Around the Bluhmin’ Town

By

Judy Bluhm

A government shutdown! Are we heading for a recession? Why worry? There’s gold in them thar hills! I recall a certain Northern Californian couple who happened to be walking the dog on their property when they noticed something odd. A little hole, a shiny object, an easy dig and voila . . .eight metal cans containing 1400 gold coins were uncovered. These coins were dated 1847 to 1894 and the stash had a face value of $27,000. It fetched close to 15 million bucks! Yep, it “pays” to pay attention when you are out walking the dog. Hey Teddy, (my doggy) are you listening?

Money doesn’t grow on trees! So look down and get a shovel. The Prescott area is “rich” with buried treasure. In the 1800s, a party of four successful prospectors were returning from the Big Sandy River to Prescott with a load of gold nuggets stashed in several canvas bags. While resting near Granite Dells they were attacked by bandits. They quickly buried the gold. Only one survived the ambush, and he returned several times to the site but could never find those canvas bags.

In the Phoenix area, we have the treasures of the Sierra Estrellas. Legend claims that those 14,000 acres has more buried gold and lost mines than any place on earth. Head east to the Superstition Mountains and forget about the casinos. Pack a lunch, bring a shovel and be prepared to get lucky!

Dear Readers, it is time to dig out those flower beds, turn over the rocks, heck, rent a rototiller and take up the whole lawn! Gold nuggets or coins stashed in boots, cans, socks or bags may be the reward for destroying the yard but may result in a secure retirement. People back in the 1800s didn’t care much for banks. Miners and prospectors (and ordinary folks) buried their coins and gold in what now might be your backyard! Buckets of gold could be under your bushes!

The “mother lode” of treasures is a chest that was buried in the 1800s by a group of miners. Somewhere in the Phoenix area there is a stash that contains 100,000 gold coins! That could be worth more than 25 million dollars in today’s value! All the miners succumbed to dehydration and exhaustion, except for one who lived to tell the tale. He died shortly after identifying the location of the treasure. So, get your pen and paper handy because here it is: Near a spring at the foot of a mountain near Phoenix, buried under a boulder shaped like a kneeling man, with a nearby tree that was marked with a cross.

Wait a minute, I know I have more to say about finding gold, but isn’t there a rock close by that looks like a kneeling man? And isn’t it near a creek and close to a mountain? Oh, I’d better go. That description I just gave you? Disregard. I will be happy to check it out and report back. In the meantime, let’s remember the Old Prospector’s Prayer: Imagine, Hope, Dream and Dig! And may your week be “golden.”

Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local realtor. Contact Judy at [email protected]. Or visit www.aroundthebluhmintown.com.