Pirate Treasure-Trying to get a permit to dig up

Status
Not open for further replies.
OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
Ok, here's more of the story. I was after a treasure from a German sub. The U-853. I had a friend who had a first-hand account about the treasure from the sub. Thats's a whole nother story. In the process I heard about an old man from North Carolina that was also after the sub treasure. I ended up getting his name and where he lived. I called him. He was dying of pancreatic cancer. He had been dowsing for over 35 years and had found many things for many people. I have those stories. He said he knew where a pirate chest was in Englewood Florida. Thats not far from where I lived. My wife and I drove all night to N.C. as soon as I got off the phone with him. We hit it off. I told him I would come back the next week and bring him to Florida. I told him I would take him anywhere he wanted to go. He could show me where the treasures were and if we could we would try to dig them up. On the way to Florida we stopped at a number of places that his pendulum led him to. He had already marked them ahead of time on some road atlases. It all seemed a little crazy but I gave him the benifit of the doubt. For instance, he would tell me up ahead a mile or so would be where he felt the gold was. He would point off the road down an old abandoned driveway and then lead me to some bushes. He would point into the bushes and tell me it read for gold. After looking into the bushes I would find the old stone foundation of a house. As we did not have permission and we were basically tresspassing I did not want to dig. We eventually made it to my house in Florida. He needed to get his prescription filled so I had to take him into town. There was a place that I had always heard from the time I was a kid that was a old pirate camp. When we were about a half mile away I told him to get out his pendulum and see if he got a reading. He began swinging it in front of him and said he felt a strong pull. As we drove on the highway and got closer he started swinging it to the left in the direction of the camp. As we passed by it he was swinging his pendulum directly at the camp. He said it was a very strong reading. It was almost dark and I told him I would take him to the location the next day. When I took him there he led me right over to a spot and said he got a very strong signal. He drew out the outline of the area on the ground. It was about 10 foot by 10 foot. He always had a bag with him that had about 2 dozen different objects on strings. He would use them to try to tell what the exact treasure was. He used a gold filled brass tube as his normal pendulum. He had one that was full of silver. He said the ground was full of silver. He carried some wire with him that he would get bouncing and somehow or another he would use it to figure out the depth of the object. He said it was just a few feet down. The ground was as hard as a rock. The area is called Rocky Bluff because a lot of the surface is covered with exsposed limestone. I know this all sounds crazy and maybe it is a little crazy. We did not do any digging. It was on state land. At the time I was more interested in getting him to show me the location of the chest in Englewood. At this point in the story I will go forward a couple of years. Someone told me of a couple of guys who had very high tech special metal detecting type equipment. I had not met them and told them to meet me at the location of the pirate camp. I told them to use their stuff and see what they came up with. I won't go into all the details of what they did but when they were done they pointed to an area on the ground and said that there was a great big pile of silver. It was exactly where the old man said it was. This was over 20 years ago and the price of silver was very low. They tried to put a shovel in the ground and could not because of the limestone. We ended up doing some other things together. They did not beleive in dowsing. I got them to come up with some ways to test the old man without him knowing he was being tested. He passed all their tests. In fact they had to completely change their way of thinking. I will now skip forward 20 plus years. There is WAY more to this whole story. I joined TN in March. I told some of my story. Some people called me a liar and some people took me seriously. I am not going to go into any more detail of what happened next. Let's put it this way. I have not done anything illegal. Here are the facts. There is a large pile of heavy non-ferous metal no more than 5 feet deep right in the middle of a known pirate camp. I will not stop in my quest until it is brought out of the ground. Do I know for a fact that it is silver? No, heck it might be gold or a combination of gold and silver. Could it be lead? Yes. Brass, maybe. What I beleive happened is that the pirates found a spot where they could dig under the limestone layer and stuffed the silver into an area that they dug out. That way no one could dig down and find it. I am still not telling all of the story. You can choose to beleive what I am saying or not. I took the old man on numerous trips back in 1987 over the next five years until 1992. His family told me that my taking him on these trips helped extend his life before he finally died from the cancer. I took him from as far south as Alligator Alley to as far north as northern Pennsylvania. He showed me the location of a cave full of gold in northern Georgia (I could not find the entrance but we were over the top). A spot where a wagon load of gold was buried near Dalonega Georgia. Pots of gold along a railroad track in central North Carolina. The location of the Beale treasure. A pirate chest location on the bank of the Cape Fear river. Sunken ships in the Gulf of Mexico. Saddlebags full of gold next to a road in Georgia. A 55 gallon drum full of silver dollars in northern Pennsylvania. There are dozens of more locations. I know that I will never be able to figure out how to get back to some of them as this was long before GPS devices were in use by the public. I know you will ask why I have never dug something up. I have hours upon hours of video of what happened. I know for a FACT that the old man was for real. I hope to be trying to dig up the silver soon. My contact at the DOT told me today that I need to be patient. As it was in 1987 that the old man first showed me the location I guess I can wait a little longer. My wife just told me there is a tornado is heading our way. Goodbye.
 

Last edited:

Hot zone

Bronze Member
Apr 26, 2012
1,032
259
Clark County Washington
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark 8" coil, vaquero 8"x9" and 5.75" WS, clean sweep coil, Gray ghost deep woods headphones

Whites TRX pointer
, Garrett gold stinger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The best anecdotal evedence I have heard in a long time.
 

pops9653

Jr. Member
Apr 8, 2012
46
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I believe there is something to this dowsing thing. They actually have competitions finding treasure with the rods. I don't know how it works but I intend to find out.
 

Hot zone

Bronze Member
Apr 26, 2012
1,032
259
Clark County Washington
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark 8" coil, vaquero 8"x9" and 5.75" WS, clean sweep coil, Gray ghost deep woods headphones

Whites TRX pointer
, Garrett gold stinger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
One question I think I would ask a treasure dowser who pointed out multiple treasure locations to me would be, Why are you giving this information away? Do you not like to find treasure yourself? It seems like strange actions for someone who dowses treasure.
The old man was dying of cancer. It will all play out in his movie.
 

OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
The tornado missed us. Before I met the old man he had found many things for many people. Of course I only heard the stories from him. I honestly do not think he lied or exagerated about any of it. Everyone that met him would probably agree. Some of his stories are as follows. He had a horse tooth on a string. I asked him what it was for. He said a farmer lost his mule. The old man (whose first name was Ovid) found the mule using the tooth pendulum. The mule was dead. He was asked to find the gravesite of some guys great grandmother. He located it. She was buried with a very valuable diamond ring. Ovid said the guy was going to dig her up. He map dowsed a location that led him to a farm. He told the farmer that there was gold buried behind the barn. Ovid dug up an iron container full of gold coins. The farmer said he was going to the house to get something to put Ovid's share in. When the farmer came back Ovid had some coins in his hand. The farmer pointed a shotgun and made Ovid put the coins back in the container and leave the property. Two ex government employees told Ovid they would take him out west where there was tons of gold hidden. Ovid overheard them talking. They were going to kill him after he got them to the gold. He told me it was one of the strongest signals he ever felt. When he got close enough to know where it was he told them he lost the signal. They were very angry. They left him. He had to find his way back to town. As I said in prior posts, he went out with one of Mel Fisher's crew and showed them a location of sunken silver and also put them onto Atocha gold. He had no contract and got nothing. I don't expect any of them to admit this but I believe it happened exactly like he told me. I even got confirmation of that story recently because of my joining TN. Ovid had a piece of leather on a string. He used it to find a wallet for a farmer that had lost it while plowing his fields. He found a body for the Raleigh N.C. police department. He told me these stories and more on our many trips together. We traveled thousands upon thousands of miles together. When I met him he was trying to locate a golden horse that was buried. It was part of a National treasure contest. The horse was supposed to have a key inside to a safety deposit box with $500,000 inside it. This was in 1987. Maybe some of the readers here remember it. We ended up in the smokey mountains on that story. The next day we had a string of tornadoes chase us half way across North Carolina. It was a wild ride in the 77 t/a. I could go on and on about what happened with Ovid. That is why I had to write the story. By the time I met him he no longer trusted anyone. He did trust me once we met. He had only dowsed as a hobby although he certainly liked finding things. I did find enough small things to know of the truth of his abilities. Also watching him pass the tests proved to me he was for real. Part of the reason that it has taken me so long to get to the point of digging up something is that I have been trying to make money with my other ventures so that I could go after the treasures just for the fun and excitement. According to my bookkeeper (who is also my wife of 36 years) I have not made enough money to retire yet. In fact she keeps reminding me that we don't have any money. Never one to let the small details stop me I go bravely forward. Maybe it is now my time. I am not going to get distracted from following thru with this pirate silver dig.
 

Hot zone

Bronze Member
Apr 26, 2012
1,032
259
Clark County Washington
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark 8" coil, vaquero 8"x9" and 5.75" WS, clean sweep coil, Gray ghost deep woods headphones

Whites TRX pointer
, Garrett gold stinger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting

Jay of MS

Jr. Member
Apr 13, 2012
61
18
The Deep South :)
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Vaquero, Garret gtax 400
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I truly feel sorry for anyone that gets between you and your treasure. I am sure Florida will reconsider :laughing7:
 

OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
I called a couple of the people at the DOT that were at the meeting Monday. The head guy, who is the one that will make the final decision was still out of town. I did not call or bother him. The second in command returned my call. He would not say what my chances were one way or another but judging from the conversation its sounded positive. Hope to hear something on Friday. I WANT TO DIG !!!
 

Slowwalker

Jr. Member
May 12, 2012
53
18
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You tell me to forget it and go for other treasures and then say that if I tell them where it is I may as well forget it. I am going to convince them to let me dig. I have talked to all the local government officials to try to get their help to dig and also to keep the treasure within our county by putting the states share in our local museum. Our county is the starting place for one of the most famous treasure hunters of all. Hernando Desoto landed here to search for gold. He did not let the local officials stop him. As they were all Indians he and his men just killed anybody that got in his way. We have a parade, a state park and a statue dedicated to honoring him. We also are home to the Pittsburgh Pirates winter training at Pirate City. On the other side of the bay we have the Tampa Bay Bucaneers. We also have all kinds of events for Jose Gaspar. So needless to say we love pirates and treasure hunters. It should be a piece of cake to be able to dig up some pirate treasure. It is not my fault that the Archies are pissed off at treasure hunters. I have already let the FDOT know of the general area of the dig site. Maybe I am making a lot of mistakes. We will see.



I know exactly where you are... I went to school there in the early 90's and am looking into moving back there sometime soon.... I had to move to Ohio in the middle of freshman year. Good luck with your hunt and with your permit.
 

OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
To GetReal, I don't mean so sound naive, but what does Tom Detweiler and a picture of the Odyssey rov have to do with my story or the buried silver?
 

Hot zone

Bronze Member
Apr 26, 2012
1,032
259
Clark County Washington
Detector(s) used
Tiger Shark 8" coil, vaquero 8"x9" and 5.75" WS, clean sweep coil, Gray ghost deep woods headphones

Whites TRX pointer
, Garrett gold stinger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
To GetReal, I don't mean so sound naive, but what does Tom Detweiler and a picture of the Odyssey rov have to do with my story or the buried silver?
The Odyssey was one of 2 books by Homer that depicted the adventures of Odysseus. Perhaps he was implying similarities to these facinating tales or the nonlinear manner of writing them.
 

lastleg

Silver Member
Feb 3, 2008
2,876
658
Back on topic, unfortunately the aging process is often unkind to old men obsessed by "treasure". I've run into them, I'm sure a lot of us
seniors have met people like your old man. The sheer number of claims he made tells me the search has taken a toll on his mind, and the
cancer diagnosis was devastating. My hunting partner for many years was a whiz at detecting valuables but meds for depression got him
thinking he could dowse just about anything including a human being. I know for a fact he never found anything dowsing but the obsession
overcame the desire to detect and he would go around with his "rods" telling go here, go there and never ending up the day with anything
but talk. Don't let this happen to you, you are still young enough to find a good job and time to save for the future.
I went through the same delusions you are having. I spent the bulk of my free time reading and looking for that "pot of gold" It just never
happened, at least not enough to retire on.
All the wishing and hoping in the world won't make it happen. Listen to your wife, she's telling you the gospel.
Now before I get hate mail, this is just my own experience but I can tell bigdog is sincere. I would hate for him to get soured on the hobby if
his dreams don't pan out.
There are plenty of detection devises that do work but they are relatively expensive such as electronics that show voids in the ground or stone.
You said 5 feet according to the old man. That is within range of a two-box unit if a massive amount of silver bars are underneath. Others on
this forum are more expert on this technique. Just my 2 cents.
 

ECS

Banned
Mar 26, 2012
11,639
17,694
Ocala,Florida
Primary Interest:
Other
As Lastleg mentioned,I have heard many old man tales of treasure,like the Blackbeard treasure under A1A on Anastasia Island.
One question I have,Bigdogdad,have you rsearched on whose "pirate camp" this could have been?
Known pirates in that area have been;Henri Black Caesar,Calico Jack Rackham & Anne Bonney,Caesar Le Grande,Brewster Baker,Louis Aury,Castor,Jean LaFitte,and Jose Gaspar.John Gomez,who claimed to have sailed with Gaspar,is considered a better storyteller than pirate,another old man with a treasure tale.
...and was it a short term or permanent camp,or just a "temporary" cache site never returned to?
 

OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
To lastleg-Even though this is not the dowsing forum I will respond to you. The sheer number of claims made to me by Ovid attest to the fact that he was quite active in his 35+ years of actively dowsing. Keep in mind that we put him thru a series of tests (without him knowing) and he passed with flying colors. Over the years I have met dozens upon dozens of people who dowsed to some degree. You said your partner was a "whiz" at detecting valuables and then go on to say he never found anything dowsing. I guess he was not a "whiz" at dowsing. How often did you dig where he said to dig? Was there never anything of any kind there? A metal detector will go off all the time but will rarely find treasure for you. You have to dig deep enough in the right spot. Nothing is 100%. As far as my job, future, savings, etc, thanks for your concern. I have many other things going on in my life and that is part of the reason treasure has never been my priority. In fact, it has always been at the bottom of my list of priorities. That is part of the reason I have not dug one of them up, although it has not been for lack of trying. I wonder what percentage of the members of TN have found that "big" treasure. I would guess maybe 1 or 2 percent if that many. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. As far as listening to my wife, she beleives in the treasure 100% and has been very involved in the past. She also supports me 100% in my quest. How many other guys on here can say the same about their wives? As far as treasure hunting being a "hobby" as you say, I play with race cars as a hobby. We show dogs as a hobby. I occasionally play golf as a hobby. Treasure is an obsession for me. I honestly beleive I may know the locations of a vast amount of treasure. It has not been that important up to this point to dig it up. I have tried, but I have not tried hard enough. I am going to make it a point to try as hard as I can to dig up the silver. Hopefully it is silver. Maybe I did not make it clear. There were experts who had better than a 2-box unit detect this spot over 20 years ago. They told me there was a massive amount of silver just a few feet down under the limestone surface. We chose not to do anything about it back then. I have shown the location recently to others and without going into details I now feel I have to dig it up. You can read between the lines. To ECS-This was a known pirate camp for over 300 years. I don't know that any "famous" pirate hung out there. It was a permanent type of camp. They had a lookout spot on a point closer to the gulf. It had a creek which was essential to them. There were other factors which made it a great place to hangout. I have no problem answering almost any question posed to me about this treasure or any other claim I have made.
 

Minrelica

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2010
1,462
584
Minnesota
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab EQ 800, Minelab SE PRO, Minelab X-Terra Pro & 14 other machines
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Bummer, I was following this thread daily until you guys decided that paragraphs were no longer necessary.
 

Talon

Hero Member
May 18, 2012
633
165
NE Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac, Minelab Excal 800, Minelab Excal II, Tesoro Tigershark, Garrett ACE 250, Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
So, whatever happened with the Englewood Treasure?
 

OP
OP
B

Bigdogdad

Bronze Member
Mar 5, 2012
1,627
437
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
The Englewood treasure is sitting there waiting to be dug up. I had someone on TN get involved. He hired someone to bring their electronic equipment to the site and check for valuables. His equipment told him there was treasure there in the past but it was now gone. Maybe he is right. I watched him operate the equpment. I have to say I was not confident in the results. I don't think it showed where there was stuff in the ground that I knew for a fact was there. For example, septic tank with rebar, concrete block well with rebar, mudhog pickup strainer, various pipes etc. He got paid whether he located anything or not. I have the permission of the property owners to run any kind of detection equipment I can bring to the property. If I feel there is a exact spot to dig they will let me. It is 60 miles from my home and not exactly convenient to go to. If anyone is interested in trying to search at this site, let me know. It is supposed to be the camp and treasure site of the pirate known as Brewster Baker or Bru Baker. It is on the northern shore of Lemon Bay off Charlotte Harbor in Florida. I am trying to concentrate my efforts at Rocky Bluff for the silver.
To anyone that has sent me a PM in the last month. I responded to every one of the PM's but it does not show up in the sent file. Let me know if you received a reply from me.
 

Jay of MS

Jr. Member
Apr 13, 2012
61
18
The Deep South :)
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Vaquero, Garret gtax 400
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Witt I have to agree. It is a great thread but these massive text dumps are rough on the eyes. Please use the enter button to space out the text page.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top