Looking for other treasure legends...

[pebble]

I am looking for a story about a Camp Colorado payroll robbery that took place in Texas, 1880's, some thinks it was Jesse James, when he was using the name Ford. I would just like to read the story.pspope

 

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[pegleglooker]

Maybe it's too obvious, but a pegleg forum for me would be AWESOME!!!! I also would look to bounce ideas off anyone with the same interest.

 

[gollum]

MB,
The height of the lake (Caihuilla?) I think was 40-50 feet above the Salton Sea. Maybe by inspecting a topo the area of possibility could be isolated. Sand dunes plus old sea level = stranded ship. I find it hard to believe that the survivors would have made it back to Mexico, but with all the water back then it was a much different scenario. They might have gotten some indian canoes and paddled to Acapulco...good margaritas.

Hey Bob,

There were three ships. One was lost in the storm that drove them into the Sea of Cortez. One waited there, while the last one sailed up into the Salton Sea area, and was run aground when the sea level dropped too quickly to get back.

The story is that they walked through the desert, back to the Gulf of California, and got on the last galleon, and went back to Acapulco. Supposedly, only three of the entire crew lived, and one was Iturbide. There was a trial about this, and the transcripts are somewhere in the Acapulco Maritime Archives, and the Spanish Archives in Mexico City.

Mike

 

[cptbil]

Pegleglooker:
If you'd like to have "a forum" on The Lost Peg Leg, why not start it yourself?
All you need to do so, is right here!
Just go to and create a "New Topic", under "The Legends", or, another Appropriate Heading!
I do remember seeing, somewhere recently, something about it being "found" ?
Maybe, someone out there has more info on this ?

 

[Gold Seeker]

How about Dead Man's Cave in Colorado? Fort Dodge buried silver in Kansas? The Overland Stage Robbery? Hamilton County (Kansas) Stage Station? The Estrella Mountain Range buried Spanish gold? The buried loot of the "Cherokee Bad Boy" (Henry Starr)?

 

[Bobadilla]

Real pirate legend in Caribbean

Hello Marc and all the others!

First of all, sorry f or my English. As you already know, English is not my mother language. I live in Dominican republic and therefore Spanish is my favourite one! I would like to present you short story about real person, who was well-known pirate of the Caribbean in the beginning of 19th century.

His name was Roberto Cofresi and on the coast of Puerto Rico and especially Dominican republic this historical person has been main hero of dozens of legends and stories. He has been considered some kind of Caribbean Robin Hood. He shares his booty with poor fishermen and village people and thanks to that he had also perfect intelligence service all the time. He was active as a pirate practically only two and half years, from 1823 till 1825 when he was hanged in San Juan with 11 of his fellows. But during this time it has been historically confirmed that Cofresi attacked and plundered more than 70 ships. He hated English and Americans and therefore his main targets were ships of these nations. But unfortunately also merchant ships of that period from other countries than Spain such as Denmark, had no luck if he spotted them on high seas.

He had a habit to hide small parts of his booty - chests, small crates - with robbed jewelry, silver or gold coins, in different parts of coast of Dominican Republic. I spent almost three years looking for any kind of information about this person and his treasure spots, I was in contact with several historians, I even talked to descendents of local fishermens ' families, I got every possible book in English or Spanish that was dealing about Cofresi. I visited many places personally where he was supposed to hide his treasures. It was 27 of them he was supposed to burry, never too far from the coast. His filosophy was, that when he needed some cash, it should be always some on hand never mind where he was. When he was cougth and put to jail in Santo Domingo in 1824, Spanish captain in charge of the prison in Ozama Fortress was so impressed to have there national hero of the Hispaniola Island and island of Puerto Rico that he let him escape. (I saw interrogation papors from his two months ' stay in prison) After his escape close to Santo Domingo Roberto Cofresi dug up one of his treasures, purchased small boat from local fishermen with golden coins from his dugged booty, set sail with fresh new crew he hired from families of local fishermen, his friends, and shortly after that assaulted bigger boat to get it as his new pirate flagship. He was finally got by US frigate in 1825, he managed to escape swimming surviving sinkink of his boat but was finally captured on the land. Even injured from the sea fight, he was fighting like lion but there were 27 Spanish soildiers against him. Couple of days after that he was hanged.

One could say - come on, man, there are just legends about his hidden treasures. No, I am sorry. One of his favourite spots and operational base was Bay of Samana on the northern coast of actual Dominican Republic. In the small village of Sanchez there he is supposed to have even direct descendents. Two of his fellows were from there. One of him survived because he was injured and could not be present in his final voyage and fight. Local legends say about at least seven places around Samana Bay where Cofresi burried his treasures. Cofresi was always alone when he went to the shore to hide his booty. He knew very well what temptation of money means. His fellow he stayed to live in Samana started to buy land, cosntruct houses, make business within one year after Cofresi death. He was poor fisherman before. In the beginning of 20th century two of these treasures were discovered just by chance by local people. On the top of each burried booty there was always small silver medallon carved only from one site with initials R.C. It is not a legend, one owner of watch repair shop in San Pedro de Macoris, the town 70 kilometers from Santo Domingo has one of this medallons. I saw it. I would pay a fortune for that but he does not want to sell it. Two other Cofresi treasures were discovered during construction of family house on the south of the island in 1947. But there are still more than 20 places where treasures of Roberto Cofresi are still waiting to be discovered. Go and look in such places like Isla Beata, beach close to Barahona, former Puerto Juanita on the north, coastal hills and caves around the beach Cofresi (named after the pirate and his treasure supposedly burried there), between Montecristi and Luperon and in Bahia Escocesa close to Rio San Juan.

Best regards to all,
Lobo

 

[Shadowed_Blue]

Anybody have any thoughts about the blacksmith at Middle Well that was skimming high grade ore from the wagons heading to Castle Dome from the KOFA mine?? He supposedly buried thousands of pounds of the ore under his blacksmith shop or the immediate area.

 

[STR8JCKTED2U]

here is an article i found to be interesting.
the burrows cave
www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/BurrowsCave.html

it would be very hard to hoax ground penetrating radar

 

[DennisB]

Seeing how I am new to all of this I might have missed this somewhere but what about the Virgin of Guadalupe mine? Is there alot of info on this mine?

Thanks

Dennis

 

[DennisB]

Yup,

Never mind, I found gollum's post down the line here. Alot of good info but looks like the mine has been worked out.

Thanks

Dennis

 

[kieser sousa/rip]

If you aware of another treasure legend, and you think we should create a new forum for it - let us know!

Thanks,
Marc Austin
[email protected]

I'll make ya an offer ya cant refuse ! How about a forum for the Dutch Shultz treasure.

 

[pegleglooker]

how about a line for stage robberies ? one could state which line it was from, butterfield etc, and what state and possibly city. if there any info this would be a place to cross check everything ( that one would want to say).
pegleglooker

 

[BigRon]

I posted this story a moment ago in reply to Gypsyhearts Texas treasure story but it is more suitable Here.
  My great uncle Elmer owned the land adjoining my grandad's on the border of Lee and Bastrop Counties in Texas.  A small piece from the Farm to market road next to his land was a large piece of petrified wood. It was about the size of a tree trunk and was visible from the road.  Numerous time people snuck over the fence in the dead of night and dug around the tree looking for gold that was supposed to be there.  Nobody ever found it, the rumor was that if you spoke wile digging the treasure sank down further.  This was the story as I heard it fourty years ago around my grandpa's table where the old folk told all of the old stories. Lord,I do miss them.

 

[jimmyvegas]

I found this legend

Here is an old article i just came across man i wish i had known about this when i lived in Sooke B.C i have been to these areas any way here is an old article Steps carved into a solid rock cliff, in the middle of a rain forest. Rumors of a heavy bronze cannon seen in a Vancouver Island swamp. Bloodchilling legends of a lost monastery and Spanish massacre. A strange clearing in virgin timber, where nothing grows around an ancient cairn. Bobbing white lights which "float" over a meadow, terrorising hunters...

Are these the products of an unsound mind, or, at the very least, an overactive imagination? Or are the fact?

The answer to this question would solve what must be one of the most intriguing tails of lost treasure in British Columbia history -- and the key likes within 25 miles of Victoria!

The most important chapter of this story is quite well known locally, and began 10 years ago when former Colonist reporter Ted Harris heard a tantalizing story from a friend. The friend told him of an old prospector named Ed Mullard, and subsequently, Mr. Harris confirmed the fascinating details with Mr. Mullard himself.

Some time before--it is not recorded when-- Mr. Mullard and a partner had been prospecting in the historic Jordan Meadow- Leechtown region. Situated to the northwest of the onetime mining and logging camp, between the Jordan and Leech Rivers, Jordan Meadows is a triangular quilt of trees , meadow and swamp.

Long ago a family named Weeks, after whom Trout Lake was rechristened, homesteaded here, but virtually all traces of their substantial home and outbuildings have disappeared. Today only loggers, outdoorsmen and an occasional prospector visit this region, much of which floods in winter.

But to return to our story: Late on afternoon, Mullard had left his partner to hunt deer. Finding a fresh track, he followed his prey through the undergrowth. Night descends rapidly in autumn, however, and dusk ended the hunt prematurely.

Heading back to camp, Mullard elbowed his way through chest-high salal. Suddenly, the prospector made a startling discovery -- he was descending a staircase in the brush. Shouldering aside the salal for a better view in the failing light, Mullard found himself facing an oblong hole in the cliffside.

Upon peering into its murky depths, he could see another series of steps, seven in number. Beyond was an arch and a rectangular gallery about 10 feet in length; and high enough for a man to stand upright (Mullard stood around six feet tall).

Overcome by curiosity, in the feeble glow of matches, Mullard inched along the silent passage, down the second staircase, and into the gallery. At its far end, in the right wall, the scene was repeated: another arch, seven more steps and a second gallery.

Here, however, Mullard encountered water shin-deep. Beyond the dancing pale of his match, he detected what appeared to be yet another gallery. But instead of exploring further, he retreated to the entrance, memorized his location, and hastened back to camp.

He did not live to see the mystery shaft again, and, as far as is known, no other man has set eyes on it.

Reporter Harris had heard of Mullard's wondrous tale in April, 1959, and called the prospector. According to the Colonist account of 18 Months later, 'The old man told him (Harris) a great deal -- perhaps more than he's told anyone else -- and readily agreed to take Harris right to the spot." Mallard and Harris make their pact in the spring of 1959, but because of unsettled weather at this time of year, decided to wait until June. A month before they were to go, Mullard died.

Which is where our mystery really thickens, as although Mullard told Harris more than he had told anyone else, he had not divulged the tunnel's exact location.

Upon hearing Harris' story, the Colonist had agreed to sponsor an official expedition, on the basis of seven clues which Harris had gleaned from his conversation with Mullard:

The area is between Leechtown and Jordan Meadows;
It is somewhere along a shorter route than the regular trail between the two, because Mullard spoke of a shortcut home;
It is at the foot of huge rock bluffs;
It is on ground that isn't very steep, for the opening is almost horizontal;
It is among heavy undergrowth on shallow soil, for it was overgrown although cut into granite;
It is a substantial distance from Leechtown, for Mullard spoke of hoping to get to the site and out again in one day, but being prepared for a two-day trip, just in case;
It is in high country, for he mentioned it overlooked Jordan Meadows.
Using Mullard's seven clues and aerial survey photos, organizers narrowed down the target area to the southwest face of Survey Mountain. This, because "the only rock bluffs (remembering Mullard's description) of any consequence" are to be found here. "At the foot of the bluffs is a shoulder -- at about the 2700 foot level -- roughly 100 to 200 yards wide and several miles long.

"All clues point to the shaft being somewhere along this shoulder," wrote newsman John Jones.

That Remembrance Day weekend, representatives of the provincial museum, Colonist staff members, members of the provincial forest service, and volunteer university students began the arduous task of scouring Survey Mountain's southwest face. Assisted by a helicopter from Vancouver Island Helicopters, and walkie-talkies, the dozen hunters had worked diligently for three days, until defeated by fog and the season's first snowfall.

As they ruefully noted, it would take an army to find anything in this rugged terrain.

Upon their return to Victoria, the searchers had been in good spirits and optimistic. However, despite talk of returning the following year, the hunt was never resumed.

As far as is known, the situation remains unchanged to this day.

Several years ago, this writer interviewed a close friend of the late Ed Mullard, to hear a fascinating tale of lost treasure and a "curse".

About a year after Mr. Mullard died, he said, Mrs Mullard had informed him her husband had bequeathed him all his outdoor and mining gear. When he examined his inheritance, he made some intriguing discoveries -- discoveries which were to send him packing into Jordan Meadows time and again.

This is his story:

Unlike reporter Harris' information, he said, Mr. Mullard had not been alone on that momentous day, but had been accompanied by a man named McLaren. Upon stumbling onto the steps, both men had peered curiously into the tunnel. But only Mr. Mullard had had the courage to grope along the shaft, McLaren standing nervous watch at the entrance. Perhaps the unholy circumstances of their discovery, or the waning daylight, slightly unnerved the partner. Perhaps he simply maintained a healthy mistrust of tunnels and caves. Whatever, when Mullard explored the strange steps and galleries, he was alone.

Encountering water, he had returned to the entrance, cut come saplings, splitting the ends. Then, with these crude "chopsticks," he had returned to the shaft and groped about in the black waters. Despite the awkwardness of his saplings, he had succeeded in snaring several relics of interest.

These items were found in Mr. Mullard's effects, along with instructions as to how to reach the tunnel. Two of the recovered objects, shown this writer, were an old miner's pick and the head of a hammer. both hand-forged and badly corroded.

But far more interesting, was the third item which Mr. Mullard had retrieved from the shaft's flood floor -- a small gold bar. This I did not see.

According to Mr. Mullard's friend, the ingot -- "quite well make" - - had measured approximately three inches long, one and one-quarter inches wide, and an inch thick.

He had since returned the bar to Mrs. Mullard, he said.

A last oddity recovered by Mr Mullard had been some enormous, unidentified crystals.

Four days after Mr. Mullard amazing find, he was dead -- according to this source. As for McLaren, terrified by Mr. Mullard's sudden demise, and apparently connecting it with the evil tunnel, he had refused to discuss it with a soul, and, when continually questioned, had left town.

Following Mr. Mullard's instructions, the friend had tried several times to locate the tunnel, succeeding only in finding one of the prospector's markers, the initials "EM" in a stump.

Asked why he was willing to disclose so much, he had replied: "Why not? I've nothing to hide. I don' give a damn who finds it."

And there the story rests today. Rumors -- growing wilder with each telling -- circulate the city, articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines, and interest in the mystery tunnel has spread throughout the northwest. Yet, if anyone is on the right track, or has succeeded in finding Mullard's tunnel, he isn't saying.

Some of the rumors go even beyond the ridiculous. Such as the one told this writer -- in all seriousness -- of Communist Chinese agents making regular midnight trips in and out of the nearby Sooke Lake watershed, also reputed to have been visited by the Spanish.

As for the Spanish cannon, mentioned earlier, it has been local legend for years. Apparently, so the story goes, hunters have spotted it in the swamps of Jordan Meadows from time to time. It would seem the meadows shift like the oceans sands, for no one ever sees it twice.

Then there are the stories of a white light which "follows" a hunter in the meadows. We've heard several versions over the years.

The legends of a Spanish monastery are inspired by Sooke's Boneyard Lake, supposedly named after a massacre of Indians. As with other rumors, it has little apparent support.

Yet another tale of an oft-spotted but never-plucked relic is that of a bronze tablet or plaque in the fork of a tree which has grown around it.

Other reports are more credible -- and as interesting. One is the discovery of a "cave" on Survey Mountain's North side, in 1928. The cavern is said to be "quite spacious" and deep. The finding of a "Stores" cigarette package indicated it had been explored earlier. Would this cave have any connection with Mr. Mullard's story?

Somewhat farther afield, but of interest nevertheless, is the finding of a rusted cutlass (a short sword with a curved blade) near the Sooke Potholes, some years ago. When interviewed in March, 1967, its owner said he couldn't remember details of his find beyond the fact it had been lying in deep grass, about a mile from the potholes.

The pitted blade is two feet long, curved, and 1 1/4 inches at its widest point. No trace of the handle's covering remains. Despite its obvious age, and indicated exposure in Sooke grass, it is in good shape. One of its more interesting features is the fact the handle is too small for the "modern" male hand. A glance through reference books in the library would date the weapon at the late 18th century: it answers the description of both Spanish and British navel issue of this period.

Finally, the clearing where nothing grows around a cairn. The story dates back to the summer of 1930, when two men were "kind of prowling around" near Sooke Lake. Deciding to seek refuge from the blazing sun, they had pushed through undergrowth until one, ahead of his partner, had entered a clearing approximately 30 feet by 15.

He later described the clearing a s a "bald patch on the ground, with not even a blade of grass growing on it." At its far end was a strange monument of flat stones, piled atop each other.

Upon investigating, he found, resting on the top of the cairn, "the bones of some animal, which I thought then, and do now, that they were the bones of a horse.

"But what struck me as very peculiar was the fact that the horse seemed to have been killed in such a way that its body would gall right across the cairn."

In the very centre of the clearing, he had found a squat bottle, "five or six inches" tall. On the bottom were the figures, 1670. The bottle appeared to be hand-blown. Believing it to be very old, and possibly valuable, his partner had volunteered to sell it and share the proceeds. "But where my partner went (with the weird bottle) I have not the slightest knowledge."

Was "1670" a date? What of a clearing in which nothing grew? Does it have any relation to Mullard's tunnel?

The rumors go on. All are tempting, few can be verified. We asked on man who has done considerable research into the subject, including several field trips, if he really believed Mr. Mullard's tale. He had replied, "Where there's all that smoke, there just has to be some fire."

Do any of the members of the 1960 Colonist expedition still believe the story? One, at least, does. Some time after the news stories had appeared, he said, he had been contacted by a Saskatchewan dentist.

Years ago, the dentist told him, he had known a man on the Prairies, who had talked of a strange tunnel with steps carved into a mountain on Vancouver Island. From it, the man had said, he had recovered several Chinese artifacts, which he had sold to a Victoria second-hand dealer. A check of old city directories had disclosed that, yes there had been such a dealer in Victoria at that time.

Which opens up a whole new realm of conjecture!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This story was originally printed in The Times Newspaper, Victoria, B.C. on Sept. 21, 1969 From Times

 

[cptbil]

DennieB:
If you are talking about "The Virgin of Guad. Mine" in Southern Arizona!
That is, East of The Present Tumacacori Mission
If So!
It is ALIVE and Well!
I have a book, written by a Friend who has "Federal Mining & Treasure Trove" Permits (Licenses)
for the "Vir. Guad. Mine" !
His book, written to generate some capital, & it is a great book!
It Is!
About 1/2 photos! (@ about $15)
You can get it: (The Book) Ordered From your local Bookstore

"Enigma At Tumacacori" Arizona (ISBN 0-9633813-0-X)
By Gary Don Oliver

Published by:
L.grafix
108 NW 9th #201
Portland, Ore. 97209

It is filled with a lot of the Spanish History in those Mnts!
AND!
AS you might know, "The Vir. of Guad." is but one of, around eight (8) more lost/hidden mines belonging to "The Mission"!
I KNOW Where one of of them is!
Care to go and uncover and recover The Silver Bars, hidden in it ?
Drop me a line!
Cptbil & Bugs

 

[gollum]

Hey Bill,

I have known Gary for quite a while. We have corresponded many times. If you got your copy of his book from him, then he must have also given you the photo CD.

If you believe Gary, then the Virgen de Guadalupe Mine is WEST of the current Tumacacori Mission Site. It lies in Javelin Canyon a little over 5 miles West (as the crow flies) of the 19. You can easily find the area by finding "Camp Loco" on any TOPO Map of the area. Once you are in the canyon, look on the West side for a LARGE light colored spot. That will be the 150,000 cubic foot tailings pile (with no known mine in the area).

You can also look for Gary's book on Ebay. Occasionally, he puts one of his books on there himself (that's how I met him). I don't see any there right now. He occasionally looks in on a couple of the forums, but never posts. I do recommend getting the book, as there are few people who know more about the area than Gary. Even though he has tunnel vision regarding his theory, he has been hard on that site since the mid 1980s.

Dennis B,

Depends which mine you are referring to. If it is the Virgen de Guadalupe, it has never been positively found (and by positively, I mean nobody has recovered any treasure yet). For a long time, I believed that Milton Rose had found the Pure Concepcion Silver Mine near to or just South of the Border in the late 1930s, but I recently got hold of a copy of a letter from Rose to Father Charles Polzer SJ, in which he states that story is not true, that his bars came from a Mule Train Massacre, which means the Pure Concepcion has not been found either (there IS a very good chance that modern miners have found reworked that mine). The last named mine of the Tumacacori Mission is the Opatas Silver Mine. The Opatas has been positively identified, and worked out by Mexican Miners. It was an open pit mine, about 20 feet deep and about 40-60 feet extended underground. No giant cache of silver or gold bars (not known anyway).

Bill,

Before going down there and digging, check the claim status of where you want to dig. Most of the land down there is either privately owned by land developers, under current claim by big mining companies (Aztec Syndicate, Etc.), or in Coronado National Forest. The BLM and USDA Forest Service won't let Gary bring in any more heavy equipment. They know about the stories regarding Camp Loco (whether they believe them or not), and keep a pretty good eye on the area looking for people digging around there. I have personally spoken to the Archaeologists that work in the Coronado National Forest, and have received a lot of good information regarding mining in the area.

Best-Mike

PS

There is someone else (very familiar with the area), who says the Virgen de Guadalupe is not where Gary says it is, but a little ways from there.

 

[cptbil]

Hi There
Mr. Gollum:
I won't put too much faith in what "Father Polzer" says!
BECAUSE !
I have a paper that HE! wrote and that this paper was published in The Arizona Hiways Magazine, &, I have a copy, where he
"ABSOLUTELY DENIES"
That the "Jesuit Priests"
OR!
Any other Spanish did any mining in the mnts!
He goes as far as to imply, that anyone who says differently is
"A LIAR" or some kind of "Nut!" !
I am sure that "Gary" and "Yourself" might differ

 

[gollum]

Don't discount everything the late father Polzer said. He was the preeminent Jesuit Archaeologist regarding the Spanish Colonial Era. The ONLY place he swerves from the truth is regarding Jesuit Mining in Primeria Alta.

He never said that the SPANISH didn't mine. Just the Jesuits.

Besides, what I said about Milton Rose's Letter, relied on NOTHING from Father Polzer. If you look at my post "These Bars Should Not Exist"

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,100582.0.html

Just go to reply #11. I have pics of the actual letter from 1972, and a transcript of it just after.

Best-Mike

 

[Springfield]

Don't discount everything the late father Polzer said. ...The ONLY place he swerves from the truth is regarding Jesuit Mining in Primeria Alta.

Guess he's not an unassailable source then, eh?

 

[cactusjumper]

Springfield,

"Guess he's not an unassailable source then, eh?"

So far, I believe he is "unassailable". Until someone shows positive proof, not stories/legends, Jesuit treasures will remain legend.

Now don't every Tom, Dick and Harry start posting pictures of Jesuit "treasure" that has been found by Cousin Sam. Until......something is produced that can be tested for authenticity, it don't mean a thing.

Mike,

You are correct about the CD. I have a signed copy of Gary's book, along with the CD.

Take care,

Joe