As told to me in the early 80’s by
my mother…
*Sometime in the late 1920’s or
early 30’s my [mothers] uncle was hunting [deer
presumably] west of a small Utah town, he had parked at the side of the
road and took to hiking, after a good day of hiking,
he noticed some dark clouds coming from the south west and decided he best head
back. Apparently he miss-calculated and was overtaken by the storm of snow
coming down heavy and sideways. No worries he thought, he’d just find some
temporary shelter and wait it out. He saw a bush nestled up against a ledge and
decided to make his way in behind the bush, upon digging back in far enough to
be sheltered from the snow, he discovered it had a small cave behind it.
Perfectly content he gather small
sticks laying around dragged in by critters, and built himself a little fire.
While sitting there pondering life itself he noticed in the back of this small
cave, a pile of… bricks? Reaching back and leaning he grabbed one of them to
see what it was, to his surprise it was so heavy it quickly slid from his grip.
Getting a firm grip he grabbed it again and moved it closer to the light and sure
enough, it was an estimated 80 lb brick of gold. Many thoughts went through his
head. After waiting out the storm, all the while trying to decide whether to take
his gun or at least one bar as he could not take both he decided to take his
gun and he would return as soon as he was able.
After the storm subsided, he made
his way through the bush once again and stood studying his surrounding making
sure he knew exactly where he was. Confident he could find his way back he made
the trip to his mode of conveyance and returned home. Month after month he
returned trying to find it again but did not, eventually it became just another
story.
*Several years later or 28 Years
ago I was at the Utah county recorder’s office looking up land ownership on
private property that I wanted to do some searching for petroglyphs, I always
sought permission before entering obvious private lands. Talking with the man
helping me we talked a bit about what I was doing and why, when he learned of
what I was looking for he perked up and volunteered a story, his introduction
was asking me if I knew LeVan Martineua…
Of course I did and I proceeded to tell him that it was LeVan’s theories
in which I peruse… He told me that LeVan was his scout master when he was a
kid, and he told me about a panel LeVan had taken the scouts to which was east
of this small town mentioned earlier. He said LeVan told them that this panel
talks of a gold cache of 80 lb bars west of this small town… recalling my
mothers story my ears perked up as the man explained where the panel was… to
this day, I have only made one feeble attempt to find it.
*About 16 years ago in the early
days of the Treasures of Utah forum, I had made many friends, one such friend
and I had made a trip to see some glyphs not to far from the place LeVan took
the scouts. On our return trip down the canyon, approaching and overlooking this
small town, my friend having never heard the story from me, pointed to the west
of this small town and said, did you know there is a small cave out there with
80lb gold bars in it? My jaw dropped and I asked him where did you hear this?
He told me he had heard it from his Paiute woman friend, who relayed to him
what the Paiute elders had told her.
* Some years later in about 2011
and just a few years prior to my mother’s passing, I and my mother were talking
about the same story when she brought to my attention that her cousin or son of
the man who found the Gold Bar Cave was still alive. She told me she had his
number and so I decided to see what he knew of it. Answering the phone was an
aged man but sharp as a whip, I explained why I was calling and he asked me to
please tell him the story of which I did. He never said a word and was
perfectly quiet, until I asked, “Have you ever heard this before?” He gasped
and said, “I have not, but it makes perfect sense! Why? I asked, he said when I
was little, my dad would gather us kids up and we would travel south to this
small town and go hiking up and down the ledges west of town, week after week
we did this and one day, I asked my father, “why do we always come here dad and
what are you looking for? He said to me, “son, in one of these caves there is a
certain kind of rock, and we are trying to find it. He said his dad never told
him it was gold they were looking for…
Now, I am putting this story out
exactly how it is ingrained into my mind and I have shared it because… I have
offered this to several in the past but apparently there is no belief, and if
there is no belief, there is now success… ONE of you has the ability by process
of elimination to pursue this story. It is about 1 hour and a half to 1 hour
and 45 minutes from Provo. It is easily accessible and there is no digging, but
I have a plan that could make this much easier aside from technology and by
using the simple process of walking or use 4 wheelers. If you have access to
them or are a vigilant hiker one could find success with the right attitude and
determination IF it is still there. I am tired of those who say I will and then
do not, if you want something done right it would seem, you gotta do it
yourself, but I believe there are exceptions to near every rule…
The immediate search area is
about 2 ½ miles square, and maybe even a bit beyond, this seems like a large
area probably because it is, however there are only so many ledges and they can
be with a gps systematically eliminated with a careful search of the base of
each ledge… I need someone dedicated enough with enough belief to go… If the
story told is read and you have your doubts, don’t bother offering your
services… what do I want out of it? I want someone to go find it and we’ll
worry about that later…
UPDATE:...I think I found my huckleberry....