The Treasure of Pedro El Negro Cave

Aug 23, 2013
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Some times the most promising treasure stories you never hear about? The following treasure legend you will properly not find on the net.

In fact it is not well known at all. My boss only came across the story by chance when buying other historic documents, a series of documents and personal letters pertaining to a man called Charles Pouliet came up for sale.

Charles Pouliet was a French Canadian. Who was Born in 1893 and was a mining civil engineer. In 1914 he joined the Canadian expeditionary force in WW1 in which he was shot 4 times in battle and was discharged for recuperation. Being a tough character restless for adventure he sailed for Argentina, then Paraguay, chile, Peru, Ecuador then Columbia Honduras back to United States to celebrate the end WW1.

The papers and letters detailed this mans life as well as a lost treasure he searched for of a famous bandit that stole treasure worth at least 3 million dollars in 1931 gold values. The letters give details his search for the treasure in a cave called Pedro El Negro Cave that was near a river called RIO HONDO? Unfortunately there are several countries that have rivers with the same name and the name of the famous bandit was not clear? However the date of the treasure being taken from the Spanish was 1810.

In 1931 Charles Pouliet was living in Mexico city and he sent the letters to the United states detailing his search for treasure to a George E Edwards. On October 17th 1931 he was excavating the site of the buried cave. However he had problems with authorities as he had to dig under a railway easement. Was he successful in his search ? Or was he the victim of hoax or even part of scam? Perhaps he had a authentic treasure information?

The trouble is we just do not know?


A detailed research by me discovered he returned to united States by 1946. However after that at trace of him vanished.


The papers and letters that was available at the time has now since been bought by another collector and unfortunately I have only a few poor copies of some of the documents.

However I do have his surveyed maps in which I will happily post here if anyone is interested in following up this story?

Amy
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
Hi Amy,

I would like to see the maps, if it isn't too much trouble posting them. Do you know where he lived or travelled when he was in the States? Thanks.

Rick
 

cactusjumper

Gold Member
Dec 10, 2005
7,754
5,388
Arizona
Some times the most promising treasure stories you never hear about? The following treasure legend you will properly not find on the net.

In fact it is not well known at all. My boss only came across the story by chance when buying other historic documents, a series of documents and personal letters pertaining to a man called Charles Pouliet came up for sale.

Charles Pouliet was a French Canadian. Who was Born in 1893 and was a mining civil engineer. In 1914 he joined the Canadian expeditionary force in WW1 in which he was shot 4 times in battle and was discharged for recuperation. Being a tough character restless for adventure he sailed for Argentina, then Paraguay, chile, Peru, Ecuador then Columbia Honduras back to United States to celebrate the end WW1.

The papers and letters detailed this mans life as well as a lost treasure he searched for of a famous bandit that stole treasure worth at least 3 million dollars in 1931 gold values. The letters give details his search for the treasure in a cave called Pedro El Negro Cave that was near a river called RIO HONDO? Unfortunately there are several countries that have rivers with the same name and the name of the famous bandit was not clear? However the date of the treasure being taken from the Spanish was 1810.

In 1931 Charles Pouliet was living in Mexico city and he sent the letters to the United states detailing his search for treasure to a George E Edwards. On October 17th 1931 he was excavating the site of the buried cave. However he had problems with authorities as he had to dig under a railway easement. Was he successful in his search ? Or was he the victim of hoax or even part of scam? Perhaps he had a authentic treasure information?

The trouble is we just do not know?


A detailed research by me discovered he returned to united States by 1946. However after that at trace of him vanished.


The papers and letters that was available at the time has now since been bought by another collector and unfortunately I have only a few poor copies of some of the documents.

However I do have his surveyed maps in which I will happily post here if anyone is interested in following up this story?

Amy

Amy,

"In 1932 a mining engineer Charles E. Pouliot completed a mining study and evaluation
of pillars, fill and remaining portions of the Diamantillo, San Guillermo and veins
exploited by the Jesuits. It is not known if exploitation ensued. During the latter part of
the 20th century several bulk samples were shipped to various mills for metallurgical
evaluation of these sulfide rich veins."
____________________________

Did Mr. Pouliet's papers mention what his source was for his conclusions that the Jesuits were involved in mining?

Thank you,

Joe Ribaudo
 

OP
OP
Corporate Investigations
Aug 23, 2013
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Hello Mdog

Here are two maps pertaining to treasure hidden by a bandit in 1810. he made a search in 1931

profile sketch of pedro el nego cave treasure.jpg

profile sketch of pedro el nego cave treasure from above.jpg

It appears he was involved in several treasure hunts. He also experimented with primitive metal detectors. He was for a time involved in the search for treasure left on the SS Golden Gate. As well as being connected with Coffins recoered in Baton Rouge. In 1921 he entered United State through Louisiana from a ship from Columbia via Honduras. 1927, 1932 1946 and 1951 across the Mexican United States Border.

Joe I am sorry I was not aware he had some involvement in Diamantillo San Guillermo. The papers I saw was only a portion. The only papers I saw was treasures mentioned above.

I found a few things more about him last night thanks for the info.

p3.jpg

Amy
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
Thanks Amy,

To bad you couldn't make out the name of the bandit.

I can't read the print too well, are the circles showing places to search or spots where clues were found?

Do you know if these are the coffins he recovered?

Architecture Research: Metal Caskets
 

OP
OP
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Aug 23, 2013
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Hello Mdog

Yes well done for the good bit of detective work you have made. It appears he had some sort of connection or interest in the story.? Perhaps not the actual coffins by the equipment used to find them?

At a guess the bandit was related to 1810 Mexican uprising against Spain. The location of the river Hondo could be in several places. One in Texas and one in California? However I suspect it is connected to the River Hondo on the Gulf Coast in Texas, because in 1810 both states were actually part of Spanish Mexico.

Here is a newspaper article of another of his treasure hunting projects.

San Antonio Express (San Antonio, Texas) CHARLES E POULIET TREASURE HUNT p1.jpg

San Antonio Express (San Antonio, Texas) CHARLES E POULIET TREASURE HUNT p2.jpg

Amy
 

Last edited:
Nov 8, 2004
14,582
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Did a bit of investigation on Pedro, sooo many, sigh. But there was an escaped black slave camp run by Tanga, who robbed and stole to force the authorities to recognize his encampment and people as free & as legitimate. Possibly a connection since it was in Southeastern coastal Mexico. To accumulate that much Gold etc it had to be a semo-military operation effectively.

Side issue, the Spanish were meticulous in lineage, they had several pages in blood classification example -->

1. De español y de India nace mestizo.
2. De español y mestiza nace castizo.
3. De español y castiza nace español.
4. De español y negra nace mulato.
5. De español y mulata nace morisco.
6. De español y morisca nace albino.
7. De español y albina nace torna atrás.

8. De español y torna atrás nace tente en el aire.11
1. From Spaniard and Indian woman bear a mestizo.
2. From Spaniard and mestiza bear a castizo.
3. From Spaniard and castiza bear a Spaniard.
4. From Spaniard and Black woman bear a mulatto.
5. From Spaniard and mulatta bear a morisco.
6. From Spaniard and morisca bear an albino.
7. From Spaniard and albino woman bear a torna atrás (literally, a "throw-back").
8. From Spaniard and torna atrás bear a tente en el aire, ("up in the air" or "you never know what you're going to get").12
The lists continue for several pages detailing this complicated taxonomy of race. In some classifications two parents who are mixtures of "Negro" and "India" produce offspring named after an animal. For example, "De mestizo e India nace coyote,"13 (From mestizo and Indian woman bear a coyote).

Read more: The Son Jarocho as Afro-Mexican Resistance Music - Son jarocho is an Afro-Mexican musical tradition from southern Veracruz with prominent African... - The Journal of Pan African Studies (Online)

gracias Corp luv, have a new project, but so far, extremely dificult to run down. The key appears to be where Sr,Poulets's mining activities were. in the 30's. We shall see.

Don Jose de La Mancha
 

mdog

Bronze Member
Mar 22, 2011
2,268
4,320
Amy,

"In 1932 a mining engineer Charles E. Pouliot completed a mining study and evaluation
of pillars, fill and remaining portions of the Diamantillo, San Guillermo and veins
exploited by the Jesuits. It is not known if exploitation ensued. During the latter part of
the 20th century several bulk samples were shipped to various mills for metallurgical
evaluation of these sulfide rich veins."
____________________________

Did Mr. Pouliet's papers mention what his source was for his conclusions that the Jesuits were involved in mining?

Thank you,

Joe Ribaudo

Where is this place, Joe? Thanks for the information.
 

VernonWalter

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Apr 23, 2014
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There's also a Rio Hondo on the border of Mexico and Belize. As John McAfee pointed out recently, Belize is one heck of a story of a country. So, if I was going to bury something kind of in a hard area to pin down, especially along a river that I've indicated, probably not Texas. The area where the town of Rio Hondo is doesn't seem to have any real indications of railroad right of way. I figured that'd be pretty easy to spot.

Does the 1:250 correlate to feet, yards, or other? Any idea? I've got it plotted from the river to the central spot at about 4 inches from the bank. This is guesswork for sure.

Also there's an indication of the river's flow, pointing to the left. That made me think the Rio Hondo in Texas. Then after looking on Google Maps it didn't really look plausible. However, if taking a bit of trickery in mind, the indication of direction could be helpful to locate which bank of the river this is supposed to be on. So, if the Rio Hondo in Belize runs to the sea, as Wikipedia tells me, then it's almost an effort to flip the map around.

Therefore after looking at the river, although without very helpful topographical information, I would guess that the railroad being mentioned no longer exists, and that either it was paved over to make a road, maybe the Belize Northern Highway? In certain areas it might fit the scale I put forward. The road could also be on the Mexico side, if my scale is off, because there are many bends that could be used as the armpit to get a bit of distance.

Basically if I can get a better indication of the scale then I bet time will enable finding the railroad, and then locate the proper "cliff" like elevation that would represent a good spot.
 

Last edited:

lgadbois

Sr. Member
Mar 20, 2003
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251
If Pouliet was looking for the treasure in 1931, and he was living in Mexico, it seems logical that the Rio Hondo is in Mexico. The Hondo River is located in the South between Mexico and Belize.
 

OP
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Aug 23, 2013
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Some great comments being posted.

Keep it up the good work. There are plausible arguments for both locations, However I tend to favor the Texas location slightly.

I have picture of the alleged cave. It appears to have a hut built over the entrance. Judging on the plants it look more like a tropical location than a semi desert location. However looks can be deceiving?

p2.jpg

p4.jpg

I have manged to confirm a lot of Pouliots movements. Across the border at least. Another lead he might have relations still living in Arizona today?

Amy
 

Nov 8, 2004
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Hi crp luv: perhaps Poulie was conned by popular legend based upon a book ???

Rio Hondo, Oaxca


Pedro el Negro of Sacerdote y Caudillo joins the 1810 insurrection to kill and plunder (707). Pedro, as a child, feels nothing for his family, robs his own brother (137), and becomes a murderer as a young man (714). Pedro el Negro is present during the Insurgent siege of Guanajuato in 1810, and the Spanish capture and execution in 1811 of the first insurrection commanders who were Criollos (792). Notably, Pedro el Negro in this novel feels deeply for those Criollos and mentions “the beautiful face” of Ignacio Allende (792). Allende is a better developed character.

Hmmm

Don Jose de La Manxha
 

Last edited:
OP
OP
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Hi crp luv: perhaps Poulie was conned by popular legend based upon a book ???

Roe Hondo, Oaxca


Pedro el Negro of Sacerdote y Caudillo joins the 1810 insurrection to kill and plunder (707). Pedro, as a child, feels nothing for his family, robs his own brother (137), and becomes a murderer as a young man (714). Pedro el Negro is present during the Insurgent siege of Guanajuato in 1810, and the Spanish capture and execution in 1811 of the first insurrection commanders who were Criollos (792). Notably, Pedro el Negro in this novel feels deeply for those Criollos and mentions “the beautiful face” of Ignacio Allende (792). Allende is a better developed character.

Hmmm

Don Jose de La Manxha

Hello Don Jose. Quite possible, and perhaps you have hit the nail on the head so to speak. It appears after 1931 he was working on some thing else. We could also speculate that he too found an ample source of willing investors to invest in his treasure hunts? For example he another was arrested for trying solicit funds for the salvage of the SS Golden Gate. The amount of money they were trying to raise was nearly more than what the treasure worth? However the charges from the Mexican government failed to stick.

San Antonio Express (San Antonio, Texas) CHARLES E POULIET treasure hunters arrested.jpg

Also here his only part of what have of him claiming about the treasure of this allegedly famous Bandit.

profile sketch of charles e Pouliot.jpg

Sorry the document is not very clear to read. The seller of these document did not want give much away for free. My Boss nibbled at the edges but didn't bite. However he did give some time to do a little digging on the back ground of Charles Pouliot. Many things he said of earlier life at least appears to be true. The story of this alleged treasure could be a con on him or he could discovered treasure in the pockets of eager investors?

Amy
 

Last edited:
OP
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Aug 23, 2013
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Hello all

Here is a newspaper story from Texas that might clear up the mystery a bit.

The big spring daily heral sept 28th 1932 charles pouliot cave treasure.jpg

Amy
 

cactusjumper

Gold Member
Dec 10, 2005
7,754
5,388
Arizona
Amy,

That is indeed a fascinating story. You seem to have very good sources for these newspaper articles. It does raise one very important question.......Where is the follow-up story describing what they actually found in the cave?

Take care,

Joe
 

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