Behind the Iron Door -- Lost Cache of the Witchita Mountains

[Gold Seeker]

http://www.losttreasure.com/Tale/old/todaystreasuretale.cfm

This one would be a great one to try and find!!

 

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[Gypsy Heart]

Interesting story. You know someone posted a story about hiking in the mountains this past winter and finding an iron door in the side of it. Wonder whatever happened or if they went back and went in? Hmmmm...

 

[Heavy Chevy]

Hi Gang

Seems like every state west of the Mississippi has an "Iron Door" treasure in the mountains. Of course no one mentions how such a heavy bulky unweildy object could get drug up the side of a mountain or up and down valleys to be placed in front of a cave. Plus the fact that if someone was hiking through the mountains and found an Iron Door, it would be a dead giveaway to treasure.
Even so how would you secure the door to the rockface ?

I used to work for a railroad crew and it was all we could do to move a railcar door with a forklift !!!

Seems like it would be smarter to cover the cave with dirt and make it look like the surrounding countryside.

I know that the Iron Door stories have been around for many years.
Pulp writer Robert E.Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian) used the idea in one of his stories back in the 1930's (Howard was born and raised in Texas so he surely heard of the Iron Door stories from the old timers in the area)

Anyway it is a great legend,

Mike in SC

 

[Gold Seeker]

See what happens when you're new to the hobby?? I'd like to believe that a lot of these things are real. Maybe I'm too gullible...

 

[Heavy Chevy]

Hey del,

You aren't gullible.There are a lot of Treasure stories out there. Some are true,
some are legend, some we dont know for sure yet. Some stories told were just out and out Whoppers !!!!

And seems like JJ buried treasure in every state in the Union. Same as Capt.Kidd and Blackbeard.So these stories have to be taken with a grain of salt.

But they make fine reading !!

Mike in SC

PS I like your avatar !!!

 

[Gold Seeker]

Thanks for the word of wisdom, Mike! I need to learn to be more critical.

And the avatar? Thanks! I think that the back of the $20 Liberty is the best design the United States has come up with. What's even better is that the mint mark is CC.... Imagine the stagecoach robberies out west and the coins that were hauled off -- how many Carson City's were stolen... Just waiting for us to find!

 

[Salvor6]

Any links to Lost Treasure's tale of the day will take you to the current tale. There is no mentiuon of an "iron door" treasure in today's tale.

 

[trapperjon]

Frazier MtN CALIF.,MINE WITH A IRON DOOR ENTRANCE, IN 1940,A DEER HUNTER GOING ACROSS FRAZIER MTN., TOWARDS CUDDY VALLEY,LOST HIS FOOTING AND SLIPPED INTO A DEEP DEPRESSION ON THE MOUNTAIN SIDE.WHEN HE GOT UP AND TURNED AROUND,LOOKING TOWARD THE BACK OF THIS HOLE,HE SAW A RUSTED IRON DOOR LOOKING RIGHT AT HIM.HE TRIED BUT COULD NOT BUDGE THE DOOR OPEN.LATTER ON HE WENT BACK ,BUT COULD NOT FIND THE DOOR,BUT DID FIND PIECES OF CRUDE CLAY CRUCEIBLES,AND SOME VERY HIGH GRADE ORE. LOCATION IS CLOSE TO CHUCAPATE PARK.THE DOORS ARE OUT THEIR,AND THEY ARE FOR REAL,BUT MY GUESS IS MOST ARE BURIED FROM CAVEINS. 8)

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

=Mike in SC
Even so how would you secure the door to the rockface ?
*******
HI, that is the least of your problems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seems like it would be smarter to cover the cave with dirt and make it look like the surrounding countryside.
******
Agreed, unless you were making it inaccessible to locals that know of it's location.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for moving a heavy door, just research some of the mining equipment they moved in the 1800's with just mule and human labor. unbelievable.

Example: how would you move 2 000 ft of a single continuous run hoist cable, say 1 ", to a remote site with no wagon roads?

answer tomorrow, if someone hasn't figured it out by then.

Never underestimate the past peeps.

Tropical Tramp

p.s. I have the data on 3 metal and one wooden door here in Mexico. One is up at Tayopa and will be the subject of a detector search before the end of the year. It was 1/2 buried in the talus in 1940. It is now covered, location is known to within 20-30 meters.

 

[trapperjon]

HOLA BOLA REALDE,THEY USED A RIVER/WOOD BUILT BARGE, TO MOVE THE CABLES/EQUIPMENT.

FOR THOSE THAT WONDER ABOUT IRON DOOR CONSTRUCTION, THE SPANIARDS USUALLY HAD SHIP-BUILDERS IN THEIR PARTYS, THEY MOST LIKELY PACKED A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF IRON WITH THEM,,AND FORGED THE DOORS , USEING THE SAME SMELTERS THAT THE GOLD AND SILVER BARS WERE SMELTERED OUT OF. THEY ALSO MADE CHAINS/LOCKS/AND CONSTRUCTED A PATRICULAR TYPE OF SPANISH MULE SHOE,OH AND DONT FORGET THEIR ARMOUR.

A VERY UNUSUAL LINK OF CHAIN WAS FOUND NEAR THE BORAX PLANT IN THE CALIFORNIA DESERT,ALONG WITH SOME SPANISH COINS FROM THE EARLY 1600""S. JUST THINK HOW FAR THEY TRAVELED WITHOUT FRREEWAYS OR ROADS,AND WE TODAY STILL HAVE PROBLEMS TRACKING THEIR MINES DOWN WITH EVERTHING WE GOT.

 

[Heavy Chevy]

Hello Realde and Trapperjon,

I respect both of your opinions greatly. The Spanish parties usually consisted of a very large group of men.While i agree it could be done, i just dont think the likes of Jesse and Frank James and a few guys would have gone through this much trouble. Hard work was not either ones strong suit.
And there are so many legends attributed to the James and Younger boys, it is definately very hard to separate fact from fiction.

And Senor Realde, i congratulate you on your life experiences. I like reading every post you make.You have accomplished what almost every treasure hunt attempts.
You found the legend Tayopa !!


Thanks guys,

Mike in SC

 

[djui5]

Example: how would you move 2 000 ft of a single continuous run hoist cable, say 1 ", to a remote site with no wagon roads?

Slaves or horses with small sleds behind them.

Or, you could lay the cable on the ground, and walk with the end until it runs out, then have someone at the other end start rolling up the slack until they get to the end, and start over. Not that this would probably work very well. I'm sure there are other "offshoots" to this idea...

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI Mike gracias, it has been fun.

so far no one has the cable thingie, Remember we are talking abut rivers, canons, up and down canyon trailsl etc etc. with a cable that is etremely heavy. One tha may reach 2000 ft in length and 1" in diameter.

Tropical Tramp

 

[djui5]

roll it like a tire?

 

[trapperjon]

THEY USED IMPORTED OXEN TEAMS HITCHED TO THE FRONT OF A LOCOMOTIVE STEAM ENGINE ,AND LAID TRACK IN FRONT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE AS IT SLOWLY MADE ITS WAY TO ITS INTENDED DESTANATION. 8)

 

[chellyp]

Too late to catch the article - but I have the book at home, "Oklahoma Treasure and Treasure Tales" put together by Steve Wilson (I think). I haven't read it in a while, but I'm thinking the book mentions Belle Star, and the door coming off of a train... Anybody remember anything about that? Guess I'll have to see if I can figure out where I left that book!!

 

[Boltz]

Your correct chellyp. Wilsons book mentions that Belle Starr and her associates waylaid a train from which they took half a million dollars in United States government gold and silver. The door they used was from the trains baggage car. Quite a story.
By the by, your query brought about my first post
Good to be here everyone, and really dig all the stories.

 

[chellyp]

I lurked for a long time before i posted, but am glad I did!! The folks here are quite helpful and friendly. If you don't mind me asking, where in Oklahoma are you from? I am way up Northwest in Alva.

 

[gollum]

Hello Realde and Trapperjon,

I respect both of your opinions greatly. The Spanish parties usually consisted of a very large group of men.While i agree it could be done, i just dont think the likes of Jesse and Frank James and a few guys would have gone through this much trouble. Hard work was not either ones strong suit.
And there are so many legends attributed to the James and Younger boys, it is definately very hard to separate fact from fiction.

And Senor Realde, i congratulate you on your life experiences. I like reading every post you make.You have accomplished what almost every treasure hunt attempts.
You found the legend Tayopa !!


Thanks guys,

Mike in SC

Hey Mike,

You're absolutely correct! No JJ and FJ would NEVER have built an Iron Door for a cave or mine. They were on the run so much, the best they could do was bury something. Anything you might have seen or heard about JJ and FJ building an iron door mine was BS!

The Spanish built Mine doors our of Iron and Copper. The doors to two of the Tumacacori Mines are supposed to be made of copper. And either Iron or Copper, they were probably made of wood timbers sheathed in iron and copper. Somebody here said something about the Spanish having shipwrights. They would not have needed them. Every major mine complex had an official mine engineer. They were experts in knowing the different ways to shore up mineshafts going through different kinds of rock, how to tell the direction a vein took through a mountain (so they would know the direction to dig), how to design and build monuments and markers to and from the mine back to an established trail, how to construct death traps, plus building all the necessary mining apparatus from local materials, and much much more.

I believe building a door to the mine would not be a huge task (no matter the material). Want to see hard? Here is a triangular pointer that is about 7 feet on the long side and about 4 feet on the back. It's not too far from the summit of a 3200 foot altitude ridge. It points to another monument on the other side of the ridge. No way to get horses up there (way too rocky), and weighs tons! To get that up there and balanced like it is was a LOT of work!

Best,
Mike

 

[Boltz]

chellyp, I'm down in Norman and right now really enjoying the rain