Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Charmin

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Sep 3, 2007
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Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

I drive by this tree all the time and have often wondered about the bent limb on it. It doesn't look natural, almost like someone deliberately bent it to point in a west direction. I have heard that Indians used to bend tree branches to point the way to water and also branches were used to mark a trail. This tree is by a natural spring and a pond BUT they are behind it(east and opposite of the direction of the bent branch). What do you all think? Is it a trail marker or just a natural occurence?
Here's some pictures~~and thanks for looking.
regards~~sandcreek4
 

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stevesno

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Feb 27, 2006
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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Lately in my neck of the woods I have been able to take an azmuth off of the "elbow" of the tree which has led me to other directionals either visible or buried....Steve
 

savant365

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Mar 28, 2007
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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

If you have permission it wouldn't hurt a thing to go all over the place with your detector. I would start under the tree and just fan out from there. You might even try walking in a straight line detecting the direction the limb points. Your odds of finding anything really valuable are really slim but if you don't look at all your odds are zero.

HH Charlie
 

mts

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Looks to me like EVERY limb on that tree is "bent". And they all point in different directions. Looks natural to me. But I'm no expert.
 

Old Dog

Gold Member
May 22, 2007
5,860
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Western Colorado
Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Is this one tree or two?
It appears as if both large limbs were thong tied at one time.
If so I would think it to be a Native American trail or boundary marker.
 

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Charmin

Charmin

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Old Dog said:
Is this one tree or two?
It appears as if both large limbs were thong tied at one time.
If so I would think it to be a Native American trail or boundary marker.
Yes, I think it is two trees that have grown together. Thanks for that info, Old Dog!
regards~~sandcreek4
savant365 said:
If you have permission it wouldn't hurt a thing to go all over the place with your detector. I would start under the tree and just fan out from there. You might even try walking in a straight line detecting the direction the limb points. Your odds of finding anything really valuable are really slim but if you don't look at all your odds are zero.

HH Charlie
Charlie~~I may take a metal detector and search around it. But I think I'll wait until fall to do it--the snakes and grass are too bad right now.
regards~~sandcreek
stevesno said:
Lately in my neck of the woods I have been able to take an azmuth off of the "elbow" of the tree which has led me to other directionals either visible or buried....Steve
Thanks Steve--when I detect around it I will use the "elbow" as a guide.
kind regards~~sandcreek4
 

Old Dog

Gold Member
May 22, 2007
5,860
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Western Colorado
Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

stevesno said:
Lately in my neck of the woods I have been able to take an azmuth off of the "elbow" of the tree which has led me to other directionals either visible or buried....Steve

Good post steve,
Good to see you
 

stevesno

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Feb 27, 2006
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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Old Dog said:
stevesno said:
Lately in my neck of the woods I have been able to take an azmuth off of the "elbow" of the tree which has led me to other directionals either visible or buried....Steve

Good post steve,
Good to see you
Thanks Thom, I can't elaborate enough, how both educational, and helpful that your thread has been to me....It has saved me countless hours in the field......Your friend Steve
 

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Charmin

Charmin

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

stevesno said:
Old Dog said:
stevesno said:
Lately in my neck of the woods I have been able to take an azmuth off of the "elbow" of the tree which has led me to other directionals either visible or buried....Steve

Good post steve,
Good to see you
Thanks Thom, I can't elaborate enough, how both educational, and helpful that this thread has been to me....It has saved me countless hours in the field......Your friend Steve
This is a VERY educational thread and I enjoy reading everyones posts. Azmuth(azimuth) was my new word for the day because I didn't know what it meant and had to look it up on dictionary.com ;D. You all "speak" a whole other language and it has passed countless hours for me reading all the posts on here!! Great information, guys and gals!!
regards~~sandcreek4
 

S

Smee

Guest
Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

The tree on the right does appear to be a thong tree, but a closer examination would be needed. Thongs left certain marks on the tree.

A thong is usually a forked stick when you are talking about trail trees. Thong was just a "hold down".

The trees were formed by using two "thongs". The one with the "Y" appearance was placed near the bottom of the tree and the and the other which looked like an upside down "Y" was placed farther up the trunk just below a branch and driven into the ground to hold the tree in place. Then the trunk above the branch was cut and removed, forcing the branch to become the new trunk.

Lots of different meanings. And the tree wasn't always pointing in the direction of the nose, sometimes it points the opposite direction.
 

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Charmin

Charmin

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Smee said:
The tree on the right does appear to be a thong tree, but a closer examination would be needed. Thongs left certain marks on the tree.

A thong is usually a forked stick when you are talking about trail trees. Thong was just a "hold down".

The trees were formed by using two "thongs". The one with the "Y" appearance was placed near the bottom of the tree and the and the other which looked like an upside down "Y" was placed farther up the trunk just below a branch and driven into the ground to hold the tree in place. Then the trunk above the branch was cut and removed, forcing the branch to become the new trunk.

Lots of different meanings. And the tree wasn't always pointing in the direction of the nose, sometimes it points the opposite direction.
Thanks for that info, Smee! This fall/winter when the grass dies back, I'll go out and take a closer look at the tree. I want to metal detect around it and see if there are any other marks on the tree.
kind regards~~sandcreek
 

S

Smee

Guest
Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

It generally amazes me to see folks here talk about using a "metal detector" under these trees, thinking that Native Americans would place metal under them - even precious metals. I enjoyed the second National Treasure movie too, but the Native Americans didn't have all that gold. If they did, they could have probably "bought" their freedom for a while longer with it. As to metal clues . . .

If they had metal, why were they still using stone tools?

If they had metal, but it were in such short supply that there was not enough for needed tools, how was there enough to put it under these trees?

If you feel you must check these trees, perhaps looking for KGC clues(?), please be careful not to do anything to destroy them. I know of about 100 within a couple hours drive of my home. Someone found one of them and dug around the roots until they killed a 200+ year old trail tree. It wasn't a KGC tree, no KGC activity in my area. In fact, if they had taken the time to examine the surroundings (basically look up from their digging) they would have seen that there were several other trees nearby --- all visible from this tree.
 

Old Dog

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May 22, 2007
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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Smee said:
It generally amazes me to see folks here talk about using a "metal detector" under these trees, thinking that Native Americans would place metal under them - even precious metals. I enjoyed the second National Treasure movie too, but the Native Americans didn't have all that gold. If they did, they could have probably "bought" their freedom for a while longer with it. As to metal clues . . .

If they had metal, why were they still using stone tools?

If they had metal, but it were in such short supply that there was not enough for needed tools, how was there enough to put it under these trees?

If you feel you must check these trees, perhaps looking for KGC clues(?), please be careful not to do anything to destroy them. I know of about 100 within a couple hours drive of my home. Someone found one of them and dug around the roots until they killed a 200+ year old trail tree. It wasn't a KGC tree, no KGC activity in my area. In fact, if they had taken the time to examine the surroundings (basically look up from their digging) they would have seen that there were several other trees nearby --- all visible from this tree.

Hey Buddy,
This is exactly the reason why I advocate using a metal detector rather than digging an unnecessary hole.
I know these trees are historical and should be protected.
There is never a reason to kill one.
These trees are not cache markers.
They are in some cases pointers to caches that are still distant. metal clues will not be deep,
they will be buried a short distance away from the tree not under the tree.

Thanks for helping clarify this.
 

Cherryman68

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Is it worth trying to follow a bent tree marker if the tree is no longer there? My mom told me about one that used to be in a very intresting place but has since been cut down. She remembers it very vividly and showed me where it was and which way it pointed. North if that helps any.

She even told me the Indians used to mark trails like that. I just looked at her wide eyed and responded "REALLY?! how cool!" :P No one can be trusted even mom....she might be an agent they are getting very sneaky lol.

But seriously is it worth my time?
 

point hunter

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Hi Cherryman. I would check it out if I had the time. You may find something else or nothing at all. I have walked 3 or 4 miles following a bent tree sign. The next marker is not always close by. Even if you don't, you will get to see some nice country and get plenty of exercise. Besides, your mother wouldn't send you on a wild goose chase, would she? ;D
 

Cherryman68

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

point hunter said:
Hi Cherryman. I would check it out if I had the time. You may find something else or nothing at all. I have walked 3 or 4 miles following a bent tree sign. The next marker is not always close by. Even if you don't, you will get to see some nice country and get plenty of exercise. Besides, your mother wouldn't send you on a wild goose chase, would she? ;D

problem is The way it points is very developed now. It might still be worth it because it leads in the Direction of Caddo lake the only natural lake in Texas. I really don't want to be tracking all through that area though lots of big foot sightings....

Oh who am I kidding the not knowing would kill me. I HAVE to follow and see where it goes.
 

Old Dog

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May 22, 2007
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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Cherryman68 said:
Oh who am I kidding the not knowing would kill me. I HAVE to follow and see where it goes.

Well there you go...
The treasure hunter in you won out.

LOL
Thom
 

truckinbutch

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Cherryman68 said:
point hunter said:
Hi Cherryman. I would check it out if I had the time. You may find something else or nothing at all. I have walked 3 or 4 miles following a bent tree sign. The next marker is not always close by. Even if you don't, you will get to see some nice country and get plenty of exercise. Besides, your mother wouldn't send you on a wild goose chase, would she? ;D

problem is The way it points is very developed now. It might still be worth it because it leads in the Direction of Caddo lake the only natural lake in Texas. I really don't want to be tracking all through that area though lots of big foot sightings....

Oh who am I kidding the not knowing would kill me. I HAVE to follow and see where it goes.
Know what you mean . I've got a trail I've been following with Thom's help . Odd cedar tree groupings as they are not native to the area , beech tree carvings , and a couple of bent trees that point to the same spot .
An 86 yrold 'watcher' has warned me off of this trail .
Jim
 

Cherryman68

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

truckinbutch said:
Cherryman68 said:
point hunter said:
Hi Cherryman. I would check it out if I had the time. You may find something else or nothing at all. I have walked 3 or 4 miles following a bent tree sign. The next marker is not always close by. Even if you don't, you will get to see some nice country and get plenty of exercise. Besides, your mother wouldn't send you on a wild goose chase, would she? ;D

problem is The way it points is very developed now. It might still be worth it because it leads in the Direction of Caddo lake the only natural lake in Texas. I really don't want to be tracking all through that area though lots of big foot sightings....

Oh who am I kidding the not knowing would kill me. I HAVE to follow and see where it goes.
Know what you mean . I've got a trail I've been following with Thom's help . Odd cedar tree groupings as they are not native to the area , beech tree carvings , and a couple of bent trees that point to the same spot .
An 86 yrold 'watcher' has warned me off of this trail .
Jim

yes I read all about that from your posts. That is absolutely fascinating! I wonder what kinds of ties he has. Oh what I would pay to pick his brain. What exactualy did he say to you? I remember you saying he stopped by for a surprise visit. But then again, the more you get stung the closer you are to the bee hive.
 

truckinbutch

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Re: Does a tree ever "point" the way to treasure?

Cherryman68 said:
truckinbutch said:
Cherryman68 said:
point hunter said:
Hi Cherryman. I would check it out if I had the time. You may find something else or nothing at all. I have walked 3 or 4 miles following a bent tree sign. The next marker is not always close by. Even if you don't, you will get to see some nice country and get plenty of exercise. Besides, your mother wouldn't send you on a wild goose chase, would she? ;D

problem is The way it points is very developed now. It might still be worth it because it leads in the Direction of Caddo lake the only natural lake in Texas. I really don't want to be tracking all through that area though lots of big foot sightings....

Oh who am I kidding the not knowing would kill me. I HAVE to follow and see where it goes.
Know what you mean . I've got a trail I've been following with Thom's help . Odd cedar tree groupings as they are not native to the area , beech tree carvings , and a couple of bent trees that point to the same spot .
An 86 yrold 'watcher' has warned me off of this trail .
Jim

yes I read all about that from your posts. That is absolutely fascinating! I wonder what kinds of ties he has. Oh what I would pay to pick his brain. What exactualy did he say to you? I remember you saying he stopped by for a surprise visit. But then again, the more you get stung the closer you are to the bee hive.
Wasn't so much what he said as what he didn't say ; if you get my drift .... I love this old fellow and he has never been threatening in any way .
His father was a friend and mentor to me .
Who knows ? Part of my and Thom's speculation is that I have been groomed to become a watcher . If
that honor was ever bestowed upon me I just couldn't communicate with the rest of you folks on this subject any more .
 

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