Treasure Hunting & The Way of Research

The modern metal detectorists (treasure hunters) seem oddly uninterested in finding treasure: "I know I'm never gonna' get rich!" or "We're not really going to find anything," they all say, quite modestly. I hear it all the time. My question has always been, WHY NOT?? When I started treasure hunting (with a metal detector) almost 60-years ago, we literally thought anything was possible. An old cache of buried confederate rifles, maybe even some of that civil war gold hidden somewhere near Gainsville by the fleeing Confederate soldiers. Scuba diving for sunken treasure still trapped aboard fleets of sunken Spanish Galleons, covered in sand. Literally nothing was off the table...and it was always GO time! 

Treasure, fresh off the Atocha in 1987 - We got a free Preview!

Our equipment was not the most advanced, our gear was not top-of-the-line, but we had something you cannot buy; a spirit of adventure and we were not afraid of hard work. And treasure hunting is hard work! And some of the hardest work is research. No computers in the 1960's 1970's or a good part of the 1980's and 90's. Back then it was visiting archives and libraries and museums, sitting in a chair for hours reviewing endless loops of microfilm, flipping thru coffee-table sized books of 19th century hand-drawn maps and charts. Reading first-hand, historic accounts and unpublished papers. And even today, that skill may still be needed!

One project I accidentally stumbled upon was the result of reading an old hardcover book published in, I think, 1920 or so, about Florida's 19th century "cracker" cowboys. The name derived from the whips they cracked while herding cattle from Arcadia down to the cattle yards at Punta Rassa on the Gulf of Mexico. The rub was this: they were selling the cattle to Cuba and were paid in gold double-eagles, otherwise known as 20-dollar gold pieces. Once they were paid, the cowhands filled saddlebag after saddlebag with gold specie, went to the local bars and saloons, got drunk, beat each other up, then in the early morning light (with cuts, bruises and a pounding headache) headed back northward upon the Caloosahatchee trail toward home. 

It took several days, and the cowboys made camp several times on the journey north. With leather saddlebags heavy with gold, they would have removed them at night while the animals grazed and slept. Who is to say, but a few coins may have jolted out when the bags hit the ground, or spilled out, unnoticed when they were slung back over the horses' backs? The book went on to say when the cowhands reached Arcadia, they dropped the saddlebags on the ranch house porch. The account went further to say that a couple of gold eagles were dropped into a cracker tin as a toy for the younger kids. They said the gold coins colliding in the box made "a singular ringing sound" that the children liked. A gold baby rattle! Now that is where I left the project years ago. I contracted several forms of cancer, endured chemotherapy, underwent cancer surgery, got diabetes along with covid-induced heart problems. My elaborate treasure hunting expedition days are over. But maybe yours are not!

Several of those gold coins would be worth a pretty penny with gold prices as they are, in addition to the collector's value of a key date double eagle. You pick up the trail from here. You would need to research where the exact route of the Caloosahatchee trail lay in relation to today's current geological layout here in 21st Century Florida. They would usually camp near water, so estimating by researching how far they could travel without cattle in a day, would give you some idea of where they made camp. Check maps for lakes, streams, rivers, etc. Get GPS coordinates of key landmarks on Google maps. Second, start researching the location of some of the original cattle ranch houses in Arcadia, Florida. The front porches would probably have gaps in the floor and coins could easily slip thru, especially if the kids had removed them from the tin box. Or they may still be in the tin box, now buried and forgotten near the house. And first and foremost, keep your mouth closed concerning your ongoing project!

See how this sleuthing thing works? One question begats another and another. Make a folder, collect documents, photographs, maps, scans, notes, calculations and write down more questions that need answering! When you have answered them all, it is time for your hand-held GPS and your metal detector to join the hunt. Good luck and happy hunting!