Oklahoma Treasures and Treasure Tales“Son, there's more treasure buried right here In Oklahoma than in the rest of the whole Southwest.” Those words from an old-timer launched Steve Wilson on a yearslong quest for the stones of Oklahoma’s treasures. This book is the result. It is a book of stories-some true, some legendary- about fabulous caches of lost treasure: outlaw loot buried in the heat of pursuit, hoards of Spanish gold dud silver secreted for a later day, Frenchmen's gold ingots hidden amid massive cryptic symbols, Indian treasure concealed in caves, and lost mines- gold and silver and platinum. It tells about the earliest treasure seekers of the region and those who are still hunting today. Along the way it describes shootouts and massacres, trails whose routes are preserved in the countless legends of gold hidden alongside them, Mexicans' smelters, and mines hidden and sought over the centuries. Among the chapters:
This is a book about quests over trails dim before the turn of the century. It is about early peoples, Mound Builders, Vikings, conquistadors, explorers, outlaw, gold seekers. The author has spent years tracking down the stories and hours listening to the old-timers' tales of their searches. Wilson has provided maps, both detailed modem ones and photographs of early treasure maps and has richly illustrated the book with pictures of the sites that gave rise to the tales. . For armchair travelers, never-say-die treasure hunters, historians, and chroniclers and aficionados of western lore, this is an absorbing and delightful book. And who knows? The reader may find gold! |
Contents
They Found Buried Treasure | 3 |
Landforms of Oklahoma Page | 6 |
The Secrets Spanish Fort Tells | 39 |
Quests for Red Rivers Silver Mines | 69 |
Oklahomas Forgotten Treasure Trail | 89 |
Oklahoma trails | 90 |
The Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles | 100 |
Ghosts of Devils Canyon and Their Gold | 111 |
The Mystery of CascorilloA Lost City | 227 |
Cartloads Jack Loads and an Aztec Sun God | 233 |
Northwestern Oklahoma | 234 |
The Treasures the Arbuckles Guard | 241 |
Tales of the Indian Nations | 249 |
Indian Territory 185566 | 252 |
Johnsons Map of Indian Territory 1883 | 258 |
Gold the Outlaws Never Spent | 279 |
Jesse Jamess TwoMillionDollar Treasure | 129 |
The Last of the Old Prospectors | 149 |
The Wichita Mountains | 150 |
Skeletons Jewels and Platinum | 189 |
Gold the Stagecoaches Never Delivered | 201 |
The Lost Cave with the Iron Door | 211 |
The Frenchmens Gold at Sugar Loaf Peak | 215 |
Landmarks for the Frenchmens gold in Cimarron County | 217 |