History of the Spanish Master Map
Many of those who have taken up
the hobby of treasure hunting, have never heard of the Spanish Master Map, even
those exclusive to treasure hunting in Utah. Did you know that what is thought
to be a copy of a Master Map was discovered by Thomas Rhoades at a massacre
sight in Chicken Creek? The Map was referred to as the Silver Cylinder map,
which covered an area from west of the Great Salt Lake all the way to the Colorado
Another presumed master map was
in a private collection of a man in Utah county, It is presumed to have been
sold to a private collector in California, A friend of mine came very close to
getting pictures of it before it was presumed to have sold, however as a result
of another’s interfering antics, the holder of the map cut off all
communications which was only through a 3rd party.
Another occasion of what was
thought to be an early version of a Master map appeared in Utah in late 1980’s
when Mel Fisher came to Utah searching for places on a goat skin map which was
said to have been sealed with wax in a cannon barrel found on the Atocha. It
was relayed to me by this friend that Mel believed that the contents of the
Atocha came from specifically the Uinta Mountains .
This map was said to cover an area from at least Kamas Utah to Vernal Utah, his
hired guide who is a friend of mine, got just a bit more than a glance of the
map. A few others I know who had personal knowledge of Mel’s 2 year search but
also his daughter who also came searching not long after Mel had past away, and
searched another two years. The areas Mel is said to have been looking but not
limited too, includes Hoyt Peak, Soapstone and an area west of White Rocks.
Now the Atocha sank in 1622, so how
many years prior did these expeditions begin coming to the Uinta’s where in a
map was in existence covering such a broad range? The earliest documented expedition
into the Uinta Mountains was in 1584 headed by a privateer Spaniard, Antonio de Espejo, with a previous expedition in 1582-3. It is
unknown as to whether a Master Map was underway at the time, the map itself
does not share the typical characteristics you would find had it been made by
an expedition assigned cartographer. It is because of the whole story behind Antonion de Espejo, that it is suspect that not only was the master map underway, but other maps from a previous expedition period of Europeans existed, dating back as far as 700 AD up and to about 1050 AD. Evidence of this hypothesis, would not be difficult to show... Anotnio de Espejo's map of 1584-8, although highly suspect as having NOT come from a master map, it is incorporated into this map project.
Of the previous mentioned maps,
it is unknown if any of them were actually “Master” maps, as it is said and
stands to reason that the true master maps would have never left Mexico City,
Madrid and Seville Spain, and rumor has it one was even kept in Santa Fe New
Mexico. To keep the maps from leaving their safe places, expedition leaders
would simply “Copy” the map potion they intended to travel to, such as the
famous Reinaldo Map, these portions of maps are those which occasionally
surfaced in Utah Utah
many very obviously pertaining to portions of the Uinta
Mountains .
In a private collection of near
100 maps, and after careful scrutiny of the collection, I was able to narrow a
selection of maps to 11 which was felt to be authentic and which were to be used
in what became the Master Map recreation Project.
What
is the Master Map Recreation Project?
One day while going over the maps
discussing them with my map collector friend, I brought up 3 of the maps and
asked if he noticed how well they came together when putting them side by side,
he said he had noticed two of them but not the third. He asked me why I thought
they matched so well. The only thing that made any sense to me is that these
maps which were likely carried by the expedition leader whose name was on them,
copied them from one of the Master Maps prior to the expedition. The idea came
into my head that the 11 previous mentioned maps could be put side by side or
incorporated into the whole of what would be a recreation of a fair portion of
the Master Map from which they came from. The maps used met the tests of
scrutiny, some of them have been published but not in entirety, other had not
and still have not.
Digitally stitching the maps
together took a few days and when I finished, knowing the maps are not
geographically correct, I thought what if…. What if I could create a 30 minute
map base with drainages and mountains etc… essentially recreating the Master
recreation but geographically correct and after words add in all the other
marks with the finished product being a geographically correct Spanish Master
map. In my estimation this was a great success as it helped resolve issues of
what drainage was intended in the original maps making it difficult to find
certain features. Correct geography was a key in resolving perception
differences.
Then the big idea hit… what If, now that I have a geographically
correct map base, why couldn’t I create an overlay version for Google Earth?
Could it help in locating mine sites and such? Using this tool, I have found
several mine sites one in particular that has been sought after for a very long
time and only speculation as to its whereabouts has been written, the famous
Mina De Rey, The Mine of the King. Rumor has it the Mina De Rey was mine
anciently long before the Spaniards, but by whom?
