It is Treasure Hunt Wednesday, ARMCHAIR TRAVELERS. Since we are still on our trial week before departure, however, we are not exactly looking for treasures, yet. Still, it's important to see if the system works, here on the portal, so I've decided we should have some sort of a test run. Hmmm…
As you know, our first destination is the Rocky Mountains, in search of some legendary treasures around the town of Victor, Colorado. Mostly because it is rumored to have some of the largest gold mines in the country, and also because it is said there was almost as much lost as found, around there. Of course, the Captain and I have been doing some research on just where and what we will be looking for, so we will know where to begin, once we get there. The thing about these legends, though, is that there is always a lot of hearsay surrounding them. In some cases, out-and-out falsehoods about whether they even exist. Why, already, we have had one that we have had to scratch off our list. It is called the "Ten Cent Treasure," and here's the story… |
| Seated Liberty dime Worth $500-$1000 today |
Sometime during the 1880's several wagons carrying large barrels filled with freshly minted Seated Liberty dimes from the Denver Mint, headed for Phoenix, Arizona. The shipment included a small escort against the many outlaws and thieves that plagued the American West at the time. However the entire wagon train went missing somewhere between Montrose, Colorado and what was then known as the Crawford Ranch.
Years later, sometime, near the turn of the century, a group of treasure hunters located the remains of the wagons near the North Rim of Black Canyon. They were able to recover several gallons of dimes along the Gunnison River, but not the bulk of the treasure.
This kind of story always makes me want to go treasure hunting. Except it didn't take much research to reveal that the Denver Mint dimes weren't produced until 1906, and by then railroad shipment was much preferred over wagon travel.
A lot of people would be discouraged at such findings. Except that facts like this:
"According to the Colorado School of Mines, (on average) the gold is replenished approximately within one year in any given location in the streams and rivers along the front range of Colorado."
Now, this kind of information makes me want to go gold panning (which I love). Mostly, I enjoy being out in beautiful places and sifting through streams and collecting rocks. On these occasions, I have probably passed over more gold than I've found, simply because I don't know enough about it. I know one thing, though. I always enjoy doing it.
And I guess that's the point.
So, anyone of you wonderful ARMCHAIR TRAVELERS who can dig up a bona fide location for us to "go prospecting in"… I'll bring you back something of whatever we find. At the very least it will be a "curiosity" and great conversation piece. Not to mention some mysterious connection to the past. It might even lead to a collectable story…
Which is always like gold to me.
Let's make the deadline on this Treasure Hunt midnight on the 5th of June, winners to be announced on the 6th. Up until then, share whatever stories and/or locations you can find, right here in the comment section.
Meanwhile, happy hunting!
Oh, pooh!The information I read said it was real...but you are the treasure hunter, so your facts are probably accurate and I read the Goosechase Gazette!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the confidence, Carol, but there are many times when not even the facts are right, and I find that "Goosechase Gazette" saying "Boo! Ha-ha!" to me when I realize I've been flipping through there all along. Such as the story that the mine operators sometimes printed their own silver coins (dimes?) to use as payroll, shipped overland in guarded wagons that were often "bush-wacked" by bandits.
ReplyDeleteAnother version of that TEN CENT TREASURE story is that as just such a payroll shipment was going along the Gunnison River, it was was overtaken by these rascals, after which the wagons and the dimes, were never seen again. That is, until the remains of the wagons were discovered many years later, and part of the dimes recovered. So... who to believe?
But isn't that the story of Life, itself?
I find great pleasure in tracking down stories like this, and I would consider it satisfying just to dig around the area (a beautiful area!) myself, and then record my own personal conclusions to add to the bag of theories... which may, or may not, be true. Either way, I've had a grand adventure. So, maybe it's just something of the reporter in me, left over from my newspaper days.
I love chasing down a good story!