Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

[DCMatt]

Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

I will be in the Long Beach area on Feb. 20th. On the 23rd I will travel with members of my wife's family to Guadalupe (200 miles north) to search for family items buried by them on a farm.

In 1942, just before the family was shipped off to a Japanese internment camp in New Mexico, they buried personal items behind the house they were renting.

We have obtained permission to search and dig. We even have an aerial photo of the property from 1942 showing where the trees were (family members hope this will narrow down the search field).

The land owner has offered a backhoe and operator to help us dig if necessary.

The problem is - I only have a White's classic detector and if the stuff is buried deep, I don't know how we will locate it. Family members are being interviewed about how deep and what is buried, but it was a LONG time ago and the oldest siblings (who dug the hole) have passed away.

Any thoughts or suggestions on this project? Anybody want to help?

Thanks in advance.

DCMatt

P.S. I'm in Virginia so it's difficult for me to do any leg work on the left coast. But there are several motivated family members in California who can try to get things done if somebody has a suggestion.

 

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[stefen]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

There are a number of members residing along the coast from San Diego to above Santa Barbara. If you have a specific question, you might try a PM to obtain immediate answers.

FYI, February will be in the 40's to mid 50's daytime and windy in that area of the coast...dress in layers...T shirt, Shirt, Sweatshirt and light to medium coat.

Thats also the middle of California's rainy season and the storms come in about Santa Barbara from Alaska and then turn northward.

 

[Calworks]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

If all else fails and you have time, there is always Pismo beach and Guadalupe Beach which adjoin each other.

 

[stefen]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

There are a number of beaches in the Long Beach Harbor area in addition to Surfside and Seal Beach (no seals though).

 

[mgdigger]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

I live about 30 min north of Guadalupe and would be glad to help out. I can contact the local club and get you a lot of help if you need it.

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

mgdigger,

Thanks! I appreciate the offer!

I think we're going to need as much help as we can get. If you and/or your club wants to help, please PM me for additional information.

Thanks again,

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

I traded some emails with a member of the California Coastal Treasure Hunters Assoc in San Luis Obispo. They are going to help us with the search.

Also got pictures of the property from @ 1940. Family members spoke of burying the stuff "in the trees". There is a row of tall trees on the west side of the house in the 1940 picture. Looks like they've been gone for 40+ years, though. And that area has been plowed and farmed. Who knows what we'll find now, if anything...

DCMatt

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

Can you borrow a two-box detector either before you leave or after you arrive? Maybe even rent one from a MD store? That would give you the depth you may need.

What kind of trees where they? Sometimes clues about their former location can be determined by their needs. For example: Weeping Willows require lots of water, so they would have been near ponds (low spots) or sloughs; oaks would be found in somewhat dry areas, withl no irrigation; eucalyptus are not indegenious (they're Australian) but were used in rows for marking driveways.

Lots of folks out swinging will be a great help, no doubt. Please come back to this thread to let us know what you find. Good luck.

 

[mgdigger]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

TT down here the eucalyptus grow like weeds. Not to far from where where this hunt is there were several hundred arcs of them planted in neet rows, now a golf corse. Some one at some time thought they could use them for lumber. But the dried wood split so bad it was unusable. The reason eucalyptus splits is that it grows in opposition to the corrialias(sp) effect in the northern hemisphere.

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

TT down here the eucalyptus grow like weeds. Not to far from where where this hunt is there were several hundred arcs of them planted in neet rows, now a golf corse. Some one at some time thought they could use them for lumber. But the dried wood split so bad it was unusable. The reason eucalyptus splits is that it grows in opposition to the corrialias(sp) effect in the northern hemisphere.

I was merely trying to give DCMatt a bit of a clue, where to look for the treasure because he said the trees (landmarks) were gone. Find the former site of the trees, maybe find the treasure faster. My own personal feeling about eucalyptus trees is they should be eliminated because they are dangerous in windstorms, they an not native, and they stink.

 

[mgdigger]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

I agree they should all go. they use way to much water as well. And I was just giving some backgroud on the trees in the ares not tryig to interfer with your post.

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

OK. Here's the place circa 1940. I have a pictures from the 80's and the trees are all gone. What kind of trees are they?

The second house (almost in the center of the picture) was rented by my wife's grandfather. The search area will be where the trees once stood to right and behind the house.

A family member hopes to narrow the search field a little more and I'm hoping the people from the TH club will be able to find something.

It will all hinge on how deep the hole was. The area in question has been plowed and farmed for at least 25 years...

DCMatt

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

Cool photo DCMatt. The trees look like cypress to me. Kinda hard to tell for sure. If they were cypress, they were probably planted to be windbreaks which would probably be on the west side of the house. So maybe you would want to detect on the western side of the property. Just my guess and I'm sure others will be better able to determine which way the prevailing wind blows down there.

 

[Calworks]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

Hard to tell what kind of smaller trees are in the pic, the large wind break of trees to the east looking straight on at the pic are definitely juniper, the smaller trees dotted around the area look to be deciduous, probably ornamental plum or another flowering tree

 

[mgdigger]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

Nice Pic DC is the time frame for the hunt still 23rd to 25th. My daughter is doing a history prodject on the interment camps so she wants to come along.

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Coming to CA and might need a little help

mgdigger,

We're set for the 23rd - 24th (25th if needed). We'll be on the property for a few hours Friday afternoon (not sure what time). We're staying in Santa Maria Friday night and will be back on the property by 9 AM Saturday to search and dig.

If your daughter wants to interview someone about the camps, my mother-in-law will be happy to talk about it. She was only 7 years old and she has an interesting perspective. Auntie Sadami and Uncle Raito (right-o) may be less inclined to talk. They were in their mid-teens and were more significantly impacted by the experience. It really depends on their mood...

Based on my research and interviews with family members, I can tell you a few things that you won't read about in the history books...

Looking forward to the hunt!

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

Re: Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

http://www.rafu.com/map.html

Here is a link to an article (part 1 of 2) about our treasure hunt. We didn't find much but it was a great family gathering.

I'll post the second part when it is available.

Thanks for all the help and support.

DCMatt

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

Interesting story DCMatt. I can't wait to read the final chapter, so to speak, of this interesting family/national history.

 

[TreasureTales]

Re: Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

Closure, that's a great thing. Went with my mother 35 years ago to the land she grew up on. The current owners allowed us to wonder the land. My mother spoke about each piece of it with love and fond memories. It was great to see her relive her childhood, and then close that chapter as she got closer to the end of her own life. I will always be grateful to the owner for letting me take my mother around her childhood home/ranch. I have a feeling the members of your wife's family feel the same way.

 

[Urban Prospector]

Re: Coming to CA and need help UPDATE & LINK

This Ol Marine is touched and a bit misty eyedby this story.