Buried "treasure" in Southeastern Pennsylvania

[SEPaMan]

He noticed the following object in the streambed. I'll just post the photos because I think they do the story better justice than any words.

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[SEPaMan]

The statue is bronze and the final picture of course illustrates its scale. My friend also took a video depicting the area of the find. The view begins upstream, then pans down to the spot where the lion was removed from the ground, and finally pans downstream.

[SEPaMan]

Here's my take on it. Obviously the statue was washed downstream, but from where? How long has it been in the water? Surely someone could wager a guess based on its level of oxidation. I hesitate to say it could have been the marker of the Lion's Tree, I always assumed that would be permanent & immobile, and my neighbor agrees. Moreover I don't want to face the idea that the location of the tree is now lost forever. But there's something else that wasn't considered, which is that the phrase "lion's pride" occurs several times in the grandfather's papers. We didn't think anything of it because we guessed it referred to the Lion's Tree, as in the Pride of the Lion, it's ego, arrogance, hubris, etc. Lions are frequently described as proud, and their poses in heraldry and statue show this. The phrase didn't stand out at the time. Now I wonder if "lion's pride" actually refers to the social and familial groups in which lions live, and that the Lion's Tree was intended to preside over a "pride" of lesser lions, arranged in a network like the other clues, maybe surrounding or leading toward the Lion's Tree. Consider how small the statue is; an array of such statues could be hidden in the ground, or under stones, or in tree knots, each one indicating or pointing toward the Tree, a sort of "failsafe" to ensure that treasure hunters (no matter how aimless) will be directed to the first major clue. They would have been spread out in a wide array so as to greatly increase the chances of encountering one. But because they are impermanent, unlike the Tree, and are light in comparison, over the years they were washed by rains and floods down to the forest streams and ultimately I suppose into the Reservoir. Anyway that's what my neighbor and I speculate. The lion could in the end just be a frustrating coincidence, a piece of junk from a thrift shop that somehow found its way into a roadside ditch somewhere upstream. What does everyone else think? I can tell you one thing for certain - my friend and I will be diligently walking the banks of the Neshaminy and its tributaries, looking for anything else washed out of the forest, hopefully this wasn't the fate of all the clues and treasures. I imagine the grandfather planned for erosion and buried things away from rivers and streams but a significant flood, like the kind produced by Hurricane Irene last year, could have easily undone all his careful work.

[doverturtle]

If that lion was a marker for the lion's tree, it could prove problematic for finding the correct tree.

[doverturtle]

SEPaMan, Can you give us some understanding of the extent of flooding last year at the reservoir?

[flyadive]

Found this on eBay for $39.00.
Looks similar
I have to speculate SEPaMan
The rock in the first photo look dry while the others are wet and muddy.
Probably due to your "friend" looking closely at it then put it back in the rocks for pictures.
Very nice find , any markings?
Hard to believe he found it without a metal detector but if your a Hawker looking for owl scat then it sounds legit. I have a friend who's a hawker but not into owls, he hunts rabbits with hawks , maybe I'll take him to Reading to hunt%

Sorry I miss read your post "sixTY" years.
My bad

[doverturtle]

Found this on eBay for $39.00.
Looks similar
I have to speculate SEPaMan
The rock in the first photo look dry while the others are wet and muddy.
Probably due to your "friend" looking closely at it then put it back in the rocks for pictures.
Very nice find , any markings?
Hard to believe he found it without a metal detector but if your a Hawker looking for owl scat then it sounds legit. I have a friend who's a hawker but not into owls, he hunts rabbits with hawks , maybe I'll take him to Reading to hunt%

Sorry I miss read your post "sixTY" years.
My bad

Nice find, flyadive! Similar? To me, it looks exactly the same. What are the odds that a bronze lion, found in a creek at Bradford Reservoir, exactly matches bronze lions that can be bought currently off of ebay?

[doverturtle]

I'm not an expert on bronze, but shouldn't a bronze statue that has been out in the weather since the 1980's have a green patina? Especially since it has been in the creek since, most likely, the last big flood.

[newport74]

Omg...what are the odds that sepa's freind finds a lion while looking for Owls....sounds credible

[SEPaMan]

Frankn - As I've written many times before, my neighbor and I believe that his grandfather intended to pass along the proper clues to his family but died suddenly before doing so, leaving behind half-finished clues and cryptic notes that must be examined carefully for any relevant information. As for the bizarre circumstances of his burial, he was an eccentric apparently fascinated by the Anglo-Saxons, not an "outlaw". How many people who died in the 80s could have that archaic term applied to them anyway?

flyadive - Great catch! So strange, the description states that the lions are from Tibet. Does anyone have an ebay account? I'm thinking we could contact the seller and find out when and where the lions were made. I'll ask my neighbor if his grandfather ever traveled to Asia, maybe he brought some back as souvenirs? Keen eye for the pictures flyadive, at first I thought he moved the stone in the first pic to get a closer shot for the second, now I think he pulled the lion out of the ground before he realized he should have gotten some in situ photographs. And to think he'll have a master's in archaeology within two years! I guess treasure hunting brings out the excited little kid in the best of us.

doverturtle - I was thinking the same thing. We have some nearby "McMansions" with decorative copper roofs on their dormers and they were as green as the Statue of Liberty less than a year after they went up. Perhaps the lion was more recently washed into the stream from a dry location? Thing is I can't think of any storms this year significant enough to have eroded much ground in the woodlands above the stream, it must have come from a spot closer to the water, maybe not even from within the forest. The following image is similar to that in post #585 but it more clearly depicts the source or "headwaters" of the stream; it rises in the Fairway Golf Course and crosses southwest under Street Road before entering the forest north of the Reservoir. The lake in the Fairways is fed by numerous creeks and washes, some of which are seasonally wet while others are wet year-round. The golf course and environs are surrounded by residential neighborhoods. It's possible the lion came from anywhere along the watershed.



To answer your other question, the following image is my estimation of the water level during the flood produced by Hurricane Irene, based on my own observations of the height at which mud and detritus was deposited in the trees. I'll see if I can find a picture of it for you. The amount of water was incredible, I think it was amazing that the dam didn't fail but then again I'm no civil engineer.



As usual my paranoia kicks in, and I wonder if a treasure hunter is hot on the trail somewhere else, having planted the lion to throw us off the scent.

[dogpound]

He noticed the following object in the streambed. I'll just post the photos because I think they do the story better justice than any words.

o.k. now this is getting deep..........

[releventchair]

An bug scientist could guess time in water. Left shoulder and leg crustation result of hellgramite type insect/larva.?a season or two in running water. Irene close enough. Somebody sell tickets,stampede coming. Upstream. rock tossing and rabbit cannons. You,ll know i,ve arrived when you here screams!.most northern reach of creek before turning east is my claim! You all have three other compass points from barrow. well what are you waiting for?

[cw0909]

i bought a small bronze owl for my mom,a few yrs back the cost was a few dollars,under 10$
i bought it at, i think the place was called the world bazaar,it was in a mall.the statues come
from china,and bought by the 100-500 lots and sold cheap
Cast Bronze/brass Lion - Buy Cast Bronze Lion,Cast Brass Lion,Metal Lion Sculpture Product on Alibaba.com

[cw0909]

relevent,when you get there look for one of thes ,tree carvings,done by chain saw i think

[cw0909]

almost forgot what i wanted to post

i missed this b4,
excerpt from SEPaMan post #64( and deeds to unnamed properties, all scattered across Warrington )
well hunters if your really bored, you could drive around town,
you might spot the lions tree, maybe there is one of these around
http://www.thelogcrafter.com/mountainlion-ftcollins.jpg
http://www.lions.owenkl.com/Cartoons...ElkheartIN.jpg
another idea,
Lion Collision Center
Google Maps

[SEPaMan]

newport74, what are the chances that a person scouring a riverbed into which all earth erodes from a forest where the ground is supposedly filled with treasure and treasure-clues, the most prominent of which is specifically described as being leonine, actually finds a lion? Apparently not too slim. What are the chances that certain forum members are concerned this recent discovery may give other treasure hunters an advantage they themselves do not have? Not too slim either in my opinion. Unfortunately for you, I will not be deterred, and I suspect I'm not the only one. The attempts to eliminate competition are all too obvious.

[releventchair]

It fits! Cwo9o9. Sepa, birder friend has good eye too. One picture looks like lions mane is hair(hmm like rabbit),looking for owl pellets,usually under a place to roost,a trained eye could catch that. Did he have to work a bit to clean off that shoulder? That s only convincing proof it had been there awhile,hard to fake unless someone way to patient.

[SEPaMan]

dogpound - I'd say the water was about thirty feet deep in the area of the stream (north forest). I'm looking through my files right now for the pictures of the mud deposits, hopefully we can estimate height.

releventchair - A season or two? doverturtle thinks otherwise, but then again oxidation level depends on the ratio of metals in the alloy, right? Maybe it's been out of water longer than we guess, that stream is frequently dry, it could have been carried downstream during heavy rains but spent most of its time in the banks above the water level.

cw0909 - Do you know how old the Chinese statues are? Nice pic too, there's a carving just like that near the intersection of Street Road and Honora Street, near where the stream goes under the road, but it's a horse.

[SEPaMan]

cw0909, wonderful find, a lion carved from a tree could certainly be called a Lion's Tree! Where were those photos taken?

[releventchair]

In water a season or two. Oxidation requires oxygen. Not sure of water content where found,minerals,limestone ect. Were something like lion in fluctuating water a few years should be rough but i have no proof. An undercut bank or severe erosion on a turn in creek bank or above could have washed it out and tumbled it out of its wrapping or container. Thus my upstream claim. Hope your up in there before dark or this night.h.h.