80 lb Bars

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....