Anyone remember Gene Ballinger, "In The Steps" magazine, "The Association" etc.?

[Randy Bradford]

Do you have a list of his books I've read tomorrow the sun will also rise. At least I think that was the title.

Gene did one in the middle 1980s called "Treasure Field Research." It was spiral bound, and I assume as such was published independently. I might have a digital copy of it somewhere, but I've only ever seen one copy and that was in the hands of a fairly serious treasure book collector.

Gene didn't write (or at least it wasn't published as such) "Yes, the Sun Will Rise," but rather it was a biography about him. It would have been written before the fiasco at the Pine Cienega Ranch, and published about the same time as the investigation into those events. If memory serves me correctly the book never mentioned any of this (though the timing suggests that was likely an impossibility) though it does refer briefly to some other legal issues earlier in Gene's history.

I thought the biography missed some really important aspects of the history of the treasure hunting community, frankly. Gene's participation in multiple newspapers were also inseparable from his own business as a metal detector distributor and someone involved in selling books and equipment. The Association was more than just a newspaper, but an effort on Gene's part to build something more substantial to the treasure hunting community. He was affiliated with several attempts at creating and sustaining treasure hunting museums, and I know the Association had one for a time...not sure what became of the exhibits. He undertook a similar venture in New Mexico as well.

I don't recall Gene's biography talking much about the treasure hunting community as a whole, which is surprising since his father was well known in that community and Gene was friends with or at least affiliated with many well known personalities of that day. In many ways his trajectory was similar to Karl von Mueller's and they were contemporaries at one point. The Association was evolved from the Exanimo Establishment, ran by Karl at the time, with Gene originally being an affiliate of Exanimo before going independent of it. I'm not sure of the details, but I know there was some tension between Karl and Gene that led to this separation, but Karl spared Gene the sort of published vitriol that he didn't spare for so many others he had fallings out with.

Gene and Karl also both moved a number of times and tried to reinvent their work by publishing new newspapers with similar goals and themes. I would assume to some degree they were competitors, selling the same types of products, though by then Karl had become much more stable with the National Prospectors Gazette while Gene was much more transient during this time period. From a publishing stand point, Karl was well established when treasure hunting had really found its stride (1965-1975) while Gene had just started getting his momentum as treasure hunting was beginning its downward turn (at least where publishing is concerned).

 

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[neo]

I've been trying to compile a list of treasure hunters from the past and there books that might be interesting to read. I've bought your compilations im very glad your doing something with this stuff. It's hard to find a lot of it and id hate to see it disappear and people not know who these guys were.

 

[Randy Bradford]

I've been trying to compile a list of treasure hunters from the past and there books that might be interesting to read. I've bought your compilations im very glad your doing something with this stuff. It's hard to find a lot of it and id hate to see it disappear and people not know who these guys were.

Hardrock Hendricks published a biography of sorts, as did Apache Jim (Wilson). These both came out in the early to mid 1970s.

Frank Fish wrote a book that was in good part autobiographical, and his friend Lake Erie Schaeffer wrote one that was substantially about Fish as well.

The two Fish book are a good example of how people often mixed personal stories in a biographical fashion, to talk about or teach things like research, boots-to the ground treasure hunting, etc. I think a lot of those guys probably felt what they were doing was far more interesting than their own, overall life experiences and early history...though that's just conjecture on my part.

I think Karl von Mueller could have been successful writing about himself in a deliberate fashion, though much of his history can be garnered by the sprinklings f self-disclosure he's left over a multitude of sources. Having something concise and deliberate would have proven interesting reading to many of his fans though I think.

Something else though, biographical information also runs counter-intuitive to the innate secrecy associated with treasure hunters and treasure hunting. It's probably one concept nearly every treasure hunter can agree on. ne could likely write a book on people who failed to follow this bit of common sense and came up short in the long run as a result.