First Part of Chapter 14
Jesse James was One of His Names
(The Black Book)
When the bloody Civil War ground to a halt, the South was in ruins, its people were starving and there was complete chaos, but the Confederacy had $7 billion in well-hidden gold reserves, which were immediately made available to the Confederate Underground government headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
How much gold was stolen, appropriated or hijacked from the hated damn yankees will probably never be known. It is even difficult to estimate. Union Army payrolls were looted, mule trains carrying the precious metal to the private mint, Clark, Gruber & Company (later the U.S. Denver Mint) were hijacked, gold from the Comstock Lode of Nevada and Mother Lode of California was heisted and daring agents in such Northern cities as New York, Washington and Cincinati raided Union gold stocks.
During the half century that tough, dedicated Colonel Jesse W. James was connected with the Knights of the Golden Circle he ran the value of gold in Confederate caches from $7 billion to $21 billion. This was when a troy fine ounce of gold was selling for $20.67 and placer gold at about $14 an ounce. In 1934 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt raised the price to $35 per troy fine ounce, the value of the depository contents soared to
$36 billion. In January of 1973 the price of gold on the European markets topped $90 an ounce, making the Confederate treasure hoard worth about $100 billion.
This figure is particularly impressive considering foremost geologists estimate the world's known recoverable gold reserve at 1 billion ounces. No figures are available on Russia, but U.S. gold production has been averaging about 1.5 million ounces a year during the past decade.
During a meeting in Southern California on April 18, 1973, with sons and grandsons of Knights of the Golden Circle members, I was told that the confederate Underground infiltrated gold mines around the world and gave out false production figures. For half a century gold was smuggled into the U.S., including $32 million from Afrikaners during the Boer War. Everywhere Confederate agents encouraged miners and stamping mill employees to steal and served as "fences." Many former Confederate officers headed West after the war, prospered and tithed up to 50 per cent of their annual incomes.
A decade ago, a national magazine writer charged that at least $50 billion in U.S. gold had "just disappeared" since colonial times, At one time the U.S. Treasury listed $22 billion in gold reserves, but the vaults at Fort Knox, Kentucky, are bare by comparison today.
With the price of gold fluctuating almost daily, let's use the $35 an ounce figure which was with us for almost four decades. Despite its famous Gold Rush, California ranks well down the line in hidden Confederate gold. Montana-Idaho reportedly contains $4 billion, Texas $2.5 billion, New York $1 billion and California has $500 million.
The amount in the most populous state varies from $41 million in Sacramento to $1.6 million in San Gabiel Canyon and $250,000 in El Monte, which was a Golden Circle head-quarters prior to the Civil War. Nevada City, Grass Valley and Placerville each have about $16 million and Porterville, $3.3 million. There are lesser amounts in Fort Tejon, San Diego, San Pedro, San Jose, San Francisco and Paso Robles, according to the old timers.
New Mexico depositories contain treasure worth $630 million, while Canada has $2.5 billion, Georgia $413 million, the Carolinas $500 million, New England $333 million, Mexico $500 million, Panama $83 million, the Canary Islands $83 million, Illinois $33 million and Oregon, Arizona and Nevada each have $333 million. There is hidden gold in nearly every state in the Union and $83 million lies buried right under Castro's nose in Cuba.
The grandson of a Golden Circle member volunteered, "He told me the depositories or caches were located in the following areas: near state or territorial capitals, near railroad rights-of-way, along principal rivers, beside stage or wagon roads, around Confederate- owned livery stables, near Indian agency headquarters, near bridge or ferry crossings, near smelters or mills and along natural landmarks like the Continental Divide.
"Some of the caches might be safely opened by weekend treasure hunters, but don't trifle with the big depositories. They're booby-trapped from all directions and more than one snooper has been blown to bits by waterproofed explosives which are still deadly."
A number of daring coups which enriched Confederate caches will be described in this chapter. Under Colonel James' direction, Golden Circle agents were sent to Spain and Mexico to ferret out long-lost treasures buried in the United States. The agents promised a percentage of the take to informers. Treasures were dug up and the promises were kept. In addition, restless Golden Circle agents ran down Indian and old prospector legends of lost or buried gold. Many of these treasures were retrieved and placed in Confederate caches. Other gold was dug up in Mexico and Latin America.
In 1930, J. Frank Dobie wrote, "Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the Southwest." Old Jesse bought a copy and it was soon dog-eared and pages marked with strange symbols. Old Jesse chuckled, "Frank did a hell of a good job compiling all this stuff, but my agents long since checked out 90 per cent of the legends and in many cases The Organization made off with the treasure."
On his 100th birthday in 1944, old Jesse told his closest relatives, "There are no free and easy Confederate treasures, any that an amateur or tenderfoot could locate and dig out on a weekend. He'd need a hell of a lot of inside information. There is a 'key' to Confederate treasure troves. In 1916 we sealed our Golden Circle records for fifty years. So in 1966 - I will be long gone - it won't belong to anybody. I will leave the 'key' to my grandson Lee Howk (Jesse James III). There are no written records of the caches, just signs and symbols, but Lee will have the 'key' - that I assure you."
As an oldster, Jesse often lamented the "untimely deaths of two noble adversaries, detective Allan Pinkerton and financier Jay Gould." Pinkerton died in 1884, Gould in 1892. No, Jesse didn't kill them, but he admitted he had plenty of opportunities.
"Pinkerton and his men made one basic error," old Jesse said, "they were looking for Jesse James' Gang, and not the Confederate Underground Army and they thought the Golden Circle ceased when Lee surrendered. We weren't about to straighten 'em out.
"In the late 1970s, I heard about a law officers' convention in Chicago and decided to attend as a deaf preacher. I was heavily disguised with gold caps on my front teeth and carried an ear horn in one hand and a Bible in the other. I managed to get myself a seat at Allan Pinker-ton's table. If I was asked a question, I'd make heavy use of the ear horn and make an irrelevant, but always pious answer. I'm sure Allan thought I was stone deaf.
"I was delighted when Pinkerton began talking about the 'James Gang'. He had a tendency to brag and he told about elaborate plans to capture the James 'bandits'. Then he grew serious and said, 'Washington has called me in several times concerning thefts of rather appreciable amounts of gold, wondering if the 'James Gang' could be involved. But I told them that Jesse and Frank James are just penny-ante crooks concentrating on $10,000 to $20,000 bank holdups.
"After lunch, I found myself sharing a washroom with Pinkerton and I was tempted to kill him. It would have been so easy, but I reasoned that Pinkerton had the wrong conception of our real activities. Let him believe we were minor crooks and we would go right on filling Confederate caches. That night I told my experiences to Missouri Jesse (Dingus) James, my cousin, and he was blazing mad. He fairly shouted, 'I think you just got 'buck fever', cousin Jesse, and couldn't pull the trigger! You could have snuffed him out so easily - but didn't.' "
Financier Jay Gould enriched Confederate caches or coffers of Jesse's organization by
$30 million, most of it taken at pistol point, but some by shrewd manipulation. "I was in Chicago and read in the papers," Jesse recalled in later years, "that the great financier Jay Gould was going to attend a banquet that night. Pulling a few strings, I got myself invited. I went dressed as a miner. Of course, I was heavily disguised. I developed a bad limp, carried my left arm in a sling and an ear horn in the other. This was in the late 1880s.
"I went brazenly over to the table where Gould was and sat down. He jumped up and shook my hand and asked how I got hurt. I finally had him shouting right in my ear horn. So I nodded and mumbled, "Mining - explosives." I pulled out a chamois bag and rolled some pretty good-sized gold nuggets on the table and Gould's eyes grew big. 'Where?' he asked and I replied, 'I think it's Tuesday.' He kept on asking questions, but I was unable to hear and gave him the wrong answers. He finally gave up on me, considering me hopelessly deaf. That's what I wanted him to think.
"While I ate, I placed my ear horn on the floor so Jay Gould felt free to discuss his railroad plans with others at the table, who were all his associates. I learned plenty that night. Then Gould began complaining-about 'raids' on his payrolls. An associate said, 'Maybe Jesse James isn't dead after all, Mr. Gould.' My heart almost stopped pumping. Gould replied, Tm going to be candid with you gentlemen. I, too, have heard that Jesse wasn't really murdered back in '82. In a way, the pattern does resemble that used by Jesse James during the Civil War.
"'He stole a lot of money from me and I had him outlawed by pulling a few strings in Washington. In a way, I hated to because did I ever tell you I knew the entire James family when they had the plantation down in Kentucky? Well, that's another story. I've done a lot of thinking about our financial drain and it smacks of Jesse's guerrilla tactics. Hell, if Jesse James walked into this room right now I wouldn't be one bit surprised. He's a wily one, slippery as a goddam eel and durable as an elephant. But I'll tell you one thing, Jesse James never lacked in guts or daring.'
"Needless to say, that was quite an accolade coming from old Gould. I had a hard time going to sleep that night. It was amazing how close he had come to figuring me out. They say every crook has a modus operandi. If mine was following a pattern in Gould's mind, it was time we altered our methods. So we did. I didn't want to read such a headline: JESSE JAMES ALIVE - LEADER OF CONFEDERATE UNDERGROUND ARMY."
The Golden Circle spared no expense in burying its gold. It employed the best engineers and the most modern equipment available. Jesse said, "I always insisted on using either Negroes or Indians as laborers. Seldom employed a white man. I understood Indians and Negroes and on the whole they were more trustworthy."
Many of the caches were located near railroad lines, although some were situated in remote regions. Jesse James employed a large number of railroad detectives or agents, who rode his own line and those belonging to the competition. Sometimes engineers, along with detectives, were paid by the Golden Circle to "keep their eyes open" along certain stretches and to report anything suspicious. Of course, these paid employees were not told what they were protecting, but an extra $50 a month kept them vigilant.
Mining companies also employed a network of agents to report "unusual activities." The Confederate Underground was busy sinking shafts for caches, many of them booby trapped, and this could pass for "mining." Golden Circle agents were merciless and many a "snooper" was tracked down and killed before he could file a report. "Shoot - and ask questions later," was Colonel James' standing order to his secret operatives. Another order was, "Better to kill a man than be sorry." On rare occasions a Golden Circle agent would violate his blood oath and attempt to slip back and recover some of the buried loot. The man was invariably shot because Jesse kept a concealed guard around a new cache for generally a month. After that, it was periodically inspected to see if it had been tampered with.
One peace officer in Oklahoma spent twenty years working to open a Confederate trove. How he learned about it is unknown, but old Jesse did some checking and found out the officer's father had been a member of the Golden Circle. Jesse reasoned his father had revealed the secret on his death bed.
Trusting no one, the peace officer did the digging himself. Apparently his father had told him where the booby-trap was because the digger tunneled around this area. The officer never told his wife what he was doing on weekends but said, "If I ever disappear, get hold of the Texas Rangers and have them get in touch with Colonel J. Frank Dalton."
A month later, Jesse sat in the widow's kitchen and it suddenly came to him what had happened to her husband. A trusted crony drove Jesse to the spot. The cache was concealed by heavy undergrowth. Jesse told his friend to wait while he climbed the hill. The old Golden Circle chief saw at a glance what had happened. Engineers had damned up a spring and this small body of water had broken through the digger's tunnel, drowning him. For a moment, Jesse stood and paid a tribute to the oldtimers' precautions. Then he went back into town and told the anxious widow, "Well, I thought I might know where your husband was, but he ain't. I'm sorry."
Did old Jesse ever open any of the Confederate caches? Yes, he did during the depression. He opened a cache in Texas and took out $10 million to help prop up three Texas banks, which had been founded by old time Confederate families. He reasoned, "The oath stated they'd never be touched unless the 'nation' was in dire straits. Well, these three banks were fighting to keep their doors open. There were breadlines and people were desperate and angry. I'd have opened every damn Confederate cache in the country to keep the United States from going Bolshevik and would not have violated my oath in any way."
Even with his vast financial empire, the old man was pressed for cash during the depression. Accompanied by his grandson, Jesse III, he retrieved three of his "personal caches." He took $125,000 from a cave near Gad's Hill, Missouri; about $75,000 from a cemetery in northeastern Arkansas and $100,000 from the east side of an ancient Indian burial mound on the Bayou Macon north of Delhi, Louisiana.
Jesse III recalls, "That was quite a sight. We checked into the Washington Urey Hotel in downtown Shreveport. The year was 1939. The tires on my car were almost flat from the heavy load. Old Jesse looked over the hotel's help and selected two husky young Negroes. He asked, 'Can you boys keep your mouths shut?' Then he gave each of them a
$100 bill and they hauled the treasure, mostly in gold coins, up to our room. Then Jesse called a banker friend, told him to bring $100,000 in 'big bills', an armored car and a couple of husky men.
"The old banker's eyes bulged out when he saw the grain sacks full of coins. He'd known Jesse for years so couldn't have been too surprised. Jesse said, 'Now I counted this stuff some fifty years ago when I buried it. It amounted to $100,000 then and we got all of it. I'll settle for $100,000 in green stuff - it's handier to carry around. Some of these coins are quite old and are probably collector's items, but my loss is your gain. You can count it down at the bank to make sure I didn't cheat you. You know I'm Jesse James so you can't be too damn careful.' Well, the old banker almost apologized when he handed Jesse
$100,000 in $100 bills. His men took the coins and departed. When we got ready to retire, old Jesse stuck his fat wallet under the mattress and made sure his .38 calibre Smith & Wesson was loaded. In a minute he was snoring."
If Jesse III has the "key" to the string of Confederate depositories, why doesn't he just go ahead and dig them up?
He replies, "The answer to this is quite complex. First, you have the federal and state governments and federal judges to consider. If my grandfather and The Knights of the Golden Circle stole this gold from the federal government would it be considered 'treasure trove' or 'contraband'? Various states have worked out 'treasure trove' laws which in most cases are quite fair.
"But what if it is 'contraband'? That is another matter and the federal government would confiscate it, legally saying it was merely recovering property stolen from it. What if I went to Washington and worked out an arrangement with the President of the United States and the Congress -say a 50-50 split? I would use the argument, 'Do you want the stuff to remain hidden in the ground or would you rather have $30 billion unexpected funds to play with?' Maybe I'd settle for 10 per cent, or 5 per cent or 1 per cent. The deal was all set so I'd borrow money and go ahead and dig out the rich Curious Mule Treasure. While I was wiping the sweat off my brow and waiting for federal auditors to weigh in the treasure, some screwball federal judge might rule my agreement was 'illegal' and it would all go to the federal coffers. I'd be up the proverbial creek without a paddle!"
Jesse III found himself in such a position in 1962 when he and an Indian guide from the old Santa Clara Indian Reservation at Espanola, New Mexico, found a $700,000 gold cache stashed away by Grandpa Jesse in the mid 1880s. Old Jesse had grub staked an old prospector who had a mine in the James Mountains near Coyote, New Mexico. The prospector hit and Jesse came down with mules to claim his one-third share. There were 14Va 100-pound ingots of 87 per cent gold. Taking a shortcut to Santa Fe, old Jesse's mule train was bombarded by a violent storm and half of his mules drowned. He and his men buried the gold under a ledge. Before he died, old Jesse said, "I'll give you the directions. It was not Confederate gold, but belonged to me so it's yours when you find it."
After Jesse III and his Indian guide uncovered the gold, an unexpected heavy snow blanketed the area. When he went back in the spring, Jesse III found the Indian had moved the gold, which was located on the Santa Clara Reservation. The guide had "blabbed" and three or four Indians were killed over the gold discovery incident. So Jesse III, who had originally promised the chief that the reservation could have half of the gold, tried to get his former guide to disclose the new hiding place. When all efforts failed, Jesse III went into U.S. Federal District Court in Albuquerque and the judge ruled the gold belonged to Jesse III.
"Despite the decision, the Indian still refused to disclose its new hiding place. In the meantime, a newspaper publisher applied a little heat in Washington and legal blocks were strewn in my path. I didn't have the funds to fight any more so I went back to Colorado.
"The New Mexico case, which I won, opened up quite a can of worms. Sweet old Aunt Cora, the daughter of Jesse Woodson James and Maggie Matuska, a Sioux Indian woman, was living in Nashville, Tennessee, and when she heard about the decision she immediately began an action to attach the cache, charging she was a closer relative to old Jesse Woodson James than I was.
"And other James relatives living throughout the country under assumed names began to make noises. Now, I don't mean all of old Jesse's kin. Some of them stood by me through thick and thin. They had kept their names during the many years old Jesse was an exile in his own land. But I suddenly realized that 32nd cousins would hire shysters and have their hands out once any of old Jesse's assets were uncovered. It was a very sobering thought.
"Now the same thing could happen if the old Confederate depositories were opened. There would be a flurry of lawsuits of every description, judges would hand down some complicated and strange decisions, the country might be in chaos - it seems to be an old American custom to fight over inheritances or recovered treasure."
Jesse III and his attorney, John Gately, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1967 located "The Master Compass Treasure" site in New Mexico by following old symbols, which professors of natural history term ancient Indian pictographs. "A treasure," Jesse III says, "just doesn't leap out at you and yell, 'Here I am. I am a buried treasure!' "
After taking a false trail or two by misreading the "compass feathers," the hikers located the hidden springs and suddenly stood in awe. Jesse III said, "There carved on a wall in all its majesty was a great historical panel which told the strange story of the Confederate 'lost cause'. I had left my camera in the car and neither John nor I were prepared to dig that day so we made plans to return with a pickup truck in two weeks. Then John made a grievous error. He took off his scarf and tied it to a bush at the edge of the great panel, arguing that we'd be able to spot the scarf from the road below. I compounded the error by not removing the scarf."
Apparently the two hikers had been spotted by a couple of young Mexican-American boys, who were prepared to dig as soon as the pair left. The lads found a chest containing
$55,000 in rare, century-old coins, but the bank paid them only face value. "But," says Jesse III, "the main treasure taken from Grandpa's wagon train still lies buried somewhere near the great panel. John Gately died, I got involved in the Santa Clara Reservation mess, then family illnesses and I've never been back."
Because Jesse III was raised at his old Confederate grandfather's knee, I've detected that Jesse III has a great sentimentality about the old caches. A few years ago, Jesse III gathered two trusted friends in Dallas and formalized plans to open a Confederate depository containing $8 million in Oklahoma. Jesse III said he had been studying the symbols and believed he had pinpointed the cache.
"I don't remember why, but one of my friends brought along a tenderfoot, a real ringer. It was February, cold and damp and I caught a severe cold. Then it began to rain and I was unable to spot an important clue, two large boulders, side by side. I suggested we return to town and try at a later date. The greenhorn jumped up, yelling, 'You're trying to gyp me out of my $2 million share! I never trusted Texans anyway!' On the way back into town, facing pneumonia, I asked myself, 'Why am I doing this? Who is this damn fool I just met two days ago who is demanding his share and accusing me of dishonesty?' Back in town, I told my friends I was calling off the hunt and returning to Dallas. I thought of all the blood that had been shed by those old Southerners to steal the gold and the sweat they'd expended to cache it away. This greenhorn had killed any desire I had to retrieve the trove."
Jesse III says the treasure symbols appear to be everywhere. "I've observed them in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington and even Florida." The symbols are not always arrows, turkey tracks, snakes and birds, but sometimes they are the old Confederate Army Code. Every venture old Jesse's organization did was in multiples of 3s, 5s and 7s. On rare occasions they switched to 4s, 7s and 11s."
If the booby traps, sudden floods and hidden spears don't get the treasure hunter, "black damp" will. Colorado City, now Colorado Springs, along with Canton, Texas, became a Confederate Underground center after the capital closed down in Nashville in about 1884. Old Jesse ordered a network of deep tunnels and rooms built underground. Work went on so quietly that residents never dreamed they even existed. At one time, precious metal and guns were stored in the secret rooms and tunnels, but they have been sealed up to keep out children. Without being ventilated, poking into the labyrinth of tunnels would be suicide. Two sniffs of "black damp" will kill you.
Following is a list of approximately a hundred Confederate depositories (in some cases the amounts are given):....
Continued at Page 250 in the Black Book...
Original Post February 2023
and others
Seeking Financial Partner
The following information is taken from copies of the original documents
The year was 1777, another 44 years yet before
Like the Confederate soldier of our Civil war, the many robberies were not for personal gain but to weaken the enemy and in the case of
In 1727 Just 50 years prior to Valentin becoming Captain of the Durango band of Banditos, Nicholas Castillo was passed the torch making him captain by Captain Jose Ramirez, a Zacatecas Indian “a very brave man indeed” who was seriously injured in a recent assault. After Captain Ramirez had passed, word came from the spies placed in each of the Taverns that a mule train was about to leave
It took many days to make the transfer from the kill site to the caverns of Majoma, and to erase all evidence. The silver and the gold was placed in separate caverns. By January of the next year most if not all of Castillo and his men were hunted down and killed or captured and shot or hung.
How many robberies took place over the 300 years is not known, The Documents I have been blessed to receive, specifically speak of 3 accounts over a period of about 60 years involving Majoma and one not far north of it, however there must be many more as there is no less than 14 other cache sites mentioned... and two more fantastic documents, one in Nayrit and the other beginning in Jalisco and ending in Nayarit, both written by none other than one of the Lauriono Brothers, the most revered by the people and famous band of banditos of Mexico.
Another more fantastic robbery took place in 1777 under the command of Captain Valentin Castrillon, told in the following.
Captain Valentin Castrillon was now Captain since the Brave Indian and former Captain Mursia had died and left him Valentin in command.
One day word came through spies, that a rather large shipment was headed their way which consisted of 12 mule trains of 40 mules each, 10 trains of pack mules carrying silver and 2 trains of Red Dune mules carrying Gold and shod with silver shoes.
Later they would discover the shipment was sent by General Barron de Vilpamaro, lord and master of the large mines of Sonora and Tamazula, he was sending it as tithing to his queen Isabel de España and that is why he sent them like this and the 10 trains of silver were from a convoy that came from Guarisona (Arizona) el Pilar, Gavilanes, San Dimas, Tlayoltita, El Naranjal, Metalito, Palualto, El Alto, others from Topia and other areas.
Captain Valentin gathered in his men and prepared them for the ambush at the location they knew as Lajita. When the Spanish mule trains entered the brena Valentin attacked, the battle was brutal and by the time the dust settled, 72 Spaniards were dead and 23 of Valentin’s banditos. Immediately the men gathered in the mules and began the short journey of 1 ½ leagues away but it was through some of the nastiest terrain God ever created. It took days to dispose of the dead many bodies of which some were used to create a bridge across a deep desert wash to shorten the distance to the Cavern.
After the spoils were off loaded and filling even more of the cavern which they at one time vowed more than a hundred years before, to fill this cavern with Gold only, it seemed they had finally reached that goal as they could not get this stone lid back on and to fit tight. Valentin instructed his men to dig shallow trenches around the coral which held the cavern and dispose of the remainder of the vast cache. The trenches were filled with silver and gold and it is said it was done hap hazard and that even to that day, some of it remains uncovered. They had the same problem with the silver cache cavern, with not enough room to place it Valentin ordered the men to dig a pit in which they threw the over burden of silver and mixing a sort of concrete covered the hole.
It wasn’t long after that the Spanish authorities had had enough of the constant robberies of the last 300 years or so and an all out effort was organized to hunt down the native banditos. Over the next few short months many of the banditos had been captured and executed and only a few short years after that,
For this project, I am seeking an interested party to become part of the team as a finacial partner, an expedition is being planned and estimates of cost for at least a one week venture is around $5000. If the interested party is wanting to physically join the expedition we are going to have to discuss this in detail. We may not be Oceans Eleven, but we have some interesting details to disclose... Interested party should also expect other expenses as well such as a possible buy in, and they may expect total disclosure with signed non comp, non disclosure agreement. All question can be addressed at a private personal meeting. tuscoro@gmail.com
Original Post February 1st 2017
Originally Posted August 2022
The Likely Reality
Sometimes the treasure story doesn’t end with the desired results aside from the thrill of the hunt, unless of course you just keep buying the books sucking in new theories to keep the dream alive, but knowing the truth based on the facts might just eliminate one more story.
Although I am not in the habit of chasing after published stories I must admit when I first heard of the Peralta Stones, I was intrigued, curiosity wouldn’t leave me alone. After reading the hoards of stories that had been written about them, the many theories which I don’t understand how pray tell some people come up with these things, I decided to take a look at the stones myself and give the stones some serious consideration.
The Peralta Stones
Now keep in mind, I have no doubt as to the authenticity of the stones which so many are anxious to discredit rather than try to prove them. It is so much easier to dismiss that which the lazy mind can’t figure out as a hoax isn’t it…
I believe the stones are real for many reasons which I am not going to haggle about, and the primary reason is, Common Sense, something that the lust for gold just seems to replace. Another is the Peralta story which many seem to misunderstand concerning the lawsuits and court battles regarding one of the Peralta Land Grants which of course ended with cries of hoax and deceit in an effort to cast doubt. My position? The Peralta Claims were legitimate. However the primary reasons why I believe the stones were legitimate is supporting evidence that existed long before the stones were known, a story that has yet to be told and will not be told today in its entirety, however I will give some.
I may also make note at this point that I have not the slightest idea where in anyone can tie the Lost Dutchman story to the Peralta stones or why it ever was? Do we suppose that because the stones were found at the foot of the mountains that the Dutchman supposedly came out of that this somehow makes the two synonymous? If some wish to go chase the Lost Dutchman mine based on the few details that were actually given, I am sure I won’t be the first to step aside and let them have at it. With this said also keep in mind that my take on this is also just a theory, and by the way, I can’t understand why or how treasure has ever been associated with the stones, I see no indication of treasure… Implications maybe. As I recall, and I don’ know how one comes up with this, but one story even places the location of the Peralta Stones Map in Johnson’s canyon east of Kanab? Guess you'd have to be blind... Is the Stone map Treasure specific? Not likely, but directions to a substantial Silver mine? Yes.
The point in mentioning this, although I don’t see it, is we should not suppose the stone map as relating to the area they were found, for all we know; the two obvious drainages on the stone map could be two drainages in
However…Let’s look at the Peralta stones and keep it as simple as it really needs to be. The Stones were reportedly found between
The first thing I am going to prove or disprove TO MYSELF is the obvious drainages on the map with the assumption that the stones were actually found in the area it applies to. Although I have had a hard time wondering how anyone assumes the upper river shown on the Horse Stone and the Heart map is the Salt River, I guess I can slightly see the possibility?.. no wait… I’m sorry, I can’t.
The top drainage shown on the maps is in my mind clearly Queens Creek NOT the Salt River, if one would take the time to highlight the 3 rivers in question on Google Earth or even a 30 minute USGS map it becomes very apparent as to which two rivers were intended. The visual evidence weighs heavily in favor of the hypothesis. If the following is true, the whole story has been misapplied and the focus is in the wrong mountains!
The 3 possible drainage’s of the Peralta Stones
Now like I said, I have no idea how the stones got to where they were found, but regardless of how they got there it would seem plausible to me that they were no longer needed and discarded. The Peralta Stone Map was not a map to a Treasure, it was documentation of one of the Peralta family Mines Likely a Kings Mine dedicated to Queen Isabella II. The previous image should sum it up and I will leave it to the reader to weigh the common sense, and I could be easily mistaken.
Overlay of Peralta stone map
Lets dive into this just a bit further…
I will not say what my conclusions regarding the Reavis Peralta Land Grant trials is, but I will say I smell a rat, although Reavis may have been a rat, there was a whole lot of deceiving, slandering, forging and a lot of fabrication of evidence going on by the opposing party whom we might refer to as our wonderful trustworthy Government.
At the begining of the Reavis’s claims, never being a connection made regarding the Peralta's, an unknown to most man shows up on the scene in
James DeNoon Reymert a Nordic born man who later moved to
My question is, did Mr. DeNoon know where and why he was going before he went?... I’m sure it is all coincident as much as the following. Now after his 3 year sabbatical in Chili, DeNoon returns to
My guess would be… The Peralta stones if found at the claimed location of “near Apache Junction” were not where some poor Spanish soul lost the stone maps, but where DeNoon cast them away no longer needing them after receiving them from the Peralta family personally and after coming to a business arrangement with them and re-locating the mines.. I would love to see DeNoon’s financial records of the day.
A partial point to this article is to show you that there is always another perspective, whether right or wrong remains to be seen but that is for you to decide, whether you have done your homework or not. Reason every little detail, question all things, and remember these words, It is what it is. Knowing when to accept defeat however, is knowing never to accept it.
Originally Posted February 2022
This article comes at a convenient time where in with all the seeming recent renewed interest in the Hoyt mine I decided to write of it. After two days of putting this article together, I get a phone call informing me the History channel would be airing an episode of Beyond Oak Island regarding the Josephine mine of all things and featuring Terry Carter…. Well… I had to make an exception and watch of course, and it wasn’t bad at all… Nice job Terry, strangely enough at the same time a friend sent me a copy of what appears to be Gales transcript to the book he never wrote as he passed before hand… I love a good coincident…. Or two… needless to say I had to rethink and rearrange the article as I learned a few things I didn't know.... Who wouldn't be interested in a story which might lead to a treasure of over a billion in gold?
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Authentic stories of the past told over and over each time adding in ones own perspective is a rouge trait of story tellers and is getting worse in these times where in there seems to be no love of the truth. Minor details mention from the perspective of the originator are ignored and emphasis given to non essential descriptive words and then you sneeze, wipe your nose and an entirely different story sits before you, as you stare at it, wondering what the hell happened? No matter what you say or do to correct the miss perceptions the cancer continues to grow.
An example many of you might be familiar with, the
According to the story related to the Gazette by Mr. Kinkaid, the archaeologists of the Smithsonian Institute, which is financing the expeditions, have made discoveries which almost conclusively prove that the race which inhabited this mysterious cavern, hewn in solid rock by human hands, was of oriental origin, possibly from Egypt,
Well oriental people are NOT from
Another misinformation that has been grossly blown out of proportion is Moctezuma’s treasure, I guess there just isn’t any money in the truth… but the truth behind it is a much more interesting story as well… On with the intended story…
The Mina de Josephine de Martinique de Emperatris
Gale Rhoades and Steve Shaffer 1981
Although knowledge of the purported Josephine mine had come to Gale as early as 1969, after years of turns of events it wasn’t until Steve following up on a dream found his way up to Hoyt Peak area, and found the mine they would claim and name the Bear hole…
It was some time in the year 1994 just 6 years after the passing of Gale Roy Rhoades and after Gale had last put his pen to paper and leaving his manuscript behind, Stephen B. Shaffer released his book about the Lost Josephine mine, Of Men and Gold. Until Steve, who has since passed as well, put his book out, many of those of the treasure world had never even heard of the Josephine of Hoyt Peak, or the Mine of the Utes, even though it had been well know several times in the past. Most had never heard of Thomas Rhoades and his son Caleb. Gale was the 3 times Great Grand son of Thomas Rhoades.
The following information is based upon the best source material available that I am aware, I make no claim that any part of it is true and accurate as none of us knows the answer to that… I write the following to be of some sort of aid to those who will no doubt in the future attempt the same thing so many have tried before, to locate the true Josephine of the Garcia Waybill or Redotero.
As it would seem, here we are some 30 years later and we are no wiser as to where the Josephine is, in fact it seems we now have 3 and still many don’t know what I am talking about. Now I don’t mean the Josephine of the Henrys or any other location other than
Kimball and the Slave Traders 1851 and Captain San Jose Pueblo
It was 1851 when General Kimball arrested some Spaniards for slave trading in
From the
In the year 1842 there were four companies of Spaniard who came up into this country for the purpose of prospecting and mining. They called the river they were on the
These men had two mines which were located between the Provo and Weber rivers One of these they worked out and the white people who first discovered Kamas valley or what was called Rhodes valley In the early days found this exhausted producer which was situated on the west side of the valley about half way between the Provo and Weber rivers and when discovered tools of ancient make were round in its old workings.
The other mine and the one from which the Spaniards took the most gold was across the valley on the eastside and was situated on the ridgeback of what is now known as Hoyt’s Peak between the Provo river and the Weber The Weber was not named at that time but a man could stand on the ridge between the tunnel and shaft of what Is now called the Josephine mine and see the Tempe Nogas river now the Provo and also the unknown river [Santa Anna] now known as the Weber. “The Spaniards” Mr. Kimball went on to say left the mines when they load secured all the gold they wanted heading for Mexico through the territory occupied by the Navajo Indians. The Indians were hostile and massacred the entire company with the exception of their captain who managed to make his escape The Spaniard who escaped was named
Pueblo made his way to Mexico where the Utah mines were recorded at Santa Fe and after remaining there for sometime made up a party for the purpose of returning here to reopen and work these old mines but upon his arrival finding the Mormon people here he concluded to abandon his project Instead of which he went into the business of buying young Indians for the Mexico slave trade.
The United States government hearing of this ordered me, then deputy United States marshal to arrest the Spaniards which was done in the fall of 1851, and I had eight Spaniards under arrest and under my charge for It period of seven weeks who were charged with buying Indians for the purpose of taking them to Mexico to sell as slaves. The only one of the prisoners who could talk English was
In the first portion of the previous article, it mentions a place where if you stand you can see the Weber river in one direction and the
William Bird 1889
It is said in the article of the
It is further said that when they found it the entrance was “walled” up with rock, and making entrance that it was an incline of about 30 degrees and ran as far as a quarter of a mile being 1320 feet.... But… no mention of a wooden door!..
According to the Garcia redotero that would not be know for another 80 Years and according to its presumed author Captain Jose Joaquin Garcia, there was a treasure in the mine left behind a big wooden door located 46 varas from the mine opening and the treasure is said to be another 8 varas behind the door, this is approximately 150 feet from the opening of the mine! Where is the thick wooden door? I have been in that mine some 280 feet and I saw no evidence of a door nor a cave in as a result of an explosion which would not occur for another 41 years after the discovery by William Bird. Bird also makes mention of a presumed nearby shaft some 300 deep likely the Glory Hole.
Based on this information and other documents it would be my opinion that William Bird found the same mine, the Hoyt mine called the Josephine some 80 plus years later, the Hoyt mine which the Forrest Service bull dozed not many years ago. But was it the Josephine mine talked about in the Garcia Redotero? I don’t think so.
Keep in mind the Spaniard that Kimball arrested in 1851, likely never knew of the Garcia Redotero, and if he did he wasn’t going to tell about it, but I would however suspect he was a part of the Garcia expedition. William Bird although it is possible, likely never knew of the Garcia Redoterro either.
John Young 1939
Some 40 years later after the Birds had apparently abandoned their efforts the story was revived again. I do not have the original source material for the following but I am taking it from the last manuscript of Gale Rhoades and I choose with some reservation, to take his word for it. John Young who was the grandson of good old Brigham Young, reported in about 1939 the following taken from manuscript…
“John and his twelve- year-old son, Keith were riding leisurely through the timber and up a small shallow canyon toward Hoyt Peak when, just before they reached the crest of a low pass on the northeast slope of the peak, a sudden thunderstorm let loose, sending John and Keith Young scouring for shelter under a protruding bush- like tree nestled against a small gray ledge. After the two had sat huddled up against the ledge and in the shelter of the small bush-like tree for a considerable amount of time, John turned to find that his son was no where to be seen and he called out for him, not once, but several times. The boy, hearing his father' s call, soon stuck his head out of a small nearby hole at the base of the ·ledge, and said, "Dad! There's a house down in here!"
Now I do however question the accuracy of how they found the mine and would love to see the original source material, but keep in mind the last persons to occupy the mine, ASSUMING it is the Hoyt mine and the mine William Bird had found, would have been the Birds. Was there time enough for a bush to grow thick enough to conceal the mine opening in 40 years? Not likely although possible, did William Bird conceal the mine by closing it up again? Johns supposed record of events says he crawled through a small hole. So far I do suspect a bit of author liberties… the description he gives concerning the room just inside the mine is fairly accurate, however later he says that there was much evidence of donkey mule or horse manure and I am here to tell you that in that first room was NEVER a horse mule or donkey, the opening was hardly big enough for a man let alone a mule. And inside there was not as much room as you might think, immediately as you entered there was a very large rock on the left side of the room which seemed to work perfect for a table or shelf and not having much room on the right to pass by it with the mine tunnel continuing past it and to the south west then immediately turning west. Even if the doorway to the mine was big enough for horses, there was no room in that cavity you entered first. Also it was said the room ceiling was caked with smoke and soot, and the room I went into was a ceiling of rock which looked no different than the walls or tunnel rock. Johns remaining description of the tunnel is familiar but sounds like Gale describing the interior rather than John. Then his description comes to the door, now at that point which he describes a door, I am here to tell you was no door anywhere in that specific mine and no evidence of a door what so ever. I personally believe John was in another mine altogether at a different location other than the Hoyt mine.
The information provided in the manuscript suggests John thought he had found the lost Rhoades Mine and did not mention the Josephine, “perhaps and old Spanish mine” he said.
Reading the remainder of manuscript leads me to believe several liberties were taken to merge two stories of two different locations, I do not believe this was done intentionally to deceive anyone, I can very easily see how he would have believed the two locations were the same but it seems John Young knew of both and worked both locations. The mine he first describes in this manuscript cannot be the same mine he is later working which is no doubt the mine that William Bird found 40 years prior to Johns discovery.
John Young in his later years account clearly had knowledge of the Hoyt mine, I just don’t see the evidence of a door that according to the Josephine redotero supposedly written by Captain Garcia in 1814, as being the same mines.
Now this is not to say a wooden door in the mine does not exist, it just doesn’t exist according to the description found in the Garcia redotero. As it would seem there are two stories of an old wooden door being found down in the glory hole, one was found in John Young’s later years and described. According to the presumed later find and the description of the door found, the two doors cannot be one and the same, in fact the latter is likely much more ancient than the Spanish and we begin to see, that the reasons the Spanish were mining this area, is due to much older information handed down of which few would even think.
Let the discovery of the old Roman coin in the glory hole be a clue. Yes it is possible it was dropped by some Spaniard, but let’s not dismiss the first possible conclusion. As an example, if you are familiar with the Lady of Elche Bust discovered in Elche Spain in 1897, just because the bust was found in Elche Spain, does not mean a non existent culture called Elchites or Iberians were responsible, in fact I will venture to say, when all is said and done… it will be discovered that the Lady of Elche bust was manufactured here in the west on this continent, and is not a rendition of a Lady… let the academics chew on that one for a while…
THE OLD UTE INDIAN 1960
Within the manuscript is also told the story of the 103 year old White River Ute Indian who was brought to their camp situated on the
The following is the story according to the manuscript;
In about 1877, when he was only 12 years old, he was brought out to Hoyt Peak by his father and a band of warriors who were sent there, specifically, to kill a small group of Spaniards who had been found working an old gold mine.
The leader of the mining expedition, who was referred to as "Black Whiskers" by the Indians, had come from California with a group of Mexicans which he had either bought or stolen for the purpose of working them in this mine, using slave labor tactics. He had also managed to obtain a certain number of
Prior to the presence of Black Whiskers some of the reservation Indians had entered the old mine, peeled pure gold from its veins, and had taken the gold down to the Rhoades Valley Fort at Kamas where they had traded it for food, clothes and whatever else they may have needed.
But then Black Whiskers came out there with two other Spaniards and they forced the Mexicans and the Indians to work the mines, smelt the ore, and store up a large cache of gold and silver bars, which they stockpiled behind an old wooden door inside the mine. When he (the old Indian) and that delegated group of warriors arrived at
All during the afternoon the young Indian boy watched with anticipation, and when the miners finally began to emerge from a hard day's work from within the mine the warriors steadied their rifles and took careful aim. Moments later, when Black Whiskers and his two Spanish companions were in clear view, the signal was given, shots rang out, and the three Spaniards dropped to the ground in sudden death.
The Mexicans and the Indians were then released and sent on their way, to freedom. However, before leaving the area, the Mexicans were allowed by their Indian liberators enough time to bury the three slain Spaniards, as the Indians would not bury them after they had killed them. So the Mexicans, in three groups, carried the three dead men up the hillside to a spot above the mine, on the north side of the rock near where the horses had been held by the young Indian, and there buried them alongside their personal belongings, erecting a wood cross as their gravestone . [Why?]
Following the massacre and then the burial, the Indians told the Mexicans that they were free to leave and to return to their homes, but that, under no circumstances were they ever to return t o the old mine.
The Mexicans, of course, soon left the site of the old mine, but they were for a time secretly watched by the Indians who feared that the Mexicans might try to return for the cache of gold and silver stored within the mine. And, true to the suspicions of the Indians, the Mexicans returned after only a few days, where they loaded as much of the gold as they could carry on their pack animals and then rode off. As they rounded the hill, a short distance from the mine, they were set upon by the very Indians who had freed them from their bondage, and the Mexicans were made to bury the gold in the very place where they were stopped - in the side of the sloping hill, not far from the old mine. When all the gold bars were covered, the Indians once again let the Mexicans go, but only with a stern warning that if they should return every one of them would meet certain death. The Mexicans then fled the area and they never did return.
Although I find the story as credible, I do have a few issues with it, one particular that stands out, why would the former captive slaves want to bury their oppressors, let alone carry them up the hill? If anything, I would have thrown them back in the mine and let them rot. Also the part about stockpiling gold and silver behind an old wooden door seems a bit odd and comes across as a convenient insert but as always, I could be wrong.
Let me say at this time that an old wooden door found in an old Spanish mine would not be a unique occurrence, I am personal acquainted with at least 7 mines in the area all of which might be considered as the Josephine, depending on who has worked them in the past, and I would bet at least 3 of them have old wooden doors in them, but only one will match the description told in the Garcia redotero, if it is an authentic document. So far John Young’s description of the first mine fits nicely, except it is in the wrong place, just as is the Hoyt mine, this is not to say that either mine does not contain an old wooden door and a cache behind it. IF the story told by the Old Ute Indian is true as it was presented in the manuscript, then we potentially have TWO caches behind an old wooden door in two separate mines. Which could be highly possible.
The Old Maps
One of the most asinine things I ever heard a treasure hunter skeptic say about the treasure books is… "Have you ever noticed that all the maps fit on 8 X 11 paper?" I wonder if this Sherlock had ever made a copy a of 20 inch by 52 inch scroll….
A digital reproduction of an authentic map
Before any Spanish exploration began, the Captain would sketch (make a duplicate) a copy of the area he was going to, first a general area map was made, and then copied from a master map of that area, the master copy which was never intended to leave the archives, he would make a copy of the licensed area he was going to, having received permission of the King. These maps have shown up in all sizes, the smallest I have seen was made by Miguel Hidalgo about 5 by 9 inches and likely not a licensed expedition and the largest on goatskin probably about a foot and a half by 3 feet, and when it was copied it took 2 scan copies and of course it was then made into 3 sections the size of 8 X 11 so it could fit in a BOOK.
I saw a picture of a 4 Man Spanish cannon once… however I noticed that it must have been fake as it fit on a 17 inch computer screen…. Did I mention asinine? Moving on...
Lets start with the Pedro Nunez map of 1771 of which is likely from a licensed expedition but either they could not afford a good cartographer or he was killed along the way… who ever made this map was no cartographer, but sometimes as in this case they were very good at capturing other details not usually picked up on in cartographers maps.
I use this example for many reasons we will not go into, suffice it to say, I believe without doubt that this is an authentic map left behind by the dead. The right half of this map, representatives of
Pedro Nunez, Villa Vicerceo 1771
However I would like to draw your attention to a certain portion of the map,
If you will notice the balloon with a mound drawn in it, this mound is meant to represent the peak or mountain of what we today call
The Garcia Map
This particular map is a hand drawn copy of the original, as I recall Steve told me it was found in the archives of Santa Fe, OR it came from the Garcia family whom he and Gale had tracked down at one time, neither of which I can confirm. However after seeing as many maps as I have, I have no reason to believe it is a forgery and there are certain things appearing customary of the master map which strongly implies its authentic origin and yes it does fit on an 8 X 11 piece of paper.
Aside from other features found on the map, there is one feature that was clearly duplicated and apparently without question. The theory of the skeptics is that Gale and or Steve would falsify their maps, Why, when so many of them have surfaced through the years? On this map unknowing I am sure to Steve and Gale is a notation that actually shows that the mine of the Garcia redotero was not the mine they so adamantly believed it to be as well as every other Tom, Dick and Gary.
I want very badly to show you this and compare step by step to the Garcia redotero, but I just can’t. well, ok some… I can however share it with that one individual who not only can take it to the next level but would put forth the effort to do so for the right reasons. Certain equipment must be had in order to validate what is already so plain… if you can put two and two together then so be it, but the answer to this part is this, if you want to know where this mine location truly is, read and read carefully… The true Josephine of the Garcia redotero is exactly where he said it is… and this map holds one of the best clues to support what Garcia said.
If you are familiar with
Around 2002 or so I had just returned from a day up at Hoyt, checking directions and distances validating what I had already come to believe… being the skeptic that I can be, I just have to check and recheck, at this point I was looking for my validation… On my way home I stopped in
He being not much older than I, said that when he was 10 years old and on his birthday, his dads Indian woman friend came to visit him, this would have been about 1965 or so. She told my friends dad that she has to speak with him and she began with saying how much she has appreciated the friendship he had shown her these many years, she said “in fact, you are the only real friend I have”… she continued with “I want to tell you that many years ago, my grandfathers killed some Spaniards up near Hoyt Peak who were working an old mine sacred to the Native people, after the massacre it was placed upon my family to continuously keep the mine covered and hidden of which we have always faithfully done so and I have done for many years." She said that she was getting to old to do this any more and no one in her family had any interest to continue, she said to him, "I want to give it to you."
The Indian woman drew her friend a map and gave him many details and she bid him her goodbye’s. Excited he went to his son, being my friend and asked him if he wanted to ride up to the top of a mountain with him, “sure!” he said and they packed up and headed up the next day… He told me the map lay on the seat between he and his dad, all the way up the mountain he only glancing at it from time to time, he said we drove around the south side of the bald Mountain called Hoyt Peak and around the east side turning westerly and at the end of the road not far below the peak they parked next to an old twisted pine tree on the edge of a ledge over looking to the North West a canyon valley of sort. There was a small pond down below and his dad took the map and stood at the edge of the ledge looking down, and then at the map, and then down again, and his dad raised his hand pointing down and in the distance and said its right down there! I bout fell out of the chair I was sitting in, and as he told me this I could see every step and I could plainly see his dad was pointing at the very spot I and a friend had previously discovered of which fits the redotero directions and description near perfectly… I had my validation. We previously had found the small BLACK ledge spoken of in the Garcia document, and confirming the little Indian woman’s story, someone had been keeping the small black ledge covered except where it broke surface in the bushes nearby.
Now let’s take a closer look at the Garcia map and giving it a little credibility.
Now the Garcia map has a unique feature that I am sure most everyone has overlooked, I didn’t notice it until I personally hiked into the area myself some 20 years ago. You will notice the river which stems southward from the Rio Santa Anna, (top of map is North) this is the South Fork drainage but at its end it does not show the tributaries or at least is not clear on this point. But remember that if you were making a map showing the drainages you would like Captain Garcia use the tributaries that were pertinent and where there was a water flow. Near the south end of what Garcia drew as South Fork of the Weber, there is a branch with the Weber continuing towards the mine X “Oro” however it is not shown. The tributary it would appear he chose to place on his map is
On one of our first expeditions into the area we discovered that not far above the Maxwell creek junction with South Fork, the creek comes out of the ground with no contributing water source from above it. If you follow the Maxwell creek drainage up towards the Josephine, you will find where this very same creek drops underground in a sink hole surfacing again at the point previously mentioned. As it would seem Garcia noticed this as well as this can be the only explanation as the why the map has a gap in the creek. If you follow this creek from the sink hole to its origins, it leads to a spring which is not shown on any map and it runs all year round. From the point in which the water disappears into the sink hole to where in surfaces again is about 1500 yards. The spring which feeds this water source does not contribute to the small pond so many are familiar with in fact the USGS maps show that the pond drains to the North then meanders its way to eventually joining with Maxwell which it most certainly does not, in fact if and when water is flowing from that pond, it peters out and disappears and likely feeds the pond which is North of the small pond mentioned prior. Why is this all important?
If you will notice, as per Garcia’s stroke of his pen, he marks the location of the Josephine of his redotero as being N/Westerly from where the sink hole would be. This is when my suspicions were confirmed ever since I first received and read a transcription of Men and Gold by Steve Shaffer and a year or so before it was published it. I knew when I read the redotero that the mine referred to as the Hoyt Mine, the Bird Mine, Bear Hole and many other titles is not the Josephine of the redotero and also not the mine in which John Young first described, but I did know it was the mine the little Indian woman describe and drew a map to and the Mine of the Garcia document.
This is also when I had a epiphany discovering a most important awakening of knowledge… Spaniards could not fly… so why would Garcia make the distance to the mine 1600 varas if no one was going to walk it? You have to follow the trail and whether it is the new location I have just given or the Hoyt mine, both could be justified as 1600 Varas, depending on the course and it certainly is not perfect but only one of the locations falls into the description of NORTH EAST of the Peak.
Now to finish this up, Garcia was a Sea faring Captain, which would you think he would have been using for his bearing? Magnetic North or North Star? If he was using the North Star the new location is situated at approximately 40 degree from the peak, close enough to be considered N/E. The Hoyt mine would be at approximately 85 degrees resting between East and North by East. If he was using a compass and adjusting to the declination of today which really isn’t much different than in it was in 1800, the new location would be at about 27 degrees with the Hoyt mine at 72 degrees and N/E falling in the middle of the two but nearer to the new location. Which was intended? Or do we need to consider a new location? And the questions no one want to hear... Did Garcia make it back? and was he successful?
My hope is that you receive something from this if nothing more than enjoyment.
Although I have several prospects, I am still looking for that perfect protégé, one who has the time, the money, the intelligence and inclination to take it all to the next level…. The hard part has been done, or has it, but in this day and age we have all sorts of new technologies of which I cannot seem to get my hands on and so I revert to further investigation… this particular project is still open to additional methods of validation aside from the new technologies… I just want to know the truth...
