central coast california treasure legends

[Springfield]

I prefer the little-known treasure legends, like this one, over the movie-star cultural myths for many reasons - not the least of which is that a researcher probably has a hundred or a thousand times better chance at getting to the truth.

That said, I also cringe at stories where the protagonist buries a fortune because of Indians, bandits or some other pressing threat, escapes the scene, then is never able to return to recover the the goods he hid. A red flag. In this case, about a quarter million $, today's prices, minimum - I'd walk back to CA if I had to. I would think that in the 70 years since the event, the stash should have been recovered. If not, why not?

 

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[Crow]

Hello Springfeild

A very good point. It defeats the purpose of hiding the money from robbers never to retrieve it? Unless the stepfather defrauded his boss or partners in the cattle deal, by telling them he was robbed? Like with all legends one should be wary of such claims. It apeared in 1926 the James A Brickney believed money was there. Was he telling the whole story or the truth of how the treasure came to be. I doubt it. I suspect he was telling a lie of convenience. Perhaps the story of his step father was story of convenience to cover up proceeds of crime? I cannot find any record of his birth or him being in any previous census. No marriage records of him to his wife Hanna. Although the idea of Spanish Swindle style scam crossed my mind.

Perhaps it was a scam was to have money sent from Marysville to him in texas so he could come and show them where the treasure allegedly was? Instead of traveling to California Brickney would run off with the travel money? Treasure scams became very prominent from about the early 1870 onwards. The scams swept the world that originated from Spain hence the term " Spanish Swindle" Today it is known as a "Nigerian scam" both works on the same principle. Perhaps Sherriff J Mc Coy called his bluff by saying he was willing to dig it up for nothing?

The problem is we are critically short of enough information.

This is why all due dilligence is needed when researching these legends from the famous to the obscure. Since no money was asked as we know of by Brickney up front it does not appear to be so. If the letter had survived from 1926 then we would of got clearer picture of that possibility.

Crow

 

[dannyg]

Ugh i didnt have internet all day so lame. Ok so im following ya crow. I looked up marysville. Its a bit north of the central coast but it gives me a reason to go camping up north.. im listening..

 

[dannyg]

Hey ed lots of those spanish markers around the missions. Im pretty sure that when the spanish settled the coast and built missions it had alot to do with indian gold and silver mines. Looks for indian marker trees on the path and then youll have two trails leading to a mine/ cache? but as you know from your book be careful of traps. I know of a guy who may have recently found a lost padre mine hes still decyphering symbols so not to end up.like the rhoades canyon treasure hunters. And crow another line of thought i have is he got paid and on his way traveling back home hid it along the way which would involve finding out who he did the job for and where the pasture land and then maybe the path of least resistance towards his lkp or end destination?? Whar do you think?

 

[Springfield]

Hey, Crow, I meant to ask you this earlier but forgot - that hula girl video reminded me again. Did you ever happen to mingle with Harold Stephens' crew from his schooner Third Sea back in the '80's (ferro cement hull)? My searching buddy here was first mate on that boat for a couple years all over the Pacific. Those guys, uh ... enjoyed themselves immensely.

 

[Crow]

Hello Springfeild.

In regards to Harold Stevens I would to loved to have met him. As he was a bit of a hero of mine. He was one these restlessness wanderers you meet that makes life so interesting. Sadly in the early 80's I was diesel mechanic then ended up drilling water bores. Then onto exploration drilling and into the mining industry. I only got into boats because of my friend Kanacki who I worked with in New Guinea. I have cruised the pacific a few times but not as much as Kanacki. Kanacki knows Melanesia and Micronesia like the back of his hand. And I can imagine the crew having fun just as I have with the Drumbeat.

Hello Dannyg it sounds like a good idea but I think those records of agreements may have never survived. Another thing from the newspaper version there is two spelling version of his surname in the Story. I have found other documents that may pertain to this story. However I am still trying to work out in which context they are related if all all.

You have excuse me as my massage awaits and it is close to nap time. It is very warm today.

Crow

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

?? Crow, While you are living my dream, for some reason I don't feel jealous, but glad for you /? I must be getting senile??

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Crow]

?? Crow, While you are living my dream, for some reason I don't feel jealous, but glad for you /? I must be getting senile??

Don Jose de La Mancha

Hello Don Jose

You senile! Hell No you been around long enough to earn a second childhood. Senile is not forgetting your children's names its forgeting you had children.

And besides your a vintage car with one loving owner to be much admired for your age and longevity which would take pride of place in a museum or show room. I am an old car with numerous owners that has had the guts flogged out of it ready for a smash up Derby for one last bang then off to the wrecking yard.

Crow

 

[dannyg]

There are a lot of data especially surrounding the SLO mission downtown...yur sitting on more history and caches than any other area in mid-California.

Well enlighten me i have lots of spare time and i love history. I wanna take my son on a little adventure

 

[Crow]

Hello Dannyg

Sorry I have to pulled my finger out and post more on the story I was telling you. I have been distracted as of late but now I have a few spare moments.

Here is more on James Austen Brickey the key player in the legend.

View attachment 931548

I found James Austen Brickey who used his stepfathers surname Here is a picture of James A brickey his mother and step father in late 19th century.




in the 1900 census His step father was James M Brickey



Here is a close up of his father James Monroe Brickey.



In the 1880 James M Brickey was listed as a farmer. He was born in 1854 and lived to about 1909. James A Brickey's stepfather was not the source of the story it was his Step grandfather Jame Brickey.



In the Following 1860 census shows James Monroe Brickey record with his sister and mother. It is also the same for 1870 census. So it is fair to say either they were abandoned by thier father or he had died. Quite possible on return journey to recover the money he buried near Marysville during a time of banditry?



We roughly know this event happened between at least 1854 and 1859 around a time confirmed in newspapers of great lawlessness and banditry in chaos of the California gold rush.So this quite unknown treasure yarn has enough evidence to seem quite plausible indeed?

Some errors with the newspaper the cattle drive may have come from Nebraska as the Brickey family in 1850 had started farming in Nebraska. in 1850 - 1874 there was big boom cattle ranching in Nebraska. Newspaper confused several things the orgins of the cattle rancher and where the cattle came from and the stepfather was not the man who buried the money some time between 1854 and1859? If was the Step Grandfather.

However it appears that James A Brickey's Stepfather James Monroe Brickey had connections to Fort Smith? And that perhaps might of been one of the reasons why the stepfather never recovered his fathers money?

to be continued...

Crow

 

[dannyg]

Im following ya crow

 

[Crow]

It appears James Monroe Brickney was charged with attempted Murder in 1890. It appears he and three other men was involved in an attempted murder in an Indian reservation. He was arrested and tried at Fort Smith Arkansas in 1890







It does however not appear to have lead to a conviction or a jail sentence. What this affair was about is a mystery. Was it connected to James Monroe Brickney's father's burying on the money near Marysville?

One possibility we can take form this is that perhaps his trouble precluded him ever getting a chance to recover his fathers Money?

He could of been perhaps made an attempt in around 1905 4 years before his death?

An another story in 1905 made the round around Marysville in 1905. A similar story type theme as the 1926 story but very different. except they were 2 miners and they had gold nuggets and was attacked by bandits. one died and never made it back to the treasure cache.

Are they two separate storys? Or a badly rumored version of the later 1926 story?

Crow

 

[Springfield]

...An another story in 1905 made the round around Marysville in 1905. A similar story type theme as the 1926 story but very different. except they were 2 miners and they had gold nuggets and was attacked by bandits. one died and never made it back to the treasure cache.

Are they two separate storys? Or a badly rumored version of the later 1926 story?

Crow

I hope you're going to lay some more clues on us, because even if you can put the actors in Marysville at the proper times, where do you start looking?

My searching partner's family were ranchers in central CA all the way back to the 1840's and had g-g-g-grandpa's secret family info about Murrieta loot buried on the ranch near Chowchilla - given to the old man by one of the gang who grew up on the ranch but went bad. The old man saw the kid's share of gold coins from some robbery, and since he considered him near-family, allowed the kid to hide out on the ranch for a while, but asked him not to come back whenever he decided to leave. The kid rode out a week or two later and said he buried half the gold on the ranch and told the old man he could keep it as a favor for helping him. The kid described where he hid the gold - a place well-known to the rancher.

The old man didn't need the loot (or was afraid to recover it) and sat on the secret, but wrote out where the cache was and kept the document in the family papers. When he died, the son took over the ranch and found the document. He and everyone else in the family in later generations tried to locate the gold and failed, despite seemingly slam-dunk directions.

My partner and I gave it a try about 1984, just before the ranch was to be sold - the family's last access into those hills. We found a string of landmarks from the old man's hand-written story easy enough, but the last clue was an odd-shaped rock with a deeply scratched 'X', turned upside down, under which a saddlebag containing the coins was buried, 'not deep'. Just like all my partner's ancestors, we searched high and low in the little clearing, MD-ed the heck out of it, etc. with no results. Even though it was only about five acres, it might as well have been five hundred or five thousand acres. We couldn't find that rock. Goes to show you - finding buried treasure ain't easy, even with reliable info.

 

[Crow]

Hello Springfeild

Patience my friend. In fact I could not agree more with your comments. For all experienced treasure hunters know even with the most articulate directions it can still be the proverbial needle in the haystack. This treasure legend like all treasure legends is no different. But like with all treasure legends the key is narrow down the search area as possible for any remote hint of success. And even then we are at the mercy of the treasure hunting gods. A person spending years searching for a treasure with with the most diligent of research can still end up empty handed. Yet most discoveries are made by accident, how ironic is it not?

The Following below is a possible lead that may be connected to the 1926 story as inferred in earlier post.



Nickolas is 17 miles due south of Marysville. The clue all be it a rather vague one is buried at the roots of a Sycamore tree. Well undoubtedly ther are thousands of Californian Sycamore trees. So in some respects not much help. However it was believed in 1905 at least buried next to a Sycamore tree on Erich Farm?

Perhaps that narrows down the search area.

However like with all things in life not as easy as it seems.

To be continued.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Time is once again pressing on me as we will be up anchor and sailing for Samoa, via the society islands.

So i will endevour to finish this yarn before I set sail again.

The Clue was Erich farm? However not as easy as one thinks. In the land records office there is no Farm or farm recorded in that name under ownership land tittles.

So once again we are thwarted.

So I looked at the Name of the Farm is it just a name or a person surname?



It appears that there is listed in 1900 census a Julius H Enrich farmer Nickolas township. Was it the farm Julius farming the farm mentioned in the 1905 story?

To complicate matters Julius appears to be farming some where else in 1892. I could not identify the place Yocolumn. Was it an electoral district perhaps now and obsolete name? Pinning down the actual location of the farm which perhaps would of been in the area near Nickolas township but where?

View attachment 932347

To complicate matters even further there was four brothers. Most by that time were not engaged in Farming. some was even living in the township of Nickolas

To be continued.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Nickolas is a quiet rural hamlet with a Tavern, post office and hall and not much else. The Erich family has long history around Marysville, Sutter and Nickolas. earliest records of them was of 1853. they were of German origin. They perhaps came out for the gold rush but drifted back to their old occupation of farming.

An Google earth shot of the size and area still shows the large extent of area to search.



But Without knowing the exact location of where Erich farm originally was complicates things. And of course one must realize the original tree could of been cut down years ago in land clearing? however that can only be ascertained if once can correctly figure out the farm where Julius was farming in 1900? Also regard of the tree the tree would have to be the right age and size. smaller treasure would be excluded from the search. Sycamore trees can live for about 400 years or so so a tree from 160 odd years ago could in theory still be around?


To the opinion of the day at least in 1905 there was belief that the treasure was buried near a certain tree on that property at least. one would have question how they came to such a conclusion? We can only speculate that perhaps it was from an earlier attempt by James Monroe Brickey who gave some more details? Certainly it was no Erich Farm in 1855. One must question what made the searchers in 1905 conclude that it was on a tree of Erich farm in 1905? So be aware and pardon the pun we could be barking up the wrong tree?

However my friends all this information was obtained via a laptop sitting on the deck of the drumbeat surrounded by scantily clad eye candy. Think about what a person could do with further research with boots on the ground and access to local historical society's and records not online? This legend does require more research and it is definitely not X marks the spot. However with more diligent research which will confirm or disprove some of my conclusions is essential in unraveling the treasure legend.

One further thing treasure hunting is never and exact science but good research may reduce possible search area to give a better chance of success.


Crow

 

[Loke]

Crow,
How about letting our dowsers have a go at your pic?
That being said, I do not explicitly believe in dowsing (other than for water - I have done that myself, but with boots on the ground). However, it certainly would not hurt to try - no?

 

[Crow]

Hello Loke

This treasure yarn I posted does not belong to me exclusively. If I had an economic interest in it, I would of not posted on treasurenet at all. It was a treasure legend posted in spirit of sharing treasure legends. If some one can find it through various methods they believe in then they are welcome. If any of you do please just give this old pirate a toast in your success where ever I be.

Cheers Crow

 

[BillA]

central coast CA ?
not experienced in THing, but my uncle had a tale about a Dr. who ran an ab diving op (6 boats) who told his capt.s/divers to look for a cross on the rocks above the surf

is this an old tale ?

Bill

 

[dannyg]

Hey Bill good question considering the Spanish history here in the area and knowing the area close by i wouldnt doubt it at all, it represents the spanish crown and churchs presence in the area and as well as a treasure sign. I live locally in the area ive spent quite alot of time on the beaches and cliffs with alot of pictures taken heres one of a cross carved into rock close by the area your talking about. It might be worth it to look into that story.