gollum
Gold Member
- Jan 2, 2006
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Because I have spent so many years researching the history of the Stone Maps, I can effectively argue either side of the issue. So here we go:
TRAVIS CARVED THEM AND THEY ARE ALL HIS DOING
When Frank and Ryan were in Texas, they had family members that stated they personally witnessed Travis carving the Stone maps. Hearing this and seeing the pictures of Travis' other stone carvings is pretty strong evidence for them being fakes. The fact that the Stone Maps are almost exact copies of "The Ground Map" is even more evidence of them being made by Travis, because the ground map does not in any way look authentic.
It is entirely possible that Travis carved the Stone Maps and kept them (mostly) a secret for many years. I believe that if he did this, he also carved the Stone Crosses and the Latin Heart (and maybe many more as yet to be found). That way, he would wait for the other stuff to be found before publicly unveiling the Stone Maps, because it would help their provenance, and make them many times more valuable than if he just said he found them.
I think it was Tom Kollenborn that said he knew the exact spot whomever designed the Stone Maps sat and made the drawings (which mountaintop).
TRAVIS FOUND THE ORIGINAL SET OF STONE MAPS
First, Travis' daughter Janie, told me with ZERO EQUIVOCATION that her dad was in NO WAY part of any hoax!
Next, imagine that you are the Tumlinson Family. How many erstwhile Treasure Hunters, Authors, and Historians have contacted them over the years wanting to know every detail about Travis and the Stone Maps. Every time the Stone Maps were in the news (i.e. Life Magazine), a new set of people would track them down, call and write them. With probably a good many of them demanding to know about the Stone Maps. How many people on this forum alone have we seen demand people give them information? I have seen it many times. People can be downright a-holes! What would be the quickest way to get rid of all those pests? Tell them "I saw Travis carve the Stone Maps. They are fakes!" Makes you think.....huh?
Now, I have said for many years, that I don't pay much attention to what people say. I look closely at their actions. How they act. That is a true clue to a persons motives and feelings.
Travis had the maps from about 1949 until his death in 1961. There is no evidence that he ever tried to sell them to anyone. He did display them at the gas station and charge people to look at them. While his Uncle Robert was in possession of the Stone Maps from 1956 until about 1959 or so, he kept them in boxes under his bed. He would sit at a bar and tell people he would find a treasure one day. He did it so often, they nicknamed him "Hardrock Tumlinson". He told his landlord about the Stone Maps, and rather than try to sell them to him, he got the landlord to fund several trips to the Superstitions from Oregon to try and solve them. So obviously Robert believed they were authentic treasure maps. Would Travis REALLY let his UNCLE waste all that time and money if he knew they were fakes? Quien Sabe? When Travis thought he was recovering from the cancer, he had to pull a gun on his uncle to get his Stone Maps back. It was so bad that Robert only found out in 1965 that Travis had died in 1961! He found out from one of Dick Peck's Private Investigators.
Clarence O. Mitchell must have believed in their authenticity, because he paid Aileen Tumlinson $1200 for the Stone Maps after Travis died. $1200 was a princely sum in 1961, when the average yearly wage was about $4000!
..........and speaking of Dick Peck. Let us remember when his investigator Elbert Love wrote that he had interviewed one of Travis' close friends in Oregon. This friend (I don't remember his name) said that most nights they would sit outside together. Travis would bring out the Trail Stones. He would sit and stick his finger in the big hole in the Lower Trail Stone and say "If I could only figure out where that is......I would be a millionaire!" Doesn't sound like someone pulling a hoax, does it?
Buuuuut, the family members may indeed have seen Travis carving the Stone Maps. could they tell for certain if they were the originals, or was Travis making a set of copies? Also, Travis himself stated that he added some things to the Stone Maps in case someone stole them. Is that what his relatives saw? When he was sitting with his friend, he wasn't fingering the heart at the end of the trail, he was fingering the big hole in the mountain on the Lower Trail Stone! More to chew on!
Mike
TRAVIS CARVED THEM AND THEY ARE ALL HIS DOING
When Frank and Ryan were in Texas, they had family members that stated they personally witnessed Travis carving the Stone maps. Hearing this and seeing the pictures of Travis' other stone carvings is pretty strong evidence for them being fakes. The fact that the Stone Maps are almost exact copies of "The Ground Map" is even more evidence of them being made by Travis, because the ground map does not in any way look authentic.
It is entirely possible that Travis carved the Stone Maps and kept them (mostly) a secret for many years. I believe that if he did this, he also carved the Stone Crosses and the Latin Heart (and maybe many more as yet to be found). That way, he would wait for the other stuff to be found before publicly unveiling the Stone Maps, because it would help their provenance, and make them many times more valuable than if he just said he found them.
I think it was Tom Kollenborn that said he knew the exact spot whomever designed the Stone Maps sat and made the drawings (which mountaintop).
TRAVIS FOUND THE ORIGINAL SET OF STONE MAPS
First, Travis' daughter Janie, told me with ZERO EQUIVOCATION that her dad was in NO WAY part of any hoax!
Next, imagine that you are the Tumlinson Family. How many erstwhile Treasure Hunters, Authors, and Historians have contacted them over the years wanting to know every detail about Travis and the Stone Maps. Every time the Stone Maps were in the news (i.e. Life Magazine), a new set of people would track them down, call and write them. With probably a good many of them demanding to know about the Stone Maps. How many people on this forum alone have we seen demand people give them information? I have seen it many times. People can be downright a-holes! What would be the quickest way to get rid of all those pests? Tell them "I saw Travis carve the Stone Maps. They are fakes!" Makes you think.....huh?
Now, I have said for many years, that I don't pay much attention to what people say. I look closely at their actions. How they act. That is a true clue to a persons motives and feelings.
Travis had the maps from about 1949 until his death in 1961. There is no evidence that he ever tried to sell them to anyone. He did display them at the gas station and charge people to look at them. While his Uncle Robert was in possession of the Stone Maps from 1956 until about 1959 or so, he kept them in boxes under his bed. He would sit at a bar and tell people he would find a treasure one day. He did it so often, they nicknamed him "Hardrock Tumlinson". He told his landlord about the Stone Maps, and rather than try to sell them to him, he got the landlord to fund several trips to the Superstitions from Oregon to try and solve them. So obviously Robert believed they were authentic treasure maps. Would Travis REALLY let his UNCLE waste all that time and money if he knew they were fakes? Quien Sabe? When Travis thought he was recovering from the cancer, he had to pull a gun on his uncle to get his Stone Maps back. It was so bad that Robert only found out in 1965 that Travis had died in 1961! He found out from one of Dick Peck's Private Investigators.
Clarence O. Mitchell must have believed in their authenticity, because he paid Aileen Tumlinson $1200 for the Stone Maps after Travis died. $1200 was a princely sum in 1961, when the average yearly wage was about $4000!
..........and speaking of Dick Peck. Let us remember when his investigator Elbert Love wrote that he had interviewed one of Travis' close friends in Oregon. This friend (I don't remember his name) said that most nights they would sit outside together. Travis would bring out the Trail Stones. He would sit and stick his finger in the big hole in the Lower Trail Stone and say "If I could only figure out where that is......I would be a millionaire!" Doesn't sound like someone pulling a hoax, does it?
Buuuuut, the family members may indeed have seen Travis carving the Stone Maps. could they tell for certain if they were the originals, or was Travis making a set of copies? Also, Travis himself stated that he added some things to the Stone Maps in case someone stole them. Is that what his relatives saw? When he was sitting with his friend, he wasn't fingering the heart at the end of the trail, he was fingering the big hole in the mountain on the Lower Trail Stone! More to chew on!
Mike
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