Nope, Jena is not the place shown on the old Spanish map I found in the autobiography by the first Spanish Governor for this territory whose home base was in the river port of Natchez. My memory has the location north of Natchitoches, slightly east of the Red. I also remember it describing the matrix as being of dark brown and shallow, with some outcrops above ground. I told this to someone who lives in the northern part of the state and he claimed to know the general area and was aware of the brown rock, but had never heard of any silver being mined there. I sent a butt load of topo maps to him covering that whole area of the state that I'd collected through the years, including while being stationed at Barksdale AFB. He never even let me know that he'd gotten the package. Much less, if he found anything. I was keeping the information to myself, but after the dissing like that, all bets are off. I was NOT looking for anything in return for the maps because I knew I'd never get a chance to actually USE them, myself, so I wanted someone to get good use of them. Hell, they were old enought to show old country schools, churches, river crossings, etc. Metal detecting spots GALORE. And not even an acknowledgement that he had the maps. Someone else on the forum wanted to buy a book I had on how to actually BUILD a treasure lead from local facts. I sent the extra copy I had on to him and asked him to just drop a $5.00 bill in the mail for me and we'd be even. AGAIN, didn't even acknowledge getting the book and still no $5.00 bill. LOL, as if it was sent. SOOoooo, no more books, maps, or anything else will go out from me to anyone. I'll let folks know of information sites I find on the web and when I decide to sell my collection of books, they will be shipped only AFTER I get the money. I have several books that are no longer in print.....for a long time. They will not be sold for what I gave for them, but for an amount reflecting their value. I have one book by Frank Fish and another by "Apache" Jim Wilson. Try researching their names. They were active back in KVM's active years. Wilson's book has a LOT of leads that he truly believed were GOOD leads and he wrote that he'd listed them because he knew he'd never have the time to look for ALL of them. LOL I have KVM's book, WAYBILLS TO ELDORADO that pissed a lot of pros off when they found out he'd listed all those GOOD leads that they knew, too. That's what lead to somebody burning down his storage buildings where his records and research materials were kept.....AFTER they'd taken what they wanted.
As to why the Red was choked with whole trees and brush crap, I believe that the western half of what is now Louisiana was just like the Piney Woods area of east Texas. The forests there were said to be so thick that one could not ride through it on horseback and often couldn't even WALK through it. Roads were cut through it for travelers to use. Well, with forests that think growing up to the bank edges of the Red would have provided the fodder for choking the river when the floods would bring them down in the soft dirt. They would fall from both sides of the river. Forget the hugh fields you see today.......picture those lands covered with trees and bushes loving all that rich soil.
I just found this website with a boat load of maps on Louisiana covering all the historical yeas. There's even the land map showing the 3 Bowie brothers' land parcels.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Map...gYGADw&ved=0CDgQsAQ&biw=1421&bih=634&dpr=1.25
One more tip............Jean Lafitte's brother operated a slave running operation based in Concordia Parish, across the river from Natchez. He'd take them across the river and sell them to "legitimate" traders in the Mississippi Territory. His place was somewhere on Lake Concordia. Don't wast any time looking for anything in the "Natchez Under the Hill" area, because all the ORIGINAL places have been washed away by the river through the years. If you're really adventurous, check out the Devil's Punchbowl, jus north of Natchez on the east side of the river. A bunches of years ago, a rumor has it that Charles Garrett recovered a cache of silver bars in there. It's and odd place and snaky as hell. Also, it has a private owner, so you should get their permission before going into it. Some folks will tell you that it's a natural formation, done by the river through the years, back before the river cut through the hairpin curve and straightened itself out just before passing Natchez. BUT, old time stories by riverboat captains told of how their compasses would slowly spin when ever their boats passed the spot.....so, I've thinking maybe a small meteorite, from looooong ago.
