Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales

844 Pages·1989·32.37 MB·English

by  Steve Wilson

title: Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales
author: Wilson, Steve.
publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
isbn10 | asin: 0806121742
print isbn13: 9780806121741
ebook isbn13: 9780585194479
language: English
Treasure-trove--Oklahoma, Legends--
subject
Oklahoma, Oklahoma--Gold discoveries.
publication date: 1989
lcc: F694.W54eb
ddc: 917.66/03
Treasure-trove--Oklahoma, Legends--
subject:
Oklahoma, Oklahoma--Gold discoveries.
Page iii
Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales
By Steve Wilson
University of Oklahoma Press : Norman
Page iv
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Steve.
Oklahoma treasures and treasure tales.
Bibliography: p. 313.
1. Treasure-troveOklahoma. 2. LegendsOklahoma.
3. OklahomaGold discoveries. I. Title.
F694.W54 917.66'03 74-15912
ISBN: 0-8061-1240-9 (cloth)
ISBN: 0-8061-2174-2 (pbk.)
The paper in this book mets the guidelines for permanence and
durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book
Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc.
Copyright © 1976 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
Publishing Division of the University. All rights reserved.
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
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To Linda, who spurred my interest when it tired, who knows the stories herein as well as I do, who
followed me over hill and dale while on the trail of lost treasure
Page vii
Preface
On the Trail of Lost Treasure
I do not maintain that the legends told in the following pages are fact.
I do maintain that those who told them believed them to be true. My
purpose has been to record each tale while someone was still living to
tell it. When that was no longer possible, the only alternative was to
seek the story from earlier published sources. In both these endeavors
I feel that I have been successful.
I must admit that often the origin of the story interested me more than
the story itself. No one has successfully explained why legends of
buried treasure are pandemic throughout the Southwest. It is more
difficult to understand the multitude of tales in Oklahoma, because
this state experienced no gold rush of the magnitude of western states.
It had no documented Spanish forts or missions or permanent
settlements, and yet its legends are no less in number than those of
states that had a more auriferous magnetism.
While compiling Legends of Texas for the Texas Folklore Society in
1924, J. Frank Dobie observed that no one particular area of his state
had more legends than another, and, "moreover, instead of
diminishing in number, these legends are constantly increasing."
1 The reason is not a simple one, but perhaps Dobie answered it best
when he said that, because "the Spanish found immense wealth in
America, they became credulous of mythical wealth. Later ages and
folk, failing to inherit their wealth, inherited their credulity."2
Early in this century the father of Oklahoma geology, Charles N.
Gould, spent more than twenty years traveling over the Plains and
throughout Oklahoma. In that time he made more than a thousand
night camps, during which he was often entertained by legends of
buried treasure.
As revealed in an early article, "Hidden Treasure on the Plains," for
Sturm's Magazine, Gould observed that the stories shared a common
form. Wherever he went, he said, "from the Dakotas to the Gulf and
from the Mississippi to the Rockies, the legend of buried treasure is
omnipresent.
There is probably not a county in any one of the states of the plains
where the story is not told and believed."3
Almost always the story concerned Mexicans who were attacked by
Indians and forced to bury their gold. All were massacred except for
one or two, who escaped. Then, years afterward, onenow an old
manreturned to refind the treasure hidden so long before. Always
there were mysterious signs and symbols left to lead him back to the
lost fortune, and almost always he found the prescribed etching of a
cross or triangle or arrow, which placed him at the brink of the
treasure. But, alas, he returned to his native land unsuccessful in his
final attempt to find the gold. Wrote Gould:
How much of the truth there may be in these various legends, no one may
venture to guess. It would be folly to assert that all of the tales are false,
but certainly still greater folly to believe that all are true. As a person
travels over Oklahoma and the surrounding states, however, and listens to
these various tales, he is forced to one of the following conclusions: Either
there is a wonderful amount of treasure hidden on the plains, or the world
is full of deluded people, or there are a tremendous lot of liars.
I have tried to determine the historical reasons for the prevalence of
treasure tales in Soonerland. For the most part historians have turned a
deaf ear to tales of lost gold. But, if given a chance, the treasure
legendoral traditioncan often paint a picture that history has failed to
record. Not everything is to be found in the documents. Sometimes
when history has failed, tradition has succeeded. In the case of the
"Great Spanish Road to Red River" traditionnot historyhas preserved
its route, a trail sprinkled with tales of lost Spanish gold all the way
from Santa Fe to New Orleans. The legends alone virtually mark this
long-forgotten ancient trail down the North Fork of Red River and its
mainstream.
The Spanish conquistadors blazed the trail for less official treasure
quests, many of which history failed to record. But how can one
ignore the signs, the documents written not on paper but in ancient
Page viii
ruins, crumbled smelters, crudely worked mines, and, yes, the
bleached bones of those forgotten, unknown explorers? Perhaps the
multitude of legends can never be fully explained, but might it be that
the countless quests in every area of Oklahoma reveal that both
Spaniards and Mexicans searched this part of his empire far more than
we have heretofore believed? The search goes on.
I have never been a pothunter, because at a very early age I was in the
field with archaeologists and saw how sickened and horrified they
were by the destruction wreaked by treasure seekers. Not only had
irreplaceable artifacts been destroyed but also the place and depth at
which they were found had been obliterated. In many instances what
nature had preserved for centuries man had destroyed in a few
careless, thoughtless moments.
A pothunterthere are other names for him is a selfish person who
damages or robs an old Indian campsite, an ancient burial ground, the
remains of a prehistoric animal, or a historic ruin and scoops up all the
pottery, arrow points, or artifacts for loot. In short, he is a piratea
ravager, not a researcher, not a hunter of history, not a preserver of the
past. He refuses to report his discovery, and consequently artifacts are
destroyed or lost forever. The story that a relic might have told an
archaeologist or a historian has been lost to everyone who might have
gained knowledge from it.
If one happens onto the ruins of a fort or an Indian campsite or a
burial ground, he is enjoying something he cannot monopolize. The
archaeologists know how to excavate scientifically and preserve their
findings. In one's own field research he might very well contribute to
a historic discovery and thereby help piece together the story of man's
past. Because most states have strict laws against damaging or digging
into historic sites, one should leave the meticulous job of excavation
to the professional, whose tools are designed for that purpose and
whose knowledge has prepared him to restore and preserve.
Whenever one finds artifacts, he should report the site to the nearest
museum, university, or historical society. Only then will this
historically precious material be saved for study and evaluation. The
professional can be of immense help, both to the researcher and to the
amateur archaeologist.
Finally: one must respect the other man's property. I know one man
who learned to do that the hard way. He was digging a hole, when
suddenly he was gazing into the barrels of a double-gauge shotgun.
Luckily he was a good talker. I know many ranchers and farmers who
would allow treasure and history buffs onto their property if only
someone before them had not left a gate open or torn down a fence. It
is always wise to obtain permission before entering private property.
The treasure hunter should assure the landowner that he will respect
his land and will check with him before leaving. Only then will he be
confident that everything is left as it was found.
Buried treasure is constantly being discovered. Discoveries occur
almost daily in this archaeologically rich state. The treasure seeker
should not alienate the professional by allowing himself to be called a
pothunter. Once destroyed, historic sites, like rare books, are
irreplaceablegone forever.
In this book I have attempted to include every part of the state and
believe that I have culled the oldest and most popular legends from
every section. I am convinced that I have amassed the most exhaustive
bibliography of treasure legends of Oklahoma ever published, though
I have not attempted to compile herein all the legends.
The garnering of these stories began just over fifteen years ago, and I
must credit the late J. Frank Dobie for sparking that interest an interest
that has always led me on in quest of a story. Dobie's monumental
Coronado's Children fired that interest in my early years.
The Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma provided me with
more tales than I ever thought possible for a mountain range of its
comparatively small extent, but, it provided the setting for
innumerable gold expeditions, both ancient and recent."
4 I spent the better part of ten years seeking its storiesand even yet I
yearn to know more.
I have devoted as many hours, days, and weeks to the archives as I
have to the field. Many an exciting story lay waiting to be released
from the records. The discovery of the lost city of Cascorillo was such
a story, as were many others of