TWO SIGNS LEFT TO I.D. MINE, AS SPANISH, FRENCH, OR JESUIT.

Mikel, weekender and others how would someone start looking for a trail to follow

Here's a post from a friend of mine who used to post on this forum.

How to Begin a Treasure Search

There are many ways to begin a treasure search and I am going to show a method that works well for me. This is a way you can begin a treasure search without a map or a story, and if your lucky, find a place that hasn't been disturbed by treasure hunters. There are a lot of treasures still in the ground simply because people don't know they are there.



The first thing to do when considering a place to look is to pick an area close to where you live. This allows you time to work a site without having to spend a lot of time getting to it. Go on the internet and look at topo maps in your area and note the creeks, rivers, and hilly areas.



Once you have an area in mind, find all the old maps you can. Also get a modern topo map for that area. The older maps should show trails, wagon roads, ferries, railroads, towns, etc. When looking at the old maps, note where roads and trails would cross the creeks and rivers. These were important places then because horses, mules, and people needed water, and this is where people would stop to rest while watering the animals. Also, if some of these places were aways from a town, people would stop and camp along the creeks and rivers close to the crossing.



Note on the old maps the roads and trails that lead out of a town. Follow those roads on the map to the first creek and river crossings out of town. Note those spots. Then refer to the modern topo showing elevations and see where those spots are located now. Look for the high side of the crossings and also look around those crossings for a mile or two and note any hills or prominant areas. These are landmarks, and especially if they stand out and are visible from the old trail. Back in the old days, trails followed landmarks along creeks and rivers.



Once this is done, pick the landmark that is most prominant and closest to the creek or river crossing. The ideal location is the first crossing several miles outside of town. The reason for this is that people in those days, if they were carrying any money, would stop at these landmarks just before town and hide their money, save what they intended to spend, because they didn't want to be carrying it around town. It would be the same way if they were camping along a creek or river in unknown parts. They would stash their money and valuables closeby in case of a robber or theif.



Another thing to consider about these landmarks along the trails, is that outlaws would congregate there and sometimes have a stash spot laid out even before a heist was made. This made it possible to hide the loot quick while on the run so the weight wouldn't slow them down. They would then come back, if they were lucky, and retrieve the loot when things cooled down a bit. Always look to the high spot, because this was easier to defend if they needed a little more time to stash. It is way easier to shoot downhill at your pursuers than to fight it out on level ground.



When a stash is made at a place such as a landmark, they usually would mark it by using their names or variations of it instead of obvious treasure symbols. In this name will be the coded directions and distances to the stash. When aproaching the landmark look at the area that first grabs your attention. This could be a huge boulder, grouping of rocks, or an interesting feature. Look all around the area and see if you can locate a name or other symbol. This is usually where a treasure search will begin.





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MDOG, that advise is hard to beat.
Sometimes a trail is hard to see even when standing on it.
#/;0) :-
 

Dsty. Sorry I misread your post. Mdog really had the best advice.
I just stumbled into mine.
#/;0)
 

Fantastic Advice, at least using your method will get them into country around their house or at least within driving distance, another thought may be to consider State parks, all National Park's may need some checking into, another thought may be to call it State Historical Research in place of Treasure Hunting. Thanks mdog,
 

Dsty, you might want to rethink the parks a little.
For one treason or another, they think that public land means " GOVERNMENT PROPERTY "
I had a state park ranger walk up behind me when I was testing a prototype of a hand powered suction dredge. Only to tell me that I had to hand over anything that was in it.

I had already gotten permission from five park officials, way above his pay grade. Each one passed me up to their boss and the last one sent me to contact civil corp of engineers, but he didn't even have a name or number.
So he said as long as there was no digging along the bluff there was no problem. It is now a
G.P.A.A. claim site.

Never the less, the folks that walk the parks act like it theirs.

He didn't get anything from me.
 

Fantastic Advice, at least using your method will get them into country around their house or at least within driving distance, another thought may be to consider State parks, all National Park's may need some checking into, another thought may be to call it State Historical Research in place of Treasure Hunting. Thanks mdog,

You're welcome, Dsty. That article was written by an Oklahoma guy who posted as Rockman. He's helped me a lot over the years.
 

Mdog, I thought that was all you.

#/;0)

No, I was an arrowhead hunter up to about seven years ago, at that time I stumbled across a trail, like many others on this forum. Rockman was one of the first to offer me guidance. I hit the history books real hard and asked hundreds of questions of many of the posters on Tnet. The Tnet posters have been very patient and helpful with me so I try to help out when I can. I contribute what I know and hope it proves useful. It's been a lot of fun.
 

When I go arrow head hunting I have to take someone with me that will walk behind me, to pick up the ones that are in my footprint. Then we split them. It's the only way that I can find them.

#/;0) :~
 

Mdog, re-reading your post made me remember who was the first to jump in on this thread. Shortstack, was the first and most often to post and help. He swung at about everything that I tossed out. Sometimes it was a miss and other times it was a line drive.

#/;0) :~
 

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Mdog, re-reading your post made me remember who was the first to jump in on this thread. Shortstack, was the first and most often to post and help. He swung at about everything that I tossed out. Sometimes it was a miss and other times it was a line drive.

#/;0) :~

I hope Shortstack is ok. I haven't read anything from him in a long time. He always was willing to jump in and help out.
 

I sent him a pm. It went thru this time.
Last time I sent him a pm, the name didn't exist

I hope to hear back this time.

#/;0): ~
 

Well Mdog, when I turned my phone on this morning,
There was a black box across my screen saying,
"SORRY, THIS PERSON DOES NOT EXIST."
Shortstack is gone. His last posts were in 2014.
 

One thing that would peak my interest would around the streams in Arkansas would be about 4 inches of water looking for clear rocks about fist size, hard to see but worth the time spent especially north of Russelville, perhaps a small rake to just turn over the gravel, Perhaps smaller clear stones. wish I still had legs to take me where I wanted to go.
 

Well Mdog, when I turned my phone on this morning,
There was a black box across my screen saying,
"SORRY, THIS PERSON DOES NOT EXIST."
Shortstack is gone. His last posts were in 2014.

Thanks for taking the time to check on him, Mikel. I hope he is in good health.
 

I have been finding clear rocks in the NW Arkansas streams with the microscopic specks of gold.
They make the gold look as if there is enough in the pan to pay for the gas. One speck looks like thousands. I've been told they are sand diamonds.
They are worthless.

So... what are the stones that you would look for?

#/;0) :~
 

One thing that would peak my interest would around the streams in Arkansas would be about 4 inches of water looking for clear rocks about fist size, hard to see but worth the time spent especially north of Russelville, perhaps a small rake to just turn over the gravel, Perhaps smaller clear stones. wish I still had legs to take me where I wanted to go.

Dusty,
I used to live in that area, hunted and fished many miles up 7 north, beautiful country,miss it.
-Weekender
 

I lived there as a child.
I still have memories of it.
One of them is about a bear...

#/80*:~
 

I started messin with signs in Ozark Ark, my 1st son was born there July 5th 1963, Just east of town I had walked up a hill it ger a better view of the coffer dam they were putting across the Ark River, seen a round rock about knee high lodged in a crevis with the letter "A" that was about 5 inches high, there was room enough 30 " wide and about 8 ft deep with a flat floor much like it had been lived in and very possible had been, "The Hunt Was On"
 

Dsty, north of town, where the west bound access road to I-40 turns off of hwy 23, there is a triangle shaped area of woods.
In the midst of that area, there is an old foundation of stones.
I learned about it in a post on tnet by a fellow metal detector that saw the spot while driving home in az.
He said that he took time to walk thru the area, but didn't have time to work the area.
As far as I know, it is still undisturbed.
If you ever get back in the area, you might check it out.
That cave area might trump that area...

#/;;0)~
 

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