the "Tobe Hill Mine" Vast Treasure in Ozarks.

[jeff of pa]

The Seattle star. (Seattle, Wash.), 01 Dec. 1922.










https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...=&proxValue=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=90

 

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[Rebelsmom]

Jeff of Pa; Sorry I just saw this today, My great- grandpa was one of the men who invested in Tobe Hills' search for the mine. My grandpa Vanbrunt was only six years old when great grandpa took his family to Cass, Arkansas to search for the treasure. There were several families that went to search and had invested in shares to the mine and were also the ones' who uncovered the signs and dug a tunnel into McElroy mountain. The Mexican man they hired to help decipher the signs was accused of trying to uncover the treasure and keep it for himself. They called him Old Charley and they actually hanged him. My great-grandpa was one of the men who cut him down to save his life. He was later found by members of my family in Oklahoma but was an old man and unable to talk to them , they were able to find a daughter who was not able to tell them much. She told them he still carried the scares from the hanging.

 

[Rebelsmom]

Also Jeff; grandpa Vanbrunt was interviewed by W. C. Jameson, his story is in the Jameson's book " Buried Treasures of the Ozarks" page 54, chapter Lost Aztec mine in Franklin county? Also a story in Lost treasure Magazine, don't remember the year published but could probably find out. Grandpa died in 2002.

 

[Rebelsmom]

So is any one interested in the rest of this story? By the way, locals called it the Doc Hill Mine because Tobe was a respected Doctor in Franklin and Crawford Counties. They also said he became so obsessed with trying to find the treasure he lost everything, and committed suicide by jumping out of his barn loft. Don't know if that's true or not. And that's when my families story comes in.

 

[Rebelsmom]

It was 1973 when grandpa decided to retire from his construction company in Oklahoma and move back to Arkansas where he and grandma was raised. Their five daughters, of which my mother was one, and one son were all married and had their own families and now he could fish and hunt and search for the treasure his father had searched for more than 50 years before. He acquired permission to hunt from the owner of the land where the mine was located, a mister Jessi Jones. Grandpa began to search the area of Mr. Jones land and soon found several signs on and around the mountain. The children heard about what he was finding and began to filter in on vacations , weekends and holidays to help search and soon the whole family was involved. It was a remarkable place and could have been a page right out of Charles Kenworthy's treasure books. A large skulls head monument jutted out of the side of the mountain close to the top and on it's north side was a drill hole with direction arrows on each side witch pointed east and west and hidden by moss growing inside the hole. The drill hole went through the skull for about 52 inches. on the front of the face of the skull and down to the left was two J's which showed up as shadows when the sun came over to the west. On the north side of this monument was a sun shadow monument, and walking about five feet between the two monuments toward the bluff was a large rock door that looked like you could walk right through it. Had we not read Kenworthy's book we might have tried to open it being crushed by tons of rock, this was a booby trap of all booby traps. (will try to get back with the rest of the story in a day or two, it's very late got to go to bed.)

 

[weekender]

It was 1973 when grandpa decided to retire from his construction company in Oklahoma and move back to Arkansas where he and grandma was raised. Their five daughters, of which my mother was one, and one son were all married and had their own families and now he could fish and hunt and search for the treasure his father had searched for more than 50 years before. He acquired permission to hunt from the owner of the land where the mine was located, a mister Jessi Jones. Grandpa began to search the area of Mr. Jones land and soon found several signs on and around the mountain. The children heard about what he was finding and began to filter in on vacations , weekends and holidays to help search and soon the whole family was involved. It was a remarkable place and could have been a page right out of Charles Kenworthy's treasure books. A large skulls head monument jutted out of the side of the mountain close to the top and on it's north side was a drill hole with direction arrows on each side witch pointed east and west and hidden by moss growing inside the hole. The drill hole went through the skull for about 52 inches. on the front of the face of the skull and down to the left was two J's which showed up as shadows when the sun came over to the west. On the north side of this monument was a sun shadow monument, and walking about five feet between the two monuments toward the bluff was a large rock door that looked like you could walk right through it. Had we not read Kenworthy's book we might have tried to open it being crushed by tons of rock, this was a booby trap of all booby traps. (will try to get back with the rest of the story in a day or two, it's very late got to go to bed.)

Rebelsmom,
Keep it coming!
I'm a Franklin county boy myself.
Thanks
Weekender

 

[Rebelsmom]

Hello weekender who knows we might be kin, the family has been around a long time in this area. Grandpa Vanbrunt only had a sixth grade education but he loved books especially history and ancient archeology. He became a successful building contractor and brick mason and believed in hands on and it was one of these times that when on the roof of one of his houses a storm popped up out of no where and lightening struck the roof close enough to him he received a big jolt. It shook him up pretty bad and he always believed this was the reason he gained a reputation for dowsing wells. He was the first one that was called and found water for over fifty people in and around Franklin and Crawford counties. The reason this is relevant to the story is that grandpa was convinced that he could find the tunnel system on McElroy mountain and he did. Spending several days running lines, putting them with signs then putting them on paper and finally he had a map of a fantastic system of tunnels. There were two entrances on top of the mountain, the booby trap and a deep shaft on the north west slope. A storage vault was found close to a year round stream, empty of course and another lower shaft which belonged to McElroy himself so we couldn't dig there not having permission. ON the west side where Doc Hills mine was this entrance had been closed off but, It was close enough to the mines original tunnel he believed it was possible to break through. Digging started and stopped. There was no way they could get any where with just hand tools. The treacherous unforgiving sandstone bluff was going to beat him. Well it might have stopped some but not my grandpa. O. P. Vanbrunt was not a quitter. It just happened that one of his music playing buddies worked on the highway and was an explosives expert. This is when things started to get real serious.

 

[weekender]

Hello weekender who knows we might be kin, the family has been around a long time in this area. Grandpa Vanbrunt only had a sixth grade education but he loved books especially history and ancient archeology. He became a successful building contractor and brick mason and believed in hands on and it was one of these times that when on the roof of one of his houses a storm popped up out of no where and lightening struck the roof close enough to him he received a big jolt. It shook him up pretty bad and he always believed this was the reason he gained a reputation for dowsing wells. He was the first one that was called and found water for over fifty people in and around Franklin and Crawford counties. The reason this is relevant to the story is that grandpa was convinced that he could find the tunnel system on McElroy mountain and he did. Spending several days running lines, putting them with signs then putting them on paper and finally he had a map of a fantastic system of tunnels. There were two entrances on top of the mountain, the booby trap and a deep shaft on the north west slope. A storage vault was found close to a year round stream, empty of course and another lower shaft which belonged to McElroy himself so we couldn't dig there not having permission. ON the west side where Doc Hills mine was this entrance had been closed off but, It was close enough to the mines original tunnel he believed it was possible to break through. Digging started and stopped. There was no way they could get any where with just hand tools. The treacherous unforgiving sandstone bluff was going to beat him. Well it might have stopped some but not my grandpa. O. P. Vanbrunt was not a quitter. It just happened that one of his music playing buddies worked on the highway and was an explosives expert. This is when things started to get real serious.

Hey Rebelsmom,
Anything is possible,
Keep the story coming.It's starting to sound good!
Thanks
-Weekender

 

[Rebelsmom]

Jeff and weekender ; didn't mean to leave you hanging so long to end this quest but we had a family crisis as the only brother of the six children past away recently. It has been a difficult time for his sisters. I am telling this as it was told to me by them because I was to young to be there when it happened. Being careful not to disturb the original signs blasting began once again on the mountain where it had started over 50 years before. The shaft began to take shape as the blasting broke up the thick layer of rocks. They had worked hard that first day and at about four or five feet decided to return home to rest and come back early the next day. The next day started with high spirits as they resumed removing dirt and rocks with shovel and buckets. As the shaft began to get deeper the ground began to shake when a car would go over the road above them. Grandpa began to get concerned since the opening was now well over their heads. After taking a break for lunch one of the sons in law took a turn in the bottom of the shaft. At about this same time a car went over the highway, the ground began to shake and rocks and dirt started falling into the hole on top of the son in law. They got him out with just a few bruises, but it scared grandpa enough that he stopped the digging and with a heavy heart they packed up and went home determined to try another way soon. Life has it's own agenda and our reason for searching was abruptly halted as a few days later grandpa had a heart attack while working in his garden. Grandpa was strong willed and survived the heart attack but his body would never again let him walk the hills and mountains of the Arkansas that he loved. The children went their own ways, raising their kids and living normal lives for several months and except for an occasional family outing in the mountains ,nothing much was said. It was one of these times as the youngest daughter and her husband drove their two young grandsons through the beautiful mountains of the Ozarks when a young boys voiced called out from the back seat. "Stop. I see a poodle!" the brakes went on, the doors flew open and so did another chapter in our hunt for Spanish treasure. There is an ending of sorts to the Doc Hill Mine. It just didn't seem right to go there to hunt again since grandpa couldn't be with them. Except for occasionally stopping for a picnic in the park and walking around the area, hunting stopped at Cass. About 1997-1998 a friend came to visit an aunt where she worked with a story he thought she should know since he knew that the family had been hunting around the Cass area. This person was working a bull dosser clearing out an area across the river so the river rafters could pass through safely. His dosser had gone across an unstable rock area and before he could pull it out the area collapsed and he fell to the bottom of a large vault. As the men came over to help him out of the hole they saw something shinning below and pulled up a gold bar about 2 feet long ,the whole floor was covered with gold bars. Not knowing what to do, or who to call the only number in the phone book was the F.B.I. so they called them. It only took thirty minutes for a helicopter to get to them and men in black jumped out . The workers were told they would get a reward but not to tell anyone. This friend came to warn our family that we should be careful if we found anything while hunting because his life and his families had been threatened if he should tell and he was packing his family up and moving out of the state. The story was hard to accept so a couple days later the aunt and her husband decided to take a look around. As they drove up the mountain they saw a large black tarp draped over the bluff where the bull dosser had been working. Several black cars were parked around the highway and men in suits were walking around the woods putting up no trespassing signs. Nothing was ever said by newspaper, TV, radio or mouth except for the words of warning from a friend.

 

[weekender]

Jeff and weekender ; didn't mean to leave you hanging so long to end this quest but we had a family crisis as the only brother of the six children past away recently. It has been a difficult time for his sisters. I am telling this as it was told to me by them because I was to young to be there when it happened. Being careful not to disturb the original signs blasting began once again on the mountain where it had started over 50 years before. The shaft began to take shape as the blasting broke up the thick layer of rocks. They had worked hard that first day and at about four or five feet decided to return home to rest and come back early the next day. The next day started with high spirits as they resumed removing dirt and rocks with shovel and buckets. As the shaft began to get deeper the ground began to shake when a car would go over the road above them. Grandpa began to get concerned since the opening was now well over their heads. After taking a break for lunch one of the sons in law took a turn in the bottom of the shaft. At about this same time a car went over the highway, the ground began to shake and rocks and dirt started falling into the hole on top of the son in law. They got him out with just a few bruises, but it scared grandpa enough that he stopped the digging and with a heavy heart they packed up and went home determined to try another way soon. Life has it's own agenda and our reason for searching was abruptly halted as a few days later grandpa had a heart attack while working in his garden. Grandpa was strong willed and survived the heart attack but his body would never again let him walk the hills and mountains of the Arkansas that he loved. The children went their own ways, raising their kids and living normal lives for several months and except for an occasional family outing in the mountains ,nothing much was said. It was one of these times as the youngest daughter and her husband drove their two young grandsons through the beautiful mountains of the Ozarks when a young boys voiced called out from the back seat. "Stop. I see a poodle!" the brakes went on, the doors flew open and so did another chapter in our hunt for Spanish treasure. There is an ending of sorts to the Doc Hill Mine. It just didn't seem right to go there to hunt again since grandpa couldn't be with them. Except for occasionally stopping for a picnic in the park and walking around the area, hunting stopped at Cass. About 1997-1998 a friend came to visit an aunt where she worked with a story he thought she should know since he knew that the family had been hunting around the Cass area. This person was working a bull dosser clearing out an area across the river so the river rafters could pass through safely. His dosser had gone across an unstable rock area and before he could pull it out the area collapsed and he fell to the bottom of a large vault. As the men came over to help him out of the hole they saw something shinning below and pulled up a gold bar about 2 feet long ,the whole floor was covered with gold bars. Not knowing what to do, or who to call the only number in the phone book was the F.B.I. so they called them. It only took thirty minutes for a helicopter to get to them and men in black jumped out . The workers were told they would get a reward but not to tell anyone. This friend came to warn our family that we should be careful if we found anything while hunting because his life and his families had been threatened if he should tell and he was packing his family up and moving out of the state. The story was hard to accept so a couple days later the aunt and her husband decided to take a look around. As they drove up the mountain they saw a large black tarp draped over the bluff where the bull dosser had been working. Several black cars were parked around the highway and men in suits were walking around the woods putting up no trespassing signs. Nothing was ever said by newspaper, TV, radio or mouth except for the words of warning from a friend.

Rebelsmom,

Sorry about your loss, thoughts and prayers.

Very much appreciate your finishing this awesome story.
I know of the area this was in.
Is there any pictures you can share?
Either on here or pm.
Have a map from a family member that is said to be from
that area, be interested in seeing it some pictures or symbols are similar.
Thanks again!
-Weekender

 

[Honest Samuel]

Rebelsmom family sounds like a very interesting family. I do not know if the story of gold bars is true, but, it is something that we all would like to find. Good hunting and best of luck to your family.

 

[Honest Samuel]

# 1. story is very interesting. They still fighting the civil war in that state and they still making illegal moonshine.

 

[Rebelsmom]

Weekender ; Thanks for the kind thoughts for our family. yes I will try to get some pictures of some of the signs in a day or two. A lot of the original signs have been destroyed by the new highway through the mountain,so pictures are about all that's left.

 

[Rebelsmom]

Hello Honest Samuel; I know right? It was a strange story but since the friend was the operator of the bull dosser and had no reason to lie , it could be possible . And the friend hasn't been heard from since. I don't know about moonshiners these days for profit, some still do it for personal use had some given to me a little while back, nasty stuff. We did run on to a marijuana field once didn't stick around there for long, lol.

 

[Rebelsmom]

 

[Rebelsmom]

 

[Rebelsmom]

 

[Rebelsmom]

ok weekender this was the best I could do with the pictures. Their really old and not very good quality but I think you will be able to tell what they are. Picture #1 is the Skull monument notice the double J's in shadow under it's eye. The area in the middle is the door way , booby trap, you could hear water dripping behind it and hitting the bottom below. Grandpa is checking the tunnel below with his wires. The monument in front of him and in the left side of the picture is the sun sign, Lit up when the sun hit it from the west. These signs don't exist in this condition anymore. They have been destroyed by the building of the new highway. Originally when Tobe Hill started mining, the road was just a trail going over the top of the mountain and these signs would have been on a very steep slope . Picture #2 is some of the original signs that Doc hill and his crew uncovered down below and that Old Charley helped to find. They had started to fall off and may not be there now since a back hoe was seen scraping the bluff where the signs were.

 

[Rebelsmom]

Picture #3 is the Sun Sign . When viewed from this angle you can see the drill hole direction sign through the V shape the monument makes. The drill hole is in the middle of the direction marker ( the dark black spot ) pointing due East and West, on the side of the skull rock. Picture #4 is how the area looked when they started to build the new highway, this is one of the last times grandpa got to walk around the area after his heart attack. It doesn't look like this now, the rocks forming the sun sign are gone, and the skull monument has been scraped clean. Picture #5 is Grandpa Vanbrunt and an aunt checking out the area one more time. Well that's it hope you have enjoyed our story. Blessings to all, Rebelsmom

 

[weekender]

Picture #3 is the Sun Sign . When viewed from this angle you can see the drill hole direction sign through the V shape the monument makes. The drill hole is in the middle of the direction marker ( the dark black spot ) pointing due East and West, on the side of the skull rock. Picture #4 is how the area looked when they started to build the new highway, this is one of the last times grandpa got to walk around the area after his heart attack. It doesn't look like this now, the rocks forming the sun sign are gone, and the skull monument has been scraped clean. Picture #5 is Grandpa Vanbrunt and an aunt checking out the area one more time. Well that's it hope you have enjoyed our story. Blessings to all, Rebelsmom

Rebelsmom,
Thanks for the pictures and taking us along for the journey. Amazing!
You've shared some real treasures and I for one really appreciate it.
Thanks again!
-Weekender