Potter County questions and thoughts

[deepskyal]

Hi all,
I just decided to get back into Md'in in the last few weeks. Been a bunch of years since i've been out of it.

For you Potter County folks, I have a couple questions.

What has stopped you guys from persuing all the goodies down below Austin...besides the rattlers and bears?
It's been a number of years since I've been up there and don't know how much the area has changed since..say maybe the mid 80's...but i'm talking with a couple guys about making a trek up thata way and check it out.

I used to go to the Lindy Motel every year for years, being a fisherman, but I had the detecting bug later and never got to do anything below the dam.

I do know there is a Borie Valley...i was there....but there ain't no big rocks there.
Howerever, Ayer's Hill is in the midst of the valley and does have a very interesting cemetary there. Off to one corner of it is a marker of a slave that went something like..."Here lies (dont remember the name, my memory failure) he was a good slave."

If the gold kegs were indeed buried near a big rock, I think it was more likely towards Roulette. That area is littered with rocks as big as houses, or well...big rocks anyhow. The problem with finding the cross etched in it is the moss and whatever that has grown over them, making finding a marker impossible.

Any of you guys detect around the old tannery in Roulette? I remember fishing across the road from it. Is it even still there?

Just want to add...Potter county is by far the most beautiful county I ever was at.

I camped at Cherry Springs a couple times in the last 3 years for star parties. What awesome skies.
Bears were a nusance while we camped but the park guys did a good job of keeping them away, out from the perimeter.

looking forward to hearing from you guys.
Al

 

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[lumbercamp]

Flood waters can bury relics rather deep. Since the 1911 flood we have had floods in '36 and '42. Along with Agnes in '72 and run-off from snow melt the treasures would be buried very deep in my opinion. But think off all the items that are still waiting to be found from the homes and business's in 1911. It is a long and narrow valley going through Costello and Wharton. A treasure hunters dream.

 

[deepskyal]

A dream indeed. I've been dreamin of this since the early 80's when I first started detecting.
Only wish I had kept it up. Now that I'm gettin old and achy, some arthritis settin in, it seems to be a challenge to attempt something like hiking and luggin a machine through that valley. But...I love challenges.

I just got an older machine, a white's 6000 series 2, and used it for the first time yesterday just to get the feel back. After 45 min found 2 quarters, 3 dimes, 6 pennies, all newer but not bad for the amount of pull tabs and iron in the area.

Wrist was a tad sore, had to keep switchin hands, but I really intend to give that valley a try.
At one time, years ago, I was working on a scale model of the topo of the area to get an idea where the heavy metals would have dropped.

I wasnt aware of the other floods tho.Thanks for that tid bit of info.

i personally think that would be benificial in removing debris from the surface, but i dont know what may have been carried into the area from runoff.

I love the area anyhow...just being up there hiking will be a tremendous pleasure.

 

[gods country girl]

hi deepskyal

I am from Potter County and you right it is beautiful country here.

I have never looked in the valley below Austin , but would probably be a great place to md.Supposed to be some small caches of jewelry that was never found after the 1911 flood.

There is also a lost payroll in the Austin area, that my pap told my brother and i about when we were kids.We were going to look for it and never did.

There are a few areas here that have very large rocks, i also agree that that treasure is not in the valley they call Borie , as it is to far from the Allegany.I had a theory about where it is and i thought it might be closer to Coudersport, but recently i have been looking around an area closer to where i live that has HUGE!! rocks.Some say the government is still looking for the Frenchman's Gold, and i almost believe they are.I have been looking around the area with the huge rocks and i have seen 3 times now suv's with government plates parked in the middle of nowhere , right near this area of huge rocks.I haven't come upon any people , so they must be looking in a different part of the hill than i am. It is definitely enough to make me want to search even harder in that area.

 

[DKinPA]

Hey Al,

I belong to a camp just above Wharton and I wanted to let you know that YES believe it or not the Old Tannery is still standing. I think it has changed owners several times over the past 10 years but it's still kickin'. I bet the dust on the deer heads is the same dust you saw the last time you were there.......LOL!!

Everytime we go to camp and travel north I look at the Austin Dam and think..."next fall I'm gonna spend a weekend at camp just to detect the valley" but it hasn't happened yet.

Maybe God's Country Girl can check properties below the dam and see it we have enough area to throw a little Potter party!!

HH

Dave

 

[deepskyal]

Hello gods country girl and DKinPa.
I'm takin a road trip this weekend to take pics of that valley below the dam.
I found my old topo maps of that area and was compairing it to the newer aerial photos and a couple spots perked my interest.
This is gonna be pretty much a dry run for me just so I can get a feel for the place.

I'm actually trying to get couple coworkers involved in this project. That valley IS wide, but I think the search area can be narrowed down just using plain logic. Still a lot of territory for all the treasures that were lost from the flood.

Years back I did some detecting around some of those big rocks in Roulette, figuring if they did portage to the Genesse, they would have unloaded it (the gold) before they made the cross country trek. I gave that up after a days effort produced absolutely nothing.
I'd really like to see the documentation of this trove.
The one of the buried plates in the Allegheny is well documented and i saw copies in the Pittsburgh Historical Societies files. The plates arent in Potter but I was simply making the point of documenting things.

But anyhow...I think the more the merrier in an effort to uncover Austin's lost treasures. We all know it's there...and especially the safes. Being in the ground for so many years...I bet they'd make a detector sing, even at 6 or 8 feet.
Figure they were probably cast iron..how they would rust...the halo they would be emitting....
I know with my old detector, I dug a rotted beer can at almost 2 feet.....and thats just a can!....and that sung loud and clear on my machine.

Keep in touch ....I'll keep you guys posted and if we want to do a group thing...that'd be even better.

I do have one guy at work totally phsyced on the idea.

I want to be like the land version of Mel Fisher.....finding the lost treasures of Austin instead of the Spanish fleet. It took him years...and it might take me some time...but I'm a persistant buggard. I think the time spent on this could pay off in the end.

Talk to you folks later and hope to meet someday.
Al

 

[DKinPA]

Hey Al, good luck on your trip, be sure to post your pics, I never get enough of seeing Potter County. If you want a good meal while you are there, check out Galeotti's in Costello, it's a regular stop for us on every trip to camp.

DK

 

[deepskyal]

Thanks for the meal tip. Gonna be about a 4 hour drive for me...give or take. I'm plannin on doin most of my pic takin between Costello and Austin...about a 3 mile stretch according to my calc's.

I wish the aerial photos were a little better quality. One point looks as though there is a waterfalls about mid way to Costello. Did you ever notice that?

I'm just hopin like heck the humidity goes down a tad. Could be some rough hikin in this soup.
I might wait til Sunday to drive up, but i doubt it. I've waited almost 20 years with this itch in my brain. Time to get it out of my system.
I think Saturday's the trip...then, hopefully, within a couple weeks of that, I'll get an idea where I want to start.