Incass treasures

[Vox veritas]

Incas's treasures

In all the countries of Inca influence (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and possibly Brazil and Paraguay) they were hidden immense treasures. It is interesting to begin a new topic about this.

 

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[lamar]

Re: Incas's treasures

Estimado Vox Veritas (Dear True Voice)
Por favor, sigues adelante con esta topico nuevo, mi don (Please, proceed with this new topic, my lord). Tengo harto interest en los tesoros perdidos de las tribos incas ( I am very interested in the lost treasures of the Incan tribes). Posiblimiente, Vd. puedes colaborar conmigo sobre esos tesoros. (Perhaps you can collaborate with me on these treasures). Gracias y un mil gracias mas (Thank you and one thousand more thank yous).
Su serviente humilde (Your humble servant)
LAMAR

 

[Cubfan64]

Re: Incas's treasures

Vox - I've always been very interested in Inca treasure legends. I hope to visit the area one of these years! Please feel free to share any stories or interesting information you may have!

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Re: Incas's treasures

Caballeros y los otros, los buscadores de los intierros, bien venidos. Desgraciamente, este no se encuenta de mis conocimientos.

Gentlemen, and treasure hunters welcome. Unfortunately this isn't in my field of expertise./ knowledge.

However, Let's get to cracking.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Philvis]

Re: Incas's treasures

My wife is Peruvian and I visit Peru about every other year. Next year I am going back. She has some family in Northern Peru and when I was talking to them last summer when I was there, they told me there was gold on there property and that they expect me to come up to do some searching next time we visit. I personally think that there is plenty of secreted Inca treasures to be found in the North and elsewhere in Peru.

Peru is a gold mine, literally. You just have to be careful and understand that searching for treasure caches is much different than finding archaeologically important materials. I am going to try to do some research on treasure galleons and any wrecks that may have occurred off the coast and do some detecting on the beaches in those areas. Callao was the important port in Lima, but it can be a dangerous place to detect nowadays. Lots of muggers out there.

 

[Daryl Friesen]

Re: Incas's treasures

Here is some information about a treasure in Ecuador.

The Lost Treasure of the inca
www.spindlequest.com/ecuador.html

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Incas's treasures

Have you searched for this one Daryl?

Clayton

 

[Daryl Friesen]

Re: Incas's treasures

Hello,

No I have not searched for this one. I hope to be making my way to South America for a recon trip sometime in the future.

Daryl

www.spindlequest.com/mine4.html

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

Vox, I just wrote a post, however it was too long, so I’m writing again and will break it into chapters for several posts. To make it easy, let’s call them Plazuela1, 2, 3, etc. My spelliong will be wrong on locations, as I don’t have my papers near me. Anyway, I love this topic as it is near to my heart, as is Bolivia. It’s been twenty years since I’ve last been to Bolivia, but should you decide to go, I’ sure you’d find it to be the adventure of a lifetime (if not your last adventure!)

I was contacted over twenty years ago by a gentleman and life long adventurer, Richard “Bud” Gustin, and asked over the phone if I would be interested in going to Bolivia to search for a treasure. Bud was looking for someone who was familiar with the twin box, and the east coast representative of White’s would always recommend me, as I used one. Without hesitation I answered “yes”!

Our group consisted of four men, Bud, myself (john Irwin), a mine man named Nick Joslin (who is is sadly now diseased, and peter Steinlickner, a “Swizter” who would trade in raw gemstones, and who spoke the native quechua, and who is believed to be diseased also.

Bud had spent years researching the legend of the Plazuela treasure, going so far as to research the library of Madrid. The treasure itself , as you may already know, was believed to have been secreted by Spanish priests in a cave cut in a hillside. Te cave was supposedly dug by the local Indians who were murdered afterwards. The cave was believed to be sealed with an “iron door” and the interior laced with arsenic.
The treasure itself was believed to consisted of chests of silver and gold, and a “Madonna with diamond eyes”.

Two attempts were made to find this treasure; one in the 1800’s, and another in the 1920’s. A small party went again in the 1960’s equipped with only a twin box, but their venture was cut short by rain and they only stayed half a day. They found one piece of bronze which has mistakenly been represented as “possibly a part of other treasure attempts.” This is not the case, as I will explain later.

We have since read that a National geographic expedition may have been made to plazuela after us, though we have yet to confirm it. As we were introduced as “doctors” to the locals (doctors command respect) it may be that this caused confusion. At any rate the Indians and “mayor” of the tow of inquisibe told us we were the first to arrive since the 1960’s.

We crossed the Yungas, climbed the elevation of the Andes, finally to descend into the more lush Cordelera which contained the tributaries to the Amazon. We arrived at the nearest village to the Plazuela by truck along what is referred to as “the death road”. This was in the days before it was rebuilt, and there were constant markers and crosses along the route to confirm it’s name. From there we descended by mule the steep mountainside and into the valley, and from there we traveled twenty miles by mule along the river bed, having to cross on numerous occasions.

 

[johnnyi]

plazuela part 2

We hired an Indian (quechua ) to guide us down the river, where after losing one mule to the waters 9it survived but we lost supplies and the twin box was damaged) we arrived at the jungle plateau where the Inquisibe met the rio Negro. On the high plateau above us hidden in jungle overgrowth was the remains of the Spanish Plazuela.

The walls were four feet thick. There tunnels dug everywhere, as well as many holes dug in the ground nearby. We were told by the Indians that these had been made over a period of a couple hundred years by the Indians themselves. The Indians would pay a “witch” to devine the ground over what lay buried. We can confirm this as true, because around many of these holes there were artifacts, some very near the surface and easily found. A few examples I have shown here.

A steep hillside extended from the plateau up a half days climb to the summit. Upon arriving we found the remains of an Inca settlement built along this hillside, along with human bones jutting out of the soil. Many of the artifacts we found were found on this hill. I’ll include a photo of a few representative things we found. We found silver rings, silver pins, effigies, and a little gold. Some of this we had to leave in Bolivia.

On the plateau itself we found a huge amount of bronze slag, far too much for our mules to carry out. Near it we found broken bronze Spanish objects, all of this indicating a smelting operation. I had mentioned the piece of bronze found by the previous expedition in the 60’s. Here’s what I’ve surmised:

I found both plates of bronze identical to the one found in the sixty expedition in a steep aroya which descended down to the plateau. These plates were crudely drilled, and near them I discovered buried large crude rivets, as well as the iron “half shoes” of the design worn by Spanish oxen. I believe, perhaps in the rains, an oxen went down with it’s load in that aroya.

Here’s the interesting part; Further research has indicated that an Inca king had a house made of bronze. It is recorded that this was dismantled by the Spanish and transported “somewhere in central Bolivia” to cast a large bell. I believe these pieces of bronze may be part of the remains, and the slag some of the residue of this operation.

A further find of huge chains made on the last day further bolster this idea.

End part 2

I found the chains about a mile into the jungle buried two feet down. Each set of links spans three feet. One link contains the pin, which may very well have gone into a clay crucible. The age of the chains, the remoteness of the location, the lack of any large iron object to which they may have been attached further strengthen this supposition.

Despite all the slag, there was nothing there to indicate any final product. A bell, if there was one, has long since been removed.

That’s about it. After three weeks on the plateau the rains came and we also were forced to get out fast. We left a lot of bronze the mules couldn’t carry as we climbed the mountain on the opposite side of the river. We experienced avalanche along the death road, which further hampered our return.

I believe something has to be buried at or near Plazuela. Human nature itself would suggest individual caches were left behind, both belonging to the priests, and others perhaps belonging to Inca holdouts. The fact so much valuable bronze, which was clearly of Spanish origin, would suggest a fast retreat.

Neither Bud nor I intend to return to Plazuela (unless as Bud says, “it’s by heliocopter”. It is probably more dangerous now, both health-wise and politically then it was in those days (yet come to think of it, we did hear of a nearby missionary hacked to death by machete just prior to our visit) If you’re young and adventurous it is worth it though, if not for the treasure, for the experience. It is like going back into another age.

I’ll include the pictures in separate posts. One is of me at the summit of the Andes detecting before descending into the cordelera. Another is of Bud at the ruins, and another of us and the mules and guide. One is of the chains, and the other is a few of the objects we were allowed to take out.

 

[johnnyi]

plazuela pictures

I found the picture size is too big. I'll try to reduce them so I can post. I'll try again, but will have to rephotograph the chains and objects. here's me on top of the Andes and with the mules

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

sorry I can't get objects into picture. Here are a few of many. I have to rephotograph chains later

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

Bud in the ruins of the monestary

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Re: Incas's treasures

HOLA JOHNNY: I salute a fellow adventurer. I enjoyed your story and the pictures that you posted. I particularly enjoyed the fact that they were in black & white, since it backs up your story that it was in the past and not one of the guided tours of today..

I agree, one must take a trip similar to this at least once in their life to find themselves. I have been particularly fortunate in this respect, I have been at it since the 50's

Personally, I want more stories and pictures, good or bad.

I originally had a land grant of 10,000 Hect on one of the upper tributaries of the Amazon, in Brazil, but I was side tracked by getting married instead. I never picked up the grant, after all one does not take a new bride into the upper jungles at that time which was still basically unexplored and wild. Others that accepted similar grants now have their shrunken heads on display he he he

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

Hola to you too Jose! I'll tell you, I fell in love with your neck of the woods when I was there, and I am itching to get back for a tame visit someday. I've been down twice, the second trip a little closer to amazonia where I got sidetracked into a gold mining venture. I wish I'd gone back to Plazuela instead.

I imagine things have changed considerably in twenty years? When I was there you never saw a metal detector. Boy, it was wild and wooly then. I remember we could go into a hardware store and buy sticks of dynamite. Ha!.... And the morcelagos, am I spelling that right? , the little creatures that fly in the night and suck your blood, Ha! ha! How about the little fish in the tributaries that likes "swimming up stream" where no go christian fish should go! Oh man, I miss that place big time!

Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I've been procrastinating about ever writing it down, and this is as good a place as any. There's lots more that happened but I didn't want to overstay my welcome. Bud did manage to film the whole thing, as well as the mining venture, but he too is a procrastinator when it comes to writing, so it just sits there. About those shrunken heads, poor Peter may have joined them, as he used to run the stones through some rough areas to and from Brazil back then , and since, he has fallen off the map. Oh my, and Peter's got our dredge.

Good luck detecting my friend. It's been shotgun shells, wine caps, and mosquitoes so far for me today.

 

[truckinbutch]

Re: Incas's treasures

I really doubt that anyone here will consider you long winded .
Please share more with us .
Jim

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

Ha! Thanks truckinbutch. I'm sitting here waiting for the old truck battery to charge, so I'll write for a second or two. There was one little instance that happened which is kind of funny. One afternoon we spotted people coming towards us from across the dry river bed perhaps a mile away. we hadn't seen a soul for a couple of weeks, other than a few local indians who stopped through. Thery'd been mining gold across the mountains. We saw the group of perhaps twenty men, all had dirt bikes. We were pretty vulnerable out there in the middle of nowhere, so we put our one one pistol ( a pitiful ruger 22, but it looked big if you didn't look at it head on) and our one shotgun in eyesight, just as a little hint to anyone who might want to mess around.

It took about an hour for the men to arrive at our camp. I can say honestly they were the toughest guys I had even seen (and I've seen some tough ones). They were Bolivian, short of stature, but man, were they tough. They belonged to a motorcycle "gang", I can't remember the name, maybe some south american on the board can remind me...their "patch" was a witch doing a "wheely" on a dirt bike. It turns out they were after the record for crossing Bolivia into brazil, and where we were located was the easiest pass through the mountians.

One man had a broken ankle he's suffered on the trip, yet he rode. A few more were cut up from going down. They were the nicest guys in the world! We shared what we had and they shared what they had...corn kernals soaked in water to eat, and some of the strongest white lightning I've ever tasted in my life! I only had a "glass" of it, but it was strong stuff. I stood on the edge of the plateau to take a leak that night and got dizzy, reached for the nearest thing near me (a cactus), and were it not for the cactus, would not be here today.

Anyway, these guys had to go up the aroya with the bikes. It was very narrow in places, very steep, and throughout the entire night they dug the aroya wider to get the bikes through. All night long, with some of our help, our shovels, and the help of two indians who has "adopted us" by that time, they made it. They gave us each a patch sticker of the group's which I proudly displayed on my back truck window when I came home, until the day I accidently left my keys in the truck and had to bust the window out. Now I'm gettiong long winded, and I guess have to see if the darn truck will start.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Re: Incas's treasures

MORE MORE MORE my friend. Good to hear that there are still some escapists like us still around. As for me, I will take a good mule any time before a bike in the back country. Many times they are faster he he he .

To get to Tayopa, you leave Yecora, go west to the crest of the sierra ( Mesa Campanera) then turn left (S) on a very interesting dirt road It is 55 kilometers (35 mi.) long but takes 5 1/2 - 6 hours and a 5# bag of hard candy in good weather.

From Yecora by mule, you merely drop down in one of the Rio Mayo's drainages then go basically south for 3 - 5 hrs. to where the Tayopa arroyo exits then up the barranca.

At one spot you are literally straddling the crest of the range. The road is perhaps 35 ft wide and drops off to the West for some 900 ft with a 8o% grade. To the East, it is the same except that it is only 700 ft. It is not as dangerous as your old road was.

The view to the west is fantastic, I calculate that you are gazing at over some 2000 - 3000 sq miles. Very sparsely habitated. To the East it is perhaps only 500 sq miles since you are looking at the backbone of the next line of the sierras.

I love to watch the thunderstorms and rains squalls moving over the lower country.

Another difference is that we are covered with a dense growth of Pine and oak and loaded with game..I have seen flocks of 1 - 200 wild turkey on the road. They just mill around heheeh They are brownish with a few black ones.

I still want to go fish for peacock Bass.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[johnnyi]

Re: Incas's treasures

Real de Tayopa, what wonderful description of an area I did not get to see. You are familiar with the roads back in those days, and it's a pleasure to talk to someone who remembers them! Speaking of the "death road" I witnessed something on that road which is worth mention. Riding from La Paz to the last stop we road those old volvo buses, the ones where if you sat in the back you'd litterally be hanging out over that drop you talked about. After that stop it was necesary for us to hitch a truck that made its way through the mountains once a week along the death road.

As you know so well, those trucks were filled until the leaf springs went flat, and this one was no exception. We crowded in that night with all our equipment, and with about fifteen or twenty Inca women, a zillion skirts and all. That night in the middle of nowhere the truck stopped in the mountans and we were all told to get out. The men and women scrambled up the hillsides and came back with pumpkins! The truck was loaded to the top with pumpkins and we all rode on top. The leafs were bent backward at that point.

Here's the cool part though, and something that involved the Bolivian ingenuity. There had been rains that night and the usual mudslides. The truck stopped, and in front of us was a huge boulder that had rolled down from above. Below was a drop of perhaps six or seven hundred feet straight down, with the road cut clean into the hillside. There was not enough room for us to pass.

Stupidly, and I mean stupidly, I suggested something. Beyond us up the slope there were cut trees, the aromatic ones who's name I forget off hand, lying about. I don't know why they happened to be there, but I suggested we lay them parallel to the road, with the ends hanging over the edge a foot or foot and a half. All the men and women worked to do this, laying the logs and shoveling dirt over them.

The driver of the trruck was an indian, very short, could barely see over the dash, and his legs barely reached the pedals. When he was about to get in the truck an aged indian woman began shouting. We learned through Peter she was saying her son would be killed. She said it wouldn't work. She was probably right. The next thing that happened was remarkable. The indians ripped up the road we had just built; took what humble piece of patched spare tire they had, fuel, and begain building a fire on the side of the boulder that faced the dropoff. All the logs were used to make the blaze which burned most of the night.

While we waited we heard "pop" "pop" "pop", which was the surface of the boulder expoloding bit by bit. We used our picks to beat it intermitently until eventual this boulder, the size of a small car, was a foot narrower. Our job, the cleanup which we deserved, was to shovel the red
hot ash and coals over the edge of the cliff, and it was a sight I will never forget. Showers of sparks.

Everyone loaded back on to the truck. I'm embarased to say, everyone but us. Not only did we not climb aboard, but we took our supplies off. The aged mother of the driver fell to her knees crying and praying. The truck managed to inch by the boulder with one split wheel hanging over the side, and the other side of the truck scraping the edge of the boulder. It made it, we climbed back on with our tails between our legs, and that was that.

That's the only part of that first adventure that didn't come out on tape. It's shows just as sparks and darkness. Anyway, don't get me going! The more we talk about Bolivia the more I miss her, and the more I remember what it was like to come home to the tameness of this fast paced life of ours!

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Re: Incas's treasures

Fascinating story my friend, Sheesh, that was exactly how they originally mined in the Americas, fire.

I now work the North Western Barrancas of Mexico, many are still basically unknown today even though I continually find evidence of the Spanish having penetrated in every area, areas That today have no one except an occasional Indian family or bandits.

Of course the narcos are slowly entering to plant their crops.for our silly consuming America public.

The road to Tayopa in no way, can compare to your "road of death" I have seen pictures of it.--->

http://worldmysteries9.blogspot.com/2009/02/bolivian-road-of-death.html

Don Jose de la Mancha