Spanish Cache in Central Texas

[acedigger]

I was curious if anyone has heard of a cave filled with spanish treasures located in central texas. This is how I know about it.

I have always been known around town as the guy or used to be kid that had a detector or collected just about everything...coins, bottles, rocks, junk (as most people call it) or anything else I thought was interesting. So the "oldtimers" would give me stuff or talk to me all the time. Well about 15 years ago my great uncle who was in his 80's told me that when he was a kid he and his brother found a cave that was filled with conquistador items and many other relics. He said that you had to crawl in and once you got in, there was standing room. The only problem was that it was also a rattlesnake den so it scared them off and they never returned. For many years I thought about this but figured it was a tall tale.

Ok fast forward to about 5 years ago. The brother that was there told me the same story, same details....spanish relics, crawling in, and snakes. So now I wondered if there was any truth to this story.

Well about a year ago a good friend of mine and I were talking about detecting and finding treasure and he told me the story that I mentioned above. And the old man that told him about it also gave him a location of it. We have looked all over the place for this cave,(its on my friends land) and have been unable to locate it. A local trapper who shoots coyotes from a helicopter said he has seen the cave from the air and he is supposed to get GPS coordinates.
We are going back to look for it this winter. The place is covered in rattlesnakes.

My question is...has anyone heard of such a tale? Should we investigate further or blow it off as a wise tale.

If we do find the cave any ideas on checking it out?

 

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[Dave45]

Dont think Id pass it up watch the snakes they will be in the cave in the winter may have to smoke them out be carefull

 

[Diggerbarns]

If all these people are talking about it,why hasent someone else looted the site if it exsists? I definatly would look into it,probobly a tall tale

 

[acedigger]

You are probably right about the tall tale part. I have wondered why someone that knew about it wouldn't go after it. The men that told me this said they went when they were kids. This was in the 20's. Not sure what kept them from it over the years. Could have been the rattlesnakes, or change in land ownership, or maybe mom and dad told them not to go back. None the less it makes for a good story and hopefully this winter we can either prove the story as real or not.

 

[AnOldPro]

I would not be too quick to dismiss this story as a tall tale. I personally saw over a hundred crudely smelted silver bars with the mark of the church stamped in them that a pro hunter friend of mine found in a cave near San Antonio. I also know of a find of several dozen Spanish origin gold bars found in a cave in West Texas by another TH'ing acquaintance of mine. The Spanish were run out of Texas by the Indians they had enslaved to work their mines back in the late 1600's and early 1700's and had to leave Texas in a hurry making it necessary to stash the heavy metals they had mined so they could travel light... in a hurry... as you can imagine. This situation create MANY caches of Spanish gold and silver bullion... most of which are still yet to be recovered.

If you do find the cave try taking a one gallon sprayer of diesel fuel with you and spraying a couple of good squirts back in the entrance. When you do... GET OUT OF THE WAY as those rattlers should come boiling out of there in a hurry... they hate the smell of diesel fuel and thats how the pro snake hunters get them to come out of their dens.

Good luck!

AnOldPro

 

[acedigger]

Hey thanks for the advice. That gives me a little encouragement. I have not studied much on the Spanish in Texas. I do know there are several stories of gold and silver buried around here. I think there was one about some buried around San Saba. Thats only a short drive from here so if they were there they were also around here.

I've used the gasoline method on the snakes but never diesel. I guess it all depends on the pump price. HA

Thanks for the tips!!

 

[drumking12]

How many people are from central Texas? I'm currently in Austin but my roots are in Dallas. I just picked up a new detector so if you want to hit an area together give me a holler.

Rick

 

[goldwingmike]

Hey give the change I would go into any cave to look rattlesnakes or not. I live in Kerrville Tx .
Happy hunting Guys 8)

 

[stefen]

I would not be too quick to dismiss this story as a tall tale. I personally saw over a hundred crudely smelted silver bars with the mark of the church stamped in them that a pro hunter friend of mine found in a cave near San Antonio. I also know of a find of several dozen Spanish origin gold bars found in a cave in West Texas by another TH'ing acquaintance of mine. The Spanish were run out of Texas by the Indians they had enslaved to work their mines back in the late 1600's and early 1700's and had to leave Texas in a hurry making it necessary to stash the heavy metals they had mined so they could travel light... in a hurry... as you can imagine. This situation create MANY caches of Spanish gold and silver bullion... most of which are still yet to be recovered.

If you do find the cave try taking a one gallon sprayer of diesel fuel with you and spraying a couple of good squirts back in the entrance. When you do... GET OUT OF THE WAY as those rattlers should come boiling out of there in a hurry... they hate the smell of diesel fuel and thats how the pro snake hunters get them to come out of their dens.

Good luck!

AnOldPro

Gasoline also works. A friend had some in a rock outcrop near his house in Temecula (formerly Rancho California)...he placed one end of a 4' PVC pipe in a crack and the other end in a metal trash barrel...then he poured a can of gas in the top of the crack...filled the barrel real quick with some very crazed and mad snakes...

 

[TXDIRTFISHER]

I'm no animal activist but petroleum based products are not good for snakes. Go to your local sporting goods store and buy some CS aka pepper spray. Make sure you don't blind yourself with it!

 

[txkickergirl]

go to the store and buy a great snake bite kit, snake boots, then make sure that a cell phone will work in the area and a nice little 22 rifle works great. Email me your county and I will look in a book I have on treasure tales.
Best of luck to ya

 

[irbaddadjoe]

I live in Central Texas. Lets go get it!

 

[acedigger]

Where are you located?

 

[irbaddadjoe]

Ft worth area.

 

[acedigger]

Well I'm south of you about an hour and a half in the Brownwood area. We go to DFW area for business quite a bit. If your ever down this way maybe we could get together and go hunting.

 

[irbaddadjoe]

Thats cool acedigger. Had family that lived in Goldthwaite and I went fishing on Brownwood lake. I went to college at Tarleton State. Born and Raised in Mineral Wells. We are pretty close.

 

[acedigger]

Well we do have alot in common. I grew up in Blanket and have lived here my entire life. My wife and I did live in Stephenville for a time while we finished school at Tarleton. I really liked that town but my home is always in Blanket. Good to see there is a fellow Plowboy on here.

 

[kbrocks]

Hey Ace, I was born and raised in Santa Anna, just a few minutes away from you, I'm in NC now though. Never heard any tales of Spanish treasure around that area, but I've seen enough odd things in the country side that make me think it's possible. The Santa Anna "mountain" has a few carvings up there, and a number of years ago someone found an old black powder gun rusted to pieces in a cave there. I've been all over the coutry side of Coleman County and seen indian camps, old foundations in the middle of nowwhere and lots of other good stuff. Keep looking, I'll bet there is something out there.

Bob

 

[acedigger]

Hey Ace, I was born and raised in Santa Anna, just a few minutes away from you, I'm in NC now though. Never heard any tales of Spanish treasure around that area, but I've seen enough odd things in the country side that make me think it's possible. The Santa Anna "mountain" has a few carvings up there, and a number of years ago someone found an old black powder gun rusted to pieces in a cave there. I've been all over the coutry side of Coleman County and seen indian camps, old foundations in the middle of nowwhere and lots of other good stuff. Keep looking, I'll bet there is something out there.

Bob

Thanks for replying. Yep Santa Anna is only a few miles from here. As many stories as I've heard about the Spanish being in Central Texas it is definately plausible to think there could be things buried here. Especially the Santa Anna Mountains and the ridge around Blanket. Maybe oneday they will turn out something. The Santa Anna Mountain sure has had lots of traffic on it. Not sure if they still do it but the school kids used to write stuff in rocks all the time. Did you ever help in that? LOL
Thanks again for replying.

 

[texan connection]

Hows the hunt been going Did you find the cave