A TRUE TREASURE HUNT.

[loco oro]

i have a project that i have been working on off and on for a few years,but i am now ready to take it to the next phase,and it will not just be a weekend excursion ,but will take a while.this project has a little bit for all walks of treasure hunting,from mding,prospecting/gem/mineral hunt,and very cool unsolved historical mystery for history buffs like myself.this thread is for all who want to contribute,knowledge ,expertise,and if anyone wants to participate ,boots on the ground so to speak.now i am going to start from the begining,i don't want to give exact location until i have secured access to the location,and there are several landowners involved.there is a massive hydrothermal lead/zinc deposit in my area,that outcrops on the surface over a fifty mile radius, now this galena is extremely rich in some of these outcrops that it only takes primary reduction to be usable lead.in this valley where the mines were located has a interesting past,during the revolution it was one of the few sources of lead for the war effort at that time,but being in hostile native territory,a fort was errected to protect the mine and miners.it was rebuilt on what is believed to be the original location,and it is likly that it is correct due to the remnants of a crude smelter/furnace which is documented to be inside the fort.it only operated for aprox 2years when sources were located elsewhere in friendlier territory.now the interesting part....the land grant was held at the time by the william penn family,and was sparsely inhabited by settlers,but it was known that there was a source of lead in the area prior to the war ,for the natives could procure amounts of lead ore within days of it being requested.when the commander was ordered to establish a mine and erect a fort,upon arrival it was discovered that there was already previous workings,hence the mystery.it is speculated that the early french traders learned of the location from the natives,and that it was the french that first excavated the open pits that were discovered there .there is no known historical accounts of the french in this area ,and the french were pretty good at record keeping.and another interesting fact is that upon arrival of the americans to build the fort ,it was described as ancient workings,with full grown ,mature oak trees in the excavation ,and the mounds of earth that was extracted , and we all know that mature oak trees then are not what we consider mature today this excavation is a trench 6 miles long,yes 6 miles long and logic dictates that this amount of time and labor ,would only be invested in the pursuit of precious metals.

 

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[loco oro]

if anyone wishs to contribute any fact finding,suggestions or wants to participate, actually boots on the ground,i have access to approx,1200 meters of the area the trench,i want to document any artifacts found,and try to source them,when i mention the oak trees above the fort was built in 1778, so mature oaks in that time would have been at least 100,150 yrs old at that time,which pushes the estimated time of excavation at early 1600's,it is also unlikely they were mining lead,for there is no reason for a trench of this magnitude,and there is easy sources all over,like the ones the americans mined. i want to map, and source what ever is found,find out who,and what they were after.when the locales were asked who was here mining they didnt know, but just figured it was the french,and they seemed to believe that they were after silver, if they werent finding what they were looking for,i dont think they would commit that much,effort and time.in any event ,it is a fantastic chance to search a very old site,but better yet ,a mysterious one. i have many specimens from this valley,some pics are already posted on anther thread here.there is celestite/celestine, pyrite,jordanite,sphalerite,galeana,tons of calcite,and at one location there was even (ruby sphalerite),smithsonite,and more, the chances of finding goodys is very good, and i have nice rock crystal specimens from the tiny run in that valley.more info available upon request.if interested ,i will give ya what i got, and would love any help in research, and if your not far ,your welcome to come on out ,i want to md the margines of the excavation to see if can locate sites of habitation,there must be some,that trench wasnt built in a day.

 

[StoneWhisper]

Sorry.. You've lost me.. I'm not into "treasure" unless I just stumble across it which has happen several times.. but I've never taken up the detecting hobby.. the intense problem solving which is required within your post.. I will have to decline any sort of involvement with this semi adventure..

 

[loco oro]

thats cool man, i am just putting out there ,something that if some body likes a project, and wants to participate,i am not really into mding that much ,but it is the most logical way to tackle this ,i will round up a few who want to scour the edges of this thing when time allows,a day here there,but i also want to get down to what they were after, but somebody was after something.theres more to this,but really want to share it with those who want to participate. but having access to a site this old,that doesn't happen all that often,and more people means more ground gets covered faster,andthose who are into researching things,means more possibility to find info i dont have.and i want to video and share everything,with members here,and the locale historical group that oversees the fort,you can see the fort on g. earth,and it is cool.the trench begins near the fort,and extends to near the end of the valley,anyone can send me a pm and i will give the info so they can research this themselves,i just dont want some trying to door knock before i get a chance to speak with all the owners,that might shoot down some opertunitys .

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Loco...is this back east? Out here in the west? Can't commit boots on the ground without knowing the general area.
Jim

 

[releventchair]

Smells like Pa. from post.Look closer and should find more detail of location.(Sinking- maybe -treasure.)

 

[loco oro]

it is pa,and research or info would be fantastic,releventchair,you nailed it,you must know of this story,now there is more than one treasure story,the buried treasure of silver at the arch springs is not what i am interested in,it is the crazy long trench,which is not just a story ,it exsists,the mystery is knowone seems to know who excavated it at such a early date,it would have been no small project,and if you are familiar with the area,it begins at the upper mine,and travels north ,6 miles to about one mile from little juniata river, which is very near where the lower mines are located,and these were predominately zinc mines,now if you jump on g.earth, and go to the fort,the trench is aprox eighth of mile towards the foot of the mountian,where there is another ,geological oddity,a sink hole that resembles a tar pit,that is well known for entraping cattle and swallowing them in the matter of hours,now i call this a treasure hunt,although,i do not expect treasure in the sense of riches ,but rather the historic discovery,but i do believe that who ever created this trench,did so in the hunt for silver,and wouldnt have continued ,unless they were successful ,and the canoe full of silver buried,may be just the distortion of the claims of siver mined in this trench.but what intrigues me ,is the fact that it hasnt been explored,to discern who and why.the natives of this area at that time were very aggressive and violent,so it begs the question ,who?

 

[AU_Solitude]

 

[releventchair]

Look at the French as prime possibility of long connecting trench. The Indians had their rightful opinion of the colonists from the East and what they would do with lead, who unlike the French were colonizing with in territory natives had been. Besides all ready having ties with the French they also were probably not pleased to have the colonies claiming and working the area.Many starts and stops and speculators over time there, as if it all most offers enough profit ,but not quite.

 

[loco oro]

i agree with you ,the french ,is the most likely,and this is one of the things that would be cool to find out,i want to try and make sense of it,it lacks explaination,geo surveys say ,this deposit is not silver bearing,so if not,why the trench,there is galena everywhere ,and there is no need for it,it is known that the french were in the leighigh valley,it is well documented,as is everywhere else that the french roamed,nothing found by me or anyone else on french here,so i would like to get to the bottom of that trench,and see what is exsposed,and see whats around it, broken tools and the like,and for some,this could be exciting. i would like to prove that it is silver bearing,or not,and if the french did create this,why?when?

 

[loco oro]

if anyone finds any hints or leads, i can check this out fairly quik with photos/and a lil investigating ,as i live 15 miles from this,and i know this valley fairly well from my hounding excursions ,and already have a relationship with some owners, so i can take info dug up,and put it to use on the ground,and you can see/share the results here, this is what i mean by participation.

 

[releventchair]

Well a couple ideas and i,ll leave you alone. 1750 about the earliest suggested French after lead. Thats only a decade or a little more before their interrupted.
If, lead was for more than personal use,and there was some documented hard ship before during a period of isolation for the French far west and north of there where lead was cast in sand in an attempt to substitute for lacking trade goods...leading to and again if transporting large amounts of lead then nearest convenient waterways and trails would likely have been used. Sign should be in trench and area. A cave or cellar perhaps, landing areas, cross trails,a great tree for palaver or trade with Indians.

Migration Trails In Early Pennsylvania

 

[Red James Cash]

If there was no readily available water source near the fort back then,maybe the trench was going to be used to bring water to the fort from the river.

 

[StoneWhisper]

Comment to this thread..

I've submitted a request that this thread be relocated to another area of the forums seeing how it really doesn't pertain to "Rock & Minerals" discussions.. I would suggest that you submit this same report so that this thread is better suited in the correct area.

 

[releventchair]

Comment to this thread..

I've submitted a request that this thread be relocated to another area of the forums seeing how it really doesn't pertain to "Rock & Minerals" discussions.. I would suggest that you submit this same report so that this thread is better suited in the correct area.

Seriously. look into the area including what was mentioned as a trench and it is chock full of minerals. Cracked limestone is a great part of bedrock. What is your problem?
If some one planning a hunt there for crystals and lead don,t relate to rocks and minerals what does?Pertain indeed.What? ,don,t question who was harvesting specimens first? Or ignore human interaction with area or its history?Do you consider a crystals provenance or buy blind? If not blind then this thread is somewhat on track.

Chronicles - Part 4

 

[StoneWhisper]

@releventchair question;

When Woody86 post something irrelevant..(Aliens) no one responds.. yet when I post something[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif] irrelevant all hell breaks lose.. Besides I was invited to check out this thread and in doing so, I see no relevance.. So pardon my interaction. [/FONT]​

 

[loco oro]

If there was no readily available water source near the fort back then,maybe the trench was going to be used to bring water to the fort from the river.

i really have thought of this myself,there is also another possible explanation ,this valley is known for its sink holes/ collapsed caverns,the valley is honey combed with caves/the most notable is called tytoona,the run that traverses this valley disapears underground at numerous locations,i ve wondered ,if perhaps this is a old location of the stream,having said this the current stream is miles away on the other side of the valley, but it is a very good chance this is a attempt at a canal ,to connect the mines to the river,but on another thought the mines are only 10 miles at most from it,so not really a great distance to carry lead ingots. old streambed would be answered,with a lil dig to the bottom,a attempt at a canal,would be answered with the abscence of a ore body.

 

[loco oro]

Comment to this thread..

I've submitted a request that this thread be relocated to another area of the forums seeing how it really doesn't pertain to "Rock & Minerals" discussions.. I would suggest that you submit this same report so that this thread is better suited in the correct area.

stonewhisper,i placed this thread here in rocks and gems,for the reason that i am discussing the the historical circumstances of a highly mineralized area ,with a long interesting history of mining minerals,which are rocks and gems,and i would like the assistance of the knowledgeable folks who frequent this forum,because there will be photos of minerals gathered at this site in hopes of identifying what exactly was happening here,and i figured since this is one of the oldest known mining locations,that i have access to that i would share this little forray into history,and offer the chance to for those who want to help out,or just see what is found here,if this rubs you the wrong way feel free to ignore.just because i labeled this treasure does not mean that it does not pertain to rocks and gems,dude your acting like this subject is about some fairytale ,when the trench does exist ,and it is not known who created it,the first historical accounts are found in the pennsylvania archives first edition /vol 6,7,8. published 1852.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Don't forget to check the galena for silver content.

 

[Bajahunter]

Loco
If I lived in your neck of the woods I would definately be there Sounds like a very interesting project.
I look forward to seeing what what you find.