Research help needed

[khpony]

I read a story a year or two ago regarding a miner/prospector? that had an indian squaw for a wife. He had hid his money during moving from one location to another. I don't remember how he died but he did right after the move before he could retrieve his money. It left his wife without anything. It was somewhere in the Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona area. I have 40+ books and reference books for this area and can't seem to find the story again. Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[lastleg]

I think you are referring to the cache at or near an abandoned stage station west of Ely, NV. A guy
name Marquis wrote for Desert Magazine many years ago got this tip first hand and tried several
times without success. It's one of the most reasonable tales I've ever heard. Kentucky Kache posted
it on TNet for the first time around 2006 or so. You should find it in the archives.

 

[khpony]

Thanks lastleg I'll check it out but I really don't believe that's it. I'll stay in touch.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Have you looked in Thomas Probert's Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the West (1977)?

That the story could be in one of three states makes for a rather small needle in a big haystack.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[lastleg]

The one I was relating was about a rancher, not a prospector, married to or just living with a squaw
who sold his land for a fair sum and intended to settle at the old stage stop. He took the proceeds of
the sale which was all in silver coins up to his new home and hid it where as he told the squaw no
one would ever find it. He also drove his stock up to the new place then went back to bring the
dishes and stove up. He went out to hitch up his mules on his wagon. In the process one mule landed
a fatal blow to his skull. The wife was distraught but had no idea of his hiding place.

At one time KK and I figured out how much weight he carried on either side of the saddle horn but
now I can't remember exactly. I tried to prod KK into going up to Nevada but he wouldn't leave
his old Kentucky home. Actually Desert Mag did two stories about Ken Marquis' hunts for this
giant payday. He got run out both times due to inclement weather.

I came to the conclusion that the story spread far and wide and was either wind or some hunter
got real healthy.

 

[foiler]

There are many such stories, mostly the same one just the location changes. The gist of the story is the basis of cache hunting. Man buries money, man dies suddenly, ergo 'cache'. There, now I've gone and done it. I've just divulged the secret research key I've used for 45 years to find cache leads. I've said enough.

 

[lastleg]

But people do die unexpectedly. I heard a true story of a man who converted a lot of cash into gold
coins and buried them at his girlfriend's place near Taos NM. Yep, he kicked the bucket suddenly
and there they lie to this day.

 

[khpony]

Thanks lastleg that was it. I was in the wrong states. I'll do a little research on it. The wife and I are looking for a couple of good stories to research now that snows on the ground so we will have something to search for next spring.
Thanks!!

 

[foiler]

I don't look for stories. I research records. nuffsaid

 

[lastleg]

Not e'nuff said at all. This forum is all about stories of ordinary people seeing hearing and touching
the past. Some stories cannot be researched because no record exists. I use to research libraries ad-
nauseum and never found a reliable lead in a book. I did learn a lot of history geology earth science
and records of people stumbling onto a treasure without previous knowledge of that artifact.

Can you name one valuable item you have found by research?

 

[Old Bookaroo]

foiler:

"Way back in January 1966, The Artifact Magazine published an article titled Tom Hicks $600 Still Waits. The February-March 1967 issue carried an article Tom Hicks $600 Waits No More. The titles sum up the event. A subscriber read the article, went out there, and recovered twenty-five $20, four $10 and one $5 gold pieces. OK, only $545 - not the promised $600. Still not a bad deal considering he paid fifty cents for that issue.”

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[foiler]

I am 73 years old and I've seen the best of times treasure hunting for me. My wife is in poor health and I cannot venture out now to pursue cache hunting like I have for over 40 years. I have posted in a very few words here the key to finding leads for cache hunting that my predecessors taught me many years ago. Where to look and what to look for will determine how solid a lead is. Stories are stories. I don't ignore stories I'd rather start with a dead body.

 

[lastleg]

You don't like stories how about first and second hand accounts from a trusted source? Sorry about
your wife. Same happened to me and I had to quit my Arizona prospecting. If someone you've known
over 40 years relates an incident you know is 90% factual with a slight chance of hyperbole wouldn't
you investigate. I have been on this site several times and never turned a shovel due to uncertainty
of ownership.

In fact I may turn my notes over to Old Buckaroo for a "story" about it.

 

[foiler]

As I said, I don't ignore stories. There's a story behind every cache but the story for me starts with the body. Successful cache hunters, few left now, get valid leads from dead bodies. How you find them I'll leave that to your imagination.

 

[khpony]

Thanks for all the feedback but at 68 years old and an avid cache hunter there are many leads that start with a story. I've been studying the history here in SW Colorado and reading many books. Stories are usually just a starting point. Whether they are by word of mouth, magazines, or history books they are just a starting point. The only reason the OP was asked was because it had nagged at me for sometime and I couldn't find in my many historical and treasure books and I knew I had read it in one of them. Thanks again.

 

[lastleg]

Nuff said.

 

[boogeyman]

Not e'nuff said at all. This forum is all about stories of ordinary people seeing hearing and touching
the past. Some stories cannot be researched because no record exists. I use to research libraries ad-
nauseum and never found a reliable lead in a book. I did learn a lot of history geology earth science
and records of people stumbling onto a treasure without previous knowledge of that artifact.

Can you name one valuable item you have found by research?

Why YES.......... Yes I can.........

 

[Hobo]

No one knows if a treasure has been found, or was ever there to stsrt with. Most finders keep the success to themselves.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Hobo:

trash cache: Professional treasure hunters usually replace the valuables in a cache with old refuse & trash to let others who may find the cache [site] know that it has already been taken.

~ The Encyclopedia of Buried Treasure Hunting, by Karl von Mueller (1965).

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Hobo]

Hobo:

trash cache: Professional treasure hunters usually replace the valuables in a cache with old refuse & trash to let others who may find the cache [site] know that it has already been taken.

~ The Encyclopedia of Buried Treasure Hunting, by Karl von Mueller (1965).

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

True, but not all finders are pros.

KVM was a friend of mine.