man-made lake treasure hunting

[zerojinx]

I live by a man made lake. Army corps of engineers forced a few towns to relocate for the formation of the lake. There is a treasure legend that Jesse James buried a chest of stolen cash by a popular spring that was once used for watering of horses and travelers. This area is now underwater, in a murky lake to boot. Any thoughts on the how to get at any potential underwater riches? This question would actually fit to any man made lake that covers an old town.

 

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[kc10bull]

I know of several lakes that the towns are Lol still down there!!!! One my Mom talked about herrington lake, when I was growing up in Kentucky she actually use to play in the park and stream. She told me the entire city was left intact buildings, churches, homes, schools. She related this story to me in the late 60's early 70's, when we went there to fish and boat on the lake. Another lake that I know of is in Oklahoma, the lake got so low a steeple of the church was sticking out of the water! This was back in the late 70's. How did I know it was a steeple, well I water skied right past it! I am sure tere are other man made lakes just like these two that are in almost every state, just have to do additional research!

 

[Jason in Enid]

First off... BS on the standing towns underwater. The ACOE was very thorough in demolishing all buildings in the lake sites. Anything that could ever be a hazard to navigation would have to have been removed simply to avoid multi-million dollar lawsuits. I have heard many stories of towns left standing. Myself and many other divers have gone looking for them. Even 100+ feet down, they are gone. People have used SSS to look for these towns, and have been unable to find anything.

As for the OP's legend... There are more legends like this than robberies ever commited. Do your own research of the facts first. If you still feel it may be there you will need many maps. old maps, new maps, lake maps, topo maps. You will need scuba gear (and training) as well as a good UW detector. You will most likely need a boat. Water clarity will be the major problem in your search. Blackwater searches are extremely dangerous, and not recomended.

 

[kc10bull]

WOW didn't mean to ruffle any feathers. I saw what was left of the steeple myself. I was there thank you very much. There were published stories of a train that was surrounded by a fence and other strctures / foundations were discovered after the man made lake failed. The link is somewhere on this site. I think it was either posted this year or last year. Before all of this political correctness and enviromentally safe stuff. Some towns were not destroyed. We are talking early 1900 and before. Don't know what remains of the cities, or towns, after all these years, due to water, mud, silt, or the effects all of this had on the structures. Here is the info on the lake in Oklahoma.

Austrian Immigrant, Frank Lugert founded the town of Lugert when the Kiowa~Comanche~Apache Reservation opened for settlement in 1901. Mr. Lugert ran the Post Office, train depot, and the general store. The town with a peak population of over 400, thrived until 1912 when a tornado destroyed a significant number of homes and business. The town continued to exist until 1941 when the W.C. Austin Dam was completed for the Lugert~Altus Irrigation District and water soon covered the townsite.

 

[Salvor6]

There ARE standing towns underwater Jason. You just have not done your research. I can name two of them in Tenn. When Norris Dam was built in 1936 the town of Loysten was flooded. People refused to leave their home until the rising water forced them out. That area of Norris Lake is still called the "Loysten Sea." Dale Hollow Lake on the KY- TN boarder is a popular dive site because of the underwater buildings. I personally dived on the schoolhouse which is 50' underwater. The ACOE had nothing to do with demolition, it was all controlled by the Tenn. Valley Authority. Back in the 30's they didn't think about liability.

 

[zerojinx]

Wow did i poke a hornets nest or what. I'm just throwing out a possible lead. I live next to Lake Texoma on the Texas/Oklahoma border. I have no idea if there are any buildings at the bottom. I doubt it, though it would be cool. I was more referring to a possible underwater hunt of a former spring that now lies beneath 20 to 30 feet of water. However, i wonder now if there would be any cache's hidden in any sunken town, say Tenn or what not.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Still calling BS. Lets see the pictures. Been lake diving for a long time, and talked to a lot of other lake divers all over the country. Sorry, don't believe the steeple story either. I'm sure you saw something, but it wasn't a standing steeple from a submerged church. Been to that lake many times. Been there when it was almost 20 feet low. never saw or heard of buildings being exposed.

 

[crzhors]

I know of a settlement underwater outside Fallon,Nevada Swam thru the windows and sat on the Dozer. 8)

 

[macblastr]

you should watch discovery channel more often... they did the story on the church and the entire town is still there underwater.

 

[zerojinx]

A town now buried by the lake is 37 to 47 feet under water. This town is actually one of the oldest in Texas, or should i say was one of the oldest. I have no experience underwater, scuba and the like, so is there any kinda garmin or other system i can use to keep track of where im at underwater? A search grid is virtually useless as the lake is murky and visibility is limited to 30-50 feet.

 

[Jason in Enid]

If you have 30-50 foot of vis, you have more vis than 90% of the inland dive sites! If I find 10 foot of vis I'm a happy diver. You can treasure hunt in that all day!

 

[stevemc]

zerojinx, what you can do is, send up a ballon on a string where you find anything of interest, with a weight on of course. Or you can use a fish finder or better yet a side scan fish finder and mark the spots all from the surface. GPS doesnt work underwater.

 

[zerojinx]

zerojinx, what you can do is, send up a ballon on a string where you find anything of interest, with a weight on of course. Or you can use a fish finder or better yet a side scan fish finder and mark the spots all from the surface. GPS doesnt work underwater.

Do you think anyone would notice if I used balloons?

 

[stevemc]

When you are done diving, you go to the ballon and mark the GPS mark. I do it like that all the time. As far as someone seeing the ballon, they would see your boat, and a ballon is only a few inches , so most likely not, and so what.

 

[Produce Guy]

Just wondering if you live in Georgetown and are talking about the spring out by the lake

 

[zerojinx]

North Texas. Lake Texoma.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Who told you Texoma has 30-50 foot of vis? Texoma is black-water braille diving (if you dove it... I don't know of anyone who dives there). Also, that lake is so silted in and shallow, you dang well better have a depth finder so you dont ground out and tear off your prop.

 

[zerojinx]

Who told you Texoma has 30-50 foot of vis? Texoma is black-water braille diving (if you dove it... I don't know of anyone who dives there). Also, that lake is so silted in and shallow, you dang well better have a depth finder so you dont ground out and tear off your prop.

going by memory of last time i swam in that lake for visibility. I'm starting to wonder if i swam on some freakish once in a lifetime clear day. I paid a visit to the shoreline of the prospective project today and found it to be just as you said, very murky indeed.

I wasn't planing to take a boat at all, as the area im interested in is not far off shore. However, I have been wondering about the possibility of a boat prop getting me if i am swiming back to shore instead of using a boat.

Overall the prospects are starting to look pretty grim.

 

[ScubaFinder]

ZeroJinx,

Never let someone talk you out of going after something. I have been diving on a sunken town, they are there and they are neat as heck. There is one in Possum Kingdom lake that I'd like to return to with my metal detector some day. Cache or not there's got to be some long forgotten indian heads or silver dollars. Plus you can almost count on the fact that they have never been hunted.

No matter what course you choose, there will always be someone there to tell you it won't work. The ones who are successful are the ones who ignore them and MAKE it work. Where there is a will, there is a way. Find your way and make it happen. I guarantee you won't find any treasure (or have any interesting experiences) if you don't try. The real treasure is enjoying the hunt.

Jason

 

[Joe Hoo?]

ZeroJinx,

Never let someone talk you out of going after something. I have been diving on a sunken town, they are there and they are neat as heck. There is one in Possum Kingdom lake that I'd like to return to with my metal detector some day. Cache or not there's got to be some long forgotten indian heads or silver dollars. Plus you can almost count on the fact that they have never been hunted.

No matter what course you choose, there will always be someone there to tell you it won't work. The ones who are successful are the ones who ignore them and MAKE it work. Where there is a will, there is a way. Find your way and make it happen. I guarantee you won't find any treasure (or have any interesting experiences) if you don't try. The real treasure is enjoying the hunt.

Jason






i am with jason on this 100% HH