In order to bury a treasure, a hole must often be dug first. It must then be filled in. I must then be able to find the treasure and recover it later, unless I'm simply trying to make it disappear for good. (In that case, I'd probably throw it in a lake or something.)
So, the hole...I have to dig one. Let's think about this for a moment. Those of you who have dug holes know that this takes time even in favorable ground; in unfavorable ground, it takes a lot of time. Who might wander by while I'm digging? I'm reminded of a Joe Pesci quote from Casino. You probably remember the line. ("A lot of holes in the desert, and a lot of problems buried in those holes. But you gotta do it right. I mean, you gotta have the hole already dug before you show up with the package in the trunk. Otherwise, you're talking about a half hour to fourty five minutes worth of digging. And who knows who's gonna come along in that time? Pretty soon, you gotta dig a few more holes. You could be there all f-ing night.") When those bandits stole that gold, or that Confederate paymaster decided to bury the money that he was going to pay the troops with, time was of the essence - that's why the loot was buried in the first place, as if there wasn't a concern about being caught by pursuers, they would have just kept the damned treasure in the first place and kept moving. How much time did they have? What was the ground like? Did those bandits even have a shovel with them in the first place? How long does it take to dig a hole without a shovel, and who might show up during that time?
Okay, I've got a hole. Now I have to get the treasure in there, cover it up, and make it look like something wasn't buried there or else this was all for nothing. How long does that take? And again, who might show up while I'm doing this?
I have to have a way to find it again, and I may be in a hurry. How do I locate it again? Do I spend a few days carving intricate signs and symbols all over the countryside that explain where to find the next set of signs and symbols leading to the treasure (that some rando may interpret a few centuries later), or do I simplify things? ("Do you remember that big tree on the bend in the trail, right by the lake? The big forked one? Yeah, I buried it on the south side of that tree. It's about a foot down.") One of these is a lot less work and will NOT be found by anyone that I didn't talk to, unless accidently.
Now, a guy that's already secured the treasure and is simply looking for a place to bury it has it easier. He's not on the run. Nobody is looking for him. He can take his time and dig the hole first, making sure that nobody saw him doing it or saw the hole itself. That's the cache near the house, the one that seems to make the news most often. I get that. But the really juicy legends aren't about that, are they?
Humans are not always logical. I know that, you know that. People do some really stupid stuff sometimes. But place yourself in the shoes of that bandit. You and I just pulled off a good score, but the posse is on our asses and we've got to hide this loot someplace so we can move more quickly. We don't know how much time we have, but it can't be much, and if our guess is wrong, we're going to hang AND we don't get to keep the money. We just happen to have shovels enough for everyone, so we find a good spot and start digging. How deep do we go? Have you ever done something that maybe you weren't supposed to have done? I know that I have. I also know that if the act takes more than a few minutes, people start getting antsey about it.
"Hey, Dave, we've been digging for five minutes now. I think I hear horses. We need to get moving. This is deep enough, right?"
"Dave? Twenty minutes now. They're RIGHT BEHIND US. We need another five minutes to cover this up. Dave! This is good enough! Let's bury it!"
"DAVE! WHAT THE HELL! THE F-ING HOLE IS TWO FEET DEEP! IT'S NOT LIKE THEY HAVE METAL DETECTORS OR ANYTHING! LET'S COVER THE DAMNED HOLE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! THEY'LL BE HERE ANY SECOND!"
10 foot holes are not dug in a hurry...at least, not without heavy machinery. Scratching out a depression and covering it with leaves or sand? That can be done in a hurry. Chucking a box in a cave? That can also be done in a hurry. 10 foot hole? That requires preparation. A 100 foot hole with water traps and planks and cipher stones? That requires a large crew and a couple of months, and while the folks that they were running from were not much of a threat, the locals certainly were. Pirate treasure at thirty feet is one thing. A farmer stashing a few hundred bucks under a fencepost (hole is already dug, and no one would think twice about it if they saw it being dug) is another matter entirely.
This is the prism that I view these stories through. I haven't recovered any great treasures, but I haven't looked for any either. Others have and were unsuccessful. Was the time that I saved by spending on more productive ventures ill spent? That depends on who you ask.
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