The Pedro Nunez Map and cache of 1771

 

Many of you may be familiar with the Nunez map of 1771 that surfaced many years ago, it was kept quiet for some time but eventually a copy of it was shared, and then shared with another and still another and now the map has been published. But are those who have seen the map any wiser? I think not.

 

First a little history on the map and where it came from.

There was a certain sort of a map collector living in the Provo area and how he originally came by the map is still uncertain, it is believed it was stolen by the map collectors grandfather near 1901, along with the Copper Map some of you may be familiar with, from the church archives…. It is said that with the aid of this map, the man who had the map was able to find a small cache near Hoyt Peak of which all that remains as proof of it is one silver bar which has been authenticated several times over. This map was eventually put up for sale with other maps and purchased by a friend of mine, eventually copies were shared… because the map has been now published I won’t be shy sharing it here… besides, whoever drew this map was no cartographer but was very good at making note of certain features…

 

Those familiar with the map now called the Pedro Nunez Map, may know it was also called the half map, simply because it was obvious that it was the left side of a larger map. Before the map was known by anyone, the grandson of the man who supposedly stole the map, made a call to the archives of Spain to try and get more information regarding the map and if possible find a copy of the right half… The person at the archives acknowledge the existence of the map and expressed his concerns about the map being in the hands of someone other than themselves, when asked about the right half of the map the man confirmed its existence and when asked if a copy could be made, he responded rather indignantly and said no! its property of Spain!

I recall in September of 2001 when I first received a copy of the map, I recall the excitement of a new challenge, I don’t know how many of you know it but those who know me, know that I love resolving a mystery, and I can’t let it go until I get results, finding key points obvious to me on the map, and then refining the areas between and verification of those things shown… such as in this case, the old trails… but first I had to verify that the person who created the map actually existed, that wasn’t that difficult.

 

After which, there are several things on this map that I chose to verify, but today I would like to direct your attention to this portion of the map and the trails…

 

Any one who is familiar with the map and has done the boots on the ground being very familiar with the Hoyt peak area, should know where these trails are… but they don’t…  The main trail known by just a few would be the yellow highlighted trail in the following image.

 My goal was the find the Box with a dot at each corner with the cross in the middle. Using certain techniques which I will say little, using key points and common sense, I first needed to find the two trails, one of which the apparent cache was along, and verify where the two came together… shown in red below.

 

At this point I cannot stress the importance of USGS Topo maps… there really is only one place where in this arrangement of trail exists or would exist. Following the trail on the left red trail of which very little is left we traveled all the way past where the two come together verifying the trail on the right as well, the right side is still partially in use to this day, or should I say about 10 years ago… we turned around and went back they way we came now having a bit of perspective and general idea as to where this box with a cross might be…

Approaching the area I felt was near to where it may be I noticed ahead what certainly looked as though it was an old mine dump. As we got closer it was much more obvious. We didn’t see it coming down the trail. Going up the hill and deviating from what we felt was the trail we realized the trail could have easily came down off the ridge instead of the drainage below it, so climbing the hill to the top of what we were certain was the dump it was confirmed by the tunnel, in fact two of them. But why were they open? This can’t be the cache I thought. After examining the mine tunnels as far as we could, both being cave in just a short distance in… I decided to follow the ridge instead back to the main trail. Just over 100 Yards above the mine and following what I felt was an old trail, looking off to my left next to the presumed trail, I spotted something that baffled me… Here was a 6 foot square hole and about 4 to 5 feet deep. I know what most of you are thinking… someone already got it? But understand that this was a near  perfect square, and had someone recently dug the hole, why square and where was all the dirt that should have come from the hole? There was no sign of digging recently or ever in the past, it was as if the ground just sunk 5 feet and that should be the clue… at this point is where I would love to be able to hear the comments but, I don’t have time and I can’t leave this unfinished. 

If you find an old open mine even if you suspect it is an old Spanish mine, you have likely found a dry hole, It is the covered ones you want to take notice of. Most presume a mine is covered because of a cache and in part may be, but the mines were covered to preserve the timbers within. If the mine was left open by Spanish it is likely because it is exhausted. If the mine was a filled tunnel you can expect as much as 30 feet of a plug to dig out, but in some cases there was another method. In this case we likely have an air shaft which is likely joined with the mine tunnels we found below, but in order to close a mine a bit quicker and upon return uncover with greater ease. The shaft end was likely dug with a 15 foot shaft and with a tunnel then continuing horizontal, this allows them to cover the shaft end of a mine with greater ease. But why was this hole covered apparently in a hurry? I suspect whoever did thought they would be back soon… Even after 200 years it shouldn’t have sunk 5 feet unless haphazardly filled.

At this time King Charles II was hell bent on expelling the Jesuits from New Spain due to the many rumors that they were no doubt in his mind, robbing him blind. This may very well explain why the shaft, if it is one, sunk five feet instead of a mere depression left behind by someone who took the time to pack the dirt. Could this be the location of the Cross in the box? Is it a Jesuit Cache? Well if not the coincident are beyond belief… Considering the time frame, I can’t help but wonder what the true mission of 1776 of Father Escalante was… Maybe he was sent personally by the King himself to see if any Jesuits were still in operation… Like many other projects I am still waiting to find the right men to take this project over… Its not that hard to get to, four wheelers will get you there as the Forest service is choking the road down where in you can’t get your truck up there any longer… Pulse Induction, even a Magnetometer might be beneficial… but most certainly shovels… If you think you have what it takes, then reach out to me and let’s find out… I might even be able to go along on this one…

700 tons of Silver bars, 76 tons of Gold of the Little Big Horn Cache

 Donations are needed at this time! If you can part with $5 10 or even $20.. every little bit helps..

Instructions to donate are at the end of article

A Hollow Mound Mountain

 

The Copper value alone is 74 Million!

In the last 6 years or so in my efforts to research the Book nicknamed The Black Book or its given name, Jesse James Was One Of His Names, and for the purpose of proving or disproving the contents of the book, I found myself reading a section of the book once again regarding the Battle of Little Bighorn. Keep in mind; to this day I still have yet to prove anything as invalid, other than some conflicting statements interjected by the author himself, Del Schrader. My thoughts on the authenticity of the stories told within, is still weighing in as mostly factual as incredible as some of the claims may seam.

Reading the statements/claims contained within I decided to go have a good read of what the famed WIKI writers had to say Concerning Little Bighorn… Once again I found a write up based upon a pile of the regurgitation of 238 references no less and numerous opinions based upon them. Books listed as references written just a few years ago with few exceptions, again quoting former authors of even more books regurgitating even more content of books written not to long before those. I decided to check one source… It’s all I could handle that day… only to find it was B.S.

Many of the writers made no bones about discrediting claims made by many claiming some aspect of the war they having been of some part.. but they vaguely tell the side of the claimant and then insert the opinion of some former writer whom I must remind some, were certainly not there… One such incident I find humorous, 

“Theodore Goldin, a battle participant who later became a controversial historian on the event, wrote (in regards to Charles Hayward's claim to have been with Custer and taken prisoner):”

The Indians always insisted that they took no prisoners. If they did—a thing I firmly believe—they were tortured and killed the night of the 25th. As an evidence of this I recall the three charred and burned heads we picked up in the village near the scene of the big war dance, when we visited the village with Capt. Benteen and Lieut. Wallace on the morning of the 27th... I'm sorely afraid, Tony, that we will have to class Hayward's story, like that of so many others, as pure, unadulterated B. S.  

I think his assessment is B. S…. but that’s just me…

Interestingly enough, they use Mr. Goldin’s testimony as evidence and then in an article about Mr. Goldin himslef, WIKI writers then discredit him…. 

As the years went by, Goldin embellished his role in the battle more and more. The height of embellishment is found in a chapter in the book Northwestern fights and fighters by Cyrus Townsend Brady. In addition to his claims of carrying Custer's last dispatch, Goldin claimed he joined the Seventh Cavalry in 1873, witnessed the death of Lt. Benjamin Hodgson, and was present for a discussion of strategy between Captain Myles Keogh and General Custer.[14] When others challenged his claims, Goldin claimed that Brady had distorted his letter.[1] [The footnotes leading to recent authors expressing their opinion] 

And were suppose to accept this hypocritical writing? It is claimed by WIKI that nearly 120 people came forward claiming they were the last survivor of the Battle of Little Bighorn, and then… no source is given… just the regurgitation of recent former writers opinions to ponder… 

The point to the foregoing is, reading what history has fed us since the occurrence of the Little Bighorn Battle, is no more valid… in fact less than the story told in the Black Book.

OK… lets move on…. Now I would like to share one of these many claims that seems hard to believe of which WIKI is either oblivious to, or is understandably ignored by them. However the following account has as much validity than anything that the academics have used with some exception.

 

From    The Black Book

The Fateful Summer of '76

 

Jesse Woodson James liked to tell his wide-eyed grandchildren, "the history of the Old West has never been told because the men who made our nation grow didn't have time to stop, record or tell about everything they did, things moved too fast.” But as an old man, Jesse had lots of time to talk and look back. He never forgot what was crammed into the summer of 1876.

 

From June 25 to September 7, a span of less than two and a half months, Gen. George A. Custer and 277 of his troopers died at the Little Bighorn, James Butler (Wild Bill) Hickock was killed in a Deadwood bar, and a massive raid on a Northfield, Minnesota, bank ended in bloody failure. Jesse James was involved in all three of these history making incidents.

 

During the winter of 1959 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, two old-timers, Timothy Ardell Capps, 88, and Frank Curtis, an illiterate Negro gifted with an agile mind, discussed the U.S. 7th Cavalry's fate at the Battle of the Little Big Horn and signed a series of sworn statements. Curtis had been a teenage bullwhacker there that fateful day at Little Big Horn along with his father and older brother. Capps' father, Timothy Leonard Capps, and his uncle, Carl Capps, were eyewitnesses, too; Tim had grown up learning the history of the Old West from their mouths.

 

Although the Civil War had been over more than a decade when Custer made his foolish foray into Indian country, former Confederate soldiers hadn't forgotten the North-South conflict. Jesse W. James was an unreconstructed Southerner and he remembered the 15 bullet holes he received fighting for the Stars and Bars. To Jesse, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph and other chiefs were Confederate allies because General Custer, a damn yankee who'd fought at Bull Run and other battles, was a Union officer. So he looked upon Custer, a dashing but vain man with presidential ambitions, as the real enemy.

 

By 1876 the 32-year-old James owned a thriving freight line business, and long before Custer’s demise, he had been running guns to Indians on the Northern Plains. Curtis, who worked for Jesse James, recalled how easy it had been. In late winter, 1876, 150 heavy wagons were loaded at Camp Worth (now Fort Worth), Texas, with food, cloth, canned goods, saddles, blankets, etc. - but mostly with the latest 44-40 Winchester repeating rifles and ammunition. The new rifles had been purchased by Jesse through "regular channels."

 

Capps said his father told him there were 10 wagons to a crew and the two Cappses and the three Curtises were teamsters in one of the 15 crews. Some of Colonel James' wagons were so heavy they had to be pulled by eight teams of horses. As the wagons groaned northward no one, particularly the military, paid much heed. Trade with the Indians was growing and profitable. Besides, the rifles, 10 to a wooden case, and shells, were cleverly hidden. Each wagon carried a small gold and white flag, Jesse James' secret safe conduct pass known throughout the Indian nations.

 

Months before the wagon train left Camp Worth, Jesse and other former Confederate officers had trained the Sioux in the use of the new Winchester repeating rifle, a gun far superior to what the U.S. 7th Cavalry had. More than a dozen Winchesters and half a dozen Gatling guns had been stolen from the U.S. Arsenal at Rock Island, Ill., by Jesse's daring agents. The Indians were taught to use the new rifles, with the promise of more to come.

 

The early-day machine gun had been invented by Richard Jordan Gatling of North Carolina. It consisted of a number of breech-loading rifle barrels constructed to revolve around a common center. Cartridges were supplied by an ingenious, spring-wound device, making it possible to fire 1,200 .45 caliber bullets per minute from a 10·barreledgun. The U.S. Army had adopted the Gatling gun in 1866.

 

What would primitive Plains Indians, use to riding their ponies bareback, do with a Gatling gun? Colonel James imported a dozen large, gentle Missouri mules to a secret training ground in Dakota Territory. He devised a way to strap the Gatling guns to the backs of the mules; with four Indian warriors astride their ponies a mobile gun crew was formed.

 

Equally important, the former Confederate experts convinced their willing Indian pupils that their old practice of playing ring-around-the-rosie with the white man's wagon train was obsolete. They were trained to fight like Morgan's Raiders and Quantrill's Missouri guerrillas - to split up on command, hit with force and devastation and then fade away before the enemy could recover.

 

Curtis remembered that about noon on the fateful Sun- day of June 25 Custer and his men rode up over the hill east of the river toward the vast Indian encampment situated on the west side of the Little Big Horn. Custer found a peaceful camp with only women, children and older Indians. No doubt the Indians were surprised. They had expected their confrontation with the U.S. Army to take place during the hunting season in August.

 

Capps said that Colonel James broke open wagon after wagon where they'd halted a safe distance from the actual battlefield and passed out about 2,000 repeating rifles and ammunition as the Indian warriors rode by. The Indians tossed away an assortment of old muzzle-loaders, spears, tomahawks and bows and arrows when the new repeaters were thrust into their hands. Then they raced their ponies to the battlefield and opened fire on Custer's men.

 

Because of the timing, the Indians had been able to get only two of their mounted Gatling guns into action, but these were coupled with repeating rifles. General Custer had never faced such awesome firepower. Capps said, "The battle was over in not too many minutes. It was a one-sided slaughter, my father told me."

 

Eyewitness Curtis didn't mention it, but Tim Capps' father told him, "I know Custer, the fighting general, didn't show much bravery when face to face with a blaze of hatred that day, so he up and shot himself on the last go-around."

 

Fifty years after the battle, Colonel James verified Custer's suicide, saying. "The Indians had him disarmed and captured. He asked for the return of his pistol so he could 'die like a soldier'. After a brief pow-wow, the Indians gave it back to him and he shot himself in the heart."

 

Jesse and a former Confederate general who had been training the Indians, ordered the main 3,000-man victorious force to divide, scatter and vanish from the battlefield; Sitting Bull called off the other, Indians who surrounded Major Reno's troopers on a nearby hill. Some historians have long insisted there were some survivors of the Custer massacre and they are right. Golden Circle accounts say 17 ex-Rebel troopers brought out their diagonal gold-white flags and escaped.

 

Capps testified, "Dad told me that all dead troopers were mutilated, scalped and stripped, but not the body of General Custer. His corpse was left where it fell.” Colonel James passed the word to his teamsters to "get the hell out real fast." The 150 wagons broke into units of 10 each, circled the nearby hills and headed east to Deadwood, Dakota Territory, where the feverish Black Hills Gold Rush was eating up supplies faster than they could arrive. In route, they stored about a thousand new repeating rifles, five-hundred pistols and a quantity of ammunition in a secret dry cave Jesse had used before. On August 1, 1876, the lightened freight wagons rolled into booming Deadwood, and much-needed supplies they contained were purchased by eager merchants and miners as fast as they could be unloaded.

 

County of El Paso, Colo., Dec. 31, 1959, by Frank Curtis: "I'm a Negro who was with Jesse W. James on June 25, 1876, when he passed out new repeating rifles to the Indians who killed Custer. I knew John Trammell, Lucky Johnson, etc. I know a lot of secrets of J. W. James. He lived to be 107."

 

Where is the one thousand new repeating rifles, five-hundred pistols and a quantity of ammunition not to mention the Gatling guns that were said to be used at Little Bighorn and cached away afterwards? I have to admit, this is a tough one to believe...

Not to many years ago a friend sent me a copy of what has been nicknamed as the Ghost Town Map at the time, an internet search yielding no results of the map making any appearance on the internet. Today if you search really hard, you might find one incident where in someone felt the need to make it public. However, NO ONE seems to know where this town was or what it may have to do with the Little Bighorn massacre. I would love to tell the story of how I found the Ghost Town in question; in fact, I can’t really take credit because even though I did find it, I could not confirm it with the presence of a railroad. The credit goes to another who dug much deeper than I… Unfortunately for reasons I cannot explain yet, all we can do is sit back and look at the hill where in the cavern exists, knowing without doubt what lies under it… it could drive a sane man crazy… this is the kind of thing that occurs more often than I care for… finding something of this magnitude, and because of existing unforeseen circumstances, you can’t touch it, but circumstances can be changed, with time, money and patients… 

It is believed that Jesse’s Grandson, Lee Howk drew this map after Jesse had passed away. Oh how I would love to see the Gatling guns, the 44-40 Winchester repeating rifles, and the pistols… not to mention mounds of copper ingots, sliver and Gold…

 

Is this the place where the Little Bighorn Battle weapons ended up?

On the upper portion of the Ghost town map, minus instructions… is inscribed:

J. W. James used this town as his own bailiwick.

During bad years he stored thousands of tons of excess copper bars to help keep the copper price up to 15 cents to 17 cents per pound on the market. He hoped to store copper until the prices increased. He also hoarded placer gold and gold bars plus some lead bars and silver bars along with sacks of canned milk, canned meat, Beans and pork in cans just in case. A lot of guns and supplies went through this town to General Poncho Villa Chihuahua, Sonora Mexico 1915 to 1922.

 

And inscribed on the top right:

…. A hollow mound mountain

200 repeating rifles an ammunition, 5 or 6 Gatling guns and 300 Pistols. 10,000 to 12,000 tons of copper bars, 500 to 700 tons of silver bars, 16 tons of placer gold, saddles, blankets, canned goods 

In case you were wondering, the contents is valued at over 1 Billion,

Writing about it alleviates the stress… time, money and… patients…

DONATIONS are needed and requested at this time...

If you can spare $5, $10 or even $20 it is much needed...

Please take advantage of the Research Resources made available

And Please Visit BOOKS FOR SALE Rumor has it two more volumes will be out soon..

Thank You to those who have donated in the past!

Methods of donations can be made by;

Venmo…  @Amy-Crockett-Lowe

PayPal… crickett4@gmail.com

Metapay (Facebook)… Amy Crockett Lowe - on messenger

Or direct deposit at America First Credit Union… Amy Crockett living in Duchesne Utah

 

Thank you and may God Bless you in these trying times….

PS... If you have always wanted to get involved, visit some of these sites personally, actually help resolve some of the remaining details and you believe you have what it takes... lets find out... there are many ways to help... Daniel, tuscoro@gmail.com

Lordsburg Train Robbery, valued today at 4.4 Million.

 There has been a boat load of crap written about Jesse and Frank James, Butch and Sundance and even Billy the kid, most of which is unintentionally untrue through continuous regurgitation, some intentional and even some by profound delusion. I won’t take the time to tell of the delusional stories but at this time wish to point out some stories that if I had to weigh the evidence, is likely true with support of various forms of evidence.

Grat, Jesse and Butch

But before considering the following I would recommend getting familiar with the real James Family… The Family of Jesse Woodson James

and where the information comes from, the source The Black Book, Jesse James was One of his Names.

Lets talk about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Much of what we read about Butch is true, other than he was not killed in Brazil, but lets talk about Sundance first, who was he?.. Really? The source and the evidence seems to weigh in favor of… Sundance was not only know as the Sundance Kid, but also his Alias, Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, yes, Alias… His birth name was Gratton Hanley Dalton, yes the same Grat Dalton of the Dalton Gang, Jesse Woodson James’s Cousin who was supposedly killed in 1892. 

The photo that has been circulating for a very long time, supposedly Grat in his youth, may or may not be him, I am undecided but lean towards not.

 

Grat Dalton? Maybe and maybe not.

 

According to the source, in his later years Grat was living and died in 1965, at just under 100 years of age under the name of Grover Shropshire outside of Cut Bank Montana. Strangely enough, I found a Grover Shropshire in the area but the time frame isn’t right. 

At what was likely the last time Lee Howk met with Grat Dalton in 1958, Lee Asked Grat...

"When did you last see Butch Cassidy?"  "Well, sir," Grat answered, "when a man gets older, you'd think he'd seek out his old  buddies more. But that isn't always the case. Let's see, Butch and I last got together in the  late 1930s over in Lander, Wyoming, where he died about six months later. 

Funny thing,  Butch and I for years were thicker than thieves, which we were. But after we'd talked all  night, there was nothing more to talk about. In a way,  I guess there's nothing more lonely than being an old outlaw." Grat Dalton told Jesse that a few years after their escapades in South America, he and  Butch Cassidy went to Hollywood and worked as movie extras. Cassidy even played  some roles using the name "Tex Driskell." Grat reminisced about his old days in The  Wild Bunch, the Hole in the Wall Gang and Butch Cassidy Gang. And he talked of Kid  Curry, who died in Bannack, Montana, about 1942.

I found a photo or two of Tex Driscoll and I must say, it isn’t conclusive but possible…  Hard to tell with all that beard…

Sundance AKA Grat Dalton said to be with Eta Place

Or more likely Ann Basset? Sister of Josie Bassett?

Ann Bassett sister of Josie Bassett

Looks like the same girl to me…

 

“Those who had met Place claimed the first thing they noticed about her was that she was strikingly pretty, with a very nice smile, and that she was cordial, articulate, refined in speech and manners, and an excellent shot with a rifle. She was said to have spoken in an educated manner, and she indicated she was originally from the East Coast, although she never revealed an exact location.” WIKI

 

Butch was reported having married “Dotty” who was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia and lived in Seattle for a time.

 

Now for the Gold Story… 

A few nights later, Lee asked cousin Grat, 

"I want you to tell me the real truth. Did you and Butch Cassidy help old Jesse pull 'one last train holdup' over in Arizona in about 1905?" Grat grinned. 

"Well, seeing your Grandpappy has climbed his last mountain, I see no harm in 'fessing up. Yes, we did, but the so-called holdup was staged near Lordsburg, New Mexico. 

We dragged the $44,000 over to Ft. Thomas, Arizona, and buried it." The old bandit warmed up. "Butch and I fell in the dust that day laughing. Your Grandpa had really set us up for that one. Or, I should say, set up the railroad and the insurance company."   Lee cut in, "Well, Grat, I heard the story. It was one of Grandpa's death-bed confessions. But I want to see if his version jibes with yours. Go on, please." Grat's eyes took on a new lustre. 

"Old Jesse James was real foxy. It was his own money to begin with. He insured it in Chicago for what I believe was $100,000. Then he bribed the engineer and the baggage coach boys. Let's see who was there. First, there was old Jesse, and Butch, Tim Capps and Ora Doiel, and me, of course. All five of us were sitting on our horses and when the train rounded the bend, the engineer stopped the baggage coach right in front of us.   "A darky opened the door and asked, 'Where do you want it, Colonel?' and Jesse said, 'Just roll it out. That'll be fine.' The two Negroes pushed it out and Jesse said, 'Nice doing business with you.' The engineer tooted twice and pulled out.

The loss of the chest wasn't reported until the train hit Los Angeles. Of course, the insurance company paid off and apologized profusely."   Grat stared into the fireplace. "Yup, there'll never be another man like old Jesse Woodson James, God rest his soul. He did a lot more good than he did bad, but he was a real outlaw alright."   

At the time of the Lordsburg Train Robbery, Jesse was posing as Captain Harrison Trow living in North West Texas and at the same time managing his alias William A. Clark through his paid double Carl O’Haver Clark in Butte Montana.

Interestingly enough, located a hop skip and a jump from the train robbery site is located the Lordsburg Mystery Glyph panel...

Lordsburg Mystery Glyphs

Somewhere near Fort Thomas may very well be a buried chest of 4.4 million in Gold…

Jesse James and the Wobblies Graveyard Near Butterfield Canyon

In the previous article I mentioned that I knew Jesse was in the area at the time the $43,000 in Gold Coin came up missing…

I thought I would get this out there before the potential discovery is made, if not already and covered up… somewhere near the area of Butterfield Canyon is a possible mass graveyard of 50 skeletons of Wobblies executed in 1918, and if it is ever found I can’t wait to hear what the media and academics will say. Only time will tell…

 

Entitled?

 

 

Industrial Workers of the World   WIKIDITY
”Wobblies”

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with industrial unionism, as it is a general union, subdivided between the various industries which employ its members. The philosophy and tactics of the IWW are described as "revolutionary industrial unionism", with ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.

In the 1910s and early 1920s, the IWW achieved many of its short-term goals, particularly in the American West, and cut across traditional guild and union lines to organize workers in a variety of trades and industries. At their peak in August 1917, IWW membership was estimated at more than 150,000, with active wings in the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia. The extremely high rate of IWW membership turnover during this era (estimated at 133% per decade) makes it difficult for historians to state membership totals with any certainty, as workers tended to join the IWW in large numbers for relatively short periods (e.g., during labor strikes and periods of generalized economic distress).

 

No matter how WIKI paints the picture, The Wobblies were no better than the Organized Crime of the 20’s, they used seeming good principles disguised as money to lure in their membership although it completely undermined the principles of Capitalism, at the time, it wasn’t much better, but the anti America agenda vocalized by the Wobblies is what made them hated by many, including Jesse James, the other half loved them because of their love of money… can’t hardly blame them though, things were tough back them...

William Haywood,

the Wobblies Crime Boss

 

FROM The Black Book:

Jesse James was a strange mixture of man. He once almost shed tears at Leadville, Colorado, when drunken railroad workers massacred a dozen or so Chinese coolies, who couldn't speak English. He paid the conductor on the spot to take them aboard the train and get them out of the state. Yet this same man right after World War I helped round up a group of IWW's (Wobblies) near Bingham Canyon, Utah, judged and then executed them. "There were about fifty of these Bolshevik bastards," old Jesse recalled, "and we lured them into a remote spot. But we tried them first. The members of The Organization asked each Wobbly to speak his piece and every one of them denounced everything the United States had ever fought or stood for. When they wouldn't dig their own common grave, my boys dug it. Then we shot them down like dogs, covered them with dirt and forgot about it. Nobody witnessed it but members of The Organization and they never talked." 

 

“In 1917, one of Senator Clark's own newspapers in Montana quoted him as saying, "I would rather flood my mines than recognize the union." Clark claimed he hadn't really said that. He would sign with the union, but not with the IWWs (Wobblies) who controlled it. So William A. Clark hated the Wobblies. Jesse W. James hated the Wobblies enough to execute fifty of them in Utah a year later.”

(The Black Book)

Jesse James was one of his Names

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Pinkerton Gold Heist, Utah National Bank, Jesse James?

Jesse W. and Sylvester Franklin James 1896

Late 1907 at the Utah National Bank at Bingham Junction, a robbery had taken place or so it would seem. This wasn’t a violent robbery with guns and such a blazin, who ever is responsible thought this out very well… in fact it wasn’t until suspicion was drawn upon the strongbox holding the banks reserves that wouldn’t open, it seemed either the combination lock had failed which didn’t seem possible or someone had changed it.

The reserve box was kept in a vault which was in a room which had a time lock, in fact 2 combinations and 2 time locks were required to get to the reserve and different people had the combination to each. There was only one person who had the combination to the reserve box and he was on vacation back east when it is believed the robbery took place. Before he left on vacation and knowing the possible need for access while he was away, or another intended purpose,  he wrote the combination down placed it in an envelope with a seal with instructions to only open it if needed. Or did he share it with someone up back east? Well it seems at least two times came up one in which the seal was broken and access to the reserve was made, once for the bank Examiner of which the contents were confirmed and later when they discovered they couldn't open it and called in a safe cracker who ended up cutting the Box open.

At this point in time they did not know they had been robbed but suspicion was high, the bank president hire an expert who just happened to be in town of which upon fiddling with the lock said it was clear to him that it had been changed. The bank president then authorized forced entry which took near two days to get through 3 layers of steel, at which time it was found that the reserve was short 43,000 in gold coin and another 63,000 in cash.

The Pinkertons were called into the scene to help resolve the mystery but it would seem the more time that was spent, the more they made themselves look like bumbling buffoons. After sending a request for a Pinkerton, someone showed up almost to soon to have been from the agency, in fact whoever he was posing as a Pinkerton for near two weeks when he disappeared and the real Pinkerton finally showed up. Several employees were suspect but as I recall, although they focused on one man he likely was not the guilty party. The investigation was a mess in fact the whole case, it was never resolved and the missing reserve was never recovered. A $10,000 reward was offered for the return of the reserve.

If you think you are good at resolving a mystery, this one has its challenges if you can follow it… as I recall it seems in one article it made reference to one of the suspect individuals who later built a home in Bingham Canyon area just over the mountain from Stockton. I also have some reason to believe that Jesse James himself may have been the driving force behind this… Someday I am going to have to give this story more attention.

Using key words you can find the majority of the articles that followed the story starting about January of 1908 in the Utah Newspapers digital collection.

I tell this story because of a strange story which came to my attention in 2011.

 

One Hundred years latter… 

Sometime in the fall of 2006 or 2007, a man believed to be in his late 30's to 40’s was hunting deer in the Oquirrh Mountains  East of Stockton. (It is unknown if he was hunting out of season) Not being unfamiliar with property ownership boundaries he had ventured into Kennecott Mining properties however knowing he may have done so, when he spotted a nice buck, knowing the possibilities he still took careful aim and fired anyway. After cleaning his dear and starting his trek to drag it down the mountain he stopped to take a rest, at this time he spotted a DWR truck down below and was certain he was likely caught.

While trying to decide what to do and resting, he looked to the side of where he was sitting and noticed a pile of rock like a mining claim marker. He noticed something odd sitting on top of the monument and if he had not seen it would likely have never walked over to look. When he got to the monument he saw that on top had been placed a brass button if I recall, picking the button up and looking closer, the word Pinkerton was written. Finding this odd he pulled a few rocks from the monument to discover inside was several mason jars each full of gold coins.

Knowing he had been made he decided to place the rocks back concealing the jars, grab the dear and continue down the mountain in hopes that DWR had not spotted him or knew of his deed. When he arrived at the bottom it was confirmed that he was spotted and was arrested and charged with poaching.

This man worked for a private contractor out at Dugway of which I will withhold the names… I spent a lot of time searching court cases of the suspect time frame but found nothing, it dawned on me that had he been convicted of a felony he would have lost his job, however with a misdemeanor he would keep his job and we knew he was still working in the years after the arrest, which means a plea bargain was made. His loose lips however caused his story to leak out, he said that the judge told him he had lost his hunting privilege's for 10 years and that he was to never go on Kennecott property again.

As of 2007 or 8 he had every intention of going back after he retired or after the 10 years had passed. He said it was his nest egg or ace in the hole… the 10 year period would have been up in about 2016 or 17. Did he go back? We don’t know but it would not be hard to find out with a little bit better detective work than the Pinkertons… $43,000 in gold coin would have fit nicely into 6 to 8 1 quart jars and today’s value at about 4 million. I wonder how this presumed former employee is living today? Or did he quit his job in 2016 or 17?

I have not yet found anything conclusive to tie Jesse James into this robbery other than It is believed that he was in the area of Butterfield Canyon due to mining interests around that same time frame,  the whole thing just stinks of Jesse James.

(The Black Book)

Jesse James was one of his Names

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