hey Shaw I live just North of Austin. I too have been researching Ben Sublet and his gold. I hope to make it there sometime this summer before it gets hot or sometime in September/October. If you want to come along you can. The average distance that a pack team pulling a wagon in 1880's is about 15 to 20 miles a day due to the terrain. I have read that he would be gone for several days to weeks. I think the location may be closer than people realize with the average distance he rode. Now he could have some of his gold from the mine stashed closer to Odessa to shorten some of his trips. If you look at google earth close enough to the ground you can actually see the stage coach trails going to the stage stop. Google earth is pretty cool, you can look at all the roads from Mexico and all over Texas that has no modern roads. If you look west from Odessa, you can actually see the trails heading westward by some of the south side of the main highways.
I am leaving for Fort Dix, NJ this Friday and will be gone until the first week in March. I have some motorcycle rallies to work this year and in between most of them I have plenty of time, but I am going to plan sometime this year to get out that way. If you like you are welcome to come along as I said. I will most likely stay 2-3 days, (roughing it), scouring over the area and trying to get a good picture of where I would go if I was Ole Ben.
