Cocos Island Treasure

[blackbeard1717]

Cocos Island buried treasure is it greater than the Atocha

[Salvor6]

Problem is that Cocos is now a national park and you need a permit just to visit. No treasure hunting allowed. Even if they did, dozens of thunters have searched the island and found nothing.

[Old Bookaroo]

Salvor6:

I respectfully disagree with you - treasure has been found on Cocos Island. Many treasure hunters don't know about the story recounted in Mammy Pleasant's Partner [by Helen O'Donnell Holdredge (1954). Strictly speaking that recovery was probably more simple theft than actually treasure finding - but the plunder was there and it was found.

San Francisco th'ers will find that book well worth reading, as well. Nice used copies are available for less than ten bucks - and are well worth it!

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

PS: San Francisco was the jumping off place for many expeditions to Cocos Island. One the rarest books about those hunts - My Search for the Missing Millions tells of a large treasure hunting library in the city. Sadly, that book was published just before the 1906 Fire and Earthquake. I'm sure that library was destroyed in that disaster. If you've read The Voyage of the Herman you're read half to two-thirds of the story. This book tells the rest of the tale.

[Richard Ray]

Everybody seems to have forgotten the expedition that I organized in the mid 1980's. We had a government permit and a well equipped group. We spent three weeks exploring the island and discovered a rock map that led us to what I feel was the cave in which the treasure of Lima was hidden in 1820. We were the 378 th expedition and the only one to put the clues together leading us to the map and cave, far away from the normal search areas. I published a small book with many photographs, maps, clues and much more information. There was a government agent with us the entire time. Months after our expedition, the Costa Rican government requested members of our group to return to Cocos and assist them in a search for several lost tourist on the Island, because we had more experience than the half dozen solders stationed there had.
Most people restrict their time on the island to the coastal area due to the extremely difficult terrain, not us, we went deep into the interior, even seeing a WWII bomber that was wrecked on one of the mountain tops.
Good Luck on your attempts.
Richard Byrd Ray

[thepackrats]

Cocos Island treasure is one of my favorite treasure stories. I always wondered why it didn't get more interest here.

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

good morning Richard, packrats : I also love stories of cocos Island, My mentors Dan & Ginger Lamb were there also looking for treasures. I have read books on it's biological deversions and discoveries. However I now understand that it now has a considerable permanent population which tends to spoil it for me,

BUT, I would love to hear more Richard. Please post, I guarentee that you will have one avid reader at least.

Incidentally is that a family continuance name ? i.e. Admiral Byrd?

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. what is the name of the book?

[Old Bookaroo]

RdTTT:

Scuba Divers and Adventurers Guide to Cocos Island, by Richard Ray [Manvel, Texas: 1988] 82 pgs, 8 1/2" x 11" Wraps (stapled letter-size pamphlet). Three fold-out maps, many black & white photos and other illus.

A very important Cocos Island title because the author shares first-hand information about the island.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

[Richard Ray]

Yes, I was named after my great, great uncle.. Actually I just had my name LEGALLY changed from Byrd to Ray in 2007. Although I've used the name Ray all my life. You see, I was stolen as an infant. The Secret Service tracked me for years, just one step behind my location. Never found my mother until I was 25 years old. (A long, long and complicated story).
You have the book title correct, I can Xerox it for you IF you pay the cost and shipping. Many of the original books were burned in my house and office fire , so I only have a couple scorched copies. Just write me via e-mail. Thank you.
Richard Byrd Ray

[Old Bookaroo]

There are half a dozen essential books on the Cocos Island treasure (keep in mind, of course, there are also the "Cocos Keeling Islands" at the other end of the Pacific - a completely different location).

One of the lesser known books with considerable interesting Cocos information is Clipperton; A History of the Island the World Forgot, by Jimmy M. Skaggs (New York: 1989).

The book is, as the title would suggest, primarily about Clipperton - once a pirate haven and an island with a very interesting history. However, much of the research on Clipperton included Cocos - so the "incidential," if you will, information here about Cocos Island is well worth reading.

Readers seeking a brief overview of Cocos Island its treasures should turn to Dig for Pirate Treasure, by Robert I. Nesmith (New York: 1958). Chapter 11 "Loot from Lima" is a reliable introduction (of course, all of this book is realiable, well-written, and quite interesting). Chapter 12 - "Hocos-Pocos-Cocos" - is the story of one treasure hunt.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

[Richard Ray]

I was allowed to do research in the Robert Nesmith library collection in Kansas City in 1992. It's an interesting collection of pirate lore and there are very nice people running the library, which is outstanding itself. Those who want to do research in the collection of pirate information, first get a letter from your local college or library, and make an appointment or they won't unlock the gate for you....
Richard Byrd Ray

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Good afternoon Richard. This help any? it has opened many other doors. www.explorers.org

Don Jose de La Mancha

[Richard Ray]

Joe, Help me do what?
I've been invited several times to join the Explorer's Club, starting in the 1970's, in fact, my grandson and I attended a meeting last year along with Dr. Roy Roush, whom I've known for over 30 years. I just don't see the advantage of joining, I've already had many, many "doors" opened that very few people have enjoyed and have metal detected on many places that have been restricted to most people.
Richard Ray

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI Richard: Help 'ME' ya cottin pickin nut hehhe Your connection with Admr Bryd helped you, along with your other contacts.

Don Jose de La Mancha `

[Richard Ray]

Joe:
I make NO claims nor connections to the Byrd family other than my half brother who is also my 1st cousin, (another long story). Because I grew up under the name of Ray, as far as I was concerned I had no family, until about ten years ago. I found out I had family all over the USA and met many of them at a family reunion. One is the head of a university, another a legislator. Everything I've done was strictly on my own efforts. The only connection to the Admiral is through stories I've been told and letters from the Secret Service to my mother, that I was shown after she passed away. In 2007, I had to present my original birth certificate, and a lot of other paper work in court, to legally have my name changed from Byrd to Ray, in order to retire... LOL
Richard

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

K Ray, Forgiven, snicker. Seriously, ever go back to cocos, or have the urge ?

Don Jose de La Mancha

[Connecticut Danny]

Here is another story about large bury treasures which many people do no know about.