17 Tons of gold in New Mexico

[Peerless67]

You believe what you want but if you know anything about any contract that is countersigned by our government could result in prison time. What I have in my safety deposit box is for me and my attorneys. Because it was removed from an Indian Reservation could lead to a lot of problems that I don't need. I have told you where it was removed from and where it went. It is still there in Salt Lake. You would be surprised what the government knows about where treasure is located and how they have already removed. I am protected to a certain degree but I am not stupid and for those that know me I don't just go around making things up. Believe it or not. That is not my problem but you can go ahead and keep looking for it or you can believe the misinformation that has been put there by other. Like I said I have my own hands full at the moment with my Tesoro project which has held up to all types of investigations that have been conducted by the Government. I will tell you this the Government only gives you a hard if it is there, if it is not there then they will let you dig to your heats content. I have been doing this job for over 30 years and I have made a very good living at it and have made some friends in very high places. As I have said I really don't care if you believe it or not but I do know what the truth is and have seen the proof.

Nick

Nick I have given this some thought, but I am left a bit surprised by your current position with the tesoro cache.
Let me explain, you have claimed to have recovered the 17 tons cache and to have done so with the help of the government. You also have claimed to have done well with treasure hunting over the past 30 years. From that I would guess that paying for good lawyers would not be a problem. But even more important than that is that you could let those lawyers know of the existance of the contracts you have with regard to your clandestine work with the government.
And so I guess what im really getting at is why do you not use the power you have to get your treasure out? after all what government would risk the backlash that they would certainly suffer if a story such as yours was to get out?
Can you imagine the trouble it would cause for them?
Something else to consider is even if you recover the tesoro cache, the government will be into you for a large slice anyway, so why not speed the process and use the same kind of tactic both you and the government used during your recovery of the 17 tons cache?

 

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[Roadquest]

If Nick is going to use the same refinery that he said he used with the 17 tons of gold.

That may be why he is delaying removing the tesoro gold.

That refinery is in trouble, in a big way with the government. They have been lieing

about pollution reports.

Anyone would think the government would give the refinery a little break. With all the gold

Nick and his people have brought in there, and shared with them.

Clayton

 

[purchase]

One of the things that I have been playing with over the years is to purchase a pilot plant so that we could keep the refining in house and not send it out. Because of the following problem. When someone turns in a bar that was poured in a sand mold is considered to be a historical bar or antique bars and the refineries are required to notify the Feds that one of these bars have been turned to be refined or sold, then someone from the Feds will be paying that person a visit to find out where they got it.

When Willie Draught dies some years back he had some bars that came of the Caballos, he had been trying to get a hold of me to turn the bars over to me but the Feds took the bars after he died. He used to take the bars to Mexico and sell what he needed without attracting a lot of attention. So we are in the final stages of getting our own pilot plant to handle the ore that we have been shipping to Silver City Montana.

Nick

 

[Cubfan64]

One of the things that I have been playing with over the years is to purchase a pilot plant so that we could keep the refining in house and not send it out. Because of the following problem. When someone turns in a bar that was poured in a sand mold is considered to be a historical bar or antique bars and the refineries are required to notify the Feds that one of these bars have been turned to be refined or sold, then someone from the Feds will be paying that person a visit to find out where they got it.

When Willie Draught dies some years back he had some bars that came of the Caballos, he had been trying to get a hold of me to turn the bars over to me but the Feds took the bars after he died. He used to take the bars to Mexico and sell what he needed without attracting a lot of attention. So we are in the final stages of getting our own pilot plant to handle the ore that we have been shipping to Silver City Montana.

Nick

Sounds like an excellent idea, but I don't think I'd be advertising it on a public forum - wayyyyy too many eyes and ears.

 

[Peerless67]

One of the things that I have been playing with over the years is to purchase a pilot plant so that we could keep the refining in house and not send it out. Because of the following problem. When someone turns in a bar that was poured in a sand mold is considered to be a historical bar or antique bars and the refineries are required to notify the Feds that one of these bars have been turned to be refined or sold, then someone from the Feds will be paying that person a visit to find out where they got it.

When Willie Draught dies some years back he had some bars that came of the Caballos, he had been trying to get a hold of me to turn the bars over to me but the Feds took the bars after he died. He used to take the bars to Mexico and sell what he needed without attracting a lot of attention. So we are in the final stages of getting our own pilot plant to handle the ore that we have been shipping to Silver City Montana.

Nick

Nick did you mean Willie Doughit ?

PS: I hope your surgery went well.

 

[purchase]

The surgery went well and it looks like they got all the cancer. You may be correct about Willie but I just knew him as Willie Draught the spelling of his last name maybe incorrect.

Nick

 

[Peerless67]

Clayton have you read this book from the 60s?

Emile C. Schurmacher , Lost Treasures and How to Find Them

Hope you found the book interesting Clayton, another worth reading is about Emil Holmdahl.
Emil Holmdah, William Stewart, Alberto Corral and an American stunt pilot all get a mention, also worth noting is that Holmdahl claimed to have found a treasure in a cave in Mexico. The author sites all the materials used to write the book including Holmdahls own papers stored in Ca.

You can read the book for free at this link ..... http://www.naderlibrary.com/cia.soldierfortunetoc.htm

 

[Roadquest]

Clayton have you read this book from the 60s?

Emile C. Schurmacher , Lost Treasures and How to Find Them

Hope you found the book interesting Clayton, another worth reading is about Emil Holmdahl.
Emil Holmdah, William Stewart, Alberto Corral and an American stunt pilot all get a mention, also worth noting is that Holmdahl claimed to have found a treasure in a cave in Mexico. The author sites all the materials used to write the book including Holmdahls own papers stored in Ca.

You can read the book for free at this link ..... http://www.naderlibrary.com/cia.soldierfortunetoc.htm

Interesting read Gary, Thanks...........Clayton

 

[allenroyboy]

Here is a bibliography that I've been able to put together of books that mention the Trabuco Gold and magazine articles about it. I know that there are some missing.

I have .pdf copies of the ones with an 'x'. If you would like a copy I can email them to you. [email protected] If anyone has something I don't have an "x" for in the list please, send me a copy

book 1954 x Penfield, Thomas The Greatest Treasure of them All Buried Treasure in the US
Book 1962 Penfield, Thomas Dig Here! The Naylor Co., San Antonio
Book 1966 6th ed. Penfield, Thomas Dig Here! The Naylor Co., San Antonio
book 1968 Schurmacher, Emile C. Lost Treasures and How to Find Them Coronett Comm.
mag 1970 Lasco, Jack New Mexico's Lost $20 Million Gold Bar Cache Saga "Trasure Special"
book 1973 after x Wilson, Jim New Mexico, Seventeen Tons of Gold" Complicated Millions Apache Jim
mag 1973 Dec Reulis, Adven Missing in the Four Corners Area: 17 Tons of Gold Ingots True Treasure
book 1975 Terry, Thomas P. The Search for Treasure, Vol. 1 Specialty Publishing, Wisconson
mag 1977 x Douglas, Hal New Mexico's Seventeen Tons of God Treasure Search
book 1981 x Penfield, Thomas San Juan Country A Guide to Treasure in New Mexico
mag 1983 June x Douglas, Hal New Light on Seventeen Tons of Gold Treasure
mag 1983 after x Roush, Roy W. 17 Tons of Gold in New Mexico? Treasure
1987 after x annonymous Smuggler's Gold unknown
mag 1990 x Cridlebaugh, Darrell Victorio Peak Theory unknown
onlin 1991 after x annonymous 17 Tons of Gold
onlin 1998 after x annonymous The Four Corners Treasure Story
book 2003 x Jameson, W.C. Seventeen Tons of Gold Buried at Four Corners New Mexico Treasure Tales
book ? x unknown Enigma of the Twenty Million Dollar "Gold Act" Cache Unknown
mag ? x unknown Mexican Standoff unknown

I'd like to contact Hal Douglas, if he's still alive....

Allen Roy

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Re: 17 Tons of gold in New Mexico 2.0

The late treasure hunter and great collector of treasure hunting literature Bill Hanks told me that in his opinion just about the first published account of the "17 Tons of Gold" treasure was in Emile C. Schurmacher's Lost Treasures and How to Find Them! (New York: 1968). You'll find it in Chapter 16 "Enigma of the Twenty Million Dollar 'Gold Act' Cache."

There is a brief bibliography of this treasure in Thomas Probert's classic Lost Mines and Buried Treasures of the West (Berkeley: 1977). You can find it on page 356 - "The Smuggler's Gold" [New Mexico]. Probert states "There is no doubt this treasure exists. In 1973 the Boston attorney F. Lee Bailey, approached John Mitchell, former attorney general of the United States, on the question of turning the gold over to the United States government. The treasure is confused by many with the 'Doc Noss' or Victoria Peak Treasure and the Padre La Rue Treasure."

I'm one of those confused, because I still believe F. Lee Bailey was working with a treasure hunting party interested in the Victoria Peak plant. Some years ago a fat little paperback book was published with detailed documents and transcriptions of conversations about the Whitewater political scandle. There is supposed to be information about Mr. Bailey's inquiry in that book - I've never taken the time to go through it and find it.

As is the case with so many well-known treasure tales, most of the published literature simply repeats the previous work of another author (often without acknowledgement, of course). The "sources" for this story are like Nebraska's Platt River - a mile wide but only a foot deep.

Probert cites Thomas Penfield's Lost Treasure Trails (New York: 1954) as a source - this was reprinted in paperback (without the neat illustrations) as Buried Treasure in the U.S. and Where to Find it (New York: 1969). I've never thought much of Penfield as a reliable source of treasure hunting history or other useful information, so I would extreme care with his account.

Probert also lists "Jack Black" (pen-name for Robert F. Ames), "Jack Lasco" (probably a pen-name - perhaps for Al Masters), "Lake" Erie Schaefer and a few others. Treasure magazine articles from time to time are entertaining reading - I've written a few of them, after all, and I hope they were good reading - but they haven't helped very many people find very much. My articles were often about mythical treasures. They were documented and factual. But while they may have saved the reader some time in not looking, they probably didn't help find a whole lot.

There are three newspaper articles in Probert that might be of interest: "Gold Found..." (Huntington Beach, CA Daily Pilot) June 27, 1973, pg. 3; "Miners Gold Tale Revived" (Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, July 1, 1973) and "Treasure Hunters Hire F. Lee Bailey..." (Los Angeles Times July 1, 1973).

It's entirely possible Mr. Bailey wrote an autobiography that might include some information on this aspect of the tale.

The Four Corners region includes a tremendous amount of Federal land and Indian Reservation territory. Any would-be hunter of the Tons of Gold Cache would do well to keep that in mind.

Two National Geographic maps might be helpful to the beginner: "Southwest U.S.A.; Land of Open Sky" (Washington, DC: October 1992) and "The Making of America; The Southwest" (Washington, DC: November 1982). I mention these two because they should be very easy to obtain. The Automobile Club of Southern California published the "Guide to Indian Territory" (Los Angeles: 1995) - distributed by the Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, Tucson, AZ. Every successful treasure hunt begins with a good map!

Hope this helps - and good luck to all!

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Roadquest]

Thanks for the information Old Bookaroo,

John Mitchell, and Richard Nixon, gave a lot of consideration
to what F. L. Bailey had to say about this.

Roadquest

 

[gollum]

Hey Bookaroo,

Yes, many people get Victorio Peak and 17 Tons Stories mixed up, and trade facts between the two. I know about as much as anybody regarding both stories (Peerless may have something I don't, but I'm not certain of it).

You actually need to go further back than the 1970s in Los Angeles Newspapers (both the Times and the Herald) to find articles about the 17 Tons Gold.

You should look in 1952. You can get the full grasp of the Grand Jury Trial. I have every article written back then about it.

I have enclosed an article from 1952 for a certain person who doesn't believe Uncle Sam ever actively goes after any treasures.

Best-Mike

 

[gollum]

Carefully read Picture# 1, Column# 1, last paragraph:

Evidence relating to the reported gold hoard was turned up by Secret Service Agents who have been investigating the matter for several years.

Best-Mike

 

[Roadquest]

One of the primary things to consider in this is the red herrings that have been put out there.
Not only by the people that brought the gold into the United States. But, also by the Secret Service,
and other branches of the government.
There's an old saying, " It's not what you say, it's how you say it. "
The information put out by government agencies, was very carefully worded.


Clayton

 

[allenroyboy]

Thanks Old Bookaroo: I updated and corrected my bibliography. I'm interlibrary loaning the ones I don't have.

Also, thanks Gollum for the newspaper article.

A good map, being as fully informed on the topic as possible, and a healthy amount of skepticism makes for an interesting time and who knows what else.

Allen

 

[gollum]

One of the things that make me REALLY believe that this exists, is something that Roy Roush told me he had found out;

After the Grand Jury Trial in 1952, one of the jurors moved from Los Angeles to Farmington, NM, and lived for the rest of his life with his family looking for the gold. Actions speak volumes!

Best-Mike

 

[Springfield]

One of the things that make me REALLY believe that this exists, is something that Roy Roush told me he had found out;

After the Grand Jury Trial in 1952, one of the jurors moved from Los Angeles to Farmington, NM, and lived for the rest of his life with his family looking for the gold. Actions speak volumes!

Best-Mike

Yes they do, but we don't know if Roush's hearsay is true in the first place (presumably could be verified with enough digging), and if it is, whether the juror heard indisputable evidence or was merely gullible.

 

[allenroyboy]

Presumably that juror is now dead. Perhaps it is possible now to name him/her.......

Oh.. Gollum. Would it be possible to get copies of the other 1952 newspaper clips? Probert list 2 or 3 LA Times articles. The library here in Bozeman, MT, only has the New York Times on Microfilm.

Allen

 

[Old Bookaroo]

allenboyroy:

You are, of course, quite welcome!

Regarding the bibliography you posted:

Have you looked in John Reed's bibliography for the Cridlebaugh article? I can't locate my copy of Mr. Reed's (I believe he is Dr. Reed today) excellent work. His bibliography has a subject index that might prove useful to you, as well.

The "unknown" book "Enigma of the Twenty Million Dollar 'Gold Act' Cache" is the chapter in Schmaucher's book. You probably figured that out from my previous post.

I suspect the "anonymous" item "Smuggler's Gold" item is from Thomas Penfield's Dig Here (San Antonio: 1962). It has a chapter titled "Smuggler's Mystery Gold." Apparently this is where Mr. Probert got his chapter title.

An interesting sidenote on the first edition of this book. Each chapter was supposed to have a number that matched the endpaper maps. Except the publisher forgot to number the chapters! I discovered this when I purchased a copy of the first edition and someone had neatly written the number before each chapter.

Again, I have never found Mr. Penfield's work very reliable. For my money W.C. Jameson is just a modern Penfield - prolific but not very useful. I would have far more faith in Mr. Jameson's work if he included a bibliography in all his books, and if the sources cited reflected the years of painstaking research in dustry archives, etc., claimed in his introductions...

Good luck to all!

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[gollum]

Allen,

You would ask right after I put everything into one single .pdf file. I can include some of the articles though.

Best Mike