Lets try to put ourselfs in the outlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

[Mr.Jody]

So, you just hit the local bank,train depo,stagecoach.....whadayado!

 

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[Kentucky Kache]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

First thing I do is get out of Dodge. Then I separate myself from the money, burying it someplace no one would ever expect money to be...a place that was in no way connected to me (Just in case I was identified). I would lay low for a time, far away from the scene.

 

[Mr.Jody]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Yep, first thing is defiantly do is get outa dodge!!OK, so now the adrenalin is pumping,your looking back all the time to see if their on your tail.Did most keep it on them all the time, or anyone think they actually took the time to jump off the horse, dig a hole,fill it in,or ride up/down a mountainside and ride off in the sunset?
Does anyone think that the ones who "stashed" or "buried"the loot forgot where they put it because of all the things going on at the time?......

Was some shot and killed and the "loot"was never recovered because it ditched on their hot ride outa dodge?
Thought it would be a good discussion thread...

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Yep, first thing is defiantly do is get outa dodge!!OK, so now the adrenalin is pumping,your looking back all the time to see if their on your tail.Did most keep it on them all the time, or anyone think they actually took the time to jump off the horse, dig a hole,fill it in,or ride up/down a mountainside and ride off in the sunset?
Does anyone think that the ones who "stashed" or "buried"the loot forgot where they put it because of all the things going on at the time?......

Was some shot and killed and the "loot"was never recovered because it ditched on their hot ride outa dodge?
Thought it would be a good discussion thread...

There has been outlaw loot uncovered, so yes, outlaws did hide things where they either forgot the location, or were killed. They wouldn't have stopped with a posse hot on their trail, but I don't think that was always the case. Sometimes they would have had enough of a lead to have time to stop. You have to remember that horses can't run non stop all day and all night. You have to stop sometime, and that would be a good opportunity to bury your loot. Maybe a good thing to consider would be how far a horse can run before having to stop and rest. About that distance from the crime scene would be a good place to search. Of course they would have used creek/rivers/streams to throw off any trackers.

 

[nova treasure]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Long existant markers that would be easy to remember for a extended period of time. Churches with Cemetaries, Forks in the roads, fords across waterways. rock walls or other that might have multiple visable markers around. Caves or known cliff overhangs, Any of these within a hard days ride .
Alot of these places were remembered from long periods of camp and marching all over during the Civil War and thought of later.

I know personally of a couple caches that have been found and they were in just in seconds of walking distance from everyday traffic.

The sad part is that so many of us are out looking for a dream find and probably passing them about everytime we journey a good days ride from our house.

Nova Treasure

 

[maui]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

also might want to take into account how much gold or silver they were carring. if it was a heavy load
i don't think that they were able to travel long distance's. this might be something else to think about.
take care. ron

 

[Mr.Jody]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Yes,all excellent ideas and theories.....
Ok, here is something else...So, the outlaw has stashed his goods.Do you think he leaves it there and just keeps coming back for lilttle bit here and there, or he moves it to another location??

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Yes,all excellent ideas and theories.....
Ok, here is something else...So, the outlaw has stashed his goods.Do you think he leaves it there and just keeps coming back for lilttle bit here and there, or he moves it to another location??

For me, I think it would depend on where it was buried. If not too for away, I might leave it, at least for a time. But I wouldn't risk having to go back there multiple times. so no, I wouldn't use that spot as my bank.
If a long distance away, I probably would leave it for a while, and then go get it. Either way, it would end up being buried close to me.

But if I'm an outlaw, I may never get the chance to go get it.
Outlaw or not, I have to die sometime. Yet the treasure remains.

 

[midnightmoon]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Ok, here is something else...So, the outlaw has stashed his goods.Do you think he leaves it there and just keeps coming back for lilttle bit here and there, or he moves it to another location??

Me thinks he usually moves it.
If he repeatedly visits one spot, he's creating quite a path to his poke. Or someone could take notice...what's that feller up to...and follow.

[I imagine that folks that leave a cache in one place tend to own the land it is buried on. He'd confront/shoot anyone digging around out there.]

I'm guessing the outlaw either recovered his stash when it was safer for him to do so -- and left town; or he moved it closer to where he was staying.

Fascinating stuff to think about.
Glad you brought it up.
Get our sinister thinking caps on. Sinister Stetsons...yeah buddee

 

[GoldBack]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

There's always the possibility that the gang that robbed the stage/bank wasnt the entire gang, I would split into two parties, the first to make the score and the second to hide it, that way it wouldnt be rushed and you would have a better chance of recovery later. I'd say in the opposite direction that the robbers took.

 

[Mr.Jody]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Now, we are getting somewhere with this...
Another question comes to mind.How deep you guys think they buried "IF" it was buried?
"MY" guess is its not deep at all if in fact it is buried . Don't think an outlaw would take the time to dig it deep, just seems like it would be to much trouble and time digging it up?

Cant remember watching old westerns and seeing a shovel on their side...

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Re: Lets try to put ourselfs in the loutlaws footsteps back in the day!!??

Now, we are getting somewhere with this...
Another question comes to mind.How deep you guys think they buried "IF" it was buried?
"MY" guess is its not deep at all if in fact it is buried . Don't think an outlaw would take the time to dig it deep, just seems like it would be to much trouble and time digging it up?

Cant remember watching old westerns and seeing a shovel on their side...

I agree, buried shallow if on the run. Maybe not even buried at all. Stuffing under a boulder, or in a hollow tree/log, would be quicker.

 

[Tuberale]

So, you just hit the local bank,train depo,stagecoach.....whadayado!

Many, many, many small robberies in the early 1900's.

Most were never printed in the papers, because the police felt it would only encourage larceny.

Locally, someone who had their car followed with sirens and lights on would simply chuck the excess evidence into the nearest creek bed from a bridge. It worked ... a lot of the time. Hard to prove Armed Robbery if you didn't have the Arm on you.

At least some of these thefts were mostly in coin. Wouldn't you like to find a clump of coins from, say, a 1916 or 1923 robbery? Why? Have you seen how much a 1916 quarter is worth recently, or a 1923 quarter, dime, half dollar ... even a penny? And both of those dates were well before the Depression, when people still actually had money.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Well, most outlaws were smart enough not to rob from the town they lived in. So they travel to another town, far enough away that nobody would know them. Then, after the robbery they have to get out fast. Posses were formed quickly, witnesses would have seen the direction they left in. Speed of travel was important so they would have used roads, railways or rivers to get away fast. Weight of the loot was an issue, but being able to deny involvement was first and foremost. As soon as they are far enough away from town, they ditch the loot. Likely they would have scouted a location to ditch it ahead of time. Probably not time to dig a hole and bury it, but the hole could have been dug prior, making burial a fast affair. Most likely it was under a rock, a fallen log, a hollow tree, etc.

Assuming they make a good escape, they would have laid low for a few days then moved back to grab the loot. They wont live close by, so they would have taken the whole thing. If they werent immediately captured, there is likely no cache left to find.

2 last thoughts on "outlaw loot". Criminals then are the same as now. They don't invest or make plans for the future. When they have cash, they live like millionaires. They would spend the money within months, so there wouldnt be multiple caches hidden around from a single robber or gang.
Also, posses were aware of all of this. They spent a lot of time tracking and talking to everyone about any strangers they have seen. They would have spent time looking in every obvious hiding place for the loot as well. I'm sure that there were stashes found and never turned in..

 

[TheRandyMan]

I'm ready! Lets go!

 

[Mr.Jody]

No, RandyMan, not planning a stagecoach heist....LMAO trying to think how the "outlaws" thought back in the day...

So, its probable that that not much of it was"buried" I think would be good to say.I was thinking more in the lines of "hidden" more than buried.

Another thing comes to mind....I don't think an out law would venture to far from his horse to "hide" the loot,meaning, I don't think he would get off the horse, walk up/down the side of a mountain to stash the loot.....

I believe most of it was spent too....

 

[zerojinx]

I agree, the loot was probably stashed under rocks or in a tree crook, somewhere the robber could easily identify. If the robber is on the loose for a long period of time, then the money is most likely spent. Perhaps though, the robbers were killed or caught not long after. This is the one senerio that would lend to a buried treasure.

So i would say that if you found a bit of history pertaining to a robbery with the bandits captured or killed, with money unrecovered then you'd have a good lead. Of course this don't mean that the posse spilt the loot and shot the robbers.

 

[grillz]

Let's not forget that the robbers may not, and most likely did not, have the luxury of time to bury or hide the loot if there were a posse hot on their trail.
The smart ones would already have a stashing spot set up. Dig a hole deep enough to hold the goodies, throw it in, and then roll a preset rock on top, or drop a bush into the hole, and presto, instant concealment. Some of these gangs were chased for a week before being caught up with. In order to keep well ahead of the posse, these guys had to get rid the excess weight and travel light and fast. There were others who were caught within a few hours, and the recovery was zero. How many times have we read "none of the gold was recovered".

Give some thought to the dollar amounts of gold often claimed to have been stolen from stage coaches, trains and banks. At the time gold was $20.00 an ounce, so, $20,000.00 in gold is 1000 ozs. 1000 ozs divided by 16 ozs. to the pound = 62.5 lbs. Not terribly heavy.
$100,000.00 divided by $20.00 = 5000 ozs. divided by 16= 312.50 lbs. That's a lot of weight for 3-4 guys to be hauling. If there was any chance of escape, it, the excess weight, would have to be gotten rid of quickly.

Hope this gives you something to think about.

 

[Mr.Jody]

Ok, couple of times the "weight" has been mentioned,so it is believed that if there was alot taken, it probably was ditched fairly quickly.
The question remains how many actually made it back to get this "loot"? It was all so mentioned that most spent it just as fast as they got it, but the question comes up for the ones who were known to have robbed alot of things and people almost every other day so to speak.....Did they spend it all to or keep going back for a lil here and there?
Keep em coming...

 

[zerojinx]

I dont think the robber would keep coming back over and over. There has to a certain amount of paranoia in this kind of criminal venture. Maybe they would have left it and came back once maybe twice, but i don't think they would have been comfortable enough to use the cache site as a bank. So its mostly all there or not at all.