Traveling by Horse

[senior deacon]

Sorry I have not been with you thru the winter. My best and oldest friend a Vietnam veteran with PTSD had a bad set back. We took him in for the winter. I played a lot of cards and board games to occupy time with him between trip to the VA hospital. My friend was a farrier and blacksmith. We talked horses and one of the questions that came up was, how far can you travel with a horse in a day? It was my friend's opinion that 8 to 10 miles would be a good days ride over roads of the 1860's and 1870's. Loaded down with a heavy saddlebags it could be a couple of miles shorter. A lite rider that knew shortcuts could cover more ground. 5 to 6 miles with a team and a heavy wagon.

I think we are under the opinion that travel was far faster than it actually was. Rail travel was the fastest, steamboat or paddlewheeler as next. In thinking about this most of the KGC treasure had to be hidden before the war when they had time. As elaborate as some of the vaults are supposed to be. It would have taken time and much effort. Even as in the Brewer book that iron or metal objects buried around the treasure it would have taken time. These were ether constructed by skilled workers and maybe finished by the Sentinels.

I am of the opinion that part of the treasures were buried before the war and the rest and biggest after the war. I believe that that is why they buried so many in the Indian territory deep in the Washta mountains (modern spelling). The area around Fort Smith, Arkansas is prime territory all the way thru the Piney Woods of deep east Texas. There are other places as well as L.C. has written about. I have been out on the planes of southern Nebraska. At the time it was desolate territory. At the time that Captain Enyart was farming around Nebraska City there may have been two to three farms per township. Leaving lots of time for building a vault for treasure under the guise of clearing land. At the time of my family homesteaded land in Iowa there were 4 other claims in cedar township. Our family had the only grist mill and smokehouse in the north part the newly created county. The farm was a magnet for the other settlers in the surrounding area. Ether have your corn ground by my grandfather or travel a extra day to the county seat. Even then time was money.

This is just a things for though. Kinda like looking to see where the squirrels are hiding their acorns.

Senior Deacon

 

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[L.C. BAKER]

I read an account in a mans diary that he would leave at daylight and arrive about dark at his friends home located almost 20 miles away from time to time. He was pretty proud of it the way he wrote about it in his diary, so I would guess he drove a little fast and pushed the horse some. On the average I have heard 15 miles or less (depending on if you had someone riding sidesaddle )

L.C.

 

[senior deacon]

My friend took into account the rough terrain of both mountain and forest. On the level planes of the Midwest 15 to 18 is doable. You can kill a horse by pounding him up mountains and hills without rest, water, and feed. In the old west stealing a man's horse could get you hanged. After the motor car came to be in common use. Stealing a horse was no longer a capital offense. It would land you in prison for a good long while. The treasure we are after was moved by horse or horse and buggy. The reason for this post was to give you a idea of how far they would travel per day. If something had to be hid in a hurry it might not have traveled as far as you thought.

S.D.