LOST TREASURE USA
THE TREASURE HUNTER'S NEWSLETTER
(FREE delivery, twice-monthly, to your computer screen!)
March 15, 2003---Volume
1, Number 2
Click here to email a link to a friend
FROM THE EDITOR:
Welcome to the second issue of LOST TREASURE
USA ! The response to the first issue was FANTASTIC! Thank you. A lot of you
sent my newsletter to your friends. A few added my website link to their
website. And a few even sent my newsletter to their entire address book!
This newsletter is linked to my website:
LOST TREASURE USA
and to other places on the internet. Clicking on any blue print will send you
flying off of this newsletter to somewhere else. Happy Flying!
The first newsletter was sent to about 1,000 people. This issue will hit
about 1,900 computer screens! Awesome for two weeks growth. The counter on my
home page is spinning pretty well also. If you missed the first newsletter you
can read it on the website by clicking here:
NEWSLETTER # 1.
I'm having FUN doing this newsletter and website----even though it takes a
tremendous amount of time and effort. Please keep your calls and emails coming!
I received a LOT of info and stories during the past two weeks. I'll get
your submitted story printed in one of the upcoming newsletters.
All of the response has been positive, but I can take some constructive
criticism, if needed.
As ALWAYS: please feel free to email me your comments, suggestions and
stories. Thanks!
FLOYD MANN:
LostTreasureUSA1@AOL.COM
PRIZES!
If you received this newsletter directly from LOST TREASURE USA you are
ALREADY eligible for our monthly prize drawings and will continue to receive
this newsletter every 2 weeks. If you received this from a friend---please go
to the website (LOST
TREASURE USA)
and request your own newsletter subscription. On 4/1 I am giving away 3 great
treasure-type books. On June 1st, I'll be giving away a METAL DETECTOR!
FUTURE PLANS
I should be selling some great books by April 1st---at some great prices for
you. I need more stories from my readers. Also: I will be adding more pages
to the website in the next 3 months. This thing will get better & BETTER!
MORE LINKS
On my
LINKS
page, on the website, I have added a lot more links to other websites that I
like and I urge you to check them out. I know that some will become YOUR
favorites!
FORUMS
I now have TWO forums! You can exchange ideas and swap stories with others on
these sites.
(1)
LOST TREASURE USA FORUM:
This forum is divided into different categories to make your navigation through
it faster and easier. My “THANKS" to Randy Bradford (in Kansas) for setting
this one up for me!
(2)
ALL TREASURE TALES USA FORUM:
This forum is geared more towards the posting of complete stories by the
readers. Click on the FILES section, on the left side of the page to access
stories for every state. LOTS of stories will be posted there during the
upcoming months. On this forum my “THANKS" go to Anthony Belli ( in California
) for setting up that site for me and helping to moderate that forum. You may
recognize Anthony's name as a writer for the national treasure publications, and
he is The Eldorado Hangman! Check out BOTH of these forums and please be active
in them.
EVENTS
To see what is going on around the country during the next two weeks, you can go
to the
EVENTS page
on the website. Two events I received just recently are:
***Four Lakes Metal Detector Club (Madison, WI) meets on the 4th Wednesday of
every month at 7 P.M. For details, contact:
Oldneu@Yahoo.com or
Scullion@Locusinc.com
***March 15-16th: Wickenburg (Morristown) AZ. The Arizona Association of Gold
Prospectors (AAGP) will conduct their 2-day NUGGET FEST GOLD DIG. Contact:
AZGOLDPROS@HOTMAIL.COM
SURVEY RESULTS
In newsletter # 1 I asked for opinions on five questions. Remember? (1) Best
treasure-hunting website?, (2) Best treasure-hunting forum?, (3) Best
treasure-hunting newsletter?, (4) Best book a treasure hunter should own?, (5)
Best all-around treasure hunter (dead or alive) ?. Well, I only received 3
answers back, but here they are!
**BEST WEBSITE? Randy Lewis' Prospector Site, Lost Treasure, One that allows
for anybody to get the answers they need.
**BEST FORUM? Treasurenet, Carre-Shinob, I like them all.
**BEST NEWSLETTER? Lost Treasure Online, LOST TREASURE USA, They are all good.
**BEST BOOK? Charles Kenworthy's "Death Traps To Treasure”, "Faded Footprints"
or "Lost Treasure of the Uintahs”, one that is informative about our hobby and
not one-sided towards a company that produces metal detectors.
**BEST TREASURE HUNTER? Mel Fisher, Mel Fisher, Mel Fisher
Other comments (but NOT on the survey!); MOST HELPFUL? Richard Wilbur, Floyd
Mann. Thanks for my nomination and I whole-heartedly SECOND Walburn's
nomination. I have over a hundred pages of stuff that Richard has sent me over
the years. He is a GOOD man!
NEWS FLASH!
OK---so I'm a few years late! This short blurb appeared in the November 11,
2000 VARIETY EXTRA. It announces the book that Hillbilly Bob Brewer has coming
out in June.
QUOTE: "Bounty hunters and treasure hunters are hot topics at the Trident Media
Group. Trident head Robert Gottlieb and agent Matt Bialer have placed "SHADOW
OF THE SENTINEL" by journalist Warren Getler and professional Confederate loot
hunter Bob Brewer, with Simon & Schuster in a six-figure deal."
Although I have been sworn to secrecy on the book's KGC contents, you will
definitely want to pre-order your copy of this book from Amazon ASAP----for an
EXCELLENT true treasure success story !
ONE I DEFINITELY ENDORSE!!
I got this CD the other day and it has stuff on it that even I don't have! Very
interesting and a great addition to my research library.
The title: TREASURE HUNTING RESOURCES--THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
Available on CD, floppy disk, or email download.
"One of the most important, and most often forgotten, aspects of treasure
hunting is research. This Guide has over 750 listings for buried treasure, gold
panning, ghost towns, metal detecting, metal detectors, gold mining, lost
treasures, pirates, sunken treasures and many more topics dealing with treasure
hunting. This Guide contains info on books about treasure hunting all over the
world, although most of the books cover the U.S. and Her waters. Years of
research have gone into the making of this valuable list of books. This
essential list is a must-have for the beginning treasure hunter to the most
knowledgeable pursuer of that perfect hidden cache. Every attempt at accuracy
has been made in compiling this Guide. This Guide gives you the titles,
authors, and where available, dates of publication."
CD: $14.95+$4.00 S&H--- FLOPPY DISK (Windows format only---written using MS
Word): $10.95+$4.00 S&H---EMAIL DOWNLOAD: $7.95, NO S&H!
CONTACT: Amy & Ken---AMKEN2129@AOL.COM
MAPS & MORE MAPS
We now have four great websites on my
LINKS
page on the website. Bookmark them to your favorites for future use. The links
to check out now are: Maptech, Topozone, Terraserver, and Mapping/usgs.
LOOKING FOR FLORIDA There
Anybody up in the Florida Panhandle, between Pensacola and Apalachicola? Email
me if you want to go out on an "adventure" of sorts.
LostTreasureUSA1@AOL.COM
MAP DOWSING?
In NEWSLETTER # 1 I requested info on map dowsing, but got no replies---not
as many people that can map dowse ( and care to share their info ) as I had
hoped for. I'd still like to hear from some dowsers. I have good maps and good
leads.
LONG RANGE LOCATORS
I received a FEW replies on LRLs (Long Range Locators) and I believe I may have
collected enough info to write an article in the near future, but I need
"permission" from some people to reprint their quotes, etc.
BUT: while I cannot endorse any of these websites, or their products, you
will find some useful information and maybe learn something---like I did! If
after reviewing these sites you have an opinion to express---email me!
http://www.premiernet.net/~detectors
http://www.kellycodetectors.com
http://www.vectortrek.com
http://www.accuratelocators.com
http://www.omnitron.net/
http://www.treasureamerica.com/
http://www.thunting.com/geotech
http://www.treasurenow.com
SIGNS & SYMBOLS
To learn more about the treasure signs and symbols you come across in your
hunts, I suggest that you go to
www.GOOGLE.com and
type Signs and Symbols in the search window---then visit those sites that look
interesting to you.. Also get a copy of Kenworthy's books on signs. Another
site that is good is
www.symbols.com .
Also worth checking is:
www.treasurehuntersuniversity.com/
CARTOONIST & / OR ARTIST WANTED
In order to "spice-up" the website and newsletter I'd like to add some
cartoon/humor and artwork. Anyone interested?
LIKE A KID IN A CANDY STORE!
This week I received 3 shipments of treasure books for my collection and I'm so
anxious for Sunday 3/16 to come---so I can go through them! I can't look at
them until this newsletter is sent out on 3/15! There are a few rare ones
waiting for me. By 4/1 I hope to be able to offer you some great books at nice
prices!
I'VE GOT MAIL!!
YEE-HAW!! I received a LOT of very nice emails the past two weeks and I really
do appreciate the positive feedback---it makes my hard work (remember: I type
with ONE finger!) and long hours feel more worthwhile. I like helping people
and this is one way that I can do that. I won't take space here to re-print the
letters. Besides: I'd have to take all of the letters back out of their
picture frames to copy them! Ha Ha!!
FLORIDA'S FABULOUS TREASURES
Each month I will SPOTLIGHT one of my favorite websites. This month, it is a
friend's (Jeff Kramer) website. Check it out!
www.treasurelore.com
BIG MONEY FOUND!
www.voy.com/79994/321.html
STATE TREASURES
If you have not already visited my
STATE TREASURES
site on my website---in the past two weeks---you should do that! There are 5
little treasure leads for each state----a total of 250 leads! By April first I
will have added another 100. Within a year you will have over 1,000 FREE
treasure leads!
RESEARCH & MORE RESEARCH!!
On my website I have listed about 20,000 magazine articles that are treasure
related. If you are looking for info on a particular story, just scroll down
through the state listings until you reach your state. Then: read the titles
for ones that are of interest to you. If your local librarian cannot help you
locate a copy of that article---contact me. I have over 3,700 magazines and I
might have it for you. Check the FREE research database by clicking here:
RESEARCH
FUTURE NEWSLETTER MATERIAL
I will have LOTS of info over the upcoming years for you. I will write a lot of
it. Some of the future info will come from other websites---as I become aware
of them. A few people have promised me regularly submitted stories. YOU can
also contribute by informing me of news, events, stories, etc. that you are
aware of. This is only the second newsletter and I already see it picking up
speed and I can kind of envision what it will become---with everyone's help.
Send me stuff to use!
LostTreasureUSA1@aol.com THANKS!
A FEW "THANK YOU'S"!!
First off: I'd like to thank YOU for being one of my nearly 2,000 readers! If
you like this FREE twice-monthly newsletter---please forward it to your friends,
address book, clubs, etc. Don't assume they already know about it. I'm sure
that they would rather receive it twice---rather then not at all! My webmaster
( Lee Hinman ) does a FANTASTIC job of taking all of my stuff and getting it
organized, etc and emailing it out to you. Randy Bradford and Anthony Belli----THANKS
for your work on the two forums! At the end of this newsletter I'll have a
couple of submitted stories. I hope they are well-received, because they have
LOTS of stories to tell. And finally: to the BEST TREASURE that I ever found:
my wonderful wife TARA. Her patience and other contributions to this newsletter
make the whole thing possible.
NOT INTERESTED?
If you received this email newsletter in error and do not wish to receive future
issues---please: just click here:
UNSUBSCRIBE
ALMOST TO THE END!
Look for your next issue of this newsletter on April Fool's Day (4/1)
-----really! I mean it! No joke! Enjoy these stories and I sincerely hope
that you are out there having FUN and creating the basis for your own stories to
tell! See you in 2 weeks! FLOYD MANN
LostTreasureUSA1@aol.com
www.LostTreasureUSA.com
THE ELDORADO HANGMAN
Anthony Belli is known as the ELDORADO HANGMAN. He moderates the forum for me
at ALL TREASURE TALES USA on Yahoo. He has set up files for each state on that
site and sees that submitted stories (a lot of them are HIS!) are put there for
your reading pleasure. On April 1st, he will have an article here on the Lost
Honey Island pirate treasure, which will be of particular interest to those in
the Louisiana area. His new website on the California Gold Rush is "Under
Construction" at this time, but do bookmark it, if Gold Rush history and
treasure is of interest to you. Check out his stories (under FILES) on
ALL
TREASURE TALES USA.
If you have California stories---please contact Anthony at:
EldoradoHangman@Yahoo.com
His future website will be at
www.California49ers.com
IT'S WHAT YOU KNOW THAT AIN'T SO
BY: HARLEY M. BISSELL
It's not what you don't know that hurts you...it's what you know that ain't
so. We all hear variations on this theme and the lucky few have yet to live
through it.
In late 1977 I had done my duty for God and Country and returned to the
loving arms of my family. After the first couple of weeks that sure wore thin,
so I spent all of my waking hours working, researching or treasure hunting. One
long spell in the junk bins yielded what appeared to be the diary of a minor
member of a Chicago organized crime family. It went from childhood, through
initiation in the gang, to gradually getting some authority and starting to make
the big bucks. The diary cut off at a certain point before running out of pages
and a quick bit of research confirmed that the man had been indicted and had
disappeared. Interesting and worth a closer second read, I thought.
A few weeks later I re-read the entire diary in one sitting and was
directed to a fishing camp in Wisconsin where I might find the "114 and two"
that he left there. I ran up that way and found that the camp had fallen
on hard times and been abandoned many years earlier. I got permission to
search. After finding the correct cabin I spent the daylight hours
clearing out the surface trash and waited for full dark to try a real search.
The third corner I searched yielded two revolvers and some rotted paper money
that just fell apart in my hands. The bands made it look like there had
been $114,000.00 in there. Not enough left to save even one bill AND
EVERYBODY KNOWS that you have to have more than half of a damaged bill to get it
refunded by the government. I put the guns in my vehicle and searched all
of the floors, of all of the cabins, that night---with no further success.
As dawn was breaking through the trees I finished my work. I walked to the
shoreline of the lake, with the tin box in hand, and threw it like a discus into
the water. Felt pretty good and the fish just loved that old paper.
Drove home with my revolvers and had a leisurely breakfast and paper before
turning in. The Sunday supplement had a full-color puff piece on a
little-known department in the treasury that restores damaged paper money and
makes refunds. I didn't sleep well that night.
THE LOST CEMENT MINE
If you have ever read the
San Francisco Daily and Evening Union's account of James W. Wright's Saturday
serial of the episodes of The Cement Hunters, then the spark of adventure has
touched your heart. I know it did for me. Wright himself had mustered out of
the service with James Savage and other early California heroes. He had a belly
full of action and he could tell a good story to boot.
It was the later development and the mining of the Lost Cement Mine that lit
the wick of James W. Wright and Mark Twain. It was their task to try to
interview as many miners as they could individually to be able to find the
famous Lost Cement that had yielded 1,500 troy pounds of gold for the two lucky
miners that worked the mine with picks and shovels for only 22 months, spread
out over 7 years. This area is very high and they could only work this site for
a couple of months per year.
Mining was always a problem for them, because this area is so beautiful. The
streams and forests beckoned to them daily to fish for rainbow trout in the
streams, or to hunt in the lush meadows here, long before civilization came
here---and the rush of gold miners. Soon miners would stumble over each other
looking for the lost lady that may very well be destined to be lost forever with
the influx of cities and modern mining laws.
The Cement Hunters was my Bible in the early days. I wanted to find that
mine as thousands before me, and after me, sought to do, too. I lived on a
meager salary from Kodak in San Francisco. In the summer vacations I would
dream myself up to the mountains, with my family, for another look-see for the
famous Lost Cement Mine.
I had a two-wheel drive Rokon motorcycle. Literally, I could go anywhere in
that pumice with no trouble. Once I plummeted up the side of a volcanic crater
and I was almost killed as the side ceased to exist at a sharp cliff, with a
water-filled pond below. I was careful after that.
James W. Wright had interviewed McDougal, who was Kent's hired man. It was
Kent that owned the Lost Cement Mine. Kent was wanted for murder in an earlier
episode in the Lost Cement saga but, I won't get into that part now.
McDougal worked for Kent for seven years faithfully, for $1,500.00 for the
season. It was the biggest experience in the old man's live. He enjoyed it so
much. When gold seekers came to the area, Kent had to get out of there quick,
or possibly be arrested for murder. Quickly the mine was sealed, and there was
no doubt that the mine would never be re-opened again. Besides, the $400,000.00
was already a challenge for Kent to spend in 1879.
That summer McDougall collapsed in the streets of San Francisco with a
stroke. He was babbling a strange story, in the hospital, about this great
mining experience he had. It was so remarkable that the press was summoned at
once and the medical staff themselves took notes, as they knew that the old man
was dying.
McDougal explained, in intimate detail, all details of their mining operation
there. Explaining the deer and growth, as well. He was a very sensitive man.
McDougal told everything about their mining experience, except how many miles
from their base camp the mine was located, and precisely where it existed.
McDougal, also, never told the name of his employer, in honor and respect of the
relationship they had shared together.
Excuse me for all of the background details that perhaps readers already know
from James W. Wright’s story? But, I thought it was important. McDougal's
experience became my life while I was searching for the Lost Cement Mine, in the
1980s, just 100 years after the mine was sealed.
This is the back-up that James W. Wright had when entering into the search
for truth of the hidden lost lady. Though Lindy, Aurora, and Mammoth Lakes had
yielded gold during the Eastern Sierra gold rush, by the Lost Cement mine
seekers, the Lost Cement Mine herself had never been found, even though millions
of dollars had been mined on the Eastern Sierra.
The Lost Cement Mine story rambles from this experience to another
experience, as one would expect it to do. Naturally, the miners themselves
really didn't know any more about where the Lost Cement Mine was located than
James W. Wright did. After all, they sought to find the mine and re-open it
too.
All failed to find this magical mine. How in the world did I feel that I
could accomplish finding the most documented lost mine in American history, that
already a host of others had failed to accomplish? Such is the illusion of
dreamers and adventurers. God bless them. Perhaps the real treasure is the
pursuit, rather than the achievement itself? At least this is what I was soon
to learn.
I lived with the James Wright story. I felt as others had felt---that the
book would carry the answer for me---that others, somehow, had failed to
observe.
But heck, I was a responsible man with a family. I gave the search many
years, during the summer vacations, searching by sections. The only thing
really solid in the data, if you can call this solid, is this statement: This
is found in a queer episode---who was he?
The clue states under the paragraph: Nestling in charming seclusion---"
These matters provided for, they cautiously crossed the great divide, between
them and the headwaters of the Owens River, and after a little careful
searching, Kent finally identified certain landmarks, which he retained in his
memory, and found a reddish ledge, rich in free gold, though not very wide."
That's it fellows. That's all there is about the location of the Lost Cement
Mine, in all of the written material about where the Lost Cement Mine will be
found.
Professional mining companies would thoroughly prospect the land each six
feet with a string of miners. A miner would dig down to bedrock. If nothing
was found, he would move to the front of the line. Miles of area were covered
in this way. You can see these pot holes still there today. I had designed
some equipment that I had been testing. You know---the gadget that found Sir
Francis Drake's 72 tons of silver on Angel Island. This story was posted on
http://www.xmission.com/~jbdaniel/home.htm.
The Lost Cement Mine was many years before the Drake thrill though, but I had
a crude proto-type to test during my last season up in the mountains. My wick
had burned out and I reasoned at that time that I was just another disappointed
Lost Cement Mine dreamer.
I fired this gadget up. Remember, I knew this story like the back of my
hand. I followed this device with reverence, because I knew darned well that I
couldn't find this mine myself. I knew of a fellow named Art Sorenson that
spent the rest of his life looking. This really kept his health good. I should
have given the location to him. But, I didn't.
Anyway, soon I was at the mine. I had an eerie feeling as I looked around.
At the time I was there, before the forestry service cut the trees down, there
were deep blazes leading in there where I had never looked before. There were
narrow rose quartz runners visible. The signs for gold presence were certainly
possible there.
Then, I stared with a gaping stare at the real remaining evidence there. At
the bottom of this once-standing tree was a ring around it.
Remember: the instrument found this place, in the first place. I didn't.
After seven years of working this mine, the miners had quite a deep shaft
dug. This tree stood next to their shaft and their windlass was hooked up to
this tree. When they quickly capped the mine, and hid all traces of their work
there, they couldn't very well hide a ring around a tree---could they? And this
ring luckily remained for all to see, until the past few years.
From this tree, with the ring at the bottom, I reasoned that one particular
blazed tree, in a strange place, must be a marker for something. On a hunch one
day I brought a small surface metal detector there. I scanned around the tree
and it alarmed at something big.
I never disturbed anything like the Green Suits want you to do. I reasoned
that the metal detector had detected their windlass, that would be needed to
remove the mine cap. And perhaps some gold ore could have been left there, as
well, if they were over-loaded.
I was so excited! My dream had been fulfilled! I had won. I now owned the
Lost Cement Mine, if I could claim it. But gosh, how silly! I wasn't a miner.
I was an amateur historian. I raced down Jackson Street, in San Francisco, to
the California Historical Society. I was panting as I excitedly walked up to
the clerk there at the Society and belched out: "I found the Lost Cement Mine!"
The astonished half-asleep clerk yawned and said "ah,er,oh you did?" As if
meaning, "So what?"
Yes, perhaps she was right. So what, indeed? I was a father, not a miner.
What was I going to do with all of this information had dreamed about for so
long? Others probably wouldn't have done what I did. I didn't have money to
pour into this mine. I hadn't the experience and knowledge that scads of other
people have, to boot.
The mine has sat there for 20 years. If anyone knows of a well-funded
experienced mining firm that would love to re-open a rich, historically famous,
Lost Cement gold quartz mine. I have the answers to the big questions. I hope
that you enjoyed my own personal saga of the search for the Lost Cement Mine
experience. RICHARD WALBURN
(The end)