bergie
Bronze Member
- Aug 2, 2004
- 1,815
- 1,147
Cool show last night on Discovery Channel about Jesse James. They showed this guy Bob Brewer who has been on the trail of James' buried money and he has found a cache of gold coins and thinks there's much more out there. James' took the equivilant of about $10 million in today's money (face value translation, not considering additional value). Here's info about Brewer's find (he wrote a book, "Rebel Gold").
Mr. Brewer, a retired Navy helicopter crewman, returned to his hometown in Hatfield, Ark., in 1977, a stranger to all but the outlines of this Southern lore. He had served two tours in Vietnam and was glad to settle back into the community where two previous generations of Brewers had lived out quiet lives. He thought the store-porch stories he heard while catching up with old-timers were simply fables. Except for one thing: As a boy he had heard the same tales of buried gold hinted at by his uncle, Odis Ashcraft ? who had heard them from his father.
The tales and the talismans soon fascinated Mr. Brewer ? marks on ancient beech trees, crude pictures carved on boulders. A skilled navigator, he was soon working with detailed topographical maps, a pair of dividers and a metal detector ? drawing lines between local landmarks, then walking the lines and probing the earth.
The hobby became a passion when in the early '90s he found a pint jar stuffed with old coins, including gold pieces, all dating from 1802 to 1889, and valued at about $28,000. Mr. Brewer found another such trove a few months later. The hobbyist would become obsessed with deciphering the Confederate codes.
Mr. Brewer, a retired Navy helicopter crewman, returned to his hometown in Hatfield, Ark., in 1977, a stranger to all but the outlines of this Southern lore. He had served two tours in Vietnam and was glad to settle back into the community where two previous generations of Brewers had lived out quiet lives. He thought the store-porch stories he heard while catching up with old-timers were simply fables. Except for one thing: As a boy he had heard the same tales of buried gold hinted at by his uncle, Odis Ashcraft ? who had heard them from his father.
The tales and the talismans soon fascinated Mr. Brewer ? marks on ancient beech trees, crude pictures carved on boulders. A skilled navigator, he was soon working with detailed topographical maps, a pair of dividers and a metal detector ? drawing lines between local landmarks, then walking the lines and probing the earth.
The hobby became a passion when in the early '90s he found a pint jar stuffed with old coins, including gold pieces, all dating from 1802 to 1889, and valued at about $28,000. Mr. Brewer found another such trove a few months later. The hobbyist would become obsessed with deciphering the Confederate codes.
