I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on the subject, but I would say I found the information and source credible. To be fair, there were no claims of any major finds but I would say finds certainly worth the time and effort. In any event, I have done many hours worth of reading and education on the site from what I assume are knowledgeable members on various area of interest and while most would not encourage anyone to chase legends so to speak, they would make a substantive case for learning about Spanish trail markers and the existence of mines and caches. That to me seems to have credibility, but then again, I am admittedly the novice here.
Philo Beddoe, I'm looking long & hard at your post, and .... I see that you are going by what the other fellow told you was his research, and "no major finds". (yet no finds, not even the "minor ones", are specified). But that's fine, because as you admit, you're just going by what someone else has talked about. WHICH DOESN'T MEAN it's not true. But just saying .... we haven't seen it.
Check out
www.1oro1.com. Owner spent a lot of time documenting Spanish & Jesuit activity in SCAL. ....
Dirt1955, your link doesn't work. Got a link to something this guy is saying is Spanish and Jesuit treasure in the USA southwest ? I did a general google search on
www.1oro1.com , and also just came up with dead-links. One of which was to a supposed "82 pounds of gold bars found", etc... I hate to be a doubter, but .... Get a calculator, and divide by ounces. Then multiply through the current spot-market of gold.
Listen fellas : I'm a history tour leader at Carmel mission, CA. Which was the headquarters of all the 21 missions. As such, I've studied mission history extensively (yes, I know, they didn't get up till this part of CA till 1770-ish, yet had been in AZ, NM, and Baja earlier than that). But I can tell you for a fact, that the missions of the SW USA were NOT "swimming in gold and silver".
There's been extensive archie digs done @ all the missions of the SW (both alta CA, and the ones in AZ, NM, and Baja). And I CAN ASSURE YOU , that they are not finding gold and silver, other than meager fumble fingers losses. And yes, you'll find reales, coppers, trinkets, etc.... in the museum collections of each mission. And I'd venture to say that NONE of them is gold. For example, in Carmel's collection (where EXTENSIVE digging and sifting has been done since the 1920s/30s), there is a good 40-ish silver coins (reales, a smattering of foreign coins, etc...). Amid scores of buttons, medallions, etc... And guess what ?? No gold coins ! (I might add, that I contributed 2 of those Carmel-dug reales, and several buttons, d/t I was granted permission to swing the coil there .... long story).
And the same is true for all the other mission's tourist/museum wing dug-artifacts displays: Silver coins (and meager amounts) is all you'll see. I know of much (ahem) detecting that has gone on at the mission sites and their outlying chapels, ranchos, adobes, etc.... And ... in all of CA, I know of less than 10 escudos found @ free-lance md'ing.
And don't think for a moment that the earlier Spanish/Jesuit forays into TX, NM, and AZ and Baja were any richer. THEY WEREN'T. In fact, they were poorer ! Any manufactured goods had to come all the way up through the desert overland. So as evidence of the poorer status, all you have to do is take a look at the structures themselves of those remote outposts in those states. And compare them to the elaborate stone structure of something like Carmel, or Santa Barbara, etc... (which could be supplied by ships, albeit difficult).
There is a common misconception that the SW missions were rich, or "mining gold hand over fist", etc.... Me thinks that's one-too-many Spaghetti western movies gone awry.
I'm welcome to counter-evidence. But the archie and mding evidence isn't bearing it out. The missions here were lucky to get trade trinkets, silver coins (@ for pocket-change to end up fumble-finders stuff). I've found well over 100 reales in CA. And hunted with some of the most brazen ballsy guys in my ~40 yrs.. So I hope I'm a bit qualified to be a bit skeptical of these supposed "Spanish and Jesuit treasures". Markers, clues, cryptograms, skeletons in caves, etc.... I say all this with utmost respect.
