Teach me, oh wise ones:

[Libralabsoldier]

Ok, now that I have a good detector, good digger, and a passable pinpointer (my harbor freight one, not the one another anonymous member is sending me) I need some pointers before I step out of the tot lot and go to the great wide open.

I live in Apache, OK 73006. I know that Frank James lived out here in Fletcher, but I believe most of his stuff has been recovered. There was a story in the town archives from a first hand account of an old timer witnessing FJ digging up a cache.

I need to know how to dig a good plug, and where I should hunt. I guess I will try my yard first, since my house was built in 1940, and the town has been here since the 1890s.

 

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[RiverRat3]

Check out YouTube and put in metal detecting. You will see many holes dug but the best plug to dig is the one you can't tell you dug after filling your hole. Try a few digs in your yard first.

 

[Libralabsoldier]

I did that a good bit last year, and did some digging in Dallas. I know the rules: Always dig carefully, refill your holes, and leave things better than you found them.

I guess what I am also asking is how to do research to find good dig sites. I really want to find some GOLD!

 

[Red James Cash]

I guess what I am also asking is how to do research to find good dig sites. I really want to find some GOLD!

One good way is to get a hold of a copy of The WPA guide to your state. Its the federal project writers guide that came into being in the 1930s.The U.S. government sent unemployed writers and researchers to every state in the country to gather information and stories on the towns, cities, people, legends, folklore and attractions of that state.Just about everything you can name is in it.Theres lots of information in it,I have one to my state.Very interesting.

 

[Libralabsoldier]

Thanks Red! I have access to a college library, so I may be able to get a free copy. OF course, there is an island in Lake Ellsworth that is called "Treasure Island" that I am sort of interested in.

 

[Red James Cash]

No problem pal,hope you find a copy there.I imagine you will. By luck i found mine in the neighbor hood thrift store.Its a pretty good size book,the one to massachusetts has 650 or so pages.The book will even take you on a town to town tour.

 

[Libralabsoldier]

I came across the stuff about Frank James in the town archives. The old lady at the town museum likes me. She wants me to find some "history" so she can put it in the museum. She did not want the fractured Bennington marble I found though.

If I find gold, she is out of luck!

 

[Red James Cash]

If frank and jesse were in oklahoma it will be in the book.Figure those writers got some stories from some old timers back in the 30s,some could of been reading stories in the papers about the james gang.Theres a story or two in the Mass book about captain kidd. So there are treasure stories in it.

 

[PAPPYGOL]

the thing about gold. it could be right in your own front yard. but you have to dig some pull tabs to get the gold. thick pieces of foil too. just when you think you have a pull tab or foil under your coil out pops a gold ring. honest to goodness. everyone will tell you. if your not digging beaver tails and those other rings of aluminum. you wont be digging any rings of gold either

 

[RGINN]

Good to see you're back in action. For research, get 'Carbine & Lance, the Story of Old Ft. Sill' by W.S. Nye. And for inspiration, 'Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales' by Steve Wilson. You're probably already familiar with those by now. Other than that....are you familiar with that fire road as they call it that runs around the east side of Mt. Scott? It starts at the Cedar planting south of Meers. That was part of an old trail coming into the mountains from the north, which has mostly been forgotten now. Can't detect, and can't collect, but very interesting if you know what to look for and get off the beaten path. Best of luck, and good hunting!

 

[Libralabsoldier]

Pappy, that is the great thing about having started out with an old detector...I dig everything. No exceptions. I have even gotten to where I can sort of date the pull tabs. My wife says I am getting a little obsessed.

RG, I am doing a bit of research about Cache Creek in Lawton. It was named that for a reason, back when the Comanches and Kiowas were regularly raiding and killing. People would cache their valuables in the creek bank.

I am also looking into gold prospecting and nugget hunting, but so far the wife has been saying NO.

Considering I am about to sit for my teaching license, and have some other things in the fire, I may have to stay in pure research mode for a while.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I did that a good bit last year, and did some digging in Dallas. I know the rules: Always dig carefully, refill your holes, and leave things better than you found them.

I guess what I am also asking is how to do research to find good dig sites. I really want to find some GOLD!

Read soldier, read! Lol. The internet is full of info. Find the local diner and visit in the morning. Every local diner has a table of old timers that shoot the pooh every day. Introduce yourself and ask them questions. Most of them will be glad to talk to you. You want to find Gold you say? Rings or nuggets? If it's rings, your machine wont have any trouble picking them up. but if it's nuggets you crave, then you'll need a gold detector. Use your imagination. Where would you dwell if a horse and buggy were all you had for transportation? I don't know about you, but I certainly would want to be on high ground near a water source eh? Big old trees are a spot humans are attracted to. Whether it was kids playing around them with their silver coins, or a wounded soldier resting (or dying) next to them. If you chose to detect around water, be sure your away from the consistent flood line. It's better to dig ONE horseshoe shape plug than 5 small ones chasing the target. Have fun, find loads!

 

[baylorhall]

Glad to see that you are feeling good enough to get out there and dig! Hope you find something cool!

 

[Libralabsoldier]

Hey Baylor! Yeah, doing much better. Saw the PT doctor today. I have been given some exercises by a fitness phreak. I also had to explain to her that MDing does not put unwarranted stain on my back.

 

[Frankn]

Get together with someone on t net that does research. Here's a tip about the WPA . Go to the library of congress ,picture archives on line. They show all the pictures that were taken by the WPA. Also dig up the map& topo dept of your state. That way you can see if an area has been developed before you go or really get deep in research. You have a lot of loot out their. You have the lost treasure cave of Chief Blackface. That is in eastern OK. That's wooden barrels filled with gold bars. You have the Iron Door treasure in the Wichita's, around Devils Canyon if I recall correctly. You have the Burro-Shoe treasure of Jesse James. That was $2M in gold in 1876. That is buried near a town called Cement in the south central part of OK. That's on highway 277 a few miles east of the old H.E. Bailey Turnpike. That should be enough to get you started. Good hunting , Frank

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[Libralabsoldier]

Frank, I live about ten miles from Cement. I have substitute taught out in Cyril. I am getting to know this area. I am also familiar with the James brothers and tales of their stuff around here. I have read the town archives and there is one story about Frank James digging up one of his caches in a wagon track. I am going to do some archiving tomorrow.

 

[Frankn]

Hay soldier, I live in Maryland and it's a long drive so just send me one of those gold bars when you find it. There are 20 burro loads. I would estimate that is over $20M today easy, so you won't even miss the one bar. LOL

On March $ they entered indian territory [ later Oklahoma] and on march4 made camp on Cache Creek in the vicinity south of the present town of cement,Ok. Here they had to decide what to do with the heavy gole bullion and the loot they were carrying from the previous raid. They agreed to bury it because the weight would slow them down. The site selected was a small arroyo near a solitary cottonwood tree. A brass bucket was buried near the cache, but not as deep.Rocks were scattered over the area. A mule shoe was hammered into the tree. The pack saddles were removed from the burros and burned then buried. Frank looked for the treasure 30 years later, but things had changed and he couldn't locate it. Around 1938 the burned pack saddles and brass bucket were found, but the gold is still there! I last saw this story published in1973. Good luck Sodier, Frank

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[Libralabsoldier]

Ok, I will check around Cement and see if I can figure out where the brass bucket and pack saddles were found. However, that area has a LOT of meth heads and rattlesnakes (and the snakes are of sweeter disposition) so I may have to detect carrying my big old Smith and Wesson Model 10.

Tweakers are one of my least favorite varieties of vermin.

If I found the gold, I would probably have to recache it and sit on it to keep possible "heirs" or thieves or the IRS from trying to stake a claim to it.

I would probably have to get my wife to hide it so I would not blab.

Unfortunately, I do not think I could ship you a gold bar, so you may have to drive down from Maryland, and then fly home!

 

[RGINN]

Research, research, research. Read all you can. Cache Creek was named by French trappers in the 1700's. Wichitas lived in that area at the time and they were farmers. They would store food in bell shaped pits dug into the bank along the creek and the French found these, thus the name. Otter Creek over in Kiowa County would be a good place to try panning later on when you get time. I haven't found any gold, but panned up a lot of 'black sand'. Lots of magnetite in the area that can give a detector fits, too. You're in a great spot down there, and I'm lookin forward to seein what you turn up. (Be alert for rattlers, too!) GH!

 

[Libralabsoldier]

I spent all day researching James Gang stuff. It drives me NUTS that some of these people found items like the Copper Pail and small caches, but never found the big prize. They even found EVIDENCE of the big prize.....I am getting itchy.