The beginning of the trail, and a lot of unanswered mysteries...

[bonuntr]

I promised a while back that I would start a thread on a trail I have followed since the mid 1990,s, if there is enough interest, I will keep going on it....There are still many unanswered signs along this trail as it branched so many times it will take decades to unravel it. We were fortunate enough to come to an old mine that was hidden and has caved in over the centuries. We have since taken a few assays of veins we found in it. Many were great, some disappointing. Like I stated before, this trail has went in many directions, and I don't believe the mine is the main spot we are searching for. As you all know, treasure hunting is a learn as you go endeavor, and I have made more than my share of mistakes along the way. I can say this: We would have never found this mine without a lot of help from the good folks right here on treasurenet, (and a hell of a lot of researching). Thanks to all who have made it a more than pleasurable way to spend a life...
This photo was taken of a rock pile that perplexed me for 4 years until I began researching the Spanish and their more than great donations to settling the wild west.
I had been pine nut picking in central Nevada with my father when I came across this pile of rocks, and couldn't get it out of my head.


It seemed pretty simple, just follow the big white arrow stone that was placed upon the darker rocks. What we came to find out later, that was only one of the stories these rocks told. The rocks placed on a line of the other white rocks each had a specific meaning and clue.(a couple of which are yet unsolved)

We followed the direction the large white arrow pointed, that's when things became really confusing. We found a plethora of blazes, some centuries old, and some that were made much more recently. Trouble was, they were not easily dated. Over time, we were able to understand a few of them, and decipher at what time they were carved. The photo below is one that had us stumped for quite some time. We believe that it is saying, "If you travel this direction, there is an impassible wash. (If you do follow the direction the branch points for approx. 600 yards, there is a wash that is over 70 foot deep, and straight sided on both sides.

If you follow the branch from the center of the blaze, you will notice at the end there is another branch that transverses the other branch. It shows you the direction you must go if you want to cross the wash. (we found out the hard way that it was the only direction you could get through the wash for well over a mile)

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[bonuntr]

During some of our trips, we were able to pick out the old mule trails. I cannot explain what a great feeling it is knowing that you are standing in a part of history, and that you are just passing through.


The blaze pictured below appears to be a sideways M. That makes perfect sense, the long part of the M is pointing towards a tunnel. The trouble with the entrance is that it is without a doubt, a fully working death trap. On top of the balanced rocks they have placed a cut juniper tree that is approx. 13 feet long, tapered at both ends. It has been treated with fire and is hard as stone. Below the blaze photo is a pic of the tunnel. I took pics of it from the side, as not to set the darn thing off!


As you can see, the diamond shaped rock in the center is the key to the trap. It is notched in to the other rocks so that the slightest misstep will set the mountain in motion. Although we can shine a flashlight back into the knee high tunnel, we cannot find the safe way in. This one is so remote that we take 4 wheelers to about 1 3/4 miles from it and pack in our camp. We camped here for 4 nights and met some of the locals who were out and about. (See below)

Even this old rattler was seeking some shade...

 

[weekender]

Please keep the thread going.
It is refreshing to actually see some pictures.
Thanks,
-Weekender

 

[mdog]

Please keep the thread going.
It is refreshing to actually see some pictures.
Thanks,
-Weekender

I agree with weekender, please continue with your posts and pictures. Thanks Bonuntr. Rick

 

[Hitndahed]

Agreed,,,

Looking to reading more from you.

Thanks and nice pics

Hit

 

[bonuntr]

Along the trail....

Over the years, we have discovered literally thousands of blazes, mostly on coniferous trees, i.e. ponderosa pine, white pine, fir trees, pinyons, and the like, (and yes, some in quaking aspen). Once in a great while, we come across them where they have chosen to put them in to harder trees,(oak, scrub oak, juniper, and mahogany). After a lot of heated discussions, we believe that these were meant to stress a point, as they required much more work, not to mention dulling an axe very quickly. We may be wrong, we have been known to....

Below is a photo of one such blaze in a large juniper tree. (we believe this was near a tunnel and was put there to show the fact) Too bad that onward on this particular trail, the blm or some other establishment had chained the area, and all of the trees were gone. Lots of information lost.


The photo below is of a large, and very important trail marker tree. It is cut at 4 foot 11 inches, and measures over 18 inches in diameter. The branch that they have left to show direction points directly at the tree in the photo above.


We have also came across many turtles along the way....contrary to popular belief, not all turtles are huge carvings. In our experience, the smaller the turtle, the closer to your destination. The larger the turtle, the further your destination. (Guess they didn't want to wander around aimlessly until they happened across their desired locale). They wanted to get where they were headed as fast and safely as they could.
The photo below is of a massive turtle that was several miles away from where it wanted you to go.


Below is a close up of the turtles head...notice they finely cut eye, inside of a triangle shape...we found out the triangle had many more meanings than we thought possible.


Next post we will show photos of very small turtles, (with many meanings, some of which we are still at a loss to decipher)

 

[mdog]

I like your pictures and your description of the markers. I don't know if you want to answer questions or not, but I was wondering if the shell on the turtle has a spiral shape to it? The reason I ask is that there are a lot of real old petroglyphs, mounds and artifacts that show a snake and spiral together. Springfield had a real good thread going before he left but it was deleted for some reason. I did a lot of research on his subject, I think it was the snake and turtle carvings as treasure symbols. It seems I found some evidence that the turtle represented a mound and the snake an obelisk or stone column on top of the mound, real ancient stuff.

 

[bonuntr]

mdog

It does have a spiral shell cut on top! I have never heard about the snake, but it makes perfect sense as to what this trails meaning is. Do you have any more info on these types of turtles? If so, any info would be more than appreciated as this particular trail as not come to fruition as of yet.
You mentioned the "ancients", I am a true believer in the idea that a great civilization once flourished here in North America, long before the Spanish ever discovered the native american peoples. From the amount of gold and silver that the Spanish fleets were able to transport back to Spain, it is almost absurd to doubt it. From the Spanish Archives,(we currently have an acquaintance that once in a while is able to glean copied materials from the archives), there were 10's of thousands of tons of silver and gold taken from the new world.

(My personal belief is that the native americans would show the spaniards some of the places, in turn they would smelt the gold and other precious materials from them to be shipped to Spain.) I know others will scoff at the idea, but there haven't been enough rich mines found that would show such an abundance of precious metals that were mineable here in New Spain....(like I said, just an rambling from an old prospector)

As far as the obelisk on top of mounds, I have hesitated to mention them on Tnet because I was afraid of ridicule. Many times we have found trees, shaped in the forms of an obelisk, sitting at the top of a mound, hill, or outcrop. In our experience, they would carve the tree to very specific measurements, and then treat it with fire to preserve it. Some of these tree markers are extremely old, (at least with the testing we have been able to do). We are currently trying to imitate the way they were heat treated after they were carved. It has been pretty tricky to imitate. When we do come across these, they are as hard as stone, many still standing.....

We have also came across gigantic "heads" that seem too big to be of Spanish origin. If they are Spanish in nature, they have spent literally hundreds and perhaps thousands of hours carving them and placing them. I will post a photo of one such head in the future, along with its' dimensions.
Please keep up the feedback, as I was in hopes that by starting this thread I could learn from other t'hunters as well as offer my opinion...
Thanks....

 

[mdog]

Thanks Bonuntr,

If Springfield's thread were still active, it would be easy to post a link but it's been deleted. It's going to take some time for me to find the stuff I posted but I'll post it for you as I find it. We posted a lot of information about the snake and turtle. Your picture could be showing a combination of those two creatures. The spiraled turtle shell representing the mound and maybe a snake head coming out of the shell representing the obelisk.

The mounds and columns are how the ancient Phoenicians would mark their trading trails. They were religious shrines to their most revered goddess whose name changed from one ancient culture to the next. The Phoenicians worshiped Astarte and Tanit, who some people say are the same goddess. If you have multiple mounds with hardened wooden obelisks on top, you may have an ancient trail with shrines spaced along it. I'm searching for such evidence along a trail that moves through the upper Midwest. If you've had the wood tested, could you tell us how old the columns are? I know the trail I'm looking at was used when the Hopewell Mound Builders were active along the Mississippi a couple thousand years ago.

Bonuntr, I have to leave for awhile but when I get back I'll start posting stuff that might help you.

 

[mdog]

THE SO-C.\LLED "SPANISH DIGGINS"

The names "Mexican Mines" and "Spanish Diggins," were first applied to
these workings by the cowboys who rode the range. The ancient village sites,
shop sites and quarries are located over an area of ten by forty miles, extending
from a point south of Manville to Bulls Bend on the north Platte River. Not
all of this ground is taken up with workings, of course, but in all this region
of four hundred square miles, the visitor is seldom out of sight of some village
site or quarry. C. H. Robinson, who spent several weeks in the region says he
traveled over six hundred miles on foot and horseback, and collected for Illinois
State Museum four hundred and fifty-five specimens of rock work and for the
McLean County Historical Society two hundred and eighty-eight specimens.
This will give one some idea of the extent of these remains.

Mr. Gilder says, "In no section of the entire world can be found ancient
quarries of such magnitude." There must have been a dense population and
thousands of workers in active employment in these fields for at least half
a century.

TOPOGRAPHY AND SCENERY

A description of the quarries first discovered (there were many others found
later) was given by Mr. Bartlett in his correspondence in 1892, as follows:

"The region is intensely weird and picturesque. The surrounding country is
broken into a series of rugged hills, interspersed with rocky and sandy gulches,
with stretches of mesas and desert plains to the south. Much of the area resem-
bles the bad lands in its loneliness and its grotesque rock formations. From
the top of the mesa where the principal workings are found, the scene though
wild and desolate was magnificent. The Laramie range loomed up in the west
against a clear sky, the table lands and foot hills between showing picturesque,
rocky formations rising abruptly, clean cut and distinct, like castle towers and
fortifications, but everywhere around us was an oppressive silence and desolation,
as if we had invaded the burial ground of a long departed race."

The locality of the first discoveries is along the Dry Muddy. The country
is so dry that live stock cannot range there. From the dry creek there arises a
series of clififs of sandstone and quartzite, and along the top of these clififs in
their broken and irregular formations stretching away for some miles are found
the quarry workings, consisting of pits, tunnels, open cuts and immense bodies
of rock dumps created by the mining operations. Beyond the workings and
broken ledges at the top of the clifT a flat mesa-like formation extends south-
wardly an^ here the village and shop sites are located.



1698216




'■Si'AMSIi DIGGINS," 1915
Vase 14 inehes high, 10 inches in diameter, 7 inches at top.



HISTORY OF WYOMING



THEIR SYSTEM OF MINING



The mining operations carried on in great magnitude among these rocks
seem to have been on a pecuHar stratum of quartzite lying in sandstone. This
quartzite was selected undoubtedly on account of its conchoidal fracture which
gave sharp edges, and the ease with which it could be shaped and worked. In
order to reach the vein of quartzite the overlying strata of other kinds of rock
had to be mined and removed. It is a curious fact that all this rock mining
was done with rock tools, such as wedges and heavy hammers. In some instances
the wedges were found set in the rock seams ready to be driven, and this seems
to bear out Doctor Dorsey's theory that the region was suddenly abandoned
either from attacks from enemy tribes or from some cataclysm of nature.

Nowhere is there any evidence that metal tools were used in either mining
or for domestic purposes. As to their manner of working, Doctor Dorsey says,
"At one place on the bank near the ravine I found a great slab which evidently
served as a seat for some workingman. Seating myself upon it, I could readily
make out the grooves in front of the seat where had rested the legs and feet, while
on the right were two hammer-stones of different sizes, and all about were chips,
refuse, and many rejected and partially roughed-out implements."

Evidently their mining work was a slow, tedious and laborious process and
very crude, requiring hundreds of workers to accomplish what two or three men
could easily do today. Much of the work was done in pits from twenty-five to
thirty feet in diameter and from ten to thirty feet deep. There were some tun-
nels and many open cuts of large extent. Everywhere were huge dumps of
broken rock which had been worked out and worked over. In most cases the
pits were nearly filled up with accumulation of soil and debris and trees and
shrubbery were growing from them.

THE ROCK IMPLEMENTS FOUND

The implements manufactured were for war, domestic and agricultural uses.
In the opinion of experts the agricultural tools predominated.

A general summary of the specimens found includes arrow and lance heads,
knives, hide scrapers, hammers, axes, hoes, grinding mills, wedges, mauls and
various leaf-shaped implements.

The heavy hammers or grooved mauls were usually of dense hard granite, but
all the other output of the quarries was of the peculiar quartzite here excavated,
so peculiar in fact that when in the surrounding country or in the neighboring
states of Nebraska and Oklahoma, the tools can be easily recognized as coming
from the Wyoming quarries — the character of the rock at once establishing a
trade mark.

Tons of cores left just in the beginning of being shaped are found round
the pits and shop sites. As to other rock manufactures, R. F. Gilder says:
"Strange stone figures of immense proportions representing human beings and
thousands of stone cairns are strewn over the landscape for many miles."



HISTORY OF WYOMING



SHOP AND VILLAGE SITES



Back on the mesa in close proximity to the workings are extensive village
sites, marked by hundreds of tepee or lodge circles made by stones used to keep
the poles in place that were covered with skins of animals or brush, and these
were the habitations of this primitive race. Many of such villages are located
forty or fifty miles away in pleasant valleys and parks where there were springs
or running streams. Nearly all of these villages were also shop sites as is demon-
strated by large accumulations of chips and rejects showing that they were
simply adjuncts of the quarry mining.

In these villages and work shops scattered over a region of probably five
hundred square miles there are found many specimens of workmanship not made
from the quarry blocks. Arrow and lance heads and hide scrapers are found
beautifully fashioned from brilliantly colored agates, jasper and chalcedony.
All colors are represented, white, blue, red, yellow, black and banded. They
are mostly small and the work on these is so superior to that at the quarries that
some are inclined to think they may be classed as the product of the modem
Indians who occupied the country after the quarry races had passed away.

The Indians of today have no knowledge, theory or traditions concerning these
remains. They have no knowledge of the system of mining these huge quarries,
and never made an efifort to perform such laborious tasks.

OTHER GREAT QUARRIES

The above description applies to the first discovered aboriginal quarries loca-
ted on the Dry Muddy. Recent explorations have brought to light other exten-
sive workings, the most important being in the vicinity of Saw Mill Canyon,
near the North Platte River, fifteen or twenty miles southeast of the Muddy
workings in Converse and Niobrara counties.

Dr. Harlem I. Smith in an article published in the Archaeological Bulletin of
April, 1914, says: "On my last trip we discovered many miles south of the
'Spanish Diggins' proper, another quarry district. The exact location of this
cannot be made known at this time. Near these quarries are shop sites covering
many acres where chips and cones are in such abundance as to stagger one's
belief. Most of the material is black and yellow jasper and fine grained moss
agate."

Mr. Gilder refers to this same locality probably when he says : "Another
quarry territory discovered on one of my trips never explored is so difficult of
access that I hardly know how to tell just where it is, but if you follow the
canyon on the east bank of the Platte until west of the Saw Mill Canyon, you
would reach a section so prolific in material, so tremendous in scale of work
performed that you would never want to see another such district I am sure."

Thus it will be seen that the exploration of this wonderful region which
links us to remote ages, has only just begun. The experts, scientists and curi-
osity hunters who have roamed over this area of some four hundred square miles
have only seen surface indications and picked up such specimens as lay before
the naked eye. There has been no systematic plan of exploration and no excava-



38 HISTORY OF WYOMING

tion of the pits to uncover the hidden rehcs of the race that worked and dreamed
and passed "life's fitful fever" in these desolate wilds.

SHOULD BE A NATIONAL PARK

In May, 1905, the writer addressed a letter to W. A. Richards, commissioner
of the general land office, Washington, D. C, requesting the survey and with-
drawal of these lands for the protection of pre-historic remains. Mr. Richards
took up the matter with the United States Bureau of Ethnology which favored
the project. The area however was so large, and so many private land titles were
involved that action was deferred. The commissioner, however, said that if
we could give him a description by survey of the section or sections upon which
the principal quarries were found, he would recommend the reservation. At
that time it was impossible to furnish that information and the national govern-
ment had no surveyors in the field in this state.

In the summer of 1914 I again took up the matter and succeeded in getting
Governor Kendrick interested in the park or monument reserve. He gave me a
strong letter to Secretary Lane, which I presented in person. The matter was
referred to the Ethnological Department of the Smithsonian Institution and it
v;as agreed to send out a party to survey and investigate the fields. Dr. Grace
Raymond Hebard of the University of Wyoming took a deep interest in the
plan and urged such resen^ation in letters to the Smithsonian people.

Owing to the great extent of the region involved, 400 to 600 square miles,
it was deemed impracticable to reserve it all, but it was agreed to reserve the
most important of the "diggins"' for scientific research. This will undoubtedly
be done. The next spring following the examination made by the Smithsonian
Institution the government practically took charge of the principal workings and
required all visitors who desired to take away specimens, to secure a permit from
the Interior Department.

THEORIES AND OPINIONS

The writer has visited ancient remains in New Mexico and Arizona and.
while as objects they are picturesque and interesting, they cannot compare in
impressiveness. weirdness and mystery to the Wyoming remains which are to
be found on the American Continent. Personally I am strongly of the opinion
that they belong to the stone age, for various reasons. The rock work was done
with rock, they had no metal tools nor any domestic utensils except of rock manu-
facture, they had no dwelHngs that show any signs of architectural skill, and
nowhere can be found any foundations of buildings except the crude stone cir-
cles that marked the skin covered tepees.

• Mr. Robinson, who has made a thorough study of the ^Mound Builders, says :
"The specimens of stone tools, implements, etc.. are the same as found in the
mounds of the Mississippi \"al!ey credited to the handicraft of the Mound
Builders. The theory is thus advanced that these quarries may have been the
site of the workshops of the pre-historic men who roamed over the land ages
before the American Indian made his appearance. Here they made their uten-
sils and implements of war and the chase to be later carried down the Platte to



HISTORY OF WYOMING 39

the Missouri and ^lississippi to be left in Illinois and the various states bordering
on these streams."

Dr. F. B. Loomis of Amherst College wrote in June, 191 5, as follows: "I
have in the Amherst Collections several implements from Arkansas and other
nearer localities made from material which doubtless came from these quarries,
so they must have been visited by tribes far and near, or at least the material
must have been traded widely. I know of no other place where the quarrying
of rock for making stone implements was carried on to anywhere near as large
an extent."

 

[mdog]

Tons of cores left just in the beginning of being shaped are found round
the pits and shop sites. As to other rock manufactures, R. F. Gilder says:
"Strange stone figures of immense proportions representing human beings and
thousands of stone cairns are strewn over the landscape for many miles."

 

[bonuntr]

Tiny turtles, forestry, and ledges....

Funny thing happened while out in the deserts of Nevada.....We had read that if you were lucky enough to find a real turtle, it would be a massive carved rock, and had made the assumption to look along the trails for them. Back in 2010, my teenage daughter had went with me for a week to camp, search for sign, rockhound, and in general, get to know here crazy father. She took a camera along to take pics of anything she found interesting while not with me. (a note....my children have been raised in the wilderness, it wasn't like I sent her out into the unknown without the tools to take care of herself). We returned to our home in Utah and life went on. One day in the fall, I ran across the photos of what she had taken on the trip the previous summer. Was I surprised....it looked like 2 piles of rocks meant to look like turtles, trouble is they were not big carvings. We returned in the fall over a long weekend to the spot she had taken the photos. Both were just piles of rocks, not carvings, and at least one of them was meant to look like a turtle. Trouble is, it had a small tree growing right dead center of it. The tree was small, approx. 2 inches in diameter. I removed the tree, and took a section of it home to count the rings.
Pictured below are the two piles of rocks, (tree removed).


Notice the "tail" of the turtle has a heart shaped stone.

When we finally ended up counting the rings on the tiny tree, it was unbelievable. I know growing in very little soil will slow tree growth, but this was amazing! Assuming that the tree was not there until after the turtle and the ring count was 189, subtracting it from the year we found it,(2010), the tree had started growing in 1821. I would imagine that it didn't immediately start to grow the same year as the rocks had been piled there, (in order for some soil to blow in). Putting the stone pile at least as far back as the early 1800's, maybe much older.

As I must go now...more to come on these monuments next....

 

[bonuntr]

The big owl, and the stone face....

I have finally been able to get back to my confuser, (the weather has been so great, it's hard to stay indoors). The photo below is on one of the side trails that we were able to decipher. We had been on the trail for a little over a week, following blazes that had been left long ago...
NOTE: Many of the blazes were found on deadfall trees that were laying on thier sides rotting away. You cannot believe how much time it takes to figure out how a tree once stood, and the direction the blazes were pointing.
After a lot of confusion, and about 2 miles of following blazes, we came to a monument that had forward and backward looking faces. See pic below:


As of yet, we do not fully understand this particular monument. We were fortunate enough to blindly follow the direction the one head was pointing and came to a beautifully carved owl, (see below). Notice in the photo that there are two very old blazes to the side of the owl in a dead tree. Unfortunately, when we came to the owl monument, it began to rain.....it poured for the next 24 hrs. or so. When the ledges we had been hiking in became wet, they were like ice on ice....long story short, I broke my leg. My son splinted it, and we spent the next day and a half hiking out with a crutch made from a mahogoney branch.


A few minutes before I became clumsy, we came across a beautifully axe honed shelter. I wish we could have stayed longer....The shelter measured approx. 3 feet in height, 3 feet in width, and as of yet, we do not know the extent of its depth. We hope to get back there someday.....

 

[bonuntr]

More mysteries along the trail....

I contemplated a long time about posting this photo....Please, if u would like to use it, ask......Seems a while back I had a photo on my web site,(I even had a copyright on it). A few weeks go by and I get a call from a friend in New Zealand....seems he subscribes to a certain magazine, (I won't mention it by name), low and behold....the photo from the website was on the cover of the magazine! Unbelieveable!

Here is a photo of the shelter.....(my son in the photo, looking like a drowned rat asked me to crop him out...it just wouldn't quit raining)....One day I hope to make it back, too bad it is such a long ways away in Nevada.


We were amazed at the craftsmanship...whomever constructed it wanted it to last. The next photo shows the way they had cut the wood to lock it in with the others...



Notice the wood behind the one in front...it has been shaved, with an axe, to be flat sided on both sides. Must have taken a lot of effort as the wood is Juniper.

The next photo is of a monument below the shelter...



If anyone has any ideas on this monument, we would appreciate the help. We loved this particular monument as the chisel marks were still in places on the underside of the cap rock.

 

[dsty]

bounty, the head may be a corner marker and it probably points east and west, the drill hole may point to the south and if there's one on the other side it shows the 4 direction's, if it only shows three direction's then the 4'th direction is unsuitable for habitat, looks like a settlers square league to me. Thanks for the post, sorry about your leg

 

[dog the treasure hunter]

contemplated a long time about posting this photo....Please, if u would like to use it, ask......Seems a while back I had a photo on my web site,(I even had a copyright on it). A few weeks go by and I get a call from a friend in New Zealand....seems he subscribes to a certain magazine, (I won't mention it by name), low and behold....the photo from the website was on the cover of the magazine! Unbelieveable!

Do they charge money for that magazine bountr? Sue them. I personally wish you would name the magazine, expose those thieves. I enjoy your photos and story.
I have also found a stone turtle, that its eye forms a triangle , so that was great for me to see you post that. Thanks.

 

[dog the treasure hunter]

bountr, heres something else to think about, the crime that was committed against you,was in your state and county,which means the court hearing will be there. they will have to fly there for the hearing, or hire a attorney from the usa. Thanks again for putting that info. out.

 

[dog the treasure hunter]

Hey bountr, just to give you a heads up, someone hacked in my computer today. I found there name showing up in my photos, guess what? I looked him up. He is living in New Zealand, He is from Texas, a photographer, its a small world, so some say. If you want me to PM his name to you let me know, or you can PM me his name, and if it turns out to be your buddy, you might want to tell him that the FBI,and Secret Service investigates computer hacking. and if its him, he better not give that magazine any of my photos. Hope its not your buddy that stole your photo and sold it to that magazine.

 

[dog the treasure hunter]

Pm sent

 

[bonuntr]

More along the way.....

Hey ya'll,

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! Bless all of our men and women in uniform, without them, we most likely wouldn't be here on our confusers trying to recall our lost history.

Below is a photo that is a close up of what we believe to be a shrine. It was dug into solid rock on two sides, with a juniper roof and side on the other two. We were amazed at how well they were able to construct this particular one. Check out the notching of the wood,(this was one that had fallen). In the background there is a juniper that has been planed to have smooth sides,(almost like buying a beam at the local hardware joint). Just amazing the work that must have taken!