What is most outrageous treasure hunting legend you have ever read?

I thought everyone was aware, the allegorical symbolism in ancient writings of earth, water, air, fire, represented states of mind/consciousness. :icon_scratch:
Maybe, I read different books. :laughing7:

I know a treasure legend! :hello2: Don't know about the outrageousness of it, though. :laughing7:
When I was a Brownie and Girl Scout, we used to get to go camping at this big old 100 something acre plantation, over by the Ga/Ala line. The legend was, back in the civil war, the northern troops marched through and the family(wealthy, of course), had taken all their moneies and jewelrys, and buried them in the middle of 3 oak trees.

There was never a house, that I remember on that land, and we were little, like 7 to 10 yrs old. We didn't have any metal detectors either, or even knew what they were then. But we always wondered whether the tale was really really true or not. :icon_scratch:

Yeah Gollum, I can buy that about Switzerland and the Templars, too. Seems to make sense.

Well pat as long as the Legend doesn't involve Booby Traps, Curses , secret codes or the Exxon Sign :tongue3:
there is a possibility of it being true :thumbsup: there are stories like that around here from the French & indian war days
of people burying the valuables they couldn't carry, & some not being able to find
the same spots when they came back.
but they didn't wait till the summer soltice to decide where to burry,
or dig 100 feet deep, & tunnel to the nearest ocean before
leaving. :laughing7:
 

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Any tale that begins with a Confederate paymaster with $250,000 in gold is attacked but manages to bury, dump overboard, etc without the pursuing party never stopping to recover the left behind gold.
Also the variation of the Confederates fighting to the last man while burying the gold.
If they were killed to the last man, who survived to tell the story? And why didn't the Union pursuers recover the hastily buried gold?
 

HA! King Solomon's Temple in Kentucky! With PICTURES!





Sent from my Fried Green Tomato Sandwich...
 

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I bet a silver dollar could be thrown a long ways on ice, counting the slide, if the conditions were right.

Amarillo slim made a wager that he could hit a golf ball a mile, and he did, on a frozen lake.
 

<cut> Concerning the original question of this thread, so far, the whole Charles Kentworthy/King's Fifth sounds pretty silly to me. I admit to not having read his books, but from what I understand of the concept - A Golden Hoarde of Spanish miners duly leaving 5% of their efforts cached in a systematic way, engaging in a systematic and known to all rock carving/sign leaving excursion for the King's Men to later come back around and collect - sounds silly to me. Even more silly that if it were true there would be anything left in 2015 for us to get. <cut>

You're right. The "lost Spanish cache" genre is truly outrageous. A little research will reveal how Spanish mining ventures were organized and controlled by the Crown during Spain's New World rule. You will find that there was very little mining activity north of the Durango, MX latitudes, and the reasons that was so. There was some activity, of course, but the mere idea that the King would then agree to allow the contractors to leave his 20% share buried in the wilderness to be retrieved later by a scavenger hunt is laughable. Hoaxers like Kenworthy have done truth-seekers a disservice by pushing these sorts of fantasies - but, as some guy on another thread said recently, "We don't care if the stories are true or not as long as they're entertaining." As Mark Twain said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."
 

Nobody

If I may, I would like some of what you present,
though I believe some of the depth you speak,
it's extremely hard at this point of evidence,
to accept all that different continent stuff.

With all respect, that is an outrageous treasure story,
that could only involve the inclusion of spirits, that
not everyone is willing to accept even the basis of.

Have you heard of the archaeologists that went in search
of cities that Solomon was supposedly said to have built.

They found sorta' like twin gates, in the close locations they were thought to have been,
and they were very similar, like from the supposed period. Though the conclusion in
their testing, carbon dating, timeline said NO, a thousand years off in time.
But, archaeological waste (looked like destroyed arch. material) like
garbage, was thrown in a ruinous heap, over the side of the
supposed ancient historical site... Hmmn


Have a good one Amigo... :fish:
:cross:
 

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You're right. The "lost Spanish cache" genre is truly outrageous. A little research will reveal how Spanish mining ventures were organized and controlled by the Crown during Spain's New World rule. You will find that there was very little mining activity north of the Durango, MX latitudes, and the reasons that was so. There was some activity, of course, but the mere idea that the King would then agree to allow the contractors to leave his 20% share buried in the wilderness to be retrieved later by a scavenger hunt is laughable. Hoaxers like Kenworthy have done truth-seekers a disservice by pushing these sorts of fantasies - but, as some guy on another thread said recently, "We don't care if the stories are true or not as long as they're entertaining." As Mark Twain said, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."




SDCFIA,


Now, we have been polite for a while now, so initially I will continue to act that way.


First, your statement that not much Spanish Mining happened North of Durango is absolutely ludicrous. The largest Silver Strike in Nueva Vizcaya was just a few miles Southeast of Nogales, Az. Maybe you haven't heard of the "Planchas de Plata"? So much copper in the same area that there are still huge open pit copper mines there, and more wanting to move in.


Second,


To classify Kenworthy as a "HOAXER" shows an absolute ignorance of both the man and what he did. He was a multimillionaire in SoCal Real Estate before he ever thought about Treasure Hunting. Before looking for his first treasure, he contacted SRI (Stanford Research Institute), because his idea was to include the best and brightest minds and most modern scientific equipment on the planet to assist in hunting treasure. Much of their travel and expenses were paid for out of his own pocket. One of the people at SRI that knew Kenworthy best was Dr Lambert Dolphin. Dr Dolphin is widely recognized as being the father of modern ground penetrating radar. He was also with SRI for about 35 years, much of that as head physicist. Yes he was a PhD Physicist (hence the Dr). For a bit about Lambert and Chuck Kenworthy:


Dolphin and Kenworthy


I don't know if you are familiar with Ton Kollenborn, but he is one of the most renowned Dutch Hunters and keepers of history in the World. Here is his take on Chuck Kenworthy:


Kollenborn and Kenworthy


So, now when you say Kenworthy was a hoaxer, maybe you can provide some evidence other than just saying so? You said something to this effect some time ago regarding him in the


I personally know of three large caches he found. One of which was a cache of 1028 silver bars that equaled over a ton of refined silver. That was in Arizona. I don't know who you are, but Kenworthy found more wealth in his treasure hunting time than 99% of the (so-called) treasure hunters I have met both in person and online.




Mike
 

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SDCFIA,

Now, we have been polite for a while now, so initially I will continue to act that way.

First, your statement that not much Spanish Mining happened North of Durango is absolutely ludicrous. The largest Silver Strike in Nueva Vizcaya was just a few miles Southeast of Nogales, Az. Maybe you haven't heard of the "Planchas de Plata"? So much copper in the same area that there are still huge open pit copper mines there, and more wanting to move in.

Second,

To classify Kenworthy as a "HOAXER" shows an absolute ignorance of both the man and what he did. He was a multimillionaire in SoCal Real Estate before he ever thought about Treasure Hunting. Before looking for his first treasure, he contacted SRI (Stanford Research Institute), because his idea was to include the best and brightest minds and most modern scientific equipment on the planet to assist in hunting treasure. Much of their travel and expenses were paid for out of his own pocket. One of the people at SRI that knew Kenworthy best was Dr Lambert Dolphin. Dr Dolphin is widely recognized as being the father of modern ground penetrating radar. He was also with SRI for about 35 years, much of that as head physicist. Yes he was a PhD Physicist (hence the Dr). For a bit about Lambert and Chuck Kenworthy:

Dolphin and Kenworthy

I don't know if you are familiar with Ton Kollenborn, but he is one of the most renowned Dutch Hunters and keepers of history in the World. Here is his take on Chuck Kenworthy:

Kollenborn and Kenworthy

So, now when you say Kenworthy was a hoaxer, maybe you can provide some evidence other than just saying so? You said something to this effect some time ago regarding him in the

I personally know of three large caches he found. One of which was a cache of 1028 silver bars that equaled over a ton of refined silver. That was in Arizona. I don't know who you are, but Kenworthy found more wealth in his treasure hunting time than 99% of the (so-called) treasure hunters I have met both in person and online.

Mike

Well, why wouldn't you be polite - are other opinions that conflict with yours not allowed here?

Your first point is correct - as I said before, there was clearly some Spanish mining on the Northern Frontier, including your well-known example and a few other bona-fides. However, there was nothing remotely close to the alleged amount of activity that spawned the dozens of "legends" so prominent in the treasure magazines. Most of the action was further south where the mineralization had, and still has today, much greater potential for the recovery of gold and primarily silver. For the purpose of this discussion, we will neglect the (also limited) mining ventures during the Mexican period.

Please provide some sort of proof that supports Kenworthy's mysterious "Spanish Archives/King's Code" allegations. There are treasure signs, and lots of them, in the US Southwest, yes, but most of these have nothing to do with the King of Spain and his minions - in my opinion. It's my belief that these signs are much more recent than the Spanish period - for the most part. Kenworthy may have been a terrific realtor, but his treasure theories are either intentionally (hoaxer) or innocently (naive) wrong in my judgement. With more reliable evidence, my opinion is subject to change.

What Kollenborn and Dolphin have to say about Kenworthy, and their own personal characters and reputations, are interesting but irrelevant to my opinions concerning Kenworthy.

When I reviewed some of the other threads on this website, I found an interesting exchange discussing the "1028 bar find" that legitimately put the entire matter in question. I don't have the link handy, sorry, it may have been one of your threads.

Your opinions are just as valid as mine or anyone else's here, but until we have more definitive evidence, it's my strong opinion that Spanish mining beyond the Northern Frontier was quite limited, and the vast majority of the "treasure signs" attributed to the Crown were in fact created within the past 100 years. Furthermore, it seems painfully obvious to me that believing there were dozens of caches left in the wilderness by the King's contractors for the his men to later try to locate and retrieve is naive and illogical.

That said, many of those treasure signs in question were created by intelligent people for some apparently important reason, presumably "treasure related". Our efforts seem better served trying to understand who created them and why.
 

<cut>
L.C. kindly suggested I consolidate my research into book form, which I may do, but it wouldn't all fit into one or two books. Further, some of this stuff is better digested visually, where the format of videos would convey the ideas more quickly. So, when I finish the process I have started of distilling my research into 'website form', I'll send you a PM letting you know where you can more fully explore the concepts I presented here. <cut>

Excellent. Please do keep us current on your website progress. Will the theme be general historical chronology, or are you planning to focus on people/places/events relating to the American "treasure legends"? Will you also offer YouTube subscriptions for more widespread exposure? Good luck.
 

SDCFIA,

Yes Yes I know you think everything is KGC. The reason for my being a bit po'ed is of you calling Kenworthy a hoaxer. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is not a shred of doubt about the 1028 silver bars. The hole they came out of is still visible.

I have a bunch of his research material regarding two places: Something in Anza Borrego Desert and something in Texas. I had read where some people accused CK of marking up his pictures to make them look like he wanted. I first drove out to ABDSP (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park) and relocated several of the monuments that are in his books (and a few that weren't). The monuments in his books that are in ABDSP are EXACTLY the same. So much for that argument. Now, I wanted to put his monuments to the test. At the mouth of an unnamed canyon, I had found a very large boulder. This boulder had an arrow pointing to the top half of a heart (the point was hidden).

Arrow1sm.jpg

It took me a while, but what I took from it was that it meant "Follow the direction of the arrow (pointing up the canyon), and it will lead you to hidden gold" I guessed that by the heart that means gold/treasure, and since the point of the heart is often the place to dig, that the spot would be hidden.

So, I headed up that canyon. I made my way up slowly looking for other signs. A good ways up, I saw a beautiful 7 carved into a large boulder at the base of a large outcrop.

7bsm.jpg

The number 7 on a rock means that a protected campsite is nearby. On the back side of this outcrop is a large dish surrounded by boulders. Well protected from the wind and rain, also the size of the boulders keep you out of site of anybody in the area.

CampSite1a.jpg

Further on up the canyon is a beautiful bird monument. Its at the top of a very high ridge, and is very evidently man made.

birdmonument.jpg

Now a bird monument means that you should go in the direction the bird is looking (in this case that is the direction you are already going), but watch both sides of the trail because a change of direction is coming.

Funny thing, just about a quarter mile past the bird, in a little box canyon on the right of the main canyon is an eye catcher.

111EyeCatcher1sm.jpg 111EyeCatcher2sm.jpg

The eye catcher consisted of a large chunk of pegmatited bull quartz set into a dark lava outcrop. If you look closely at the second pic, you will see what appears to be a little alcove right in front of the eye catcher. I stood there and started looking around. Eventually, I saw this:

111Hidey1sm.jpg111Hidey2sm.jpg

Yes. A large rockfall with another large chunk of pegmatited bull quartz. There is a large outcropping of that along the canyon, but nowhere near this. If you look carefully at the rocks, you will notice that they fit together rather neatly.

This is where I stop the story. I will not say whether anything was found, but my point is that many of the monuments and symbols on this trail were straight out of Kenworthy's Books, so for you to sayhe didn't know what he was talking about just shows your ignorance. He was neither a hoaxer nor naive.

As to your question regarding a King's Code; I can't say, because I have never personally seen the papers he got from all the archives. A good friend of mine was supposed to have gotten them when CK passed, but his son Chuck took them. I understand that Quest is still a living thing (but none of them post anywhere that I know of). They seem to be active but under most radar. Charles N. "Tiger" Kenworthy is a very accomplished attorney, and he doesn't talk a lot of treasure hunting with anybody that I know of. Anybody is welcome to find him and ask.

Mike
 

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SDCFIA,

Yes Yes I know you think everything is KGC. The reason for my being a bit po'ed is of you calling Kenworthy a hoaxer. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is not a shred of doubt about the 1028 silver bars. The hole they came out of is still visible.

I have a bunch of his research material regarding two places: Something in Anza Borrego Desert and something in Texas. I had read where some people accused CK of marking up his pictures to make them look like he wanted. I first drove out to ABDSP (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park) and relocated several of the monuments that are in his books (and a few that weren't). The monuments in his books that are in ABDSP are EXACTLY the same. So much for that argument. Now, I wanted to put his monuments to the test. At the mouth of an unnamed canyon, I had found a very large boulder. This boulder had an arrow pointing to the top half of a heart (the point was hidden).
<cut>
A good ways up, I saw a beautiful 7 carved into a large boulder at the base of a large outcrop.
<cut>
The number 7 on a rock means that a protected campsite is nearby.
<cut>
Further on up the canyon is a beautiful bird monument.
<cut>
Funny thing, just about a quarter mile past the bird, in a little box canyon on the right of the main canyon is an eye catcher.
<cut>
A large rockfall with another large chunk of pegmatited bull quartz.
<cut>
As to your question regarding a King's Code; I can't say, because I have never personally seen the papers he got from all the archives. A good friend of mine was supposed to have gotten them when CK passed, but his son Chuck took them. I understand that Quest is still a living thing (but none of t
<cut>
Mike

I've seen your trail of clues before - on one of these forum threads or perhaps on your website. Those types of carvings, monuments, oop's, etc. are ubiquitous in the SW, and whoever set them up is the big question. The popular and simplistic conjectures - it was the KGC, it was the Jesuits, it was the Spanish, etc., simply don't hold up on their own, despite ardent arguments by "researchers". It's pretty clear that most of what we "know" about this topic has surfaced in the past 100 years or so - with a blizzard of information and clues appearing in the 1930s. That's when the Gold Act was enacted.

I personally consider the "KGC" - i.e. former CSA operatives - not as the solution to the enigmas, but as a possible part of a bigger picture that includes also your beloved Jesuits and others. I suspect that the well-worn "KGC caches" and the equally popular "Jesuit caches" are essentially snipe hunts devised to keep curious people away from whatever secrets are hidden amongst us. That's probably why the "clues" such as yours are so easy to find, and why so many folks have run in circles trying to figure them out. Whoever dreamed up the "King's Code" joke must still be laughing. If it was Kenworthy - well, there you go.

Validation of the "1028 bars" find is lacking, in my opinion. I won't waste time reinventing the debate that already ran its course earlier. There's nothing to add - those interested can judge for themselves. Same goes for the "82 bars". It likely wasn't a "Jesuit cache", but Mexican Revolution gold, and was discussed in the same thread as the other one - "Jesuit Treasures, Are They Real?", I believe.

Time to move on and let others respond to the thread's question in Post#1.
 

You mistake something very large on my part. I have always said the if a monument was made by Jesuits, it would not be understood by the Spanish. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the people the Jesuits would most want to hide their wealth from (at least in Northern Nueva Vizcaya) would have been the Spanish. They would have left monuments that could only be understood by other Jesuits. They knew the Spanish knew about their wealth and wanted it for the crown. They would NEVER have left monuments or markers that any Spaniard could understand.

I have also ALWAYS said that anybody claiming to have broken the Jesuit Code are liars. I know many of the best and brightest in the business. We know SOME of what the Jesuit left, but not everything. Anybody claiming to have broken the Jesuit Treasure Code, please send them to me. I will publicly laugh in their faces. It has not been done as of today.

Honestly, the codes used to hide the Jesuit Wealth prior to their suppression were lost to the Jesuit Order too. Otherwise, we would not have had a construction company find more than 70,000,000 Spanish Dollars in the cellars of the old Jesuit College at Rio de Janeiro in 1891.

Mike
 

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You mistake something very large on my part. I have always said the if a monument was made by Jesuits, it would not be understood by the Spanish. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the people the Jesuits would most want to hide their wealth from (at least in Northern Nueva Vizcaya) would have been the Spanish. They would have left monuments that could only be understood by other Jesuits. They knew the Spanish knew about their wealth and wanted it for the crown. They would NEVER have left monuments or markers that any Spaniard could understand.

I have also ALWAYS said that anybody claiming to have broken the Jesuit Code are liars. I know many of the best and brightest in the business. We know SOME of what the Jesuit left, but not everything. Anybody claiming to have broken the Jesuit Treasure Code, please send them to me. I will publicly laugh in their faces. It has not been done as of today.

Honestly, the codes used to hide the Jesuit Wealth prior to their suppression were lost to the Jesuit Order too. Otherwise, we would not have had a construction company find more than 70,000,000 Spanish Dollars in the cellars of the old Jesuit College at Rio de Janeiro in 1891.

Mike

I generally agree with most of what you've said here. However, I don't believe there is a "Jesuit Code". It's my judgement that the "treasure monumentation" found in so many US locations, including Arizona, post dates the pre-1767 Jesuit presence. Simple as that.

That's not to say the Jesuits aren't heavily involved in whatever the monumentation represents. I believe they are prime actors in the drama, whatever it proves to be - if it ever does. I also believe that the well-known "Jesuit treasure" lore (lost mines, hidden caches, etc., in Arizona) is primarily diversionary, created for a higher hidden purpose. These "legends" have apparently even mesmerized you, a pretty sharp knife in the drawer.

I'll assume your Rio report is accurate. Whatever the Jesuits and others accomplished in South America, or anywhere else for that matter, does establish and question their modus operandi there, yes. However, the North American continent has been and is a unique geopolitical entity. Finding a Jesuit cache in Rio doesn't validate the Arizona allegations. As stated, I believe the Jesuits are major players here, but in ways well obscured.
 

Sorry, but unless there is a large pile of rock chips near "monuments" and the monument itself displays tool marks, they were either already good to go from the hands of Mother Nature, and were chosen as a monument because of that, OR they are not monuments at all. I see so many people claiming large rock structures were created by people as monuments, but ignore the fact there is zero evidence to show on the site to prove such claims. Where are the signs of alteration: rock chips, tools, tool marks, etc? And some of the stone in question weigh many, many tons, yet its assumed they were stacked and placed on the site? Unless there was a whole lot of laborers around, who understood the engineering required, how would that get done exactly?
 

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