A Treasure Hunt By Ruth Starr
I bought an old Victrola from a thrift shop. It was delivered to my house the next day.
Excited I opened the top, turned the handle a couple of times and noticed a piece of paper under the turntable. They could have cleaned it better before sending it over. Curious, I pulled the folded paper out, opened it. Very fascinated I discovered a map with directions to a hidden treasure buried in Arizona. Someone was probably being foolish leaving this for me to find.
Since I lived in Phoenix, I explored the area and maps on my computer. This is ridiculous I’m going to go hunting for buried treasure in the boonies based on a note I found in an old Victrola? My curiosity always got the best of me so of course, I knew I had to do it.
I’ll just pretend I’m going on a camping trip I announced to an empty room. What did I know about gold. I would hear spot prices on the news but had no idea what it meant. Over the years miners had collected a large quantity of gold and concealed it somewhere along an old trail, in a southwesterly direction, between present day Red Rock, and Silver Bell. The article said it would pay a treasure hunter to learn exactly where the Spanish artifacts were found and also try to locate the old ranch site and the ancient road.
Along with the camping gear, I packed a small pick ax and shovel. My eyes were blinking gold signs. Fortunately my truck is a four wheel drive that easily goes over rough terrain. After four hours of driving I found a spot to try. Put up my tent and built a small fire to cook my dinner.
Rising early to a slight rain, I began the ax picking and shoveling. My reward for the day - getting soaked with very tired arms.
Undaunted, I continued the picking and shoveling for a week, getting nowhere except getting more tired and running out of food. Appeared to be time to go home and forget this crazy endeavor. All my gear packed in the truck, I headed southerly on a bumpy dirt road. I didn’t notice the huge pot hole in front of me and the right front tire dropped in.
I gunned the motor splattering dirt, but the tire stayed. No, this can’t be happening - there’s no one around this remote area. Near panic I was looking down the hole that had captured my tire when I saw something shiny. I grabbed my shovel, jumped down in the hole and began digging. Wow, wow, wow. I packed the shiny pieces in some old newspaper and put them in my vehicle.
Very excited I put up my tent deciding to deal with it the next day. In the morning I saw a large truck heading on the road toward me. The three guys inside made me nervous.
What if they stole the pieces I’d just found? My panic subsided as they were friendly and had a huge chain and hook they affixed to my truck. They pulled me out, and showed me where to go so I could get back to the city. I didn’t tell them about the treasure I had in my truck.
On the bumpy old road headed home, I began dreaming about a new larger four-wheel drive truck that I could probably afford soon. “Please” I said to my higher power, “don’t let this be fools gold.”
I bought an old Victrola from a thrift shop. It was delivered to my house the next day.
Excited I opened the top, turned the handle a couple of times and noticed a piece of paper under the turntable. They could have cleaned it better before sending it over. Curious, I pulled the folded paper out, opened it. Very fascinated I discovered a map with directions to a hidden treasure buried in Arizona. Someone was probably being foolish leaving this for me to find.
Since I lived in Phoenix, I explored the area and maps on my computer. This is ridiculous I’m going to go hunting for buried treasure in the boonies based on a note I found in an old Victrola? My curiosity always got the best of me so of course, I knew I had to do it.
I’ll just pretend I’m going on a camping trip I announced to an empty room. What did I know about gold. I would hear spot prices on the news but had no idea what it meant. Over the years miners had collected a large quantity of gold and concealed it somewhere along an old trail, in a southwesterly direction, between present day Red Rock, and Silver Bell. The article said it would pay a treasure hunter to learn exactly where the Spanish artifacts were found and also try to locate the old ranch site and the ancient road.
Along with the camping gear, I packed a small pick ax and shovel. My eyes were blinking gold signs. Fortunately my truck is a four wheel drive that easily goes over rough terrain. After four hours of driving I found a spot to try. Put up my tent and built a small fire to cook my dinner.
Rising early to a slight rain, I began the ax picking and shoveling. My reward for the day - getting soaked with very tired arms.
Undaunted, I continued the picking and shoveling for a week, getting nowhere except getting more tired and running out of food. Appeared to be time to go home and forget this crazy endeavor. All my gear packed in the truck, I headed southerly on a bumpy dirt road. I didn’t notice the huge pot hole in front of me and the right front tire dropped in.
I gunned the motor splattering dirt, but the tire stayed. No, this can’t be happening - there’s no one around this remote area. Near panic I was looking down the hole that had captured my tire when I saw something shiny. I grabbed my shovel, jumped down in the hole and began digging. Wow, wow, wow. I packed the shiny pieces in some old newspaper and put them in my vehicle.
Very excited I put up my tent deciding to deal with it the next day. In the morning I saw a large truck heading on the road toward me. The three guys inside made me nervous.
What if they stole the pieces I’d just found? My panic subsided as they were friendly and had a huge chain and hook they affixed to my truck. They pulled me out, and showed me where to go so I could get back to the city. I didn’t tell them about the treasure I had in my truck.
On the bumpy old road headed home, I began dreaming about a new larger four-wheel drive truck that I could probably afford soon. “Please” I said to my higher power, “don’t let this be fools gold.”