Tommy "TJ" Johnson

2014 was a tough year. With the passing of my partner Ray early in the year and with the loss of TJ last August. TJ was a man of integrity. He never had a bad word to say about anyone.

Last week family and friends said a final farewell as his ashes were scattered across the hills he loved to hike.

I first met him as him as he sat in front of his camper reading Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales with his dog Harley at his side. I knew at that moment we would become friends.

Over the years we hiked many trails and chased numerous treasures. TJ was part mountain goat. For a guy in his 70's he was tough to stay up with. He loved being outdoors and always wanted to see what was over the next hill.

His stories of searching for treasure in decades past were always entertaining. The call of treasure took him to many states and digging for Spanish treasure nearly took his life. It's through him I learned the dangers of pack rats and the hantavirus.

TJ came by treasure hunting naturally. His dad found the Amarillo Starlight. It is the largest diamond found at Crater of Diamonds since it became a state park.

His spirit will travel with me as I continue the hunt. He will be missed but lives on in the memories of those who knew him.

Interpreting Signs and Symbols

I'm often asked if there's a good book for interpreting the meanings of treasure symbols. While there are countless books on the market that claim to show such things most are just recycled from other books. The authors may have never seen the signs used in the field to verify their authenticity. I was once told there's more money to be made writing about treasure than there is hunting for it. I believe this holds true. If someone is trying to sell you a book about treasure signs then the odds are they're not finding treasure themselves.

There isn't a book that I can recommend as the single source for sign reading but there are a few books that will go a long way in helping you learn to read the signs for yourself. I highly recommend The Rocks Begin to Speak by Lavan Martineau. While this book covers how to read Native American pictographs the same process can be used for treasure signs. Especially when dealing with stacked or grouped symbols. Many of the Native symbols have been incorporated by other groups to be used as treasure symbols.

A safe bet would be that 99% of the treasure signs you come across are giving you one of three things. #1 is direction of travel. #2 the topography that you need to look for. #3 the layout of the treasure site. This is fairly universal among all groups. In our area you will often find symbols from the Spanish/Mexican and 19th century outlaws in the same area. What is a good area for one group is often good for others even if separated by a century or more in time.

I have spent countless hours researching and working in the field to understand what the signs and symbols are conveying. Hundreds of people over the years have sent pictures of symbols requesting help interpreting them. The majority of them I've been able to help with. My main effort is to help people to help themselves. You learn far more having to work out what a sign means on your own, with just a little guidance, than you ever will just being given the answer.

There will be a naysayer or two at my abilities to read signs but that is to be expected when you have so many armchair experts and book hustlers. Feel free to contact me for help. Unlike many others I'm not interested in knowing where your site is or charge a fee for help.

Good luck and good hunting!

The feds are lurking in the shadows

As Big Brother grows and encroaches upon our everyday lives we hear more and more about the federal government spying on US citizens. The NSA spying scandal is but one example.

From my personal experience big brother spent three years watching my internet posts on this blog, treasure forums, and facebook.

You can rest assured that they're trolling the internet pretending to be treasure hunters intent on entrapping someone in some sort of sting operation.

This is nothing new as I've read stories from decades ago warning about who to trust when it comes to treasure hunting partners.

Today though, they may start with innocent enough emails asking simple questions. In time these questions become more intrusive or leading.

One example is them pretending to be an arrowhead hunter asking if you've heard of anyone finding artifacts on federal property or know of such sites to find points. To this my reply is it is illegal to search for artifacts on federal property.

They might even show up at a treasure hunter get together pretending to be another treasure hunter hoping to find something incriminating against those in attendance.

It's possible they offer to trade guns for a good hunting spot. Nothing like getting firearms involved for potential future prosecution.

While this might seem a bit conspiratorial all this and much more is happening. That's why I prefer to keep things legal and shy away from anything shady.

So if something seems odd or fishy about someone contacting you, trust your instincts and leave them well enough alone.

Good luck and good hunting!

Expedition Unknown: The Legend of Jesse James

The Travel Channel's show Expedition Unknown hosted by Josh Gates will explore the legend of Jesse James and his treasure hidden in Oklahoma. You can catch the episode this Thursday (1-29-15) at 8:00pm central time on the Travel Channel.