That's right. I've heard some real doozies re the LUE. One guy who posts on this forum claims he drew the map when he was six years old. Another poster claims his dad found the site years ago. A person I corresponded with years ago, who was close to KVM, claims KVM pushed the story as a practical joke. Others claim it's Spanish gold. Or gold of the Annunaki. Or whatever. I haven't heard any sort of comprehensive explanation that a guy could use as much of a starting point to try investigating it. I'm sure many true believers would challenge me on that point.
In my view, the whole thing is some sort of coded message relating to something important and/or valuable in the SE Colorado/Spanish Peaks region - possibly in the nearby San Luis Valley. That would make KVM complicit - either intentionally or innocently - in providing disinformation to the public. This fits with a larger scale idea of mine that involves other "treasure writers" releasing disinformation concerning "lost mines and buried treasure", particularly centering on the "famous legends", but also including many less well-known stories.
It's hard to write any sort of comprehensive explanation as so little is known of the map/treasure, and what is known is scattered over dozens of resources.
One thing to remember about the LUE is really, at this point, it all goes back to Karl Von Mueller. Every significant clue or bit of historical data we have comes from him. The LUE lives or dies on the basis of your opinion of him. I for one have never heard a bad thing about the man from anyone that knew him personally. People that attempt to discredit him are never (as best I can tell) individuals who met him, much less knew him. The reality is he's not here to defend himself so we may never know.
I didn't know Karl, but the basis for my own investigations start with my belief that he sincerely believed what he said about the map. If I can't accept that point there's no point in investigating or studying further. In my work office, the LUE map sits prominently in front of my desk to remind me of the mysteries of this world and the limitless opportunities for knowledge and discovery. Something else to consider, Karl first published the LUE in 1966 in his THM #7. He was still talking about the LUE in his "Ask Examino" column in the early 1980s. That's nearly 20 years to perpetuate a myth if you really feel he made it up. Also keep in mind many of his close associates would have had to been in on it too because Montana Larry and Karl are said to have made a recovery of gold using the map.
*One guy who posts on this forum claims he drew the map when he was six years old. (I don't think he posts here much anymore)
*Another poster claims his dad found the site years ago. (Quite possible, by all accounts the LUE isn't a single cache location)
*A person I corresponded with years ago, who was close to KVM, claims KVM pushed the story as a practical joke. (I hear that but as I said, it's either from unnamed sources or people that didn't know Karl)
*Others claim it's Spanish gold. (Karl was of this opinion, he said so but I don't think he ever 100% confirmed that belief)
*Or gold of the Annunaki. (That's a new one on me, would love to hear more).
Something to keep in mind, and this is very evident when you read Karl's work in the National Prospector's Gazette or his THM6/7...Karl rarely discussed unfound locations. He didn't have faith in many and felt the stories were false. He did publish literally thousands of alleged cache recoveries. I think he did this to demonstrate treasure could still be found and as a way of helping people think outside the box when it came to treasure hunting and treasure hunting research.
I think this is a wonderful thread and I sincerely hope we can get some former posters back in here and posting. My goal is to go back through some of the older portions and answer questions if people are interested, I think I can shed more light but don't want to bury the thread in an avalanche of responses to old posts, particularly if people aren't interested. One of the best assets to this thread would be Old Bookaroo, unfortunately he no longer posts on Treasurenet. I for one believe there is still a lot of life left in the LUE story, and probably more than a little gold left to dig up as well.
I firmly believe the key to understanding the LUE is understanding both Karl Von Mueller's words about it and the historical context in which he revealed that information. There are still more than a few people that knew Karl and dealt with him directly. Unfortunately, that number grows smaller all the time.
Randy