Looking For Advice about Numbers/Letters carved on Stone

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
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It goes through the ridge to the next valley, another even steeper named ridge runs parallel with the first, less than a mile south in the same direction, There was an intersection of wagon roads on the opposite bank of the creek from the stone. The first road I mentioned runs east/west along the foot of the ridges and the other runs north/south through the gap in first ridge into the enclosed valley to the south and makes it's way up the steeper ridge on the long forgotten road to an area I have been told has a large stone monument stacked into a bench or stone henge shaped formation. I have been told that inside this enclosed valley is a small bluff with a cave where a very very old glass bottle still full of liquor and some very old firearms were found. My source said he would not search any deeper because of the terrifying amount of snakes he came across in and around the cave!
Was there a clue that led your source to this cave or did he stumble across it. By the way, don't answer any questions that might pinpoint your area. I don't want to know where it is, I just want to help with your search.
 

Quinoa

Bronze Member
Nov 25, 2011
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Purgatory
Detector(s) used
Garrett atx pi 12+20inch coil, Garrett mh series, Garrett 2500+t-hound attchmnt, fisher tw-6 two box, Pulsestar pro ii with various coils up to 98 inches, pulsemaster pro w/1.2 m coil
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Follow the east west line both sides with a fisher 2 box or 1 meter Pi detector from the marked rock out to maybe 55 feet. That's about all you can do. Mark the line with a compass and surveying twine to follow out. Mark and possibly dig any faint hits. You'll probably find detectors are mostly junk detectors, but it gives you a chance , especially if it's something shallow , like at about 3-4 feet. You should have decent electronic equipment at a minimum to go after this type stuff, even if it seems useless. If you don't have it or can't afford it , borrow it or rent it, or team up with somebody that has used it. Regular metal detectors with a 10-12 inch coil won't do much for depth on anything. They find coins, and lots of shallow nails and old rusty things.
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
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What is the position of the rock with the east/west crack in it. Is it on the east side or the west side of the north/south road that goes through the gap.
West side of the North/south road and stream bank
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
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55
Was there a clue that led your source to this cave or did he stumble across it. By the way, don't answer any questions that might pinpoint your area. I don't want to know where it is, I just want to help with your search.
He stumbled across it from the story I was told. But I can't vouch for for him or the story personally. I never saw the items he supposedly found. The fellow is a rather colorful local character, but appeared to be genuine .
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
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55
Was there a clue that led your source to this cave or did he stumble across it. By the way, don't answer any questions that might pinpoint your area. I don't want to know where it is, I just want to help with your search.
I appreciate your help and interest, as well as everyone that has made suggestions. I didn't think I had given quite enough information to pinpoint the area, but you have got me a little paranoid now. I might edit some details from my previous posts
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
West side of the North/south road and stream bank
What you've written says that your site is on the north side of an east/west ridge and at the junction of two roads, one east/west and the other north/south. There is a creek that runs along the north/south road. The north/south road goes through a gap in the east/west ridge to a valley. On the south side of the valley is another ridge of high hills. The north/south road goes to the top of the southern ridge, where there is a stonehenge formation of rocks. In the valley between the two ridges is a small hill with a cave in it where an old bottle and some old firearms were found. The property was homesteaded during the mid 1800s by a wheel wright who became a Confederate officer. You have found numerous artifacts at this site that could be related to a wheelwrights work area. You also found a Confederate officers button. At your site, you found some rocks placed in such a way to form an oval about 8 feet long and about 2 feet wide. At the north end of this formation is a solitary rock with numbers and letters carved on it. At the center of this oval, buried beneath the surface, you found a fist size chunk of white quartz with a pulley wheel around it, that had its spokes broke off. The north rock has a crack in it that aligns east/west. This oval formation of rocks is on the west side of the road that runs north/south. Also, when you were young, on two different occasions, two old men asked your parents if they could search for clues to a treasure buried on their property.
Is this description accurate and is there anything you can add to it?
 

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mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
What you've written says that your site is on the north side of an east/west ridge and at the junction of two roads, one east/west and the other north/south. There is a creek that runs along the north/south road. The north/south road goes through a gap in the east/west ridge to a valley. On the south side of the valley is another ridge of high hills. The north/south road goes to the top of the southern ridge, where there is a stonehenge formation of rocks. In the valley between the two ridges is a small hill with a cave in it where an old bottle and some old firearms were found. The property was homesteaded during the mid 1800s by a wheel wright who became a Confederate officer. You have found numerous artifacts at this site that could be related to a wheelwrights work area. You also found a Confederate officers button. At your site, you found some rocks placed in such a way to form an oval about 8 feet long and about 2 feet wide. At the north end of this formation is a solitary rock with numbers and letters carved on it. At the center of this oval, buried beneath the surface, you found a fist size chunk of white quartz with a pulley wheel around it, that had its spokes broke off. The north rock has a crack in it that aligns east/west. This oval formation of rocks is on the west side of the road that runs north/south. Also, when you were young, on two different occasions, two old men asked your parents if they could search for clues to a treasure buried on their property.
Is this description accurate and is there anything you can add to it?
How far from the north/south road is the oval formation of rocks. How far down did you dig to find the quartz and what made you dig there. Also, there might be something buried a foot or two deeper. How many rocks form the oval formation and are there any markings on any of the other rocks or do any off them have an odd shape. Can you tell how many spokes were broken off of the pulley wheel. Also, do you know how long the Confederate officer lived there and who bought the place after him.
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
Do you remember the years that the two old men came to your folks place. Did they look real old....70s or 80s.
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
50
55
What you've written says that your site is on the north side of an east/west ridge and at the junction of two roads, one east/west and the other north/south. There is a creek that runs along the north/south road. The north/south road goes through a gap in the east/west ridge to a valley. On the south side of the valley is another ridge of high hills. The north/south road goes to the top of the southern ridge, where there is a stonehenge formation of rocks. In the valley between the two ridges is a small hill with a cave in it where an old bottle and some old firearms were found. The property was homesteaded during the mid 1800s by a wheel wright who became a Confederate officer. You have found numerous artifacts at this site that could be related to a wheelwrights work area. You also found a Confederate officers button. At your site, you found some rocks placed in such a way to form an oval about 8 feet long and about 2 feet wide. At the north end of this formation is a solitary rock with numbers and letters carved on it. At the center of this oval, buried beneath the surface, you found a fist size chunk of white quartz with a pulley wheel around it, that had its spokes broke off. The north rock has a crack in it that aligns east/west. This oval formation of rocks is on the west side of the road that runs north/south. Also, when you were young, on two different occasions, two old men asked your parents if they could search for clues to a treasure buried on their property.
Is this description accurate and is there anything you can add to it?
Your summary of the scene and situation are accurate and I can't think of anything else to add at this time. With the exception of some more pictures and speculative thoughts about what's on the stone itself, but they are all just guesses as you guys have pointed out.
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
Looking at the information that you've showed us, here's something you might try. Remember that I told you that the oval of rocks could indicate the shape of an eye? With that in mind, the pulley wheel could represent the iris and the white quartz the pupil. The rock with the carvings is on the north side of the oval. Stand there and look, south, at the rest of the oval, you should be facing the ridge. Imagine a line that goes from the north end of the oval to the south end. It seems like the oval is on flat ground, so that could tell you to look up, Extend that imaginary line south toward the ridge and then up to the top of the ridge and see if there is anything along that line. You will probably have to go to the top of the ridge and extend the line even further, but keep looking for a rock or tree with carvings or maybe an unusually shaped rock. For distance you will probably have to experiment, but you might start out by measuring the carved lines on all of the numbers and letters, add them up and try going that distance in feet. It should get you close to another marker, but you will have to look close, the marker could be as small as your hand or as big as a big wheelbarrow, or bigger. A possible shape could look like a capital D or a heart. If you have any luck with this tip, please let me know, because it will be similar to the site I study and I might be able to help you date the site.
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
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55
Looking at the information that you've showed us, here's something you might try. Remember that I told you that the oval of rocks could indicate the shape of an eye? With that in mind, the pulley wheel could represent the iris and the white quartz the pupil. The rock with the carvings is on the north side of the oval. Stand there and look, south, at the rest of the oval, you should be facing the ridge. Imagine a line that goes from the north end of the oval to the south end. It seems like the oval is on flat ground, so that could tell you to look up, Extend that imaginary line south toward the ridge and then up to the top of the ridge and see if there is anything along that line. You will probably have to go to the top of the ridge and extend the line even further, but keep looking for a rock or tree with carvings or maybe an unusually shaped rock. For distance you will probably have to experiment, but you might start out by measuring the carved lines on all of the numbers and letters, add them up and try going that distance in feet. It should get you close to another marker, but you will have to look close, the marker could be as small as your hand or as big as a big wheelbarrow, or bigger. A possible shape could look like a capital D or a heart. If you have any luck with this tip, please let me know, because it will be similar to the site I study and I might be able to help you date the site.
I followed the line south from the stone and about 3/4 of the way up the ridge my metal detector alerted me to this axe head burried less than a few inches under the soil. There are lots of unusual shaped rocks within view and on the hillside nearby. Some as small as a fist, a bread box, all the way up to as large as a volkswagon. At the same elevation on the hillside nearby I found the bottom of a large cast iron pot and two 3-4 foot tall earth mounds, kinda weird on a steep hillside.... I haven't had enough time to make it all the way up to the top of the hill this week I'll keep updating when I can.
 

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mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
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Good find. There is a guy named Bob Brewer who lived in Hatfield, Arkansas and who has made treasure recoveries in that area. He wrote a book called Rebel Gold that you might find interesting. If I remember right, he was finding metal clues buried just a few inches underground and I believe that they were used to point the way or confirm a line. At any rate, it was a good idea to take your metal detector along, when you walked the line. Make sure you remember which way the cutting edge was pointed. Keep following the line over the top of the hill, but the axe head might be pointing you to another direction. You might want to look around those two mounds and see if you can find an area where it looks like the earth was scooped out.
I'll show you a few pictures of shaped boulders that I have found.
This boulder is shaped like a heart and is a couple feet high and about ten feet around. I didn't see the heart shape until I was standing on top of it and looked down.
157.jpg

heart point 600.jpg

This picture shows a eye shaped boulder that is about 5 feet long.
028.jpg


Here is a rock, about the size of my hand that is shaped like a D and set in the ground so that it can't be easily moved.
161.jpg

The yellow line is outlining a small pointer rock about 7 inches away and pointing to a notch on the straight line of the D. 100 feet away is a large trench shaped hole that was not filled in all the way. It's about 15 feet long and 5 feet wide.

Anyway, these are the kind of shapes you should look for, might be some owl shapes too, like this one.
owl 500.jpg
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
50
55
How far from the north/south road is the oval formation of rocks. How far down did you dig to find the quartz and what made you dig there. Also, there might be something buried a foot or two deeper. How many rocks form the oval formation and are there any markings on any of the other rocks or do any off them have an odd shape. Can you tell how many spokes were broken off of the pulley wheel. Also, do you know how long the Confederate officer lived there and who bought the place after him.
The oval of rocks is proabably <400 feet from the north/south road.

The pulley wheel and quartz were burried less than 6 inches deep, i would say, and the reason I started to dig there was that the pulley was setting my metal detector off with the coil 3 feet in the air. I found the pulley and quartz weeks before I even noticed the letters and numbers on the stone, as it was mostly covered in moss. I still get an iron signal from the spot the pulley was recovered but I stopped all digging there after I found the pulley and quartz thinking it might be a old forgotten grave. A few weeks later I found the letters and numbers and was convinced for a while it was a grave, but now I'm uncertain what exactly it's supposed to be.

I believe there are six spokes broken from the pulley, I'll post some pictures as I'm not totally sure it's a pulley. But that's what it looks like to me.

The Confederate officer lived there untill his death in 1873 and the land was willed to his son, I believe. After that I am unsure of the property's owners, history, or how to go about finding the list of former owners.
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
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4,320
The oval of rocks is proabably <400 feet from the north/south road.

The pulley wheel and quartz were burried less than 6 inches deep, i would say, and the reason I started to dig there was that the pulley was setting my metal detector off with the coil 3 feet in the air. I found the pulley and quartz weeks before I even noticed the letters and numbers on the stone, as it was mostly covered in moss. I still get an iron signal from the spot the pulley was recovered but I stopped all digging there after I found the pulley and quartz thinking it might be a old forgotten grave. A few weeks later I found the letters and numbers and was convinced for a while it was a grave, but now I'm uncertain what exactly it's supposed to be.

I believe there are six spokes broken from the pulley, I'll post some pictures as I'm not totally sure it's a pulley. But that's what it looks like to me.

The Confederate officer lived there untill his death in 1873 and the land was willed to his son, I believe. After that I am unsure of the property's owners, history, or how to go about finding the list of former owners.
I sent you a private message.
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
The oval of rocks is proabably <400 feet from the north/south road.

The pulley wheel and quartz were burried less than 6 inches deep, i would say, and the reason I started to dig there was that the pulley was setting my metal detector off with the coil 3 feet in the air. I found the pulley and quartz weeks before I even noticed the letters and numbers on the stone, as it was mostly covered in moss. I still get an iron signal from the spot the pulley was recovered but I stopped all digging there after I found the pulley and quartz thinking it might be a old forgotten grave. A few weeks later I found the letters and numbers and was convinced for a while it was a grave, but now I'm uncertain what exactly it's supposed to be.

I believe there are six spokes broken from the pulley, I'll post some pictures as I'm not totally sure it's a pulley. But that's what it looks like to me.

The Confederate officer lived there untill his death in 1873 and the land was willed to his son, I believe. After that I am unsure of the property's owners, history, or how to go about finding the list of former owners.
Brewer writes about finding a buried money box that was buried and turned upside down and empty. He dug down five feet further and found a cache of gold and silver coins.
 

Backwoodsbob

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Nov 12, 2013
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Brewer writes about finding a buried money box that was buried and turned upside down and empty. He dug down five feet further and found a cache of gold and silver
 

Backwoodsbob

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Nov 12, 2013
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Well I see the stone and what's on it. Your lines are as one of you stated. 357°,177°,267°, 87°, the 357 is show on one side of line. There is the F,E. ,65 which is 56. That can also stand for man's grace. from that stone I would look 350' west of it. Look for a stone. If not there go east the same distance. If your at the 357° the northern part. There should be a group of stones on the 267 or 87° there is what is call the flagman. It's on all sites. These sites have circles of 600' . How many spokes are on you pulley? you say 6 are missing?
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
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Well I see the stone and what's on it. Your lines are as one of you stated. 357°,177°,267°, 87°, the 357 is show on one side of line. There is the F,E. ,65 which is 56. That can also stand for man's grace. from that stone I would look 350' west of it. Look for a stone. If not there go east the same distance. If your at the 357° the northern part. There should be a group of stones on the 267 or 87° there is what is call the flagman. It's on all sites. These sites have circles of 600' . How many spokes are on you pulley? you say 6 are missing?
Yessir, six spokes. I believe it is a pulley off of a treadle sewing machine ...
 

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TriEye

TriEye

Jr. Member
Jan 7, 2022
50
55
Well I see the stone and what's on it. Your lines are as one of you stated. 357°,177°,267°, 87°, the 357 is show on one side of line. There is the F,E. ,65 which is 56. That can also stand for man's grace. from that stone I would look 350' west of it. Look for a stone. If not there go east the same distance. If your at the 357° the northern part. There should be a group of stones on the 267 or 87° there is what is call the flagman. It's on all sites. These sites have circles of 600' . How many spokes are on you pulley? you say 6 are missing?
Thank you for the tips! I've been stumped as far as what the next step might be. I will try these suggestions out tomorrow, if my weekend allows. Is there anything else you would suggest?
 

Backwoodsbob

Silver Member
Nov 12, 2013
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Yessir, six spokes. I believe it is a pulley off of a treadle sewing machine ...
Can you post pictures of pulley. I've seen all type of things used on a site. The shape of things are important as well. When you find stuff dont move them they can show you the way. That pulley may represent the circle. The quartz may be the center. . Then again it may not be anything. That stone does have information on it. It will give you more information with the right light and angles. It has to be worked.
 

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