I hope you’ll heed this story. When I answered the phone I heard a rather indistinct voice, “Grandma, I’m so embarrassed to make this call. Can we keep it between ourselves?” “Certainly,” I responded. “Did Mom tell you?” “No.” “I’m in Atlanta. One of my friends has died.” “Oh dear!” “The thing is, I had a stupid wreck last night and cut my lip and busted my mouth.” I immediately suspected that the next sentence would be a request for money. Smelling a rat, I said, “I’m having a hard time understanding you. What’s your name?” “Grandma!” he replied in a very reproachful tone. “That’s because I’m calling from a pay phone.” “What is your name?” He finally said, “Michael.” “I have no grandson by that name.” “I’m hanging up. Goodbye.” I am positive that this was a scam.
A few years ago, an acquaintance called and said, “Steve Barnett sent an e-mail. He’s in London. His money has been stolen, and he needs help.” “I just talked with Steve half an hour ago, and I assure you that he isn’t in London.”
Last week I heard a news report about how someone calls and says that you’re being sued by the IRS and will be taken to court unless you settle with that individual immediately. A woman in Michigan was so frightened that she borrowed and sent $10,000. I ignored a stern message we got about that a couple of months ago and have heard no more.
Enough serious stuff! I’m ready for some fun. Ah, the lure of buried treasure! From Robert Lewis Stevenson’s wonderful Treasure Island, to the real-life discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb with its fabulous objects, hidden treasure is the stuff of romance, mystery, tales of derring-do, adventure, secret maps, danger, and even death. Dreams of untold riches fire the imagination and become the stuff of obsession.
One of the most persistent stories is that of the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine that is purportedly located in Arizona. Its name came from a 19th Century German immigrant prospector, the word for German being “Deutsch.” He claimed that he had discovered a huge vein of gold ore in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, but never divulged its location. Ooh! For a romantic, the very name “Superstition Mountains” imparts an aura of mystery.
Tales of death have been told. Dr. Adolph Ruth’s son was supposedly given documents and a map by a Mexican revolutionary who was about to be executed. Ruth’s father became obsessed. After a first attempt failed, he made a second attempt in 1931 and refused to accept the advice of area residents to give up the hunt. They found his skull with two bullet holes made by a high-powered rifle. The rest of his body was ¾ mile away. A note in his checkbook said that he had found the mine. News about the murder rekindled interest in it. Later treasure hunters claimed that shots were fired at them. In 2010 two men disappeared.
To this day, eight thousand people search every year for the Lost Dutchman. I understand them. When I was a teenager I read a magazine article about the Oak Island “Money Pit” that has fascinated me ever since. Connected to Nova Scotia by a causeway that was built by treasure hunters, lies the one-hundred-forty-acre island.
According to legend, in 1795 an eighteen-year-old boy saw lights in a clearing, a circular depression in the ground and a block and tackle hanging from a nearby tree. Three friends helped him excavate the depression, and they found a layer of limestone two feet down. As they dug further, they discovered layers of logs every ten feet. They gave up at 30 feet.
As was the case with the Lost Dutchman Mine, newspaper articles appeared, and very serious and costly efforts to solve the mystery, excavate the Money Pit and recover the treasure have continued for over two hundred years. More to come. wclarke@comcast.net