sentinel, maybe he’s the head KGC guy and is out there spreading misinformation as much as possible and is using his vast conspiratorial connections to apply pressure to the History Channel to forgo any semblance of logic, knowledge or investigative skills.

What a disappointment. Am I a sore loser? I guess in a way I am. I thought this show had a pretty good reputation of asking questions, even some tough questions but they just let this one go by and didn’t even try. Maybe I’m not so much a sore loser as I am a sucker for thinking the History Channel had changed.
As for the Confederate treasury, I think at least part of it is still out there to be found. I especially think the silver is hidden somewhere simply because of the weight factor. It was too much to carry and the silver was worth the least amount at the time so it makes sense that they would hide it to retrieve later. I’m sure part of the gold is still hidden somewhere just waiting to be found but I also think the majority of it is long gone, scattered to the winds by people who had access to it before it had a chance to be a buried treasure.

History Show & Rebel Gold

2010-12-30T22:25:00.000-06:00

To say that I'm more than a little disappointed in the History Channel show would be an understatement. I'll leave it to Ron to post a full article about it though. For those who do buy into what the show has to say Mr. Brewer has given you plenty of clues to start working it. First request your own copy of the cemetery map. Freeze frame the portion of the show where he had his template layed out on it. Use this to make your own exact copy of the template, holes and all. It's easy to do with all the reference points the template laying on the map will give you. Use the gazebo as the center of the layout. You might want to get some old topo maps from at least an 18 mile area around the cemetery. Start matching up the template points. Bob said 99.8% of the points won't have any money though.

Rebel Gold and the Danville Cemetery

2010-12-29T11:22:00.004-06:00

Here's a little background for the upcoming History Channel show. As the Confederate Capitol in Richmond Virginia was about to fall into Union hands CSA President Jefferson Davis decided to evacuate the city and move south to Danville, Va. A train was made ready for the President and the remaining Confederate funds estimated to be $500,000 in 1865. Loaded in a separate rail car were the funds from six Virginia banks.

Lt. William Parker along with cadets from the Confederate Naval Academy guarded the treasure and took it as far south as Washington, ga. For whatever reason they turned back and on May 2, 1865 near Abbeville, S.C. they met up with Jefferson Davis. Lt Parker turned over the rebel gold, but kept out $1500 to pay his men.

It is from this point on that the many theories on what happened to the treasure kick in. Eight days after Lt. Parker turned over the funds, Jefferson Davis was captured near Irwinville, Ga. The treasury funds were not in his possession.

Theories include the money being buried in one of two cemeteries in Danville, hidden under the Stanford College main building, or being spirited away to Europe to pay some of the war debt the Confederate States had accumulated.

For a few years I have been reading threads on treasure forums about this topic. One person in particular has talked about locating this treasure but was repeatedly denied permission to search the cemetery in Danville by city officials.

If the decoded show ends up like the rest of them I watched so far, we'll have to wait for some future event to find out if anything is really in the cemetery. Expect some mention of the KGC and more than a few wild claims.

In an upcoming post I'll tell you about another Confederate treasure that was lost during the war. This one won't be making it on the tv, but was estimated to be worth $350,000 at the time.

The Confederate Treasury, Rebel Gold and the History Channel

2010-12-27T09:17:00.000-06:00

This is another heads up for our readers. Once again the History Channel is tackling the big question, did the Confederates have any money left over at the end of the war and if so, what happened to it? Did it become part of a mega-money KGC vault? (It really is hard to say that with a straight face you know.) Did the Confederate forces hide it themselves? Was it paid out to the people the South owed at the time? Did the Union forces steal it and hide it or did it even ever exist?

This Thursday at 9:00 p.m. central time you may at least get some of the answers. Brad Meltzer's Decoded is going to take on the investigation of this myth/conspiracy/rumor/possibility to see what they can find.

I hate to keep giving the History Channel free advertisement but this show has captured my attention. Maybe they are trying to make up for that debacle of a treasure show they aired about Jesse James and the KGC.

The team of people on "Decoded" investigate the conspiracy theories of our history and they do so in a logical and straight forward manner. They don't always have a complete answer by the end of the show but they do seem to ask the right questions and come to a logical conclusion.

Confederate Secret Message Decoded

2010-12-26T13:41:00.002-06:00

Here's an interesting story of a secret Confederate message in a bottle being found and decoded nearly a century and a half after being written. We have to thank our friend Roy for this one.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101225:/ap_on_re_us/us_message_in_a_bottle

A Nice Video of Spanish Markers in the Caballo Mountains

2010-12-25T17:31:00.001-06:00

Posted on youtube by James Fariello.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY43ZyjRS_E

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T09:29:00.000-06:00

We would like to wish all of our readers and your families a Merry Christmas!

More on the John Wilkes Booth Conspiracy

2010-12-23T10:51:00.001-06:00

Our source on this ongoing story has sent us a link to the story printed in the Philadelphia paper. I have copied the story from the web and have posted it below for our readers.

Booth descendants agree to brother's body ID tests

By Edward Colimore

Inquirer Staff Writer

In life, Edwin and John Wilkes Booth were brothers, ambitious actors, and bitter rivals. They ruthlessly competed for the limelight on stages in Philadelphia and across the nation.

Edwin became one of America's greatest Shakespearean actors, while John Wilkes achieved infamy in another role - as the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, at Ford's Theater in Washington.

Now, for the first time, Booth descendants have agreed to exhume Edwin's body, adding drama to the family's story and delighting historians who have speculated that John Wilkes escaped capture 145 years ago.

By using DNA comparisons, relatives from the Philadelphia area, New Jersey, and Rhode Island hope to learn in the coming months whether the lore of John Wilkes Booth's flight is true.

Is Lincoln's assassin in an unmarked grave at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, as history records? Or did he elude justice, as descendants have been told for generations, to live 38 more years?

"I'm absolutely in favor of exhuming Edwin," said Joanne Hulme, 60, a resident of the Kensington section of the city who is the historian in the Booth family. "Let's have the truth and put this thing to rest."

"It's better to know," said her sister Suzanne Flaherty, 64, of Bordentown.

The sisters, with a third sibling, Virginia Kline of Warminster, have wondered about Booth stories that don't match accepted history, as did their late mother.

"John Wilkes Booth is probably loving this," added Lois Trebisacci, 60, of Westerly, R.I., whose grandfather was Edwin Booth's grandson. "Just being an actor, I'm sure he loves the controversy."

A matinee idol

At 9 p.m. April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth, son of theatrical parents, walked into Taltavull's Star Saloon next to Ford's Theatre and asked for a bottle of whiskey and some water.

"You'll never be the actor your father was," a customer reportedly told him.

"When I leave the stage, I will be the most famous man in America," Booth fired back, according to accounts.

An hour and a half later, the dark-haired actor - a matinee idol of his time - shot Lincoln in the State Box at Ford's and dropped about 11 feet to the stage, breaking his left leg.

History says Booth was cornered 12 days later by detectives and Union soldiers in a tobacco barn at the Garrett farm in Port Royal, Va. Shortly after 2 a.m. on a cool and cloudy Wednesday, he was mortally wounded in the neck.

Or was he?

Efforts by descendants to open the Baltimore grave believed to be John Wilkes Booth's were thwarted in 1995 by a judge who concluded its location could not be conclusively determined. The remains were supposed to be in the family plot, but reports placed it at an undisclosed location.

The family had hoped to use the skull and photographic techniques, along with other identifying scars, to make an identification.

Their best option now is to compare DNA from Edwin Booth, buried in Cambridge, Mass., with a specimen from the man shot at the barn, who experts agree is buried in Baltimore. Three cervical vertebrae from that body are in the collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington.

Philadelphia's Mutter Museum has cervical tissue from the man, but the DNA was degraded by formaldehyde and alcohol.

The Booth escape "is a story that never seems to die," said Jan Herman, chief historian for the Navy Medical Department and special assistant to the Navy surgeon general in Washington.

"I have always been disturbed by the opposition from recognized Civil War historians" to uncover the truth, he said. "We have the means, and it's certainly worth solving an age-old mystery. Why wouldn't you want to do that?"

The questions over Booth's possible escape also have attracted the scrutiny of the History channel program Brad Meltzer's Decoded, which will air a one-hour segment at 10 p.m. Thursday that explores the evidence.

"There are certain incidents in history that raise enough questions that they're worth looking at," said David McKillop, senior vice president of development and programming for History. Booth's possible escape "is a mystery."

Probably no one wants to get to the bottom of it more than Nate Orlowek, a Maryland educator and historian who since age 15 has doggedly pursued Booth through the yellowing pages of books and period documents.

"If the man who killed our greatest president got away and a giant hoax was perpetrated on the American people, then we should know about it," he said.

Orlowek, 53, has trailed Booth through the reports of witnesses who claimed another man was shot at the farm: James William Boyd or John William Boyd, who bore a striking resemblance to the assassin and by some accounts was sought for the murder of a Union captain.

He's followed the trail of carnivals that exhibited the mummified body of a man the barkers claimed was John Wilkes Booth. And he's sought clues from descendants and interviewed forensic pathologists, authors, and lawyers.

His conclusion? Booth escaped 145 years ago to live in Granbury, Texas, as John St. Helen, then changed his name to David E. George and moved to what is now Enid, Okla. He worked there as an itinerant painter before poisoning himself.

George's mummified remains were allegedly last seen at a carnival in New Hope in 1976.

"Society exists based on the knowledge of itself and the truth of its history," Orlowek said. "We believe in getting the truth no matter what it is. . . .

"If we are proven right," he said, "history will be set on its ear. This will teach us that just because something was blindly accepted in the past, that it is not necessarily true."

DNA controversy

The Booth conundrum comes down to the DNA, say family members.

Once a sample is retrieved from Edwin Booth's body, the next obstacle would be obtaining a viable sample from a bone specimen believed to be John Wilkes Booth's, preserved in Lucite, at the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

A panel judges such requests, based on their merits and social, legal, and ethical implications, officials said.

"We do not approve destructive testing on nonrenewable historical artifacts," said Timothy Clarke Jr., a spokesman for the museum.

Possible harm to the artifact must be weighed against the benefits of the testing, said Sharon A. Smith, president of the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia.

"It's a question of preserving the physical evidence of history and not putting it at risk," said Smith, who believes the accepted version of what happened at the Garrett farm.

"If the preponderance of evidence is that this is a myth, then should we be investing scarce historic resources?"

Historians such as Herman, though, say the test "wouldn't destroy the sample." A tiny drill could extract what's needed.

"If it compares favorably, that's the end of the controversy," Herman said. "That was Booth in the barn, end of case.

"If it doesn't match, you change American history," he said. "Booth would have a fine time making headlines in the newspapers again. Someone else was shot" at the Garrett farm in that case, he said.

Booth descendants "always refer to that man as the 'body in the barn,' never John Wilkes Booth," Hulme added. "If historians are so convinced they're right, let them prove it."

Joseph Hunter / J. Frank Dalton info wanted

2010-12-22T23:55:00.001-06:00

The more I research Joe Hunter and J. Frank Dalton the more I realize that there is still information about these men out there waiting to be recovered. On a number of occasions I have heard of people having information only to find that they have sold it or gave it away.

I thought I would use the networking power of the blog to find any information that still may be out there. I'm working on a couple of leads at the moment, but I'm always willing to chase down new ones.

Odyssey Marine Exploration Comments on WikiLeaks Information

2010-12-22T08:59:00.001-06:00

Thanks to our buddy Homer for getting this upadated information to me so I can post it for our readers.

Once again, I would like to say this really annoys the crap out of me. This clearly shows that the U.S. government worked directly against a U.S. company and even went so far as to re-interpret a law just to screw over Odyssey Marine Exploration.

TAMPA, Fla., Dec 21, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) --

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq: OMEX
PowerRating) a pioneer in the field of deep ocean exploration, was named in several U.S. State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks and furnished to the media worldwide. Some of the released cables suggest that the State Department offered special assistance in the "Black Swan" case to Spanish officials in exchange for assistance in acquiring a French painting confiscated by the Nazis during World War II and now controlled by Spain. The cables indicate that the U.S. Government also provided confidential documentation on Odyssey to Spain. Other State Department cables contradict Spain's claims and support Odyssey's previously stated version of events relating to the company's activities in Spain, including the HMS Sussex project and the boarding of Odyssey's vessels.

"While we are obviously concerned about these implications regarding the "Black Swan" case, we are attempting to obtain additional information before taking any specific actions. I have personally sent a letter to the Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, requesting additional information and a review of the position taken by the U.S. in the 'Black Swan' legal case," stated Greg Stemm, Odyssey CEO. "The possibility that someone in the U.S. Government came up with this perfidious offer to sacrifice Odyssey, its thousands of shareholders, and the many jobs created by the company in exchange for the return of one painting to one individual is hard to believe. The WikiLeaks cables clearly show that we have worked cooperatively and transparently with both Spain and the State Department for many years, in spite of claims to the contrary. That fact makes the revelations all the more disappointing. The cables also make us wonder what other agreements may have taken place between U.S. Government officials and Spain regarding the amicus brief filed in support of Spain's position in the 'Black Swan' case."

"We've wondered why the United States changed its long standing position on sovereign immunity, which prior to this case was consistent with U.S. law, international law and U.S. naval regulations that in order for a foreign country's ships and cargo to be immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts they must be engaged in military, non-commercial activities," stated Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey Vice President and General Counsel. "These released cables do call into question the motivation behind the amicus brief filed by the Executive Branch supporting Spain in the 'Black Swan' case."

Additional cables released support Odyssey's statements that, contrary to allegations of certain Spanish officials, the company always cooperated with the Spanish Government and that permits from the Spanish government were granted for work on the HMS Sussex project. The cables also demonstrate the obstructionist activities carried out by certain Spanish officials who had personal reasons for trying to prevent Odyssey from working on the Sussex. These obstructions took place even though Odyssey has an exclusive contract for the archaeological excavation of this UK sovereign immune warship (which was on a strictly military mission when it sank in 1694 off the coast of Gibraltar). Odyssey filed an affidavit in 2007 with a chronology of Odyssey's interactions with the Spanish Government since 1998. It can be accessed at http://shipwreck.net/pdf/ExhibitE.pdf. The document contains entries that are corroborated by information in the State Department cables, which directly contradict claims by some Spanish officials and the Spanish media.

About the "Black Swan"

In May 2007, Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan," a Colonial-period site located in the Atlantic Ocean which yielded over 500,000 silver coins weighing more than 17 tons, hundreds of gold coins, worked gold, and other artifacts. Odyssey completed an extensive pre-disturbance survey of the "Black Swan" site, which included recording over 14,000 digital still images used to create a photomosaic of the site.

The coins and artifacts were brought into the United States with a valid export license and imported legally pursuant to U.S. law. Odyssey brought the artifacts under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court by filing an Admiralty arrest action. This procedure allows any legitimate claimant with an interest in the property to make a claim.

The Kingdom of Spain filed a claim to the treasure alleging that the coins originated from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a Spanish naval vessel which sunk in 1804. Spain claimed that it owned all of the coins and that the treasure was immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Although it has not been conclusively proven the recovered cargo came from the Mercedes, Odyssey presented clear evidence to the trial court (including the ship's manifest) that shows the primary purpose of the Mercedes' last voyage was commercial in nature and the vast majority of coins on board were owned by private merchants, not by Spain. The United States filed an amicus brief in the case changing its previous position and supporting Spain in the "Black Swan" case by setting forth a re-interpretation of the language in the Sunken Military Craft Act (SMCA) to allow government owned vessels on commercial missions to enjoy sovereign immunity.

A number of individual private descendants (whose ancestors were transporting goods on the Mercedes) as well as the country of Peru have filed claims in the case.

Without conducting a hearing, the district court sided with Spain and ruled that the treasure should all be turned over to Spain. The case is currently on appeal at the Eleventh Circuit.

For more information on the "Black Swan," visit www.shipwreck.net/blackswan.php.

Odyssey's significant legal filings in the Black Swan case can be viewed at http://www.shipwreck.net/blackswanlegal.php.

About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX) is engaged in the exploration of deep-ocean shipwrecks and uses innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology to conduct extensive search and archaeological recovery operations around the world. Odyssey discovered the Civil War era shipwreck of the SS Republic(R) in 2003 and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site nearly 1,700 feet deep. In May 2007, Odyssey announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial era site code-named "Black Swan." In February 2009, Odyssey announced the discovery of Balchin's HMS Victory. Odyssey also has other shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.

Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to collectors, the general public and students through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, educational programs and virtual museum located at www.odysseysvirtualmuseum.com.

Odyssey's operations are the subject of a Discovery Channel television series titled "Treasure Quest," produced by JWM Productions. The 12-episode first season aired worldwide in 2009.

Following previous successful engagements in New Orleans, Tampa, Detroit, Oklahoma City and Charlotte, Odyssey's SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure exhibit is currently on display at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore. Additional information is available at http://www.mdsci.org/.

For details on Odyssey's activities and its commitment to the preservation of maritime heritage please visit www.shipwreck.net.

The Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=7185

Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com

SOURCE: Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.

CONTACT: Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.

Liz Shows
(813) 876-1776 x 2335

lshows@shipwreck.net

Conspiracy Theories Update

2010-12-21T08:19:00.000-06:00

For those of you interested in the John Wilkes Booth story we have been given a heads up that a news story will be breaking this week with information about the research and findings concerning this conspiracy. Our source says the Philadelphia paper will run the story on Wednesday and it will be picked up by the AP and should go national on Thursday, maybe Friday by the latest. The story will be about the research conducted and what was found by "one of the leading experts" that will be on the History Channel show this Thursday.

We'd like to thank our source for the heads up, we are always looking for good information to supply our readers.

Sunken Ships in Oklahoma?

2010-12-20T18:24:00.003-06:00

So who says that you have to be near the coast to find a ship sunken by cannon fire? Well thanks to my partner in crime "Lefty", I came across this story of a sunken ship right here in our own wonderful state of Oklahoma. Now to weave this tale we have to start somewhere and that somewhere is on the banks of the Arkansas river June 15, 1864.
The Union stern wheel steamer "J.R Williams", along with a guard of 25 men from the 12th Kansas Calvary Regiment and its crew, traveled the waters of the Arkansas river from Ft. Smith to Ft. Gibson in the Cherokee nation.
Little did they know that on this ill-fated night that Col. Stand Watie's confederate Indian Brigade and a three-gun battery where waiting in ambush at Pheasant Bluff near the present day town of Tahmaha.
The confederate artillery sent shells into the night ripping holes into the upper works and smokes stacks. Having several of its members on board killed the Steamer became grounded on the opposite bank from the battery of artillery. During this time the confederate troops boarded the steamer and manage to capture a few more union soldiers as other union soldiers escaped into the woods. Now sitting on the south side of the Arkansas River the confederate's unloaded as much booty as they could carry and set the Steamer adrift down stream.
Now just so you know some of the cargo was 16,000`pounds of bacon, 150 barrels of flower, clothes, and other supplies needed to support a war effort. These things aren't high on a treasure hunters look list. How ever I think this would be a interesting site to find for the simple fact the site where the ambush took place could yield some great artifacts such as guns artillery rounds as well as if you could find anything of the steamer that might be left. There could even be some over looked loot or even some loot near by that was stashed by those who escaped.
I have to close this by saying that thanks to my old friend "Lefty" and the fact that we both are always searching for the next great clue to treasure, we both read a lot and I'm sure our wives blame us both for our ever growing library. With that, if this story interest you or you want to find a civil war shipwreck near you please find yourself a copy of "Encyclopedia of Civil War Shipwrecks" by W. Craig Gaines.

Conspiracy Theories

2010-12-20T08:57:00.000-06:00

About a week and a half a go we put up an article about John Wilkes Booth concerning his death or alleged life after death. And I say "alleged" because it lies in the realm of conspiracy with no actual proof that he, like so many others of his time, actually didn't die when history says they did.

One of our readers, thank you Rick, has let us know that the History Channel will be airing a show on this Thursday, 23 December, at 9:00 p.m. (I believe that is central time) that will be discussing Lincoln and his assassination and the death of John Wilkes Booth. The show's name is "Brad Meltzer's Decoded". I have seen this show a couple of times and it is a little interesting and worth watching. For the most part, the people involved seem to be intelligent and logical in their thinking which might not sit too well with the big conspiracy believers but it's worth a look at least once, just to see what you think.

Just in case you are wondering, my personal opinion is Booth died when history says he did but I'm going to watch the show too, just to see what they come up with.

Wikileaks has treasure hunting connection

2010-12-17T14:11:00.003-06:00

My apologies to our buddy Homer on this one. He sent this and several related stories to me a week or so ago but we have been so busy in the field on our treasure sites that I haven’t had time to get the information posted for our other readers.

Thanks to Homer and his time on the internet we now know that there are a few government conspiracy theories that are true. Before I give you the story I’m going to add my own two cents worth on this. You didn’t really think you would get away without me giving an opinion, did you?

As far as the pin-head wikileaks guy goes, I have mixed feelings. I don’t know exactly how or where he got his info from but if someone gave it to him and he simply posted it then it would be my opinion that he is covered by the First Amendment. With that said, anyone that has any responsible bone in their body would understand that a government has to have secrets to properly protect it’s citizens and certain things aren’t for the consumption of the general populace. I dislike secrets as much as the next guy but for the most part, I don’t necessarily need to know who we are spying on or how we are doing it.

In my opinion, because of some of the information this guy posted on his site, he is a moron and should be considered dangerous. What do we do with him? I don’t have a clue but as much as I hate to congratulate the guy, I almost have to for a portion of the information he did post.

It seems good ole Uncle Sam is screwing his citizens, specifically treasure hunters, once again and using the cloak of secrecy do it with. Our government was/is supplying a foreign government confidential information on a US company and it’s activities. All for the sole purpose of brokering a deal for a single painting.

I find this to be despicable, unconscionable and a criminal act. The individuals within our government that were/are involved with this should be fired and prosecuted, not to mentioned sued by the Odyssey Marine treasure hunting company for everything they have now and will have for the rest of their lives.

Just in case you can’t tell, this aggravates the crap out of me! As treasure hunters the government has been giving us the short end of the stick for years and now you can’t even trust your own government to back you in court against a foreign government. Not only will they not back you up, they intentionally screw you just for their own gratification.

OK, I have put my soap box away. Here is the story.

U.S. secretly helped Spain fight treasure hunter

Diplomat turned over documents to aid legal battle over gold and silver, cables show

TAMPA — Sunken treasure, WikiLeaks documents and a priceless French painting.

Suddenly, a great deal of international drama has touched down in Tampa and reads like a diplomatic thriller — with half a billion dollars in gold at stake.

For years, Tampa's Odyssey Marine treasure hunting company has been fighting with the Spanish government over a 17 tons of gold and silver coins that Odyssey discovered and brought up off the Atlantic Ocean floor.

Now, it turns out, Spain has been getting secret help since 2007 from an unlikely source: The U.S. government.

Among the thousands of documents released by WikiLeaks are several U.S. diplomatic cables describing how U.S. ambassadors were helping Spain in their cause — partly to help broker a deal to bring a famous painting in Spain to a U.S. citizen who claimed it was looted by the Nazis in World War II.

Specifically the U.S. offered to provide confidential customs documents prepared by Odyssey that Spain in turn planned to use in court to fight the company.

Odyssey officials are not pleased.

"The cables seem to indicate that someone in the U.S. State Department has literally offered to sacrifice Odyssey and its thousands of shareholders along with the many jobs created by the company in exchange for the return of one painting to one U.S. Citizen," the company said in a statement to the Tribune. "It is hard to believe that this really happened. It sounds like something out of a Hollywood script."

London's Guardian newspaper first reported the cables, as part of its ongoing digestion of thousands of documents released by WikiLeaks. The U.S. government has condemned the release and called for prosecution of WikiLeaks founders.

The Spanish were cool to the idea of returning the painting, the cables show, but were grateful after Department of Homeland Security staff in the U.S. embassy in Madrid handed the Spanish customs import documents that Odyssey had filed when bringing the treasure to Tampa.

"The information was confidential," the U.S. cable stated, "and to be used only for law enforcement purposes." The Spanish replied that they were "interested in obtaining the Odyssey customs information to provide to lawyers representing the [Government of Spain] in the Tampa Admiralty Court."

Odyssey found the treasure in May 2007 and has since argued that the treasure was on board a Spanish commercial vessel. The ship sank in international waters, possibly in 1804 while carrying commercial goods from Peru, Odyssey says, and was thus fair game for any salvage company that found it. Odyssey is now locked in a protracted legal battle with Spain, which claims the treasure was on a military mission at the time, and thus Spanish property forever.

A diplomatic cable a year later describes how the U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Eduardo Aguirre, suggested a deal.

He met with Spanish Minister of Culture Cesar Antonio Molina on June 30, 2008, who told the U.S. Ambassador that they should meet over the issue of a claim by an American citizen, Claude Cassirer, to recover a painting by Camille Pissarro. Cassirer claims the Nazis in 1939 forced his grandmother to sell them the painting and it passed through several hands before ending up in a Spanish museum.

"The [U.S.] ambassador noted also that while the Odyssey and Cassirer claim were on separate legal tracks," the cable states, "it was in both governments' interest to avail themselves of whatever margin for manouevre they had, consistent with their legal obligations, to resolve both matters in a way that favoured the bilateral relationship."

The Spanish official replied, the cable says, that there were many steps required before any movement on the painting, but that he had recently flown to Washington, in part, to meet with lawyers that Spain retained in the Odyssey case. He expressed "indignation" after a CNN interview where Odyssey CEO Greg Stemm aimed to keep the treasure and return only items of archeological value.

The treasure now sits in a vault warehouse in an undisclosed location. The legal case already went through federal court in Tampa, and now rests in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. However the case is decided, observers expect it to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Another two cents of my opinion, if I were Odyssey Marine I would move every bit of that half billion dollars worth of gold and silver to my own island somewhere and tell everybody, especially Uncle Sam, to kiss my . .

The Da Vinci Code

2010-12-14T17:28:00.002-06:00

This is from the web. I thought some of our readers might find this interesting since it is a actual code!

Do Hidden Letters in Mona Lisa's Eyes Reveal a Real da Vinci Code?

(Dec. 13) -- "Mona Lisa" -- that smile, those eyes, the mystery of her identity. And now, new clues emerge over what is perhaps the most famous painting in history. An Italian researcher claims the eyes of the enigmatic woman in Leonardo da Vinci's 16th-century masterpiece contain a secret code.

Highly magnified images of the painting reportedly reveal tiny letters embedded into the "Mona Lisa's" eyes, reports the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper.
"Invisible to the naked eye and painted in black on green-brown are the letters LV in her right pupil, obviously Leonardo's initials, but it is what is in her left pupil that is far more interesting," said Silvano Vinceti, chairman of Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage.

"It is very difficult to make them out clearly, but they appear to be the letters CE, or it could be the letter B," Vinceti added.

In what could be a chapter out of Dan Brown's book (and the 2006 film) "The Da Vinci Code," more mysterious letters and numbers are found on the "Mona Lisa." Vinceti believes these are deliberate hints as to the actual identity of the model who posed for da Vinci's masterpiece -- a mystery that has puzzled art historians for centuries.

"Under the right-hand arch of the bridge seen in the background, Leonardo also painted 72 or L2, another possible clue," Vinceti said. "Two expert painters we consulted on this tell us that all these marks, painted using a tiny brush and a magnifying glass, cannot be an error."

Earlier this year, French researchers, using X-ray technology, determined that da Vinci used as many as 30 layers of paint to achieve the subtle shadows and light on the beguiling Mona Lisa face.

While that technology helped solve the mystery of how the "Mona Lisa" was created, her identity is an ongoing mystery, even though some historians are convinced she was Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a prominent merchant of Florence.

Vinceti, who will offer his conclusions about this new research next month, said it all began after a colleague found a decades-old book that referred to the letters in "Mona Lisa's" eyes.

"Leonardo was keen on symbols and codes to get messages across, and he wanted us to know the identity of the model using the eyes, which he believed were the door to the soul and a means for communication," Vinceti said.

Absolutes

2010-12-12T08:15:00.002-06:00

This is not to be confused with “Absolut”. One is to calm you’re nerves so you don’t bang you head against the wall and the other is something you don’t find very many of in treasure hunting.

I have said it many times on a few of the forums and to hunters I meet in person but I will say it again; there are very few absolutes in treasure hunting.

I am always hearing people say that things are a certain way and that there were rules about putting down treasure and hiding mines. Ain’t so I tell ya, it just ain’t so.

When it comes to the outlaws and how they put down their treasures the way they did it was varied and mind-boggling. Even the same group of outlaws or an individual outlaw put down treasures in different ways and marked them in different ways. If you did a study of the treasure maps in existence known to have belonged to and been made by just Jesse James you will quickly see that he had several styles of maps. One may be a pictograph type map, another may have the terrain drawn on it with different spots marked and yet another may have an actual code on it that you have to decipher.

Keep in mind there is a BIG difference between deciphering an actual code and interpreting symbols on a map. They are completely different in the way you approach them and solve them.

This is where the big believers in the KGC mega-million dollar myths (which I am not one of) fall short on there theories. Thinking logically now, if you have a group of several individuals and they all need to be able to get back to the same spot by themselves then you have to have a code, an actual decipherable code, that anyone with the key can read. If the different individuals are wondering around the woods trying to interpret symbols on a map then they will very likely never find what they are looking for. This could be attested to by the late Frank James who spent many years trying to find all of the treasures Jesse had hidden.

I would say that this is one of the very few absolutes in treasure hunting. If you have an organized group putting down several treasures then there has to be a way for all of the members with the proper authority to find the treasures. This is done with actual codes and not interpretation of symbols.

If you are looking for Spanish treasure then you have the people that will tell you the King had rules about marking mines and treasure trails. This is somewhat true but not to the extent that everyone says.

The Spanish traveled in groups and each group had it’s own way of marking things. This “way” may follow the general rules of the King but not be the same way that another group would mark a trail. How can this be you ask?

The map makers had the power. They were the ones in each group that determined how something was marked and where. Each group had their own map maker and they took direction from him as to how and where to place a marker, carving or map.

This means that although the general rule of the King may have been followed in that they marked the trail, the trail was marked based on how each individual map maker thought it should be marked, using his own style of markers and symbols. This is kind of like the current day politician who interprets a law so that it fits his needs the best.

I can guarantee you that if you hunt enough Spanish trails you will see a pattern but rarely will anything be exactly the same. This is partly due to the map makers themselves and the rest to the terrain and what they had to work with at each site. There are sites where very specific measurements will come into play and there are others that are general in nature and will get you really close to the hole but not give you an exact spot.

Pirates, Arggggggg! (I just can’t help myself) bootleggers and the like were more in line with the outlaws. They had more than one method of hiding and marking a treasure. A lot of their methods were based on the terrain around the treasure location.

Don’t get me wrong here, if you are going to be successful at treasure hunting you need to learn as much as you can about your chosen line of treasure hunting. Each type of site, be it outlaw, Spanish, French, pirate Argggggg!, etc. will work a little to a whole lot differently than the other.

I personally prefer to hunt outlaw and Spanish sites because I am more familiar with how they did things and let’s face it, there weren’t too many pirates sailing around the middle of Oklahoma!

You have to keep in mind that for the most part, there were no rules. Everything will change some to a lot from site to site, even if it was the same group at each site. It’s a learning experience and eventually you will have the kind of knowledge that will help you move quickly (weeks instead of years) through a site to the end.

Think logically, keep past experiences fresh in your mind and don’t be afraid to think outside of the box every once in a while. I also think you should keep the K.I.S.S. theory in mind. Usually, although it seems difficult at the time, a site turns out to be fairly simple once you get to the end and completely understand what was going on. This always helps you in the future.