Mark this Cache off of your "To Do" List...

[TheRandyMan]

Well...you can mark this one off your list.

Date: June 2011
Location: Bennett's Point, Oregon
Cache: Approximately $20k in $20 dollar gold coins
Link: http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...c,78948.0.html
Key
Research: "Before I left for the army during the 1st World War, Bennett came by to tell me
goodbye. He asked me to do him a favor. He said he was getting old and might
not be alive when I returned. If he was dead, would I see that his money was
taken care of? His children had disowned him and they did not deserve
anything, excepting Belle, a deaf daughter. He wanted Belle to have the
money. Would I dig it up and give it to her, excepting for a sum he named that
I was to keep for myself, because I was his best friend. I agreed to do this. He
told me to go to the north window of his house and to look at Sinai straight in
front of me, then go to the place I saw. A short distance to the right I would
find a flat rock beside a service bush where the ground hogs had dug. In a
crevice of this rock I would find a wagon bolen (iron part of the axle that the
wheel turns on). Some 30 to 40 feet northeast of this place $20,000 was buried
securely under a big rock.

When I returned from the war Bennett was dead. I spent days searching but
never so much as located the wagon bolen. I knew he had that much money
and that it was hid. I knew he would not mislead me. I doubted if he ever told
anyone else where it was, and never knew of anyone else searching near the
place he described. Folks tore the house apart and dug all around it. To the
best of my knowledge they found a total of about $1100, all in small gold
pieces and silver."

[TheRandyMan]

Pictures are in general sequence...look at the name below each picture for specifics. The directional marker rocks on top of "The Place You See" rock were not put there by me, but by some other previous treasure hunter. The directional marker pointed directly at the "Wagon Bolen Crack Rock". I would like to personally thank the rock marker person for making it so easy...lol...if it was you, PM me...would love to talk about it with you.

[birdman]

Keep searching,could still be there.

[TheRandyMan]

The double bucket was found on top of the ground below and to the right about 20 to 25 feet from the "Big Treasure Rock" dig site...

[TheRandyMan]

Keep searching,could still be there.

No...no, its not there. I can personally guarantee you that.

[Kentucky Kache]

Some 30 to 40 feet northeast of this place $20,000 was buried
securely under a big rock.

Did you move the rock, or just dig beside it, or under the edge?

[freddy williams]

I know the only way I could personally guarantee a stash wasn't there anymore was if I dug it up or was there when it was dug up. like everyone says under a big rock I believe if you flip over or move the rock the treasure is probably under neath it. wow think of the value on 20 K in gold pieces today stagering 1000 @ 1300 minimum would be 1.3 million. I think I'd find a way to be moving that rock.. HH...

[TheRandyMan]

I can certainly understand that you gentlemen would make the recommendation that the rock should be completely removed...I would, in a perfect world, agree with your statement. However, in the absence of having the equipment capable of moving a multi ton rock, be assured that electronic metal detecting equipment capable of finding a cache of the size involved here was definitely used (2 box). This equipment could have easily located this cache to a depth of at least 3 feet and most likely deeper. At the time of the cache burial, Mr. Bennett was in his 60s/70s and my impression is that there would not have been any need to bury the cache any deeper than 3 feet and most likely it was less than that.

Remember, this was an extremely remote area and the point itself is not farm-able. The point itself is rugged and gets steep quickly. I have a bit of a hard time envisioning an older man burying this cache greater than 3 feet and then moving a multi ton rock on top of it.

Then, there are all the other clues that the cache has been recovered...the wagon bolen sitting on a foundation rock...the double iron pail just down the hill below the big treasure rock...there have been many other treasure hunters who have searched this location over the years. I believe that they all left the bolen there to signal that they also came to the conclusion that the cache had been found before them. I placed the bolen back in the wagon bolen rock to continue that tradition.

Definition of "under", in this case, could mean "below" the downhill edge of the rock...not beneath the middle of the rock...and that is what I believe to be the case.

But...I could be wrong. I would be most happy to see someone move the rock. Don't think it will ever happen though.

[Kentucky Kache]

I think I'd be trying to break it into pieces. Just in case.

[boogeyman]

A rock sling, some chain or cable & a couple $25 come alongs. You'd amazed what you can move single handed. If you can get your truck or jeep close enough, you'd invest 20 minutes.

[TheRandyMan]

Another key piece of information has just been obtained regarding this cache. The gold was initially reported to have been buried in a "double twine" box that contained hay bailing twine. A very old individual who is very expert in farm equipment has identified the "double iron bucket" in this way... "That's the double-twine holder that was
on an early McCormick baler." Apparently the gold was not buried in a box, but the iron holder in the pictures above. Just one more confirmation that the cache was indeed recovered before we got there. This is the second major cache in less than a year that I have been a day late and a dollar short....its getting a bit old at this point...

[Kentucky Kache]

Hopefully the finder was the guy who Bennett wanted to find it.

[Frankn]

Randy's right. A 2 box would have found it if it was still there.
I think this is how I would have done it. Great pictures and info on a site already cleaned out, but all pictures deleted if cach was found. In fact I think Lost Treasure or one of those mags would have footed the bill for the story. Frank

[Connecticut Danny]

Keep searching for the bury treasure, and single coins around the house. Best of luck to you.

[Lanny in AB]

Nice pictures, and great post too. All the best in your future searches,

Lanny

[Arizona Bob]

I doubted if he ever told anyone else where it was, and never knew of anyone else searching near the place he described. Folks tore the house apart and dug all around it. To the best of my knowledge they found a total of about $1100, all in small gold pieces and silver."

Well, the most obvious things would be: 1. he never had any gold; 2. he told someone else; 3. he removed the gold himself and 4. you removed the gold and came-up with the "ending" to this story/legend.

The most humorous thing would be: He wanted that big-a$$ rock moved and didn't want to do it himself, so he invented the gold story in hopes of other guys moving the rock for him!

[Tuberale]

Well, the most obvious things would be: 1. he never had any gold; 2. he told someone else; 3. he removed the gold himself and 4. you removed the gold and came-up with the "ending" to this story/legend.

The most humorous thing would be: He wanted that big-a$$ rock moved and didn't want to do it himself, so he invented the gold story in hopes of other guys moving the rock for him!

Sorry, Bob.

Bennett died in 1917.

Because he killed a man in self-defense in the 1880's, he spent 7 years in the Oregon State Penitentiary before being pardoned by the governor. As a direct result, most people within 20 miles would not speak to him. To his family he did not exist. His wife and children shunned him and never spoke to him again, although his son lost the original farm and he moved his wife into a nearby house, while continuing to provide firewood, groceries, and other necessities.

Bennett was something like the original horse whisperer: he would walked ahead of a horse which then willingly followed him. He raised a den of coyotes while the mother had a broken leg, which he set. Descendants of the coyote den continued to visit the farm for 20 years.

He lived near a den of rattlesnakes but chose not to kill them. He likely buried the gold next to the den. He claimed the rattlesnakes never bothered him. He said the snakes killed many pests and helped control insects and mice. This mindset was nearly unheard of in the 1880s, except possibly for Hermann Oliver.

In 1914 just before his neighbor friend went to World War I, he told his neighbor he wanted his deaf and dumb daughter Belle to have most of the gold he had accumulated. The same neighbor witnessed $10,000 of the total cache counted out in front of him. All in $20 gold coins. The money was from the sale of 100 horses sold to the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. That was in 1902. Bennett was believed by his neighbor to have accumulated another $10,000 to $15,000 between 1902 and 1917 through raising horses and cattle.

When the neighbor got back from World War I, probably in 1918, Bennett had been dead for over 6 months. The neighbor searched for Bennett's cache using the exact clues Bennett gave him, and which he wrote down. For the next 40 years the neighbor continued to search for the cache. Realizing his health was failing, the neighbor then wrote down the story, which appeared in a historical society publication in the 1960s.

"The most humorous thing would be: He wanted that big-a$$ rock moved and didn't want to do it himself, so he invented the gold story in hopes of other guys moving the rock for him!"

That would have been humorous. And unlikely. Bennett spent most of his time talking to his cattle, horses, and wildlife. As previously stated, most people within 20 miles shunned him. He apparently spoke only to one neighbor family. But mostly to their son. When his wife died, Bennett wasn't mentioned in her obituary. His children chose not to speak of him. "I was outcast. I was in the place the eye does not see." - Avatar

[Arizona Bob]

What? No points for humorous spin? Sheesh! Tough crowd.

I have done a lot of research, and I can tell you that probably the most difficult treasure research is the word-of-mouth / he-said / she-said type of research. You literally have to run-down every rabbit trail.

I can't imagine how hard it would be to learn any treasure details about a guy who: 1. is dead; 2. was a loner; 3. was disowned by his family; and 4. was known to talk to one boy and a bunch of different animals. Yikes!

The same neighbor witnessed $10,000 of the total cache counted out in front of him. All in $20 gold coins. The money was from the sale of 100 horses sold to the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. That was in 1902.

The US Army is pretty good about keeping records. If I were researching this treasure, I would try to get a copy of the Army bill of sale, or a copy of the ledger indicating the details of this sale.

Bennett was believed by his neighbor to have accumulated another $10,000 to $15,000 between 1902 and 1917 through raising horses and cattle.

Same situation here- try to get copies of either bills of sale or ledger entries. The hard part, of course, is the search. Who did he sell the horses and cattle to? The Army? The state? Locally?

All of this would firmly establish that Bennett had earned at least ~$20,000 (in gold?) prior to his death in 1917.


Here is where the treasure trail gets real murky. I won't say what I would do next, in case I decide to have a look for myself!!

[Tuberale]

I think you're missing the point, Arizona Bob: why spend more time on a project which has already been found?

[Kentucky Kache]

I can't imagine how hard it would be to learn any treasure details about a guy who: 1. is dead; 2. was a loner; 3. was disowned by his family...

You might be surprised what you can find when you dig deep. Lots of stuff out there in those old records.