bigscoop
Gold Member
- Jun 4, 2010
- 13,373
- 8,689
- Detector(s) used
- Older blue Excal with full mods, Equinox 800.
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
This may interest you? It's about a little discussed true TREASURE mystery!
The term “Treasure Hunting” covers a wide range of pursuits and each of us has that personal treasure quest, or at the very least, that personal area of interest where our deepest treasure hunting passions lay. For some it might be finding relics from the Civil War while others dream of finding pieces of expensive jewelry or rare coins. This is one of the truly great things about our hobby because it is something that can be fashioned completely around our personal areas of interest. Perhaps no other hobby, at least none that I can think of off the top of my head, can be applied to so many individual areas of deep interest. So if you’ll indulge me please allow me to share with you where my own highly sought prizes reside. Perhaps you might find it interesting or even be able to help me in my personal quest of these things?
Like a lot of treasure hunters out there I’ll hunt for just about anything as every time I go out into the field it provides me with another unique adventure that helps keep those treasure hunting flames burning. But my true quest resides in an area that is very seldom discussed or talked about. Now I suspect this lack of conversation and discussion is because the topic isn’t fully understood or realized and that the available information in regards to this topic is, at best, very thin. And I also suspect that given all the current obstacles of today perhaps this quest might even seem a bit unrealistic or even too uncertain to pursue. But it is my personal area of deep interest and it is something I have continued to pursue at every chance. What I’m offering below is just a quick glimpse into my personal area of deep treasure hunting interest, the first two accounts I came across several years ago and they got my juices flowing. Feel free to offer your thoughts, insights, and hopefully, your shared interest in this topic.
Documented excerpts:
Florida, Fontaneda (written in 1575):
“They were sending us to Spain to be educated when we were shipwrecked on the Florida coast; as well as the Fleet from New Spain…..”
“The country of the King of Ais and of Jaega is very poor. It contains neither gold nor silver mines, and, to tell the truth, it is only the sea which enriches it, since many vessels laden with precious metals are shipwrecked there; such as the Farfan, and the Howeker.”
“…That he was only a sailor on one of the shipwrecked vessels of the fleet, and totally ignorant of the fate of the rest until after he had talked with the Indians who went to the coast of ais and returned with very considerable riches, in the form of ingots of gold, sacks of Spanish coins, and quantities of merchandise…..”
“,,,to speak of the wealth which the Indians found in bars of gold and Mexican jewelry belonging to the shipwrecked passengers, amounting to more then a million. The chief retained the best part of it for himself, and divided the remainder among the Indians of Ais, of Jaega, of Guacata, of Mayajuaca, and of Mayaca. Most of the vessels or caravels, as I stated before, which had been shipwrecked there were from Cuba and Honduras….”
Florida; Le Moyne (Written in 1564):
“They also reported that he (King Calos or Carlos) possessed a great store of gold and silver, and that he kept in a certain village in a pit not less than a man’s height in depth, and as large as a cask……”
“They said further, that, when the women met for the purpose of dancing, they were, hanging at their girdles, flat plates of gold as large as quoits, and in such numbers that the weight fatigued and inconvenienced them in dancing; and that the mew were similarly loaded. The greater part of this wealth, they were of the opinion, came from Spanish ships, of which numbers are wrecked in the strait: the rest from trade between the king and other chiefs in the neighborhood. Calos is on a river forty or fifty miles beyond the promontory of Florida that looks toward the south.”
There are other documented accounts in regards to these early Spanish and Florida Indian treasures, and this is where my deepest treasure hunting passion lays, to find any of it within reach that might still remain. In having long since encountered, and also realizing, the full scope of the obstacles before me, (i.e., modernization, limited or restricted access to areas of interest, etc.,) to me these items are considered top prize above all else. This entire era fascinates me to no end, many of the items having traveled from distant lands only to be lost on the coast of Florida and scattered about the region by the hands of ancient Indian civilizations. What a rich and fascinating history! Just sharing my passion.
The term “Treasure Hunting” covers a wide range of pursuits and each of us has that personal treasure quest, or at the very least, that personal area of interest where our deepest treasure hunting passions lay. For some it might be finding relics from the Civil War while others dream of finding pieces of expensive jewelry or rare coins. This is one of the truly great things about our hobby because it is something that can be fashioned completely around our personal areas of interest. Perhaps no other hobby, at least none that I can think of off the top of my head, can be applied to so many individual areas of deep interest. So if you’ll indulge me please allow me to share with you where my own highly sought prizes reside. Perhaps you might find it interesting or even be able to help me in my personal quest of these things?
Like a lot of treasure hunters out there I’ll hunt for just about anything as every time I go out into the field it provides me with another unique adventure that helps keep those treasure hunting flames burning. But my true quest resides in an area that is very seldom discussed or talked about. Now I suspect this lack of conversation and discussion is because the topic isn’t fully understood or realized and that the available information in regards to this topic is, at best, very thin. And I also suspect that given all the current obstacles of today perhaps this quest might even seem a bit unrealistic or even too uncertain to pursue. But it is my personal area of deep interest and it is something I have continued to pursue at every chance. What I’m offering below is just a quick glimpse into my personal area of deep treasure hunting interest, the first two accounts I came across several years ago and they got my juices flowing. Feel free to offer your thoughts, insights, and hopefully, your shared interest in this topic.
Documented excerpts:
Florida, Fontaneda (written in 1575):
“They were sending us to Spain to be educated when we were shipwrecked on the Florida coast; as well as the Fleet from New Spain…..”
“The country of the King of Ais and of Jaega is very poor. It contains neither gold nor silver mines, and, to tell the truth, it is only the sea which enriches it, since many vessels laden with precious metals are shipwrecked there; such as the Farfan, and the Howeker.”
“…That he was only a sailor on one of the shipwrecked vessels of the fleet, and totally ignorant of the fate of the rest until after he had talked with the Indians who went to the coast of ais and returned with very considerable riches, in the form of ingots of gold, sacks of Spanish coins, and quantities of merchandise…..”
“,,,to speak of the wealth which the Indians found in bars of gold and Mexican jewelry belonging to the shipwrecked passengers, amounting to more then a million. The chief retained the best part of it for himself, and divided the remainder among the Indians of Ais, of Jaega, of Guacata, of Mayajuaca, and of Mayaca. Most of the vessels or caravels, as I stated before, which had been shipwrecked there were from Cuba and Honduras….”
Florida; Le Moyne (Written in 1564):
“They also reported that he (King Calos or Carlos) possessed a great store of gold and silver, and that he kept in a certain village in a pit not less than a man’s height in depth, and as large as a cask……”
“They said further, that, when the women met for the purpose of dancing, they were, hanging at their girdles, flat plates of gold as large as quoits, and in such numbers that the weight fatigued and inconvenienced them in dancing; and that the mew were similarly loaded. The greater part of this wealth, they were of the opinion, came from Spanish ships, of which numbers are wrecked in the strait: the rest from trade between the king and other chiefs in the neighborhood. Calos is on a river forty or fifty miles beyond the promontory of Florida that looks toward the south.”
There are other documented accounts in regards to these early Spanish and Florida Indian treasures, and this is where my deepest treasure hunting passion lays, to find any of it within reach that might still remain. In having long since encountered, and also realizing, the full scope of the obstacles before me, (i.e., modernization, limited or restricted access to areas of interest, etc.,) to me these items are considered top prize above all else. This entire era fascinates me to no end, many of the items having traveled from distant lands only to be lost on the coast of Florida and scattered about the region by the hands of ancient Indian civilizations. What a rich and fascinating history! Just sharing my passion.
Arrrgh, The Spanish, hearing of other tribes with wealth, formed a force of soldiers who went to the villages and plundered them. After enslaving all who were not killed they loaded the treasure aboard the next fleet and sent it along with the surviving Indians to Spain where they were hung and the gold given to the King. 
