Switching over to cache hunting

[7up2000]

10 years into coin shooting in the Pima County area(Tucson) and feel like it's all been hunted out.
I'm thinking of switching over to cache hunting as I've always had a dream of finding a cache. One small found cache is equivalent to hundreds of hours of metal detecting.

Has anybody had any recent luck with cache hunting? If so, how did you find it?

Some of the areas to search I've heard about are clothes line posts, porch posts, and inside house walls.
The abandoned old farm houses would be an obvious starting point but these are very hard to find. I will probably have to travel 1-2 hours away(and do a lot of hunting) to find something similar.
With an old house, I'd probably survey the back yard looking for a landmark that stands out(tree, bush, building, etc).

Has research helped you in ideas for cache hunting?

The Southwest has a rich history of Western lore, bank robberies, bandits, silver and gold mining, etc. I even heard that Indians would drop gold coins in between rock cracks -- since it was useless to them and they didn't want the white man to get it.

If you are an experienced cache hunter, I'd be interested in your methods/successes.

 

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[Gare]

10 years into coin shooting in the Pima County area(Tucson) and feel like it's all been hunted out.
I'm thinking of switching over to cache hunting as I've always had a dream of finding a cache. One small found cache is equivalent to hundreds of hours of metal detecting.

Has anybody had any recent luck with cache hunting? If so, how did you find it?

Some of the areas to search I've heard about are clothes line posts, porch posts, and inside house walls.
The abandoned old farm houses would be an obvious starting point but these are very hard to find. I will probably have to travel 1-2 hours away(and do a lot of hunting) to find something similar.
With an old house, I'd probably survey the back yard looking for a landmark that stands out(tree, bush, building, etc).

Has research helped you in ideas for cache hunting?

The Southwest has a rich history of Western lore, bank robberies, bandits, silver and gold mining, etc. I even heard that Indians would drop gold coins in between rock cracks -- since it was useless to them and they didn't want the white man to get it.

If you are an experienced cache hunter, I'd be interested in your methods/successes.

GREAT QUESTION !!!

 

[Old Bookaroo]

10 years into coin shooting in the Pima County area(Tucson) and feel like it's all been hunted out.
I'm thinking of switching over to cache hunting as I've always had a dream of finding a cache. One small found cache is equivalent to hundreds of hours of metal detecting.

Has anybody had any recent luck with cache hunting? If so, how did you find it?

Some of the areas to search I've heard about are clothes line posts, porch posts, and inside house walls.
The abandoned old farm houses would be an obvious starting point but these are very hard to find. I will probably have to travel 1-2 hours away(and do a lot of hunting) to find something similar.
With an old house, I'd probably survey the back yard looking for a landmark that stands out(tree, bush, building, etc).

Has research helped you in ideas for cache hunting?

The Southwest has a rich history of Western lore, bank robberies, bandits, silver and gold mining, etc. I even heard that Indians would drop gold coins in between rock cracks -- since it was useless to them and they didn't want the white man to get it.

If you are an experienced cache hunter, I'd be interested in your methods/successes.

7up2000: Before thinking about where to look, I'd suggest thinking about who would make the plant. Tough to beat KvonM's classic Sudden Wealth when it comes to a concise summary of that topic. Some examples would be attorneys (ok, lawyers) who represented high-level criminal defendants. Back in the day, doctors who were paid in cash. Politicians with summer homes (the state of Illinois has quite a history of elected officials who kept boxes of cash). Businesses that did a great deal of cash business such as bootleggers. Read up on found caches. That will give you some ideas about who hides money. And once you have identified the who, the where will begin to fall into line.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[7up2000]

7up2000: Before thinking about where to look, I'd suggest thinking about who would make the plant.

That's really good advice. I like to read so the book recommendation is right up my alley. I didn't know about the politicians in Illinois. Doctors who took cash.--hmmm, that makes sense. Also reading up on found caches hadn't occured to me. All are good leads. Regards.

 

[$MELTER-1]

Y

10 years into coin shooting in the Pima County area(Tucson) and feel like it's all been hunted out.
I'm thinking of switching over to cache hunting as I've always had a dream of finding a cache. One small found cache is equivalent to hundreds of hours of metal detecting.

Has anybody had any recent luck with cache hunting? If so, how did you find it?

Some of the areas to search I've heard about are clothes line posts, porch posts, and inside house walls.
The abandoned old farm houses would be an obvious starting point but these are very hard to find. I will probably have to travel 1-2 hours away(and do a lot of hunting) to find something similar.
With an old house, I'd probably survey the back yard looking for a landmark that stands out(tree, bush, building, etc).

Has research helped you in ideas for cache hunting?

The Southwest has a rich history of Western lore, bank robberies, bandits, silver and gold mining, etc. I even heard that Indians would drop gold coins in between rock cracks -- since it was useless to them and they didn't want the white man to get it.

If you are an experienced cache hunter, I'd be interested in your methods/successes.

You have hit on something I've thought about and couldn't find an answer to but if I now lived in a place that I knew that there had been a robbery of something and the loot was hand carry and never accounted for I would find out if possible the route the robbers took to escape and follow it to the first place not within sight of the town where I know I could duck off and hide it then come back when things cooled off and scoop up my booty.but that's just what I would do.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Nearly every person that met an unexpected demise up until the 1940’s could have left behind a small cache.

Especially out west.

I can say that If a person did find a cache, more times than not, they don’t spill the beans on the internet to all of the world.

I know of two large caches that were found that originated from a newspaper story..to a treasure rag..to someone’s pocket. You will not read about the recovery most times.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

I also personally know of a modern “lost treasure” story that involved $1.7 million in today’s gold prices. Unfortunately it involved a greedy caretaker and what I’d consider elder abuse.

I happened 15 years or more ago, the victim has passed, and I do not know the evil lady’s name.

Actual lost treasure stories are kind of sad when you know they are unrecoverable.

PS this treasure was several times buried prior to being stolen. In the end it was taken from under the victim’s anticipated death bed.

 

[7up2000]

I can say that If a person did find a cache, more times than not, they don’t spill the beans on the internet to all of the world.

I personally wouldn't say anything for fear of local government claiming a stake or "property owners" coming out of the woodwork.
I've often thought about mine shafts/caves which are ubiquitous out here--was there loot stashed inside? Not sure if the treasure hunt would be worth the risk of a fall, or running into a mountain lion or rattlesnake.

 

[$MELTER-1]

Nearly every person that met an unexpected demise up until the 1940’s could have left behind a small cache.

Especially out west.

I can say that If a person did find a cache, more times than not, they don’t spill the beans on the internet to all of the world.

I know of two large caches that were found that originated from a newspaper story..to a treasure rag..to someone’s pocket. You will not read about the recovery most times.

It's that early demise you speak of that got me thinking like that.i have a distant relative on my mother's side from Alabama that was a train robber named Rube burrow that met with an early demise and often wondered if he had stashed any loot during a get away with a posse in hot pursuit.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Nearly every person that met an unexpected demise up until the 1940’s could have left behind a small cache.

Especially out west.

I can say that If a person did find a cache, more times than not, they don’t spill the beans on the internet to all of the world.

I know of two large caches that were found that originated from a newspaper story..to a treasure rag..to someone’s pocket. You will not read about the recovery most times.

Interesting! I've been reading "treasure" magazines a very, very long, and I know of one recovery based on a published article. It wasn't big, but it was a nice find.

It was a story in the long-gone Artifact Magazine - "Tom Hicks Treasure."

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Old Bookaroo]

It's that early demise you speak of that got me thinking like that.i have a distant relative on my mother's side from Alabama that was a train robber named Rube burrow that met with an early demise and often wondered if he had stashed any loot during a get away with a posse in hot pursuit.

Rube Burrow was a famous train robber. There is a story about the recovery of a train robber's plant in Great Train Robberies of the West by Eugene Block. Most plunder, of course, was spent across bars, faro tables, and in the second floor bedrooms of saloons.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[$MELTER-1]

Y

Rube Burrow was a famous train robber. There is a story about the recovery of a train robber's plant in Great Train Robberies of the West by Eugene Block. Most plunder, of course, was spent across bars, faro tables, and in the second floor bedrooms of saloons.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Yes I had only heard about him through what my grandfather told me bout him,but when I lived in Donner pass/ Truckee cali.area I went into a store one day and while standing in line I just happened to see a reproduction wanted poster of him n since I was the only customer in the store left I told the cashier bout him being a distant relative n she took it down n gave it to me.so I mailed it back to my grandpa n he said never thought he would see something in print about him then I found a few pages in a book on him in a library at the same area n made copies n sent to him there was no Internet back then as you probably remember 1978.

 

[$MELTER-1]

I personally wouldn't say anything for fear of local government claiming a stake or "property owners" coming out of the woodwork.
I've often thought about mine shafts/caves which are ubiquitous out here--was there loot stashed inside? Not sure if the treasure hunt would be worth the risk of a fall, or running into a mountain lion or rattlesnake.

Yea they are the best of the best when it comes to sitting on their butts not doing a dam thing, then rolling in to take every dam thing that YOU have worked for.mum is the word or you lose.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Interesting! I've been reading "treasure" magazines a very, very long, and I know of one recovery based on a published article. It wasn't big, but it was a nice find.

It was a story in the long-gone Artifact Magazine - "Tom Hicks Treasure."

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

yes what are the chances of having direct knowledge of lost treasure being recovered or stolen? pretty slim I’d guess.

 

[Bill Farmer]

7up2000: Before thinking about where to look, I'd suggest thinking about who would make the plant. Tough to beat KvonM's classic Sudden Wealth when it comes to a concise summary of that topic. Some examples would be attorneys (ok, lawyers) who represented high-level criminal defendants. Back in the day, doctors who were paid in cash. Politicians with summer homes (the state of Illinois has quite a history of elected officials who kept boxes of cash). Businesses that did a great deal of cash business such as bootleggers. Read up on found caches. That will give you some ideas about who hides money. And once you have identified the who, the where will begin to fall into line.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

Loved your reference to the disgraced former Secretary of State of Illinois, Paul Powell, who died in 1970.
Although Powell's government salary was never more than $30,000 a year, shoeboxes, briefcases and strongboxes with over $750,000 in cash were found in his hotel suite residence at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield, Illinois within days of his death. Another $50,000 was found in his office. In his hotel room he also had 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn. When settled in 1978 his estate was worth $4.6 million, of which $1 million was racetrack stock in seven Illinois racetracks. A federal investigation determined that Powell had acquired much of his wealth through illegal cash bribes, which he received for giving noncompetitive state contracts to political associates.
That fine Illinois tradition continues to this very day!

 

[Curtis]

7UP: you may do some good if you can locate some of the Sanborn maps...I think that is the name of them (online copies out there). Insurance companies had them made back long ago and they show where all the houses were in towns - some small ones too. Then take the maps and some of the advice from those above and locate the doctor/lawyer/politician houses and Bingo!
Don't forget the big farmers they delt in cash a lot. I have located a Tresure of $2,000 dollars in 1827 silver dollars a farmer took a large number of cattle to N.Y. and sold them, (had his nephew with him). Got home, buried the coins (in a keg) and died that night without telling anyone where they are...just so you know.... you don't always get the treasure when you find it...I have a device that located the silver but the people who live on the property now won't let me dig !

Good Luck and happy hunting!

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Loved your reference to the disgraced former Secretary of State of Illinois, Paul Powell, who died in 1970.
Although Powell's government salary was never more than $30,000 a year, shoeboxes, briefcases and strongboxes with over $750,000 in cash were found in his hotel suite residence at the St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield, Illinois within days of his death. Another $50,000 was found in his office. In his hotel room he also had 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn. When settled in 1978 his estate was worth $4.6 million, of which $1 million was racetrack stock in seven Illinois racetracks. A federal investigation determined that Powell had acquired much of his wealth through illegal cash bribes, which he received for giving noncompetitive state contracts to political associates.
That fine Illinois tradition continues to this very day!

I hate cream corn!

 

[xr7ator]

7UP: you may do some good if you can locate some of the Sanborn maps...I think that is the name of them (online copies out there). Insurance companies had them made back long ago and they show where all the houses were in towns - some small ones too. Then take the maps and some of the advice from those above and locate the doctor/lawyer/politician houses and Bingo!
Don't forget the big farmers they delt in cash a lot. I have located a Tresure of $2,000 dollars in 1827 silver dollars a farmer took a large number of cattle to N.Y. and sold them, (had his nephew with him). Got home, buried the coins (in a keg) and died that night without telling anyone where they are...just so you know.... you don't always get the treasure when you find it...I have a device that located the silver but the people who live on the property now won't let me dig !

Good Luck and happy hunting!

How do you know what year the dollars were minted if you haven't recovered them and what country minted the coins?

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Years ago, KvonM wrote and published Waybills to El Dorado. It's out of print today, but copies can be found. It has twenty-five stories of plants that had not been found. Many years later, it is my guess that what could be recovered has been. But each story is valuable. There is one about a 19th century California politician who probably hid a fortune at his second home at Lake Tahoe. Well, above is the story of 20th century Paul Powell in Illinois. The differences are time and place. The essentials remain the same.

"Jesse Rascoe" (Ed Bartholomew) wrote several classic books that contain reliable information from 19th and early 20th century newspapers, and pioneer accounts, of lost mines and treasures throughout the west. He was a rare "treasure" writer who presented facts, not just what somebody else had penned before him. He also wrote Empty Money Pits; Or, Texas Treasure Finds (1974). It is just what the title states - and each recovery is an example of what remains to be located. Send me a PM if you're interested and can't locate a copy.

The best work on the subject is Harvey Bissell's Characters & Cache Planters (2021) - over 500 pages of solid leads. For years bootleg copies of his typescript were circulating through the professional treasure hunting community. Bootleg copies were sold for $100 and up. Finally, George Shiotelis did the heavy lifting to see Bissell's fine work in print. At some $50 it isn't cheap. It is an investment that should pay dividends to the careful reader.

Start documenting the finds you read about and the leads you come across. Write down the Who, Where, What, Why, and When. You'll begin to see patterns emerge. Human nature hasn't changed in millennia.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[releventchair]

I hate cream corn!

I will tolerate some creamed corn in corn bread on occasion if not overdone.
But must fully disclose I'm a Yank also.